Field Trip To Washington, DC

Hi, everyone! I hope you're all doing well.

I'm trying to get used to this new blogger interface...not liking it so far, but hopefully it will get easier.
We're down to two and a half weeks left of school. I am really looking forward to summer break. I'll still have to work to get things ready for next year, but at least I won't have to be in everyday.
We took some of the school children to Washington, DC last week. It was quite an adventure! It rained some, but not enough to ruin the day. There were three adults and twelve children. One of our biggest concerns was keeping everyone together on the metro. All went well until we were almost back. It was about 5:00, and there were people packed everywhere! One of the boys thought we were supposed to get off at a particular stop, so he just got off the train! Thankfully, one of the students noticed him get off and was able to get him back on before the doors closed! What a mess that would have been! He won't live that one down for quite a while! At least the 'regulars' got some free entertainment! :)

Katie on the Metro- her first experience on a subway system :)

Katie at the entrance of Arlington National Cemetery

One of JFK's famous quotes

Katie at the grave of JFK with the Washington Monument in the background. I thought this was a great picture. :)

Grave of John F. Kennedy and his wife, Jackie, with the eternal flame in the background

Changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns

Tomb of the Unknowns

Vietnam Veterans Memorial

Just a small sampling of the names on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial

My dad served in Vietnam, and I'm so glad he came home so he could be my dad!

Katie at the World War II Memorial

Kilroy at the WWII Memorial

For more information about Kilroy, you can click here

Cute little duck family at Constitution Gardens

Washington Monument

The kids had fun playing in this tree next to the Monument. They kept the day interesting for sure!!

Constitution Gardens

The Hope Diamond on display at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History

Katie at the Lincoln Memorial. It is huge!

I hope you enjoyed our little tour! Enjoy the rest of your week! :)

Take care,
 ~Melanie

Happy Mother's Day!

I wish all you moms a Happy Mother's Day today. Enjoy whatever you do!
~Melanie

Back From My Break!

Hi, everyone! I've missed you all, and I hope you're having a great weekend. Things have been quite busy here. I've enjoyed my break. I'm not sure what my future blogging may be like, so I'll just take it a day at a time. :)

We're in our last nine weeks of the year - time just seems to fly by! I've been busy with end of quarter reports and the students' SAT's. Katie also had a pretty bad case of poison ivy, but it's finally clearing up. She was on Prednisone for a week, and the doctor recommended Ivarest. It helped tremendously!

We've been out of school this week for our Easter break. We spent the week with our families and had a very nice time. I thought you might like to see some of Katie's random pictures she took this week. I think she takes great pictures!


Road behind Mom and Dad's house


Field of yellow flowers in West Virginia


Pink dogwood against a beautiful blue sky


Inside our church on Easter Sunday


Lilacs at my parents' house




Katie didn't take this picture. This is what I found on my kitchen counter a couple weeks ago while I was home by myself (which is hardly ever)! It's a blue-tailed skink. I grabbed it up in a bath towel and set it free outside, then I went in and got my camera and took some pictures. I sure hope it doesn't try that again!



There are several wildfires burning in the mountains near my hometown of Covington, Virginia. Parts of Interstate 64 had to be closed on Wednesday because the fires crossed over it. Thankfully it was open when we came home yesterday. If it had still been closed, we would have had to go way out of our way to get back home. The smoke was heavy in the air at my parents' house when we left yesterday - kind of scary when it's within just a few miles. Please pray that they'll get some rain! The firefighters are working hard to contain it, but the winds have been so strong this week! This is a video from the air above where the fires are burning - over 10,000 acres! *Remember to pause the music before you watch the video.








Before I go, I wanted to give you an update on Tanya (my cousin's wife). Unfortunately, it is not good news. She is in the hospital again. We found out she has stage 4 cancer, and is on very strong chemo. She also has more blood clots and her kidneys are failing, so she is on dialysis. She had to have some of her toes and part of her foot amputated because of the blood clots. On Wednesday, we had planned our visit around her time for dialysis, but when we got there, they told us her dialysis was late that day, so we didn't get to see her. She was disappointed, and so were we. We haven't seen her since August. Please continue to keep her in your prayers. She is in desperate need of them.

Don't take your loved ones for granted. Give them a hug and tell them you love them. We are not promised tomorrow.

I hope you all have a wonderful Sunday. Thanks for stopping by.

Take care,
~Melanie