As a reward for hard work on reports, my mom and I took Hope and Jenna to see the American Girl movie: Kit Kittredge. It was a wonderful movie and very "G"! For those true American Girl fans, the movie doesn't completely follow the story line of Kit's books but it's still very entertaining. Here is a website for the movie: http://www.kitkittredge.com/ and here is a Christian Review site:  http://www.pluggedinonline.com/movies/movies/a0004078.cfm.

 

Our friend and financial consultant, Gary, directed us to ING Direct Savings for a 3% savings account! It was super easy to open and there are no hidden charges. It is basically a money market with no strings - you can withdraw and deposit at any time at no cost. If you have your money sitting in a savings account at less than 1/2 % interest, move it over at www.ingdirect.com !

For the past two weeks, Hope and Jenna have operated a classy lemonade stand. The first week it was in front of our house. They netted about $10 each. They were invited to bring their business to our local (very, local) farmer's market. They doubled their profits and had a great time doing it. It was a family affair, but they did work pretty hard - and it was hot! Thanks to my friend, Stacey Hunter, and her home-made lemonade recipe, they even had some repeat customers. Check out the photos from this past Saturday. You'll see how small town we really are!

 

    It's been a very busy week already - but a very good one. I'm actually writing this from the Kent County Library in Chestertown, MD. Jenna is at a Safe Sitter class today and this town is about an hour from us, so I decided to hang around town today and on Monday while she was in class. It's a beautiful little historic town.

 

    Yesterday we spent about 4 hours in DC with our friends, the Harwood Family. (Fun, fun, fun! Thanks, Harwoods!) We walked through the Museum of Natural History (can you say "evolution"?). We cleared our minds with a picnic lunch on the Mall. Our plan was to also visit the National Archives and the Library of Congress. If anyone ever tries to convince you that media has no power to influence, take them to Washington DC. The National Treasure movies have increased awareness and curiosity of these and other important historical sites. In this case, I think it's great, except for the fact that we didn't want to wait in the lines outside to go inside. Paul and I decided to bring the girls back to DC in September when kids are back in school! By the way, the pictures on the fountain wall will forever remind me of me diving in the fountain after Hope's purse with her Ipod. I almost fell in completely, but thankfully, Hope grabbed my legs and we saved the Ipod! (Her book Treasure Island was a bit soggy, but it dried out!)

  

    Also, when we returned home, we enjoyed a long family bike ride. I think we were gone for about 2 hours. It's the first time we have lived in a place where we could do that. We look forward to many more rides.

 

  Lately I have been reading the gospels. Jesus has the Words of Life - He is the Word of Life. I have been going very slowly through each chapter. Today, a few words jumped off the page at me in Luke 8:48 - "Do not fear, only believe...". He knows us so well, doesn't He? We tend toward fear and have to be reminded to believe in Him, to trust Him, to have faith in Him, don't we? Well, I do, anyway! This song came to mind as I was meditating on these few words. I hope the words speak to you, too.

 

Yesterday, I made a quick trip to K-mart for a few items that I wanted to have with us at Jenna's Dance Recital. I was one of the "Backstage Moms", so I was hoping to have some snacks, water bottles, games in a basket because we had at least 1 1/2 hours to wait. As I pulled our car into the parking space, I felt a pretty strong "bump" on our front bumper. Well, it was actually me hitting the parked car in front of me! Thank God for bumpers! I got out and looked at both of the bumpers and couldn't see anything wrong, but I decided that I better wait and talk to the owner. I waited for about 10 minutes and then thought I should check to see if the car belonged to an employee (plus, it was about 95 degrees outside). About that time, a woman walked past me to that car and started to open the door. I told her I had been waiting for her because I had hit her car - well, strongly tapped her bumper. Her response - "Are you OK?", with a look of concern in her eyes. "People are so much more important than things!" I was absolutely fine, I just wanted to make sure that nothing was wrong with her car. She looked it over and thought it was OK and I gave her my name and phone number before she gave me a hug and told me not to worry about it.  I walked into K-mart thinking of the grace of God that was just extended to me in a parking lot. Would I have been so gracious? Thank you, Vicki! Thank you, God!

 

I hope to post about Jenna's recital in a day or so. It was a fun couple of days! Check back soon!

 

We had a wonderful time on Monday with our friends, the Cox family, traveling into DC for the Memorial Day Ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery. Long-time friend, Bruce Block and his wife, Sveltlana, saved us seats about 12 rows from the front. We felt very honored to be there, among many people who had lost loved ones in Iraq and Afghanistan. Paul got many close pictures of President Bush and our entire experience at Arlington. Check out the snipers on top of the structure. We have included a lot of pictures, but if you have time, you'll see how close we were to our Commander-in-Chief.

I received an email informing me of the tragic news of Steven Curtis Chapman's daughter, Maria, being accidentally killed in their driveway by their teenage son, driving one of their cars. She was 5 years old and the youngest of all of their children, the third to be adopted from China. Pray for this family...pray God would especially minister to their son. May he experience God's mercy in the depths of his soul.

 

Here's a news article with more details:  http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080521/TUNEIN/80521174/1005/ENTERTAINMENT

My Mother's Day started on Saturday when the girls and I got dressed up for a 50's banquet at our church in Maryland. We had to drive about 1 1/2 hours (actually 2 hours with D.C. traffic) and bring a main dish to share. Most of the time I don't enjoy pot lucks: too much fried chicken and desserts. Actually, this one was very good. We had never been to an event like this at this church, so we weren't sure if the ladies would dress up - but they did! Let's just say that we didn't win any awards. We had a lot of fun, though. Eva, Paul's mom, joined us and we all enjoyed the evening program. The girls gave me a lovely bracelet before we left for the banquet so that I could wear it. (See pictures.)

 

Sunday morning we ate light because we planned to go out to lunch after church. We visited another church in Fredericksburg (since we could), which was a very warm and welcoming church. We ate at Chili's-it was good and NOT crowded at 12:30. Afterwards, I spent time with each girl for a few hours. Jenna and I were going to hang out at a gym, where they normally hold "open gym". We got there and it was closed because of Mother's Day. So, we went to Target and bought a new game (spending the money we would have spent at the gym) and then found a table at Border's Cafe and played "In a Pickle". It was fun. We got stuck in a downpour. I treasure the time I got with Jenna. Let me just say that she never lacks for things to talk about. I think this will be a great benefit especially when she gets a few years older.

 

Hope and I braved the storm and found a nice booth at Panera where we ate a little dinner. We talked and read a book together - about things that growing girls need to know. It was a special time. I love my girls! I am thankful for the daughters the Lord has entrusted to us.

 

In the evening, Paul and I watched a DVD that he bought for me: BBC's new Sense and Sensibility. It was fabulous - Paul even liked it. I would recommend it, although a little risque short opening scene. That's a great husband for you - watching a Jane Austin with me! :) (Just don't ask him to watch Pride and Prejudice.)

 

Our time in Virginia is coming to close tomorrow. We'll drop off TJ and my parent's car at my brother's house, then head on home. We're ready to be in our own home.