Joint Forces Air Show

The nice thing about living so close to District of Colombia is all the military stuff that goes on. This weekend the Andrew's Air Force base was hosting a Joint Services Air Show! If my Dad was here he would contest to how much I love air shows. I don't know what it is about airplanes but I have always been so curious and fascinated by them. There is just something so cool about any plane or helicopter. And of course growing up near San Diego and Miramar I was able to get up close and personal. Every year Miramar host an air show and my Dad and I would go...I loved it!

Well this was my first time going to Andrew's Air Force Base and let me tell you it was awesome! First of all it is free, second of all if you have a Department of Defense ID, which my hubby does, then you don't have to take the long shuttle from the FedEx field, you can drive right up on the base and park next to the air strip which we did. The show started at 8am and since our kiddos are up at 6am every morning we had no problem getting there early. We picked up Jason, Aria's Godfather, and on the beltway we went. We were there for 3 hours and it was great. All the planes were open, you could even get in the cockpits. They had helicopters open, I was surprised...Miramar only let a few planes open but not all of them. How fun for the kids! Oh and Ocean Spray had a big van there and they were giving away free drinks of their new sparkling cranberry drinks. The base didn't allow any food or drinks so we drank several of those, what a treat. All in all the kids were great and by 1pm we covered enough ground and saw enough planes we were content heading back home.

Since the food vendors were so expensive we didn't eat lunch there, which was good because we went somewhere even better for the same price; the National Harbor! On the way home and none of us had been there. It is right next to the Woodrow Wilson bridge right before the VA border. It's very new and it was kind of like a miniature Seaport Village. We at at Rosa Mexicano; GREAT healthy Mexican restaurant. Wow we all liked this place. The kids meal was healthy and very nice portions. I couldn't even eat my entire pulled chicken sandwhich. A great spot for a date night for sure! There was other restaurants with pretty cool names; Ketchup, Elevation Burger, Bond 45, Freshii just to name a few, and looked like some spots I will have to try for sure. OK so yes a long day with 3 kids after we got done exploring this place so finally we headed back home after dropping off Jason.

Enjoy the pics and if you are in DC tomorrow the show is still on free to public.

Daddy and Kaden in front of the real Memphis Belle!

One observation I have made over and over again; Lance loves planes and he has no problem spotting them in the sky. Mmmm maybe a future pilot in our family????

The Memphis Belle, I loved that movie...

Kaden in the cockpit of a helicopter; sorry didn't notice the model. Either way pretty darn cool, he even got to touch the yoke.

You can't see the entire chopper but this thing was COOL. Massive and hey if I could have I would have loved to go up in this thing. Way cool that is all I can say:-)

Kaden checking out some telescopic instrument.

Kaden doesn't like to share....

Daddy and Kaden checking out the drone? That thing that is remote controlled that drops you know what.

Kaden and I next to some cool aircraft.

When we got back to the car, we had an amazing view of these stunt planes...way awesome! OK I know of my choice of words are juvenile but I get excited about these kinds of things; like a kid in a candy store:-)

The stunt planes getting back in formation.

Another shot from the car.

At the National Harbor. They had this weird statue in the sandbox that was right next to the water.

Maybe it's Gulliver?

And after lunch the kids always have room for ice cream so we went to Ben and Jerry's.

A Mircale!

A miracle indeed...we were suppose to have thunderstorms and rain all day Sunday and instead after coming out of of church we saw sun and clouds spreading. Yeah! I wanted so badly to take the kids to Frying Pan Park for the opening ceremony of the antique carousel and free ice cream social but with rain in the forecast I figured it would not happen. So I was thrilled when the weather had changed so ubruptly.

Here we are at Frying Pan park having lots of fun!

Little Lance wearing his birthday onsie he got from Aunt Shari, sorry you can't see it but it has 3 jelly fish on it. Very cute.

Kaden eating ice cream, but I couldn't get him to keep his eyes open. The sun was very bright that day.



Aria on the carousel...this carousel was built in 1913; pretty cool! We got to ride it for free but after today they will charge. Aria got to ride it three times!

I can't believe this picture came out; my camera battery was dead so I had to use my phone...I took this while the carousel was moving.

Kaden loves carousels too!

I tried taking another picture and put my face next to his and he started laughing...ugh I love my little prince! You should have heard his laugh, so adorable!

Kaden's favorite part of the farm...riding on the tractors!

Happy 1st Birthday Lance!

My prince Lance....turned 1 year old today. Just one year ago around 6:30am in the morning Brian was driving me and breaking every traffic law to get me to the hospital. Two nights prior I was having contractions each night, and each night I thought I would be going into labor but by 4/5am they would go away and I would start my day again! Then finally the third night, May 14, 2010 the contractions started again I remember thinking "ok God is this it, can I get this little guy out today please!" And Amen he was coming...I checked in to the hospital around 6:30am and Lance was born just after 9am. I was so exhausted especially after having contractions the last two nights and not sleeping much at all. There he was so precious and perfect in every way imaginable. I was so excited to meet him, as I was with all my children, but because I know he will be my last I tried to cherish those few minutes after birth a little bit more. There is nothing like the smell of a new baby and there is nothing like the touch of having your new baby skin to skin after carrying and nurturing the child for 9 months in your belly! I thank God for allowing me to carry all my children, and having good birthing experiences. What a blessing! So today we got to celebrate our precious little prince.

We just had family; Grandma and Grandpa Valletta, and Aunt Shari! Thank you guys for making it extra special. I made some homemade turkey burgers, grilled some fresh yellow corn and of course I made my special double fugge chocolate cake. For all the family that is far away we thought about you and wished you were with us; Grandma Christine, Grandma Marilyn, Uncle Kelly,Kenny and Greg; Aunt Nova, Katie, Colleen, Tonia and all the cousins, and friends. (Grandpa Howard we now you were watching:-)

I didn't take too many pics as I primarily did video but here is what I did get. Thank you for the gifts everyone he loved them all!

Lance loves playing with balloons so Daddy went out and got him 6 helium balloons. Here is in the kitchen.

Grandme Christine got Lance this cool ball that rolls on it's own, plays music and has little ribbons sticking out on it. Kaden liked it too as you can see.

Mommy giving him a bottle of Pedialyte; poor Lance has not been all himself the last week. Not sure if it's teething or if he got some kind of virus but he seemed better today.

Lance in the family room with some gifts.

Grandpa Valletta playing with the boys with their new toys.

Finally...

Sorry it's been so long since I have been on this thing...but I have been working hard at loosing all my baby weight and I have reached my goal! Yeah!!! I am back to 119 which is what I weighed when I got married, can you believe it!? I can't. I mean I never thought I would fit in to my tight short surfer shorts that I love. Now if we could just get some hot weather in VA I can wear all my old clothes. We recently went on a family vacation to Cocoa Beach and Orlando so enjoy the pics. Sorry none of me, I am the one doing all the hard work:-) Hope all of you are doing well!

Daddy and Lance hanging out at the GatorLand waterpark.

Aria playing in the nice GatorLand waterpark. I miss FL!!!! So nice and hot just the way I like it!


Kaden talking to the peacock:-)

The train we took to view the park.

All Aboard!

My prince Lance and I waiting for the train...love those blue eyes!!!!

Entering Gatorland...pretty cool. I wasn't thrilled to go but it was a nice small park. Just enough for the little ones.

We went to Sea World...

In the car going down...

More Bread

So you saw my last post...well I keep making bread and it's a lot of work. So from the recommendation from a friend a ordered a copy of this book from Walmart.com, which was cheaper than Amazon, and this book is awesome. " Artisan Bread in Five Minutes A Day," is just what you need if you want to make great home baked bread...cheaper and better for you than store bought.

For those that love to fresh baked bread but don't want to put all the time into it, these two authors did all the work for you and you can have fresh bread every day for only about 20 minutes of time in the kitchen! If I can do it with 3 kids in the background you can do it too! Not to mention the kids like to get involved and it's a great way to teach them appreciation of food. My kids gobble up all the bread I make, not like the store bought kind at all.

Bon Appetit! And please let me know if you start making some and how it goes.

Bread...homemade bread!

Mmmm there is something about the smell of fresh bread...so good! When I lived in France I grew such an appreciation for real food. Now I know we all go to the store and buy food but I mean REAL food that you make with your hands. There is nothing like it and the reward of the hard work is a taste you will never get from store bought goods.

My mother in law gave me her old bread machine that she only used three times. It has been sitting in my pantry till just recently. I broke out the recipe book and made some buttermilk bread. Delicious! I added dried cranberries to it and what a treat, we gobbled the whole 1.5 pound loaf in a day! Yes one day. So now we don't buy bread and although I am busy making bread dough, I really enjoy it. The kids love the bread and I like that I can customize it to our needs. I made a whole wheat oatmal bread which was great for breakfast and today I made some French bread (by hand no bread machine).

I was recently referred to this book: Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking . I am waiting for my copy and can't wait to start making new styles of bread! Here are some pics of my French bread I made today.

Merry Jesus Day

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I know it's been way too long...life goes by so fast and really if I am not doing something with the kids then I am either sleeping or cleaning the house:-) Blogging is my time to do something I enjoy which I don't get to do often. I hope all of you are enjoying this time with family. Brian and I were talking last night about the true meaning of Christmas and how life gets filled with such meaningless stuff around the holidays that we forget that it's Jesus' birthday! I have instilled that in Aria over the last couple of weeks as talks about Santa and presents become a daily routine. I remind her that it's not about that at all but about the birth of Jesus and that because of that we need to humble ourselves this time of year to do something for others, and more specifically for those less fortunate. To give to those in need, as God gave us Jesus because we needed to be saved! So my prayer is for all of you to remember the true meaning of Christmas and to praise the only one worthy of praise this year and all year long. I know we have all been blessed, even though we have struggles throughout the year, God is so faithful and always gives us comfort whether we are in a good time or a bad time in our life. All you have to do is look up, look around, and He is everywhere. I was reading a devotional this morning and I really liked this portion of it:


"He was born, so we would believe; He died, so we would live; He rose, so we would rise! Therefore, in humility and with pride, boldly keep Christ in Christmas. His birth is your excuse to brag on Jesus."

Brian and I are preparing for a nice quite Christmas. We really miss our family in CA and wish we could be with you. It doesn't feel quite the same without all of my family and Brian's Uncle Johnny that lives in Los Angeles. I really miss my big family gatherings on my Dad's side of the family. For all of the Monell's reading this....I remember the good days and I cherish those days in my heart. What fun it was growing up and having Christmas and Thanksgiving with my cousins, their animals, and just all the chatter of the adults at the table. Diving in to the delicious meals made by my aunt. But for now I enjoy the holidays embracing the family I do have, the wonderful children I have, the beautiful house I have, the great husband I have and of course the great Lord I have for without Him none of this would be possible.

So this week, baking I go....today I am going to make Ina Garten's sour cream coffee cake. I have not made this often and I would like to start coming up with my own version so I am going to play around with her recipe. It got 5 stars...can't wait. But funny thing I noticed is that there is no coffee in it:-) I will fix that!

Aria has school till Wednesday and then she is home till the 3rd. Christmas blessings to all of you! I am posting pictures from Thanksgiving which I forgot to do.

After our meal and a board game Brian, Tom and Matt played music in the family room! Kids had a blast.

Tom (Brian's co-worker who joined us) is on Brian's electric guitar while Brian and Lance sang. I just love those blue eyes!


Lance like the microphone as you can see.

Tom and Daddy playing together. What a treat, they played really well. Tom is a great player and knew some great songs.

Thanksigving dinner...I made everything myself except for the sweet potatoe dish. I made roast turkey, cranberry compote, green bean dish and my cheesy garlic pop overs. It all came out fantastic, and I was very proud. I was pretty nervous as always...I anticipate that first bite and wait for the guests' reaction. It was good!

Brian, Jason and Shari's hair. Jason is Aria's godfather and Brian's best friend. His brother Matt and his wife joined us with their son Elijah. They recently moved to the area for a job from Atlanta. It was really nice to have a full house.

Here is the apple pie I made...turned out great!

Here is my double chocolate cheese cake I made with blueberries on top! Everyone said this was the best. I have to agree but still some tweeks I would like to make to it.

I caught the boys sleeping together one night. We recently bought Kaden a bed so that Lance could sleep in the crib and he kept going to Lance's room. This time I caught him. What a sight. I did end up putting him back in his bed and he stayed. How sweet they are....I LOVE my kids.