April we started baseball GAMES!  The chaos wasn’t quite so bad but we had to get grand parents involved so that there would be SOMEONE at all of the boys games.  Several nights all 3 boys had a game at the SAME TIME!!  I did NOT like that at all!!  I don’t like missing ANY games!!  S hit 2 homeruns this season and I missed both of them because I was at one of his brothers games!! Fields for games were on the East and West sides of town!!!  We raced from game to game every night!  We spent most nights at the ball field VERY LATE.  All but 3 of T’s 20+ games were 8:00 games!!  We were seldom home before 10:30!! 

We wrote Thank You cards to all our state Representatives & Senators that voted against same sex marriage.  We actually got a response back from 2 of them telling us thank you!  We also wrote out Red Envelopes and sent them to the White House as a stand against abortion.  Once again the boys were exposed to “politics”.

In April we read the books of Judges, Ruth and 1 Samuel.  We learned a lot about David and Saul.  We began learning about Ancient Greece.  Now the Old Testament is getting exciting for the boys!  We started reading The Children’s Homer (very interesting) and T read The Trojan Horse aloud to us.  T used his own money and bought MOBY DICK and read it in April!!!  WooHoo!!!  I was AMAZED!!  I’ve never read that book.

The Lea County Children’s Choir put on their concert in April. They sang songs from The Wizard of Oz and The Sound of Music.  HALF the choir did not show up for the concert and that was rather disappointing!!  But our boys did GREAT and had fun.  I don’t think we will be joining that choir next school year.

Easter was in April so we headed to our Annual Easter Reunion on the Saturday of Easter weekend.  As soon as they got all the eggs out for the hunt it started pouring rain!  They went ahead and hunted in the rain so all the kids were drenched when they got done!!  S won the prize for the Most Eggs Found!  He’s won lots of prizes this year!!

I think that about covers April.

March winds blew in The Collins Crew CHAOS!!!!  March 2 we began baseball practices.  All 3 boys were in 3 different leagues this season… 8U, 10U and 12U.  They LITERALLY practiced at the most Southern point and most Northern point of the city with one right in the middle of town!!  All 3 practices started and ended at the SAME TIME 3 days a week.  The boys would wear their practice clothes to choir and violin and we would leave there and go straight to ball practice.  By the end of March we dropped violin lessons.  It just became TOO MUCH for all of us.

We finished the book of Exodus in March and we built a Model of the Old Testament Tabernacle.  We moved right along through the books of Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy and Joshua in March. 

We read 3 different “read-a-loud” books by Patricia St. John this year during school and they were very heart wrenching stories.   Her books are wonderful examples of how God works in our lives IF we allow him  to.  Those stories we read brought my 9 yr old, N to tears every time!  To the point that he would just fall into my arms and sob on my shoulder!!!  He has a huge heart and I am more convinced than ever before that God has something wonderful planned for that boy when he answers God’s calling.

T is really enjoying READING!!  He read books in March about the Titanic and Sharks.  I am so happy that one of my boys LOVES TO READ!!

We don’t ever take a full week off for Spring Break but we did take a long weekend and go to Del Rio to check on my Dad & PaPa.  PaPa had an accident and broke his foot but it sure did NOT slow him down any!  We saw an Armadillo on the way to Del Rio.  That was the 1^st time any of us had seen one out in the wild.  On the way home I got a great picture of our beautiful New Mexico sunsets.  After that break we came back home to our crazy baseball schedules.

We had a PJ Nite at Kings Kids where we all wore our Pajamas and watched Space Buddies on the big screen.  The kids love those nites that we do something different.

One Saturday, Daddy took the boys Havalina Hog hunting.  They had a blast!!!  It was actually a friend of Daddy's that had the tag to hunt but they all had fun hunting that ONE hog!!

The boys learned a song on their guitars to play at 5^th Sunday Sing.  T & N played the music while S sang.  It was  so cute!!!!  Mom was just on the stage for support so S didn’t feel like he was singing all by himself.

For school one day I let the boys repair their go kart that my PaPa gave them.  Mechanics is a GREAT thing to learn!  They fixed it and made it run!!  We also planted lots of flowers in March.  Spring was just around the corner.

Now we blow into April…

My neice turned 2 on Feb. 1…  I LOVE to watch her with her Daddy!!  I am so amazed that my brother has made such a WONDERFUL Daddy!!!

Feb. 2 Daddy & the boys went Barbary Sheep hunting.  Daddy fell – chasing a sheep – and hurt his knee really bad.  It literally took MONTHS to heal!!  So he gave up on getting a sheep after he got hurt, but T got his 1^st Barbary Sheep!!  We were so proud of him.  He’s becoming quite a hunter!!!

We had fun learning the 10 Commandments and the 10 plagues of Egypt in Feb.  We can all STILL recite them too!!  haha

For Valentines Day,  Daddy took us bird hunting WITH DOGS!  It was SO FUN!!!  Daddy & T were the only ones that carried guns.  N & S got to work the dogs & get the birds from them!  It was so cool to watch those dogs work!  I got some awesome video that day!!

At Kings Kids we had a “Cowboy Nite” where we all dressed as cowboys.  S won the prize for CUTEST COWBOY!

Temple Baptist Children’s Choir sang at our 5^th Sunday Sing in Feb.  It brought so much joy to my heart seeing S sing his little heart out!!  He kept begging me to QUIT choir but I wouldn’t let him so he stayed in there & ended up enjoying it!!  Imagine that!!!  haha

We met our church youth group in Odessa at a Jackalopes hockey game one Saturday.  The kids had a blast there with some of their friends from church.

I am posting a picture that is SO FUNNY!  S had got into trouble and was getting a spanking for it.  He came downstairs with his "blankie" in the back of his shorts!!!  I was so hard to sit there and not laugh!!  So I grabbed the camera & took a picture!!

On to March we go.... 

JANUARY???  Ok, it’s actually JULY!!! 

What’s my most used statement on my blogs???  WE ARE SO BUSY!!!! 

As I sit down to update my blog I have to look back at pictures & homeschool records to see what kept us so busy in January!  So here’s what we did…

We spent all of the Fall Semester of school in the Book of Genesis.   We did learn A LOT but I thought we’d never finish that book!  So when we resumed school in Jan. we FINALLY finished Genesis and started the Book of Exodus. 

For Christmas,  Santa brought us all tickets to MONSTER JAM!!!  That’s monster trucks for those that don’t know.  So in January we loaded up & went to San Antonio to see Monster Jam!!  The boys have watched it on TV so they decided they would make home made signs to take with them like they see other people do.  It was VERY FUN!!!  None of us had ever been in a coliseum SO BIG!!!  Wow!!  We had front row seats and we were all in awe!!  THANK YOU SANTA!!

Our favorite friends The Hughes Family met us there & we spent one night & one day with them!!  It was SO GOOD to see them again!!!  We took the kids to The Alamo (Again!  I don’t think they remembered the 1^st time we took them.) and the Riverwalk.  We ate at Magic Time Machine & had loads of fun!!  We were sad to see them go!  We haven’t seen them since! 

My BABY, S got baptized in January!!!  So I’m ready for the trumpet to sound ANYTIME!!

Inauguration day was a very sad day for me!!!  As sad as I was we still got up to watch all the formalities on TV.  We watched the whole thing then we headed to Midland to see President & Laura Bush at their WELCOME HOME rally!!  We did not have tickets & didn’t expect to get in to the event.  We would’ve been happy seeing Air Force One fly over us.  But we got tickets and we were so excited!!!!  So we got in to the event & hung out for 5 HOURS waiting for him to arrive!!  It wasn’t too bad though.  When they got to Midland they flew right over our heads!  Then finally they got to downtown where we were.  His speech was AWESOME!  I cried a lot that day!  He was a WONDERFUL President that restored INTEGRITY to the White House!!!  It was so nice to see both of them with the weight of the world OFF their shoulders!  We love George W. Bush!!!

As our new President took office we all became more involved in politics than ever before.  NM elected several liberal politicians and I felt a heavy burden to stand up for our beliefs!!!  The boys & I spent countless hours on the phone calling our state representatives and senators!  We made an impact THIS YEAR but we’ll have to do it all again next year.  The boys were amazed at all the phone calls and emails we made.  I feel that was a great thing for them to experience.   Their generation has got to be taught to stand up for what’s RIGHT!!!

At the end of January we continued with Lea County Children’s Choir and violin lessons for another semester. 

So that’s what kept us busy in JANUARY!!

December came & went pretty fast!  As usual we were BUSY but I don't think it was too bad this year.  We did get to ENJOY Christmas!! 

The boys sang in 2 Christmas programs with the Lea County Childrens Choir.  T & N both got lead parts in the church Christmas program.  It was a very sweet heart warming story!  N as Leon stole the show and made his Mom & Dad very proud!!  There were not many dry eyes in the house when he got done singing to Baby Jesus!

With my nervousness about our new government taking over in Jan. I felt the need to make this a VERY SPECIAL Christmas.  We had several days together AT HOME with nothing to do but enjoy each other!!  I thank God for those days!! 

We were very blessed in 2008 and I pray that we all continue to be healthy and happy in 2009.

Enjoy our pics from December....

November we continued our study of Ancient Egypt.  We took a fieldtrip with another homeschooling family to the Science Spectrum where we saw some Ancient Egyptian Artifacts and watched a Mummy movie at the Omnitheatre.  That was a fun day.

We went to Del Rio for Thanksgiving.  Rather than going to a lot of trouble to cook the traditional Thanksgiving meal we went out on the boat and cooked hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill.  The weather was very nice and it was an enjoyable day.  N caught the only fish that was caught that day.

The Lea County Childrens Choir did a Christmas program in November and they also sang at the Community Prayer Breakfast.  We had to be there by 5:30 in the morning!!!  Therefore, not many of them showed up.  They sang beautifully though!!

Here's pics from November...

October was a fun month.  We started our study of Ancient Egypt, pyramids, mummies, etc.  Rather than write a lot for you to read I will let the pictures do the talking....

Ok, so it hasn't ALWAYS been so smooth but without those waves our marriage wouldn't be what it is today.  God has blessed us with an amazing relationship!!!

We left on Oct. 1, drove to Del Rio & stayed the nite with my Dad.  The next day we got up & drove to Houston to stay a few days with our best friends that moved there in May.  We had a fun time with them.  We went to the Blue Bell Ice Cream factory!  YES, we got free ice cream!!!  haha  That was a lot of fun & very interesting!!!!

On Oct. 5 we took a 7 day cruise.  It was the highlight of my life to see my boys amazement that whole week!!!  I am so thankful that God provided the means for us to take our boys on such a wonderful vacation!! 

We left Houston & sailed to Jamaica where we rode inner tubes down the river in the middle of the thick jungle!  I think I liked that more than the kids did.  They didn't like the fact that all our inner tubes were tied together & they didn't get to go down the river on their own.  The jungle/rain forest was just beautiful!

The next day we were in Grand Cayman.  We fell in love with this island!  We'd love to go back & spend a week there!!  We went to the turtle farm where they raise & release sea turtles.  Then we swam with STINGRAYS!!!  T, N and Daddy LOVED it!!!  N was floating in the clouds after that.  He just kept hugging me & saying...  That was so awesome, that was so awesome....  He brought tears to my eyes seeing how happy he was.  S and I on the other hand did not like it that much!  I just stood there & didn't move!!  Those crazy stingrays just rub all over you like cats do!!!  It was really cool but not my favorite thing.

Next we went to Cozumel - now this was my favorite day!!  We swam with dolphins and it was way cool!!!  We all loved it!!!  I'll have to scan some pics to post becuz I only took pics with my water camera that I have to have developed.  So be sure to check back for those pics.

We had a great time!!  Loads of fun & relaxing!!

After the cruise we spent another day in Houston with friends.  We were treated as family at their new church & we just fell in love with everyone we met there!!

After leaving Houston we went back to Del Rio & spent a few days with my Dad & my PaPa.  My Dad is not good health wise and taking care of my PaPa is taking a toll on him mentally.  They both did not want us to leave.

Enjoy our vacation pics....  I'll post more after I scan them!

Our trip continued....

Well, September was a GREAT month for us. 

We were married 20 yrs on Sept. 3.  Wow!!  We aren't old enough to have been married 20 yrs!!!!  When P proposed to me, he had my ring tied on a dozen roses & wrote a sweet poem asking me to marry him.  I was so young & DUMB that I didn't GET IT until he pointed out the ring on the roses!!!  Well, on our anniversary I woke up to find roses & lillies on the table.  As soon as I bent down to smell the roses I saw the ring in the lilly!!!  I told him...  You didn't get me this time!!!  Well, the joke was on me AGAIN!!  A good 30 min later he asked if I was going to take any pictures of the ring in the flower.  So I did and he said....  Stand on the chair so you can see BOTH lillies.  N stood in the chair next to me & I was shocked when he said....  Mom!!!  There's another ring in this one!!!!  Sigh....  He got me AGAIN!!!  I have the BEST husband in the world!!! 

We started school the last week of August and we absolutely LOVE our curriculum this year!!  The boys are doing great with it!  This is the 1st year EVER that we actually get up and start school by 8-8:30 EVERY DAY!!!  I am amazed with all of us!! 

We are going thru the Old Testament this year and we have had some really good "new" lessons come out of scripture that I've read a hundred times before!  God is so good to us!  We are studying Old Testament Feasts & celebrations.  In September we learned about the Sabbath and how to celebrate it from a Christian perspective rather than Jewish.  I was really overwhelmed by it at first but then I was so glad we did go ahead & do the study & the actual celebration becuz it became an amazing time of bonding for our family!! 

The boys are really enjoying the art program we are doing this year too!  We do art LAST so that they have that to look forward to after all the other school work.  We took a fieldtrip to the Post Office and another to the Staked Plains Round-up where we learned about Ranching Life.  T & N are in the Community Choir this year and they are having fun with that.

I do not like the Fall and I really fight depression when the leaves start turning.  We had several cloudy & rainy days which don't help either but overall, September turned out to be a really good month.

We left Oct. 1 and took 2 weeks off to celebrate our anniversary.  We had a wonderful vacation that I will blog about later today.

So for now here are some pics from the end of Summer and our 1st month of school. 

We are home from a wonderful vacation.  I am relaxed, refreshed and READY to begin our school year!  I love this feeling!  When we left town I did not even want to THINK about school yet!  I took all my teaching manuals with me and got really excited after reading thru the 1^st few weeks.  I knew when I ordered this year’s curriculum that this would be a fun year.  Now I’m even more excited about our year long history (His story) unit study- Creation to the Greeks.  We will travel back in time to Old Testament times as we learn about the history & culture of Israel & other civilizations; Egypt, Greece and Babylonia.  I am looking forward to recreating the feasts commanded by God that the Jewish people celebrated.  I hope to better understand these Jewish practices as the year progresses. 

We will begin school next Tuesday.  The first week we will learn about the Shabbat or Sabbath.  Wow!  There is A LOT of preparation for this 24 hour day of rest!  I’ll be exhausted & ready for a day of rest by the time we get all that done!!  haha

Before we start school I have a few more goals I need to achieve this week!  Haha  My big goal is to get all of our closets & drawers cleaned out then get the boys rooms cleaned & organized again!  I know I just did that at the beginning of summer!  WHAT HAPPEN?!!  ;o)  IF I can get all that done I will have accomplished every “summer goal” except cleaning the garage!  I’ll wait for a cool Autumn day to tackle that one!

I haven't loaded vacation pics on my computer yet but I'll post some soon.  All 3 boys learned how to waterski this week.  We also had a blast at Schlitterbahn!!  My favorite was getting some REST!!  NOW I'm ready to think about school!!  Keep us in your prayers as we begin our new school year.

Check back soon for pics....  Closets are calling me.....

It breaks my heart to hear a mom say…  “I can’t wait til they go back to school!” or “Only 3 more weeks til school starts!”  My mind just does not comprehend that kind of thinking!!  I cannot imagine counting down the days to send my child to someone else’s care everyday!  Not only that – I just LOVE SUMMER!!! 

I love everything about it!  It can’t get too hot for me.  I love the heat, the sunshine, the green grass & flowers!  I love swimming and no schedules to follow!!  I was thinking tonite about my 1^st summers as a Mom.  I love the memories of T being 18 months old and me being pregnant with N.  I remember sitting in the back yard with T playing in his 1^st kiddie pool.  We would play a while then go take a nap together, get up & play some more.  I remember being so tired at the end of those hot summer days but thinking to myself….  THIS is what life is about!

Now I spend my summer days watching my boys get up to be in the pool by 9:30!  I love them running in & out all day!  Thank goodness for storm doors that close slowly behind them – until they wear out the shock!  haha  In my day we heard Mom yelling…  “Quit SLAMMING that door!” as the old wood frame screen door SLAMMED every time we went in or out!  Ahhh… memories!! 

I love staying up late and sleeping til we’re ready to get up every morning.  I love 4th of July!  I love going to the lake & baseball games!!  I love back yard camping & letting the boys sleep in the basement so they can watch movies all nite!  I just love letting them be KIDS!!  I thank God every nite for the memories my boys are making!  Why would I want to RUSH through summer?  NO WAY!!  I’m STILL saying at the end of the day… THIS is what life is about!

Yes, I’ve got LOTS of cleaning, organizing & redecorating done this summer.  And yes, I get anxious when I look at the calendar & see that I am running out of time to do all I had on my “to do” list for this summer!  But I know that all that cleaning & organizing will be there WHENEVER I get to it!! 

I have also spent this summer watching my very good friend prepare for her oldest daughters’ wedding in August.  As we’ve homeschooled our kids together the past several years we never dreamed this day would come SO SOON for her!  This week she bluntly said to me…  “17 summers is all you get!  Make them count!”  So with that thought in mind, I put down my dust rag and ENJOY the short time of summer that we have left!  No I won’t be sending my boys off to school in 3 weeks.  In fact we won’t even be starting our homeschool year in 3 weeks.  No, this Mom says…  “Oh no!  ONLY 6 more weeks of summer!”  I wish I could make it go slower, but I can’t, so I’ll just enjoy every day that God blesses us with!!  When I hear a mom make those comments that I don’t like to hear I say a prayer that God would help them realize they are rushing through that child’s life!  Not long ago I had a mom say to me…  “I can’t wait til she’s 18!!!” – the daughter is 10 years old!!!  I told this mom…  “Don’t say that!  You need to enjoy her while she’s a kid!!”  I won’t share her response becuz it made me want to take that little girl home with me!!

I AM excited about starting our school year.  I ordered our curriculum & organized all the school supplies this week.  So technically, we are ready, but in my heart I’m nowhere near ready for summer to end.

So with all that said.  I say to you….  ENJOY your summer!  Don’t wish it away!  You’re gonna miss this!

Here's a few summer pics...

DON'T LEAVE YET!!  THERE'S MORE!!!

THAT'S NOT ALL!!  You gotta check out these pics too....

 Have a GREAT Summer!!!

Boy have we had a HARD time catching up on REST and getting back into a routine!!  We are almost back to “normal” this week. 

Reflecting back over the trip we really do have some awesome memories.  We did SO MUCH in 10 short days!!  The only thing we did not get to do that the boys really wanted to do was go up in the Washington Monument.  I don’t know why we did not do that but we did get some very pretty pictures of it.  I was also disappointed that we did all the DC monuments at night.  Most of them are beautiful at nite but I don’t think my boys understood what they were seeing at the Vietnam Memorial becuz it’s a black wall & it was dark with no lights to light it up at night.  But they can say they’ve been there.

Thinking about funny things that happened or funny things that some of the kids said, I have to share some of them with you…  When we landed in Baltimore our awesome bus driver picked us up at the airport.  We all loved our bus as soon as we saw it.  We began our journey right then.  We all laughed when they told us they were taking us for MEXICAN food for dinner!!  Of course East coast Mexican is NOTHING like New Mexico Mexican food!!  It was very good though.  On the way to the restaurant one of the girls said… “This is NOTHING like Lovington!”  Indeed, it is VERY DIFFERENT, everything from traffic to clothes.  In DC the AVERAGE commute time to work is 3 HOURS then they drive 3 HOURS back home in the evening!!!  We ladies noticed at all the buildings we visited all the ladies working there were wearing very high stiletto heels!!  My feet were killing me wearing tennis shoes!!  And these people WALK a long way from their transportation to the office!!

I did not mention in my daily blog from DC all the security lines we stood in.  EVERY building in DC has a security line just like at airports to get into the building.  It is good that they do this but it is not much fun for those on a tour like we were.  Every line takes at least 30 min to get through.  We stood in line for 1 ½ hours to get into the House of Representatives!!  Yes, that was the day we had no food or water!!  We were very grumpy & became grumpier with every security line!!  We didn’t get lunch that day until around 3:00 and our guide insisted that we stop at the Supreme Court before going to lunch!  As we were going into the court house S said…  “Is this a restaurant?  PLEASE let this be a restaurant!!!”  I did not hear him say that but some of the other moms did and they laughed about that all week.  We were all thinking it, but only a child can say it and get away with it!!  Haha  That nite at dinner the waiter asked all the kids a question- I can’t remember exactly what it was but N & Heidi both quickly answered – A POLAR BEAR - and WON a big piece of chocolate cake!!  YUM!

On day 3 as we walked around the White House a lady was walking toward us.  Remember there are 20 of us and we are enjoying our stroll around the block.  This lady was very rude when she got right in S’s face (a 5 yr old!) and said… “STAY TO THE RIGHT!”  Of course he had no clue what she meant by that.  It became quite a joke for some of us the rest of the week.  Someone would just proclaim…  STAY TO THE RIGHT and we would laugh!

I am adding loads of pics from the trip for you to enjoy.   On day 4 N & S DID NOT want to get out of bed at all.  T pulled S halfway off the bed and he just slept like that until Daddy finally got him to wake up.   On the nite of day 7 we arrived at our hotel and T came running out of the bathroom and said…  MOM, you GOTTA come take a picture of this!!  He was so impressed with the fancy way they folded the toilet tissue and towels!  haha

I have to tell you how very proud I am of my boys!  They did so good on the trip!  I got so many compliments on their good behavior.  Sometimes I wonder…  Are they learning ANYTHING???  I feel as if I’m always on to them about something!!  I guess they do listen to me when I think they don’t.   I thank the Lord for my boys and I thank Him for the opportunity to homeschool them.   I feel like this trip was a chance of a lifetime for my family and I am SO GRATEFUL to all the people & businesses that donated to help us get there!  Going back to being proud of my boys… They did NOT complain one time about anything (except being hungry) the whole 10 days!  They just took it all in & enjoyed every minute of it!!  I was complaining after the 1^st day of my feet hurting!  Their little legs walked many more miles than mine did and none of them complained until on the airplane coming home S said…  Mom, my legs hurt.  So here I have to thank my Lord for blessing my boys with good health & stamina!

Thanks for taking the time to read my blogs.  Here are 3 slideshows of pics…  Enjoy…     

Well, today was the last day of our trip.  Seems we've been gone from home for a month!  But then... it all happen so fast!

This morning was our last trip thru the Lincoln Tunnel from New Jersey to New York.  I got a nice picture of the NY skyline from NJ.  I tried every morning & they were always blurry but today I finally got it!  Just before getting to Central Park we saw where John Lennon was shot.  His apartment building is very pretty & I'm sure the view of Central Park from all his windows is beautiful.  I got some really cool pics of street signs throughout this whole trip.  The pic of the Central Park street sign has John Lennons apartment in the back ground.

Cental Park had thousands of police officers there and we assumed it was that way everyday, but we found out later that Pres. Bush was arriving there anytime but we left before he got there.

S stopped to talk to a man playing his guitar on a park bench.  We all had a nice stroll thru the park.  It is so big and beautiful.  I got some really nice pics.  A very peaceful place to go to get away from all the hussle & bussle of NYC life!  They say that Central Park is the people's back yard becuz they don't have yards like we do!  I couldn't live like that!!

We left the park & went to a big church that was really pretty.  N drew several pictures on our trip.  I will take pics of them & post them later.  This morning he drew one for our bus driver.  It was the bus driver & the bus.  Our bus driver has a 3 yr old son that he has been away from for 10 days, so he had fun with our boys & he loved the picture N drew for him. 

On the way to the airport we got a bus tour of Queens & Harlem.

We flew out of La Guardia airport.  We ate lunch at the airport then after getting on the plane we sat on the run way for about 50 min waiting to take off.  We were all very sleepy!!  After finally getting in the air, Daddy & the boys all watched the movie they showed while I slept.  Then we arrived in Dallas where we had to wait on the runway for 15 min becuz our gate wasn't ready for us!  So guess what???  All 20 of us had to RUN to catch our next flight!!!  Just what my feet wanted to do!!  UGH!!!

We made it to Midland, ate supper there then came home!  We all slept SO GOOD last nite!!!  On the plane from Dallas to Midland T said...  I can't wait to sleep in MY bed!!  We got to sleep til 9:00 this morning which is 11:00 NY time!!  We would probably still be sleeping but S had a soccer game this morning!  So now I believe I'll go take a nap!!!

I've been making a list of stories I want to share with you all.  I'll try to blog them in the next few days.  But for now I can't think of anything but SLEEP!!

Today was a FULL FULL day!!!  We began w/a bus tour of downtown Manhatten (thank Heaven we didn't have to WALK) then we WALKED the Brooklyn Bridge from Manhatten to Brooklyn.  It was fun, cold & beautiful!  The cars were driving under us!  It was cool!!  After walking all the way to Brooklyn we turned around and walked all the way BACK to Manhatten!!  WHY you ask?  I HAVE NO CLUE!!!  haha  Just to say WE DID IT that's why!  Oh and our tour guide told us too!  She loves to torture us!!

We went to a church across the street from Ground Zero.  During the explosions every building around the WTC was damaged except for this church!!  It didn't even have a cracked window pane!!  Today I got a good picture of a cross that is actually an I-beam from the World Trade Centers.  When it came crashing down the cross actually landed the way it is in this picture!!  Just 2 more reminders that God is always in control!!!  We had seen the cross on another day but I didn't get a good pic of it.

From there we had lunch under Rockefeller Center.  Then it was on to a tour of Radio City Music Hall that has been restored to it's original 1932 condition.  WOW!!  What an amazing theater for that time period!!  It's amazing even for 2008!!  We got to go backstage and on stage!  I wanted to break out in song but the tour guide wouldn't be quiet long enough for me to!  haha  We saw Rockette costumes, Roxy's suite and we even met a real live Rockette!  Daddy was 1st in line for a picture! 

When we got out of Radio City Music Hall we actually had 2 1/2 hrs FREE TIME!!!  WooHoo!!!  We walked some streets of Time Square & found Fox News, Ed Sullivan Theater & the Hershey store.  Todd even found the perfect place to get a picture for Bub!!  hahaha   Every 5 min N was telling me...  Mom, this is where Spiderman did this or that....  He was loving seeing all the things he's seen in the Spiderman movies.  We saw a dog park!  The dogs are happy to be there out of their crowded apartment buildings but the people look miserable!  It stinks like dog wee!!  Imagine that!!  While walking and taking it all in S said...  Mom, is this a real city or are we dreamin'?  Ahhhh.....  

To add more magic to this "dream" we went ice skating at Rockefeller Center.  FUN, FUN, FUN!!  The longer we stayed the better the boys got at it.  T was doing spins & leg lifts.  N was in his own world & S finally got the courage to let go of Daddy's hand and he was going VERY FAST!!  The video is too cute of him.  It was like he was thinking.... I can't stop... I can't stop.... 

For dinner we went to Mars 2112 and ate w/the aliens!!  Then it was off to the Empire State Building!  Most of my pics were blurring cuz I was SHAKING so bad!!  But it was fun and VERY COLD!!

Well stayed tuned... tomorrow will bring more excitement as we end our trip....

We finally made it to New York!!  Before I go into our day...  Several have emailed wondering how we are feeling.  We are doing fine!!  VERY TIRED but the sinus & cold problems are just about gone.  Thanks for your prayers!!

We had to get up early to head to Ellis Island & The Statue of Liberty.  We were on our way there and we began to see "her" in the distance.   Now let me back up to last May...  All those months we were raising $ for the trip, people would ask...  What are you gonna do there?  S would tell them...  We're gonna see the Statue of Liberty!!!  This morning as we began to see her in the distance S said...  Daddy, my heart is starting to beat fast.  He was SO EXCITED!!!  He has waited for this day for a long time!!

We took the ferry from New Jersey to Ellis Island & learned a lot about the immigrants that came to this wonderful country & how it really was not so wonderful at that time.  Then we went on to the statue.  We didn't go inside becuz the security lines take forever to get thru.  So we just walked the base of it.  I was happy with that.  Daddy really wanted to go inside but no one else wanted to take the time to.

We rode the ferry to Manhatten and ate lunch at a deli across the street from Ground Zero.  The deli was very overwhelming for some of us!  Me especially!!  I did not like all the YELLING!  You just yell out what you want & it appears, you pay for it & move on!!

From there we took pics of Ground Zero, walked to the New York Stock Exchange & saw the church in National Treasure (N loved that).  As we were walking we saw a homeless man in a wheelchair holding out a cup.  N ran to me and said...  Mama, do you have a penny I can give that guy?  I told him no.  He kept asking me for the next couple of hours if we would ever go back there.  Finally when we were on the bus I asked him what he wanted to go back and see.  He said...  Can we take up a collection and take it back to that man?  Oh my baby has such a HUGE heart!!  I told him the best thing he could do is PRAY for that man.  He prayed at bed time tonite and he did pray for that man!!! 

Later in the afternoon we went to China Town, found a place to SIT & have a snack then did a tad of shopping.  Then we were on to dinner in Little Italy.

Now for the Grand Finale....  A Broadway show!!  THE LION KING!!  It was SO SO SO AWESOME!!!  The boys were in awe the entire time!!  T was even in tears he was so overwhelmed.  Everyone loved it!!  They say that it is a sold out show every nite!  Now we know why!!

There is SO MUCH more I want to tell you, but it is 1:30 in the morning and we have to get up EARLY again!!  Maybe I'll remember all the little stories I wanted to share and I can blog them when we get home.

Love & miss you all!!!

Well, today we had a wonderful grand finale of homes!!  Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson is a fabulous place!!!  For those that tell me that my house is big…  well, this one would swallow my house about 10 times!!  It is the most beautiful house I’ve ever seen and it was my favorite of all the homes we’ve seen on this trip!!  The view from the house is beautiful all the way around it.  It is very high in the mountains and that’s amazing when you remember that when people actually lived there, the transportation was horse & carriage!!  I would not want to get up to that house in that way!!

Now we are on our 8 hr ride to New York City, but we just discovered that we just drove 1 ½ hours in the wrong direction!!!  Oh my!  Our guide just told us we would get to our hotel by midnite!  I told T to sit back & enjoy the ride and he said…  I can’t enjoy the ride!  Well, he’s gonna have to!!  Haha  Daddy is enjoying the ride cuz he’s NOT driving!!

Since we were already running behind we went to Shenandoah National Park.  Wow, we think we have pretty mountains in NM.  Oh these mountains are very pretty!!  They are all very high and there's a lot more than there are in NM!

We drove about 2 more hrs before stopping somewhere in Pennsylvania for dinner.  The boys had McDonald’s twice today!!!  We stopped at a shopping center w/several choices to eat at for lunch, so we picked McD’s for the boys sake.  Had we known we would get that for supper we would’ve chose something else!  HA

Now we’re on the road again…

We had to get up at 6:00 today.   It was only a 30 min ride this morning to our destination but all 5 of us went to sleep before we got there!! Today we went to JAMESTOWN where it all started!!!  Jamestown was the 1^st English settlement on North American soil.  It was fun to see the actual forest that Squanto lived and hunted in.   We just realized today that Jamestown became a settlement on S’s birthday!!  May 13, 1607. 

While a guide was telling us the story of Pocahontas, T spotted an EAGLE in a tree!!  He was upset with me for not getting a picture before it left the tree.  I did get a pic as it was flying but it got too high too fast to get a really good picture.  We saw eagles flying above us all day but never did see another one sitting in a tree.  We went through a Powatan Indian village and went aboard a replica of one of the ships, the Susan Constant, that sailed to Jamestown from England.  All 3 ships are on display but we only got to go on one, seems we’re always RUSHED!!

After leaving Jamestown we went to Yorktown and stood on the “surrender grounds” where the British surrendered to George Washington to end the Revolutionary War, October 19, 1781.  WOW!!!  The boys had a blast playing in the trenches the soldiers dug during the war and they were amazed with the cannons also.

As of tonite I have taken 552 pictures on this trip.  Just today I FINALLY found some scrapbook paper and stickers for the pics I’m taking!!  WooHoo!!!  Only my Scrap Pals will understand my excitement!!  haha

Tonite we are staying in the beautiful mountains of Charlottesville, Virginia.  Stay tuned for more.  Tomorrow we have an 8 hour bus ride to New York City…

Today was the best day yet!!  (Well, of course, it’s Sunday the best day of the week!)  We woke up feeling much better!  Most of my soreness is even gone!  We spent all day in Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia which was the 1^st Capitol of the U.S.  It is an awesome historical place to visit.  The people working there did a great job of taking us back in time.  They dress and talk as if they are living in the colonial days.  My boys learned some proper English!!  We started the day learning how to properly greet those that we meet.  It was fun!!  We got a tour of the different trades of the day… blacksmith, book binder, printing press, cabinet/furniture maker, wig maker, gardener, apothecary & millenry.  We saw the House of Burgess and walked on the actual streets that Thomas Jefferson and George Washington walked on!   We enjoyed a wonderful lunch at a Colonial Tavern then strolled through the streets again.  It was so relaxing!!!  “George Washington” invited S to sit beside him for a talk.  He asked S if he was having a good day.  S said… NO.  GW said…  “I was a lad once too.  Please understand, you can tell me anything.  Now what is it that has you uncomfortable today?”  S shrugged his shoulders.  GW made a few guesses and S assured him each time that was not it.  So GW asked…  “What is it that would make you happy?”  S thought for a minute and said…  CHRISTMAS! 

For dinner we traveled about an hour to Norfolk, Virginia.  It was way cool to drive through a tunnel that goes under water through Chesapeake Bay.  Once there we ate seafood by the seashore!!  All the kids LOVED playing on Virginia Beach, even though it was VERY COLD!!  We had lots of shoes full of sand!!  After dinner we traveled back to Williamsburg and had a guided Lantern Tour of the town at nite.   It’s now 10:30 and this is the earliest we’ve seen a hotel room on this trip!! 

Everyone had a hard time getting up this morning!  Today was rainy and cold.  We spent all morning at Arlington National Cemetery.  We walked A LOT and were soaking wet but the rain set the mood and made the day more memorable.  After a guided tour of the Lee Mansion at the cemetery, we went to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.   We got to see the Changing of the Guards AND a wreath laying ceremony.  It was beautiful!!  Of course, during the playing of Taps, I got teary eyed AGAIN (I’m doing that at about every memorial on this trip).  These soldiers not only gave their lives but they also gave their identity for our country!  How sad that they have no one that actually KNOWS them to come to their grave to pay respects!  It is awesome that our country gives these men the highest saluting honor for their sacrifices. 

After the cemetery we went to the Iwo Jima Memorial.  It too is BEAUTIFUL!! 

From there we traveled an hour to Mount Vernon, the Home of George and Martha Washington.  Oh my, what a wonderful place to live right on the Potomac River!!   We saw a baby goat that was born just minutes before we walked up to the barn!!  We all saw him stand for the 1^st time!  Too cute!!!

S has an awful sounding cough and doesn’t feel good.  He’s been asking since noon today…  “Are we going to the hotel NOW???”  Poor little guy, he’s so cute!!  I brought medicine but we’ve about used it all.  I’m hoping we can find a store to get some more tonite.  Our guide says we’ll get to bed early tonite!  I hope so!  We need sleep so bad!!  Most of us are so sore we can hardly walk!!  There’s about 4 of us Mom’s that bring up the rear everywhere we go becuz we just can’t walk fast anymore!!  HA  My sinuses are really bad.  I don’t know if I’m trying to get sick or if it’s allergies.  Please keep us in your prayers that we will stay well enough to enjoy the rest of the trip.

As I type we are in route to Colonial Williamsburg, a 2 hour drive.  It is sunset here in Virginia and it is here that I realize how magnificent a NEW MEXICO sunset is!!  I can’t see the sun setting but I can see the orange glow through the trees.  Most everyone is watching a movie on the 3 TV screens in the bus, some are reading, some are blogging, some just gazing out the window and others are SLEEPING!  Which is what I believe I’ll do now….   

Well, it’s now 11:00 actually 12:00 with the time change & we JUST got to our room!  We did find a Kmart and get some medicine!  But we did not get to bed early!!  I got no sleep on the bus and I am feeling very sick!  I’m going to bed!!  Good nite….