Eastern Excursion 6: Gettysburg

I wrote this post a few days ago, as I prepped for our trip. (I find that going places is much more meaningful if I actually know something about it before I show up. You may be surprised, but I don't seem to get much time to read the plaques and programs. :) When I had Sam edit it he didn't seem to get why I explained the whole Civil War and the importance of Gettysburg. "Everyone knows all this, Janae."

Um, Sam, I think you overestimate the human race. Just because you know it, does not mean everyone else does. Anyway, the main readership of my blog are stay-at-home moms whose brains are slowly disintegrating. Just like mine. Not that that is a bad thing! Okay, so it is true that Harvard came out with a study a few years ago that showed that although IQs are stable throughout life, they actually fluctuate within a certain range, and that women hit their lowest IQ point during the period that they stay at home with kids. But I'm okay with that. To everything there is a season right? I just passed my 'Intelligent' season a decade or so ago. Right now I am in 'Survival' season. Next up: 'Retirement'.

GETTYSBURG

We took this picture because right before we went home when we realized we hadn't taken any pictures of them!

We started the day by forking out $16 just to see a 22-minute movie narrated by Morgan Freeman. (Everything else was free, so we figured what the heck.) It ended up being worth every penny! I bawled through half of it and took a good 15 minutes after it ended to actually calm down. Then we walked through the brand new Civil War Museum - which Samuel and I voted to be hands down the BEST museum either of us have ever been to. For real. It was amazing! After a picnic lunch, we hopped in the car and did an Auto Tour of Gettysburg. There is a whole designated trail that guides you through the Battle of Gettysburg and ends where Lincoln gave his address. That was really neat - and perfect for the kids because they got to take long naps! The whole family agreed: this was our favorite trip yet. Now on to the historical part:

The Battle of Gettysburg started just behind this barn.

An understanding of Gettysburg starts with the Civil War. During the presidential elections in 1860, the Republican party campaigned against expanding slavery beyond the states where it already existed. When the Republican candidate, Abraham Lincoln, won, seven states seceded from the Union (four more joined them later on). On April 12, 1861, Confederate forces attacked Fort Sumter in South Carolina. Lincoln responded by calling for a volunteer army from each state, and the Civil War began. In September 1862, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which made ending slavery a war goal.

There are nearly 1400 monuments dotted around Gettysburg. This one was erected at the
75th Anniversary, where both Union and Confederate soldiers gathered together.

The turning point of the Civil War was the Battle of Gettysburg. Confederate General Robert E. Lee invaded the North, hoping to reach as far as Philadelphia, but was repelled as he reached the city of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. On July 1, 1863, more than 165,000 soldiers converged, and the battle began. By July 2nd most of both armies had assembled, and on July 3rd the Union armies resisted the Confederates' last push (Pickett's Charge) and won the battle. The Battle of Gettysburg would become the bloodiest battle of the Civil War, with more than 51,000 casualties.

It seems so strange to imagine thousands of people dying in places as beautiful as this.

Despite the success at Gettysburg, the mounting casualties led to anti-war and anti-Lincoln sentiments in the North. When President Lincoln was invited to dedicate the Soldiers' National Cemetery in Gettysburg on November 19, 1863, he used the opportunity to redefine the purpose of the war. Although he was invited almost as an afterthought, was asked only to give "a few appropriate remarks", and followed a 13,607-word discourse by a famed orator, his 10 sentences and 271 words made a lasting impression. Lincoln stated that "the world will little note, nor long remember what we say here", and yet we all know that:

"Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal... [and] That we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

All the Gettysburg Casualties are buried in a semi-circle around this monument - erected on the site where Lincoln gave his famous address.

On April 9, 1865, General Lee surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant and the war ended. The Civil War was the deadliest in American history, with 620,000 soldier deaths and even more civilian casualties. It ended slavery in the United States, restored the Union, and strengthened the roll of the federal government.

All Things Religious

the General Young Women's Presidency

I finally got a calling in my ward! I should say, callings. I'm the 4th Sunday Relief Society teacher (Yay! I covet that calling. Really. When we first moved in I actually found out if any of the Relief Society teachers were leaving soon. "Not until August" I was told. I was so disappointed!) I am also the Young Women Personal Progress Coordinator. Which apparently is NOT a made-up calling. Want to know how much I know about Young Womens? I was one. That's about it. So Young Womens in Excellence is in two months and I have no clue what I am doing. HELP!!! No, seriously. If you serve in Young Womens, I would really, really, really (did I mention REALLY?) need your help!

Speaking of callings, this last Sunday I was supposed to go to the YW opening exercises and do this big old "introduce myself" presentation. I was also supposed to teach in Relief Society. Are you seeing the problem? Yeah, they are held at the same time. Luckily my presentation was quick and I made it in time for my lesson. But Enoch understood how worried I was, so he decided to give me a little token of his affection - in the form of a large, dark poop stain down my cream shirt. What an angel.

And while we're talking religion, Seara has begun saying her prayers at random times while she plays. She'll suddenly stop, bow her head, close her eyes, and say a 'prayer'. Here's one recent example:

"Heavenly Father, bless the food, help us to be nice, umbrella, umbrella, one, two, three, amen."

Oh, and another incident that somewhat relates to religion. Well, the Bible. Remember how I said some people had mispronounced Enoch's name? Well, I think one person this week beat all:

Person: What's his name?
Me: Enoch.
Person: Oh, Eunuch. That's a cute name.
Me: Um, excuse me. NO. My son is NOT named Eunuch. Do you even KNOW what a eunuch IS?? Don't ever put that word and my son in the same sentence.

Just kidding. I wanted to say that, but I didn't. I really said, "It's actually Enoch." I normally don't correct strangers, but in this case I thought it necessary.

*By the way, Relief Society is the woman's organization in the church - for all women 18 and older. Young Women is the girls organization - for all girls 12-17. Personal Progress is a program that the girls work on - kind of like a religious, feminine version of scouting. You set goals and learn skills based on increasing faith, divine nature, individual worth, knowledge, choice & accountability, good works, and integrity. When you finish the whole program you get the equivalent of an Eagle Scout - your Young Womanhood in Recognition award and beautiful necklace medallion.

Eastern Excursion 5: Mount Vernon

MOUNT VERNON

Mount Vernon is the plantation home of George Washington. The Mount Vernon Mansion is up on a hill overlooking the Potomac River and was purchased by Washington in 1754. He later added two huge additions to the original home. When he died in 1799, a household inventory was taken, and the house is currently set up based on that inventory.



The grounds have been set up as they would have been in Washington's day - with gravel trails, wood fences, 18th century gardens, a 4-acre working pioneer farm, a 16-sided barn, and breeds of animals that Washington had. On the farm we saw horses, mules, cattle, oxen, sheep, and rams. And wandering freely on the grounds we saw roosters, wild turkeys, geese, and deer. Needless to say, seeing the animals was hands down the kids' favorite part of the whole trip!

two GREAT men

Near the mansion we walked through the restored kitchen, wash house, slave quarters, overseer's quarters, coach house, and stables. We also got to see the Old Tomb, where Washington was originally buried, and the new tomb that his will requested be built and where his remains are currently. (Well, unless he's already been resurrected, but we won't go in to that. :)



The most interesting part, though, was the Mt. Vernon Mansion. The house has original furnishings, including a harpsichord, a swivel chair Washington used during his presidency, a key to the Bastille given to Washington by the Marquis de Lafayette, a large globe Washington commissioned for his study, and the master bed that Martha had made especially for her husband's 6'2" frame.

I feel like I say this every week, but this was FASCINATING!!

Lay Off Dairy

Ugh. It happened again. I so, so, so, SOOOOOO hoped it wouldn't. But it did. Yup, that's right. I can't have any dairy products while nursing Enoch. I hoped Seara was a fluke. I REALLY hoped Elijah was a break-the-statistical-trend repeat. But no. It looks like this is just going to be my life if I choose to nurse. Which I do.

Apparently when my kids are born their stomachs are incapable of breaking down the protein in cows milk. It actually isn't a problem for the first month - we don't know why - but it starts right around week 5 and can last up until their first birthday. By then their stomachs have finished forming the enzymes they need to break the proteins down. With Seara it lasted until she was 6 months. With Elijah it was 4 months. Maybe with Enoch it will be 2? Ha, ha. I won't get my hopes up.

I don't think you fully appreciate the gravity of this situation. Some kids just have this mildly. Not mine. I can't eat anything that has even trace amounts of milk proteins. That means milk, cream, sour cream, cheese, cottage cheese, ice cream, sherbet, ranch dressing (actually most salad dressings), butter, margarine, chocolate, etc. The list goes on and on! I can't have a lot of breads - I usually stick to making my own. Cookies? You might want to grab a barf bag. Here goes - I make them with butter flavored Crisco. Yes, CRISCO. I might as well slather the cookie dough on my hips, because that is right where it's going anyway.

Alright - here is my plea: if you have any really great meal suggestions or recipes that use NO dairy, please, PLEASE, PLEASE share!! Just leave 'em in the comments.

{You are wondering what happens if I eat dairy? Well, imagine the most agonizing, painful, high-pitched, squealing plea for help. Now imagine that lasting all day. Every day. For weeks. It is colic to the worst degree. (The doc actually thought Sease was colicky.) Now imagine projectile vomit. No, not spit up. No, not just a tablespoon. We're talking 4-6 oz that literally SHOOT out. When Seara was over my shoulder she wouldn't get wet. Neither would I. Neither would the floor. But the wall three feet away? Covered. Seriously, she could have won an Olympic medal. (The doc thought Seara had reflux, too.) Miracle of all miracles - I prayed about Seara's problems, randomly found an article about the milk protein, cut milk out of my diet, and suddenly she was an angel baby again! Luckily Elijah and Enoch didn't have to go through what she did because I already knew what was going on. So cutting out dairy is worth it. But dang, it is hard!}

Heard at our House

Seara: Bacon shirt!
Me: You mean bathing suit?
Seara: Yeah! Bacon shirt!


Seara: I like Nephi and Lehi!
Me: I like Nephi and Lehi, too!
Seara: I like Laman and Lemuel.
Me: I ... I ... I don't know what to respond to that.

(Nephi and Lehi are Book of Mormon prophets, Laman and Lemuel are BOM bad guys.)


I climb in bed once Sam is asleep. He opens his eyes, looks at me, says "Don't even think about touching me," and rolls over. I guess he was getting back at me for the time on our honeymoon that I told him (also in my sleep), "Sam, I love your flat chest!" (Which, by the way, is not flat at all. Not that you needed to know that. But I feel like I have to protect his manhood. Or something like that.)

Sam: [to me, while I'm doing dishes] I rinsed out cadmium red paint in that sink while there were dishes still in it, so unless we want nerve damage for the rest of our lives you may want to wash those dishes really well.
Me: [laughing] Okay!
Sam: I'm serious.
Me: [more serious] Okay.
Sam: No, I'm really serious.
Me: [now very serious] Okay.
Sam: No, I mean, once you are done washing the dishes with that sponge, you may want to stick the sponge in the dishwasher and not use it to wash anything else.

So I looked up cadmium. Apparently it is extremely toxic even in low concentrations and can cause tracheo-bronchitis, pneumonitis, pulmonary edema, and loss of the sense of smell. It can also cause your bones to become soft, lose bone mineral density, and become weaker. The kidneys can lose their function to remove acids from the blood and can shrink up to 30%. Hmmmm.... anyone want to come eat dinner at my house?

Bag of Tricks

I have had a lot of questions about how I do meals, naps, and diapers on our trips. So, here is the shedule from our trip to Phily:

6:00 Nurse Enoch
6:30 Get Seara & Elijah up, ready, and in the car
7:00 Breakfast on the road: bananas, graham crackers, and milk
9:00 Arrive in Phily, nurse Enoch in the car before we go out
9:30 Go out: museums & tours that require happy, quiet kids
10:30 Snack bags in the stroller as we go: popcorn and grapes; sippy cups of water.
12:00 Lunch at the park: pb&j, watermelon, and apples. Diaper changes all around. Nurse Enoch.
12:30 Out again: museums and quiet places are mostly done, visit places that are outdoors (cemeteries, gardens, buildings we want to see the outside only) and that are far apart, which will require lots of walking with them in the stroller. My guess was right: this put them both to sleep. They each nap for a couple hours while we see the sites.
3:00 Stop for snacks at another park: graham crackers and tortilla chips; water. Nurse Enoch.
3:30 Out once more: last museum (now that they are rested), a few outside shots of buildings, lots of walking.
5:00 Stop to play in water fountain. Diaper changes all around.
6:00 Snacks in the car: animal crackers and ritz; water. Nurse Enoch.
6:30 Head home, get lost.
7:30 Dinner in the car: kids meals. (This is unplanned, we expected to be home much sooner.)
9:00 Nurse Enoch while we wait in stand still traffic. Seara and Elijah watch the movie Cars.
10:00 Get home, put kids to bed!

The key to keeping the kids happy is our 'Bag of Tricks', which includes, but is not limited to, small tubs of play-doh, bubbles, notebooks & pencils, boxes to collect things in, and some random happy-meal type toys (the kind that you can lose and not care about). We bring tons of different snacks and always have sippy cups of water available. They can get in and out of the stroller at will; when they are out they can choose to wear either their monkey backpacks or their Winnie the Pooh backpacks (they love wearing backpacks - it keeps them happy). Thus far things are working well!

Eastern Excursion 4: Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA

You don't realize how tall these skyscrapers are until you are in the middle of them all and look up.
Seriously, you have to lean so far back to see the top that you almost fall over backwards!

For our trip this week we took a two hour trip north to Philadelphia. We got there at 9am and stayed until 6pm and tried to take in the whole city at once. We spent quite a bit of time walking around the city and seeing the whole gamut of slums and pubs, to historic sites, to the skyscraper business district. The walking around was Samuel's favorite part of the whole trip, actually.

An alley way that we loved

A typical street block (except that horse-drawn carriages aren't the main mode of transportation any more)

Declaration House
During the summer of 1776 Thomas Jefferson, a 33-year-old delegate from Virginia to the Continental Congress, rented two second-floor rooms in the home of Jacob Graff, Jr. and there drafted the Declaration of Independence.

Independence Hall
Built in 1753, Independence Hall was not only the meeting place of the Second Continental Congress, but also the location where both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States were drafted and signed.

Congress Hall

Seara and Elijah sitting in the House of Representatives

Congress Hall is the building to the right of Independence Hall, and served as the United States Capitol from 1790 til 1800 while Washington, D.C. was under construction. The Presidential Inauguration for John Adams took place here.

Old City Hall
To the left of Independence Hall is Old City Hall, where the US Supreme Court met from 1791 to 1800.

Liberty Bell
The Liberty Bell is one of the most prominent symbols of the Revolutionary War. The bell was rung to announce the opening of the First Continental Congress in 1774 and after the Battles of Lexington and Concord in 1775 (the first battles of that war - we won). The most famous ringing occurred on July 8, 1776, in honor of my birthday 206 years in the future to summon all of Philadelphia for the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence.

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Washington Square is a war memorial honoring the soldiers of the Revolutionary War, many of whom were buried in a mass grave in that park. The plaque on the tomb reads, "Beneath this stone rests a soldier of Washington's army who died to give you liberty." Wow. This was probably my favorite site we visited. We actually had lunch here in Washington Square, and then blew bubbles and let the kids feed the pigeons. They loved it!

Carpenters Hall
Carpenters Hall hosted the First Continental Congress in 1774 and the first library in the United States, started by Benjamin Franklin.

Merchant's Exchange Building

The Merchant's Exchange Building served as the commercial and financial center of 19th century Philadelphia, as well as the site of the post office. It is primarily known for its architectural design in the Greek Revival style.

Betsy Ross House
Betsy Ross lived here from 1773 to 1785, and it is generally recognized as the place where she made the first American Flag.

Christ Church Burial Ground
The Christ Church Burial ground was started 1719 and is still an active graveyard. Benjamin Franklin and four other signers of the Declaration of Independence are buried here.

Franklin Institute

Since a bunch of other people were doing it, I stripped the kids down to diapers and let them
splash around inside this fountain. That was probably their favorite part of the whole trip!

The Franklin Institute is a premier museum and houses the Benjamin Franklin National Memorial, which features a 20 foot statue of Ben Franklin and honors all his accomplishments as a writer, inventor, and statesman. If you want to see this place, just watch National Treasure. We went inside and saw a few things, although we didn't really do much since we were trying to do all of Phily in one day.

The most exciting part of our trip, however, was the trip home. I wasn't paying much attention to the roads as we were leaving and failed to tell Samuel how to get home. Well, he just decided to hop on some freeway that went south, thinking to himself, "How can we go wrong if we go south?" I'll tell you how. Before we knew it we were in New Jersey, heading down a peninsula that does NOT cross over to the mainland (except where we came from), and were well on our way to Atlantic City! So we tried to turn around. And then suddenly we were lost in the slums of Jersey (we seem to get lost in scary neighborhoods a lot, if you haven't noticed. Its like we have a magnetic attraction to them. Hopefully this isn't foreshadowing our future!) We managed to drive by Rutgers University and the Walt Whitman House (one of his last known homes before he passed away) before we decided we were hopelessly lost. Luckily we found a concert that was surrounded by police officers. So, we stopped to ask for directions. Apparently we were so lost that the officer we spoke to decided to give us a police escort back to the freeway. We finally got home safe and sound at 10pm - our simple two hour trip turning in to an exciting and eventful four hour one. Thank heavens for portable dvd players!

ps. We paid $27 in tolls for this trip. Be grateful if you live somewhere without toll roads. They stink!

the Boys & the Goof

Well, geez guys. Thanks for all the comments! That wasn't exactly how I pictured that post going, but I think I may never have to worry about self esteem ever again. :) (Although suddenly I feel like the middle school girl who says something ridiculous like, "I'm ugly" or "I'm fat" just so that her friends will tell her how cute and skinny she is. We called her Fisher. (As in she fishes for compliments.))

Alright, its kiddy update time!

The Boys


You may recognize some of these pictures from our picnic last week. I just wanted to throw them in somewhere, and here is as good as any. :) So Elijah has recently evolved from being the terrorizer to being the terrorized. Check this out:


What does that look like to you? If you said, the imprint of Seara's teeth, you would be correct. I SAW this happen. Elijah did nothing to provoke her. One second he was playing happily, the next she was attached to his face. Poor kid! So other than that, no news to report about Elijah. He is being sweet as can be. I don't know what is wrong with him, but I'll take it.


I don't want to tell you about Enoch because I'm afraid I'll jinx myself. The kid is too good to be true! He eats well, he sleeps well, he is just plain GOOD. I am so relieved!! This could have been REALLY miserable. As is, I'm feeling really good about being a mom of three. Okay, does anyone else love when babies sleep like this??


Enoch was also blessed last Sunday. Don't you just LOVE this vest?? I got it for $3 from Old Navy. His eyes are shaped like mine, by the way. I'm just so pleased to actually have a child that REALLY looks like my side of the family!



The Goof


Other than taking up the terrorize-Elijah kick, Seara is just as goofy as ever. As much as I try to explain that I nurse milk, Seara insists that Enoch is drinking "apple juice" or "stawberries." When Enoch cries loudly, Seara will tell him, "Baby Enoch, too loud in the house!" When Elijah says, well, just about anything, she'll tell him, "You're right! Smart, Lija!" (Whether its right or not.) Her latest song creation is sung to "Mary Had a Little Lamb":

Seara had a baby Enif, baby Enif, baby Enif.
Enif, Enif, Enif, Enif, whose fleece was white as snow.

And her newest favorite thing to do is lay in the sink. This particular day she decided to take her clothes off ... and then she fell asleep.



See? She is a goof.


*You do know that when I call her goofy, or crazy, or say that she is a nut, I mean that as a compliment, right? In our family, we really value craziness, uniqueness, silliness, randomness, and all things ended in -ness. When I was single I used to worry that my crazy quirks drove boys away (they did). Then I met Sam and he actually LIKED that about me - in fact it was one of the things that really attracted him. (Let me interject that his attraction to my craziness kinda scared me. Something has to be wrong with this kid if he actually LIKES that I'm a nut case. That is not normal.) I learned why when I met his family. They are just as nuts as I am. (Once again, I mean that as a compliment.) The first time I joined their family for family prayer, they got the giggles. Even his parents. Everyone was laughing so hard over nothing in particular that we never did finish the prayer. The first time they visited our house in Spanish Fork, his parents had a contest to see who could jump down the most stairs in a single leap. See where I'm coming from?

Random Stuff (Sam Post)

Tomorrow we're doing the equivalent of a trip to Phoenix (3 hr. drive) and going to visit Philadelphia! Pretty cool. It should be a fun trip, but I hope the kids are good. Their attention span is about .5 nanoseconds. Or less. Anyway, we'll be posting some pictures from that trip tomorrow.

For now, let me just display my geekiness by saying that I just got a fountain pen for our anniversary. It's a Pilot Knight pen, and it rocks.




I also started reading Thomas More's Utopia last week. It's actually really readable, despite what you might think of the era. Pretty interesting stuff if you're interested in philosophy.

I promise I'll post something substantive at some point. Until then, drool over the coolness of my fountain pen.

Loser-Head

So I've been posting A LOT lately. And I keep getting comments like "I can't believe you are posting" which translates into, "You post too often and it is irritating to me, so I no longer read all your posts because I don't care that much about you, you big, fat, loser." (I know you are all so impressed at my ability to divinate what others think. It's one of my greater talents. And I don't care if divinate isn't a word. If Shakespeare can invent words, so can I.) Because of this, I feel the need to defend myself and justify my constant posting.

First, I am a journal-writer. We are actually a subspecies of people that branch off you regular homosapiens. I find some kind of satisfaction putting my feelings down in words. (And exaggerating if necessary to make the story better, although I try to exaggerate obviously - for example, using numerical terms like a gabillion - that way you know what part of the story is real and what part is 'improved'.) I've written at least a page in my journal nearly every single day for the last 13 years. So blogging doesn't take any extra time out of my day - it just replaces my regular old journaling time.

Second, until I started blogging, my journal was not published in a public forum. However, due to our recent move, I have now become a bonafied loser. As in, my only friends can't speak in sentence form and are under three feet tall (and Samuel, who is stuck by virtue of our temple sealing). Okay, I don't think you understand. On Thursday I called my sister four times and my mom five. I don't leave the apartment complex for days at a time. Getting the mail is one of the highlights of my day. I listen to NPR (news radio) and pretend they are my friends. I'M LONELY!! So posting my would-be journal entries in a blog is my way of sending signals out into space and hoping that some life form out in the universe actually picks them up and can translate what I am saying. And then, well, it's not like I check my comments at least five or ten times an hour or anything lame like that, but, you know, if I just happen to walk by the computer, and happen refresh the blog page, and happen see a new comment, well, it makes my day.

Okay, I think I've sufficiently defended myself. I hope someone out there in space can translate this.

Eastern Excursion 3: Federal Hill

Since our travel day fell on our anniversary, we decided to do something easy this week. (Believe it or not, the big trips really wipe me out!) So, we just learned a little bit about the history of Baltimore and went to a favorite look-out point for a picnic lunch. It was actually really beautiful and we hope to go back many, many more times!

BALTIMORE & FEDERAL HILL PARK

This picture looks fuzzy small, but if you click on it, it will look great. The black line is actually a lamppost.

Baltimore was founded in 1729 and serves as a major U.S. seaport. With the fall of the manufacturing industries, Baltimore shifted to a service sector-oriented economy and now touts Johns Hopkins University and Hospital as its largest employer. The Inner Harbor was once the second leading port of entry for immigrants to the states and currently houses various museums and tourist attractions. Just south of the Inner Harbor stands Federal Hill. Named in 1789 in celebration of the ratification of the U.S. Constitution, Federal Hill served as a lookout during both the Civil War and the War of 1812. Federal Hill is now a public park and continues to be a popular lookout point over the Inner Harbor and Baltimore City.

Seara and Elijah below a statue of Samuel Smith, a general during the War of 1812 who helped defend Fort McHenry. He later served as a U.S. Senator.

Enoch and I with the city behind us

Seara and Elijah eating our picnic lunch

Sitting on a park bench, enjoying the beautiful view of the harbor

Our 4th Anniversary

WARNING: If you have jealous tendencies, you better back away from your computer right now. Because this might throw you into a jealous rage.


Yesterday Samuel and I celebrated our 4th anniversary. (No, we never imagined that by our fourth we would have THREE kids. We think we're just as insane as you think we are.) But all that is not the reason you should be jealous (in fact, for that we probably deserve your pity and prayers). THIS is the reason you should be jealous:

1) After dinner, Sam takes full responsibility of the kids. He plays with them, reads to them, gets them ready for bed, and puts them to sleep. While I do whatever I want. (Which is usually something lame like fold laundry. But still.)

2) As long as he is home, I pretty much never change a diaper. And I wasn't the one who instigated that.

3) When the baby wakes up at night, Samuel gets up and brings him to me in bed. I feed the baby, then Sam burps him and puts him back to bed. If he is upset, Sam is the one who is up with him. Once again, this was not my doing - it has been at his insistence since baby #1.

4) When we visit my family, he takes over the kids so I can visit. For example, when we visited my sister Cara in Pittsburgh, he would disappear with all the kids, and leave Cara and I to chat for hours.

5) Each night he writes in his journal and always ends with "I love Janae because ... " and fills in some cute detail that makes me sound way cooler than I am. The best part about that, though, is that last Valentines he combined all those reasons into a book for me.

And you think these are highlight moments of how wonderful he is - the best of the best. THEY'RE NOT! If I told you the best of the best, you would probably leave your husband and come try to steal mine. BUT HE'S MINE AND I'M NOT SHARING so you don't get those kinds of juicy details. :)

It Begins . . . (Sam Post)

So I guess I ought to post on this blog. Posting=coolness. I thought of saying something like, "No blackmail material," but then I realized that this would exempt everyone from the occasional ridicule of "one side is normal, one side is not" and things like that. So, blackmail material is okay to a point. Just don't start talking about the time Paul and I slept over at Bryant Hancock's house the night before the first day of 6th grade. Paul might be the only one who knows what I'm talking about. Let's keep it that way. There you have it! I can feel the family unity increasing already!

Blog Stalking

blog stalk \blo'g sto'k or bläg sto'k\, verb:
1 to religiously check a blog for any new content, usually multiple times per day
2 to secretly read someone's blog with the express purpose of learning more about them without their knowledge; to stalk via blog

I solved my problem with definition 1 when I discovered Google Reader. I generally don't have a problem with definition 2. Generally. As in I only stalk one person.

Let me introduce you to my blog stalkee:

Brooke

Brooke is my older sister's friend, so I'm not as crazy as I sound. But she doesn't know who I am, and she doesn't know that I know so many intimate details about her life. I don't stalk her blog because I'm a psycho, though!! I stalk her for three reasons:

(1) She does cute things like put an accent in her name, surround her name by these things {} (What are those called? Does anyone know?), and describe herself in her blog profile with just one sentence: "I am flippant." Don't you just love her?? I guess if I copy her now everyone will know it and not credit me with such ingenious ideas. Blast. I guess this will help my honesty kick. Maybe that wasn't such a good idea after all.

(2) She is me. Only she doesn't know it. But check this out. I read those first five sentences and thought, "Oh my gosh, I wrote that!!"

(3) She is hilarious to a degree that I can only dream of! This is my all-time favorite post of hers. But this one is a close second.

I think my stalking just reached an all-new, unhealthy level. As in I'm posting a tribute to my stalkee. I just might need therapy.

So what inspired this tribute to Brooke? My cousin Devin's wife, Allie. She did one of those tag things, and she tagged me. And I wanted revenge, so I needed to tag her back. So today Brooke did one of those tag things. I've seen this one recently and it cracked me up, and unfortunately my kids are too little to do it for me. BUT ALLIE'S AREN'T!! So, Allie (and Lyndi, and Asialene, and Cara, and anyone else with kids who can speak full intelligible sentences on a regular basis):

TAG! YOU'RE IT!!

Here's what you do: Go to Brooke's blog post. Copy the list of questions and ask them to your kids. Then share the answers.

ps. Allie, I'm just kidding. I don't really want revenge. I just want to know what your crack-up of kids will answer. :) Here is your tag.

Five Things on my To Do List
1. Buy new computer
2. Come up with a creative way to destroy stupid, slow, old computer
3. Film the destroying of said old computer
4. Make movie of destruction of old computer
5. Post film on blog to entertain the masses

Five Jobs I’ve Had
1. Janitor for the LDS church (There is a reason I hate vacuuming ... seven hours of vacuuming a day, five days a week, for an entire summer would convince anyone to never EVER vacuum again. BTW, the eighth hour was toilet time. I actually looked forward to that part after the vacuuming.)
2. Bagger at Macey's grocery store (aka professional flirt)
3. Secretary for BYU Catering (This is called being paid to do your homework. You can only organize the entire office so many times before you cave in and ask the boss if you can actually be productive.)
4. Spanish Teacher at the MTC (Unfortunately, I found that 19 year-old boys and I have similar senses of humor. I loved this job!!)
5. Mom (I may not be employed, but I sure as heck do WORK!)

Five Places I’ve Lived
1. San Juan, Puerto Rico
2. Cochabamba, Bolivia
3. Sandy, Utah
4. Porto, Portugal
5. Baltimore, Maryland

Five Favorite Snacks
1. Granny Smith apples with cheese or peanut butter
2. Chocolate milk
3. Spoonfuls of brown sugar (hey, remember, I'm working on honesty here)
4. Vanilla yogurt
5. Pears with cottage cheese

Five Things I would do if I were a Billionaire
1. Build a tree-house getaway like they have on that old Disney Swiss Family Robinson movie
2. Make one of those super-tall hedge mazes with lookout points in case you get lost
3. Build a tall building, put all my money in coins, fill the building with coins, and swim in it like Scrooge McDuck
4. Go to the moon
5. Build a house that is full of secret passageways

Five Things You May Not Know about Me
1. I have a small gap between my front teeth that I edit out in all my pictures. (I lost my retainer on my mission, so I didn't have the gap before then. Okay, I didn't have it from the time I was 13 until I was 20. But I'm not going to resurrect with a gap, so I'm pretending it never happened. One day I'll be rich enough to go to an orthodontist and get it fixed. Again.)
2. I really, really, really want to learn French.
3. My two dreams in life are to walk on The Great Wall of China and to go on an African Safari. (Both of which were done recently by people I love - Davis & Asialene walked on the Great Wall and Bart & Rebecca went on a Safari. Jerks.)
4. I have Finding Nemo memorized. As in the entire movie. Word for word. (And not because it's Seara's or Elijah's favorite movie. Its mine.)
5. My name is Janae Ricks, and I'm a recovering Spider Solitaire addict. I have been clean now for one week. (I deleted the game off my computer. Enough was enough.)

Five Things I Love
1. Trees
2. Traveling
3. Talking to people
4. Swimming
5. Blogging

Eastern Excursion 2: Smithsonian, part 1

The SMITHSONIAN, part 1

This week we headed to DC on the first of a handful of Smithsonian visits. The Smithsonian Institution museum complex in Washington DC consists of 16 museums and the National Zoo. (I didn't know that before this week. I thought it was one museum.) All the museums are located in or near the National Mall, which is a sprawling green space between the Capital and the Washington Monument that is surrounded on all sides by historical sites and museums. (I hadn't even heard of the National Mall before this week.) You could literally spend days in almost every museum (especially because they are all free), but with three tiny ones, that isn't really possible. So, we're hitting them a handful at a time. This week we visited:

The Castle

The Castle (aka Smithsonian Institution Building) was built from 1847-1853 and houses the main Smithsonian Visitor's Center. They have a small handful of exhibits, but the only one we really took time to walk through was "American Heroes of the Olympic Spirit". The exhibit was showcasing 49 Olympic medals dating back to the 1940s and 4 torches. That was exciting, considering that the Beijing Summer Games are starting in a week!

Smithsonian Gardens

Surrounding the Castle are various complex gardens that I was going to write all about before I realized that probably no one but me really cares about. They were beautiful. One day I'm going to have an amazing garden like that. And I'm going to have a gardener to boss around and make do all the yucky work. :)

A squirrel Sease & Lije befriended

Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden

Large modern art sculptures. Brain cells depleted. Need I say more?

(Okay, so even though my husband is an artist, we both agree that modern art is mostly nuts. Sorry if you like it and I offended you. Well, sort of sorry. I'm not too sorry yet. I'll work on it.)

National Air and Space Museum

The National Air and Space museum boasts the largest collection of air and spacecraft in the world. Better yet, almost all of them are either originals or backups to the originals. As you first walk into the central atrium you are immediately surrounded by the "Milestones of Flight" exhibit. Both on the floor and hanging from the rafters are some of the most important air and space artifacts in history, including The Spirit of St. Louis (the plane Charles Lindbergh flew for the first solo flight across the Atlantic) and the command module of Apollo 11 (the Neal Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin one). They also have an Apollo Lunar Module, which the missions used to fly from their craft to the moon and back. This museum was fascinating!

The Spirit of St. Louis

Apollo Lunar Module

National Museum of Natural History

The National Museum of Natural History was established in 1910 and has over 125 million specimens of rocks, fossils, plants, animals, etc. It is the second most popular Smithsonian museum (Air and Space is the first). The kids disagree with that statistic, though, because this one definitely got a first place rating from them! It has a huge amount of exhibits, and all about things they know, so they were wildly entertained.

The Hall of Mammals was fun because they kids recognized the rhino, giraffe, elephant, etc. The Hall of Dinosaurs not so much because the kids don't recognize dinos without their skin on (Seara got a brief lesson on bones). There was an Ocean Views photography exhibit that Elijah loved because of all the "Nemos" (aka fish). And the Hall of Minerals was hilarious because Seara had never seen colored rocks before. She kept calling out, "Purple rock!" and "Pink rock!" Then there was the Hall of Gems (which includes the Hope Diamond). I never used to understand what the big deal was with women and jewelry. I wear a wedding ring. That's it. No watch, no earrings, no rings, no bracelets, no necklaces. My eyes have been opened.

The jewels that converted me

The highlight of it all, though, was the Butterfly Pavilion. The temporary exhibit is a small, enclosed, tropical pavilion where hundreds of butterflies from about 30 species fly around freely. Tickets to enter the pavillion were $6 per adult, $5 per child. But we struck gold and happened to show up on the day they were letting people in for FREE! So, all of Seara's birthday dreams came true and she got to be surrounded by hundreds of butterflies of all different sizes and colors. One almost landed on her foot! It was amazing!

One of the hundreds of butterflies