Our Trip to Colonial Williamsburg

(Excuse me while I catch up on my backlog of post drafts!)

When planning our drive up to Washington, DC, a friend sent me a link to a Groupon coupon for a cheap 2 night stay in Williamsburg. Well, we knew we'd need a hotel anyway, so why not stop for an extra day and have some fun? (Plus, we could call it educational and therefore, "home school field trip" HA!)

Little did we know that the closest thing to a cold front we'd have this winter happened THAT WEEKEND. As in, I have no coat (we shipped all of our heavy winter stuff ahead) and it STARTED TO SNOW WHILE WE WERE THERE. Isn't that lovely???

But here is the GREAT, GREAT news about Williamsburg, especially if you are a homeschooler. They have "homeschool weekends!" Usually on an off-season week, and the prices were ridiculously low. As in, Joel and I paid $10 for full admission, and both girls got in FREE because they were under 6.

 

I will say, that cold nasty weather made that particular visit not so much fun. Not many "outside" events were happening, and being off-season, not as many shops/events were open as normal. Joel and I loved it, and it probably went over the girls' heads mostly, since we really hadn't started studying any sort of real history at the time.

Our three favorite stops:

1) The Jailer's house. Abby was fascinated by the jail, and the shackles on their feet. She was also particularly interested in the "throne" (ie. the potty you had to climb up to). She wanted to know that if their feet were shackled (the shackles were bolted to the floor to keep them from being stolen) how did they climb up there to the potty? Thank goodness the guide seemed to have answered that question before, as frankly I didn't have a clue what to say!

2) The dress shop. I love this, being right in line with my costumed background. And since my mom used to sew, I really could appreciate the craftsmanship. The girls weren't so interested, which was unfortunate as this was one of the few shops with heat and I would have preferred to stay a bit longer!

3). Lunch. Lunch at the tavern (sorry, can't remember which one) was AWESOME. We loved it. Super pricey, but since we cheaped out on everything else, it seemed fair to pay a "Goodness gracious!" amount for lunch! 

Yeay for heat! We love modern conveniences like that!

As the day went on, and the weather got worse and worse, and little girl attitudes got worse and worse, we jumped on the bus back to the visitor center, stopped at the gift shop (I have an addiction to gift shops and can't ever seem to pass them up), and headed back to our hotel.

Doesn't she look like she's having fun?

And here is our little ham!

Where we ended up with over three inches of snow on the ground by morning. And that was the only snow we saw all winter! I am already trying to plan our trip back to Williamsburg this fall during their next homeschool week, since we're going to be in the area, and hopefully we'll see more and the girls will "get it" more, since we're starting to read/study a little bit of American history (American Girl books, Little House on the Prairie, etc.).

Here are some resources, if you would like to build Colonial Williamsburg into your homeschool experience (or not!):

Colonial Williamsburg Education Link and Info: http://www.colonialwilliamsburg.com/discover/educate/

Colonial Williamsburg Homeschoolers Link and Info: http://www.colonialwilliamsburg.com/plan/groups/homeschoolers/ (PS. This fall's homeschool experience is from September 8-22, 2012!)

Lesson Plans, Worksheets, Teacher Resources, Kids Zone, etc.: http://www.history.org/History/teaching/groupTours/SchoolandYouth/plan.cfm

What I've Learned After Being Married For Nine Years

Today is our anniversary. Joel and I have been married for nine years. Somehow, that seems odd, how in the world has it been nine years ago we just walked down the aisle?

And also, it feels like it should be a million years.

We've lived a lot in those nine years. We've lived in over TEN different "abodes" - three of which were hotel rooms for a few months each. We've lived in four/five different countries (including Afghanistan for Joel), and visited over seven on top of those. We have dealt with movers at least fourteen times (and I know I must be forgetting some in there somewhere). We've had four different cars. We've also had two kids; which means dealing with potty-training two different times, food allergies twice, multiple preschools, and two sets of terrible twos, threes, and fours. We've had multiple "short" separations, and one war-zone deployment, several surgeries, sicknesses, and a few hospitalizations. We started homeschooling. We bought a house, and now are long-distance landlords with a renter.

It's no wonder I constantly consider buying stock in the hair-dye I use!

So, because I am now an expert, (HAHAHAHAHAHA) here is what I've learned in my nine years of marriage:

1. Marriage is FRICKIN HARD. Sure, everyone tells you that before you get married, but this isn't the "he leaves the top off the toothpaste" kinda hard. It is HARD WORK. Both of you have to accept that, and show up every frickin day and give it all 100% all the frickin' time.
2. Marriage needs GRACE AND FORGIVENESS on the table EVERY SINGLE DAY. Because it's humanly impossible to bring 100% to the table every single day. Cause neither of you are even close to being perfect all the time. Marriage can also open great cans of worms. Everyone comes with their own set of baggage, and marriage is God's way of opening your eyes to your own suitcase of it, if you're willing to look and deal with it. So, giving grace and forgiveness to each other while dealing with that suitcase of junk is necessary.
3. Marriage is FRAGILE. I believe you have to handle your marriage with the same care you would a priceless rare piece of art. With a lot of care. It is so easy to break and destroy and be left with what fragments of what was once great.
4. Marriage is ENDANGERED. No, this is not the regular political debate I'm going into here. But I do believe "successful" marriages are becoming few and far between and the exception to the norm nowadays. I have personally seen just too many dear people ripped apart by marriages ending and what comes after. And well, it stinks. My heart just breaks and breaks for them, often there is often nothing more I can do. So I've come to treat my marriage like it's an endangered species, needing special protections to keep it safe.

And finally:

Marriage, to the right person, is PRECIOUS. I am so thankful, that even in our very very worst times, that I found that right person for me. We all have those times where we think "What in the world have I done?" - but over and over God has confirmed to me that I found and was found by the exact person He chose for me. And I am so glad that I can consider my life-mate my closest friend.

Marriage is a SAFE HARBOR. I know, that no matter what, Joel is in my corner, supporting me in my wild-brained schemes and ideas. Even when he disagrees with me, he is always on my side. Joel created this "inside joke" about us being "Team Mendez" (he's surrounded by girls and is a sports nut - it's his coping mechanism, haha). Except now the inside joke is more like a family motto. We are a team. Heck, we even have our own cheer!

Marriage is an ADVENTURE. Look at all we've done in the past nine years. Would either of us have done all of that on our own? Heck to the double no. And even through the crazy; keeping adventure in mind makes us LOOK FOR THE FUN and enjoy life, doubly appreciating what little bits of sanity and calm that come our way!

Marriages is GOD'S REFINING FIRE. Remember what I said above about all that baggage? Well, being married, and also becoming a parent, has taught me more about myself that I thought possible. It has taught me about prayer and more about God's love and grace and mercy than I ever knew existed. Being married has made my walk with Christ better than it could have been without it. But please note: that does say fire. Fire is not always fun. But it is often a tool to make things stronger than before.

Marriage is LOVE. Marriage has taught me more about love than I could have ever learned in a book. Living love, accepting love, giving and sharing that love with others. Even though when we first married I knew about love and felt love, I think it took the passage of time to truly understand love and the depths of love.

Yeah, we haven't had a picture of us together without kids in it in quite a long time!

So, Happy Anniversary, Joel Mendez. I love you. May the next nine years be even more wonderful and fulfilling, though hopefully slightly less chaotic???


Yeah, I got quite a chuckle outta that one, too. Ah well, one can dream, right?

Sorry I've been MIA

So, yeah, our move here threw me for a loop.

I really apologize if you guys have sent me emails and I haven't responded. I've tried to keep up, but in my personal email box alone there are over 100 emails still sitting there, and that's after I cleaned out 40+ this morning. And that's just one email account (I ummm, have quite a few.) So yeah, I have not been a good email buddy.

This week the girls are at "church camp" so I am trying to dig in and make a huge dent in all of the "paperwork stuff" that I've let slide while I've been dealing with everything. I made a lot of progress this morning, which I'm sure was completely fueled by the coffee I had while sitting at Starbucks. Still, since my hole is so deep, it's gonna take me much too long to catch up.

So, what have we been up to? Well, we moved in that first weekend in May, and then unpacked like crazy people for three straight weeks. It took that long to even get close enough to come up for air! We had to get a storage unit in our complex to hold the stuff we can't keep (stay tuned for a bunch of Craig's List ads!) and I have become extremely creative at storage tricks. I have had to go through every single bin and box we have ever had and purge, reorganize, purge some more, and store things the most efficient way possible. By the way, you can fit A LOT of stuff under beds. And thank goodness for the good closet storage we do have. Mostly this step is done. Mostly. I've still got one bin left that needs to be organized and put away, but I keep putting it off to do other things. Like scrub bathrooms, throw food at kids, do laundry, etc. I will get to it.One day.

Joel was sent "off" again for a few weeks almost immediately, and this has not improved my attitude toward the Foreign Service at all. I will come around. . . . eventually. I wouldn't be expecting them to be on my Christmas list, though. Joel was not the happiest about it either, but hey, we live at the mercy of the US Govt and that's all that there is to be said about that. Out loud, at least. In my head, I say a lot of things. In very colorful language. (He should be back in July.)

My mom was able to come visit for several days and the girls loved having their Nana here. There was lots of reading of books and more books and more books, and a trip to the pool (kinda too chilly still, though. What is up with this weather?), and generally just hung out. We did get together with family up here which was fun, and we also went over to Colvin Run Mill. If you're local, you really should go. We got to go to a "general store" and then watched them grind corn into cornmeal in a working mill that has been around since the 1700's. The day we went they also had a blacksmith and wood carving. We got the girls sunbonnets just like "Little House on the Prairie, which the girls L-O-V-E (the bonnets and the books!).

We finally got "home school" started up again, but have been having difficulty getting our rhythm and consistency back. I hope that by the end of all these summer camp things we're doing, I'll have gotten everything more settled and will be able to stick to a routine. We are very blessed that this apartment has a "breakfast dining" and a "formal dining" area, so we turned the "breakfast dining" space into our class room. As soon as I can get it cleaned up enough, I'll take some pictures for you guys - it is starting to look really cute! Abby is currently working through "1st grade" and Lily will be joining us next fall with a more formal "preK4" program. Addition and subtraction facts have been kicking our hineys for a few months now, BUT at the Virginia home school convention a few weeks ago, I was able to get a couple cool math fact CD's and with a bit of bribery (a chart that she gets to mark off for doing her math work without complaining and then get a prize), Abby is very motivated and has decided math is fun again.

Lily is now fully potty-trained, even at night. She regressed quite a bit with the stress of the move, but after a break of a week, she was so completely insulted by the idea of wearing pull-ups again that she just made up her mind that she was done with them. I swear, that little girl is the funniest thing ever, but she is going to drive me to distraction!

Taking advantage of all the COOL summer stuff going on around here, we have both girls in "Church camp" for two weeks, then one week of a ballet camp (really just a week of ballet lessons with an Angelina Ballerina theme), and three weeks of Spanish immersion camp.We are right around the corner from the Annandale Boys and Girls Club and they are doing soccer camp this summer, and I was able to get Abby in that for one week as well, and both girls are signed up to do soccer next fall, and Abby will continue with cheerleading through the ABGC. So yeah, we're keeping as busy as we possibly can be!

Work has been picking up for me as well, which is very nice. I am looking forward to clearing out a few business projects that have been on the back burner for quite a while this summer. I'm redesigning my business website and branding, and looking into networking and volunteer opportunities.

So, that is us in a nutshell.

I will get some pictures up soon.