The Candles are Coming...the Candles are Coming!!!

13 years ago my father-in-law rigged an old trashcan with epoxy on the inside and newspaper on the outside to create a drum for making candles....complete MacGyver style. This "drum" was filled with hot water, and two little water heating elements retained the heat. Wax was broken into pieces, put into the drum with water, and the dipping began. We dipped candles until we could dip no more. And then everything was packed away, and sat in 3 different garages over the course of the last 13 years. Thanks to my sister-in-law from CO, the box was uncovered, dusted off, and the fun began. Only this time, it involved five kiddos!

Wax melting on the stove top.

Cousins carving the wax

Katie chopping wax into smaller chunks.

The dipping bucket.

The wicks with the first dipping of wax.

The Kiddo Production Line...

:Dip: :Cool: :Straighten: :Trim Ends: :Do it again:

Straighteners/Trimmers

Adding color

The finished product.

I think that we've started a new tradition.

At least the kids think so!

A Perfect Sunday Breakfast

Delicious Buttermilk Biscuits. Lemon Curd and Whipped Cream. Honey and Butter.

And these are the hands that made it.

Yum.

Happy Day of Thanks

Thankful for everything that I have been blessed with.

Thankful for family, and sweet friends.

Hoping that your day was full of joy...and yummy Thanksgiving goodies!

Our Final Day in D.C.

"The Smithsonian in just 2 hours?!?!? Impossible. Don't even try!" But we did anyway.

We started at the National Museum of American History....

Then ventured...or rather, RAN... over to the Natural History Museum.

Got to go in the new exhibit where they had over 300 live, yes LIVE, butterflies. So fun.

And then we ventured...or rather, DROVE LIKE AN ANGRY ARMADILLO...to the airport.

At the Panda Express in Houston (deja vu all over again?)...and Ally found this fortune:

You better believe that we will. We are so thankful for all of these amazing experiences.

Oh, so thankful.

This really is the end. Really.

Until the next adventure....................

A whirlwind of a Saturday

I know, I know. Today is not Saturday. It's Monday. But my computer wasn't cooperating. Perhaps the 3 hour time difference finally caught up to it.

But there's just a few more things that I want to share!

Late Friday evening we drove to Stephen's City, VA to visit some dear friends. Saturday morning we drove to Winchester (a lot of times, actually!) and found this FANTASTIC wall.

I heart Patsy Cline.

Scott and I then went to the Old Court House. It served as a hospital and a prison during the war between the states. The actual city of Winchester changed hands

over 70 times during the war. Zoiks!

Our gracious hosts (and hostitas y hostito!)

::gracias por su hospitalidad y su amistad::

We then drove back to D.C. where we saw the awe-inspiring Lincoln Memorial.

Words just cannot describe.

On August 28, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stood in this very spot and delivered his

"I have a dream" speech.

We finished off the late night tour at the Korean War Veterans Memorial, The Vietnam Memorial, The World War II Memorial, and seeing the Washington Monument. We drove by the White House, but nobody was home, so we went back to the hotel.

A whirlwind, indeed, but just dreamy. Dreamy. Dreamy.

Leaf one for me....

Can one actually fall in love with a leaf? If so, I think that I'm smitten.

And from the looks of it, my girls are smitten, too.

Day 4-Civil War!

We are in Richmond, VA! Not only is Richmond home to the 'Museum of the Confederacy', but lover of all things Confederate! And does this love go deep. We learned so much about the Civil War. Actually, it just made me want to learn more! We also visited the White House of the Confederacy which was the home of President Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederacy. Amazing. Simply amazing.

"The legal system can force open doors and sometimes even knock down walls, but it cannot build bridges. That job belongs to you and me. " -Justice Thurgood Marshall

::Love this::
Visited the Virginia State Capitol Building in Richmond. My girls are such good sports! :)
Washington Statue behind State Capitol. Absolutely HUGE...and lovely to behold.
I'm still so amazed at how deep the Confederate loyalty runs. It is such a part of the people in the South. It is their history. It is their story. It is their legacy. It is woven into their very being. I was also amazed that many issues that sparked the Civil War are still alive today. But that is still their history, their story, and their legacy. Let us...yes, us... learn from history.

Day 3~All work and no play

Okay...maybe enough work and a LOT of play. But this is just to prove that we do our schooling....at the local Library.... in a corner....hooked up to the wireless....still learning by books, but mostly learning by touching and seeing and tasting and experiencing.

And we will always have to make time for playing in the rain with umbrellas,

and eating Mary Angela's pizza and pasta. Buonisimo!

Like we could walk by and not go in. As I said, we are here to learn by taste and touch.......

Gotta love VA!

Washington D.C. ~ the next day

"Non-Smoking Room, Please." It could've been that easy. But we didn't know. We also didn't know that the entire 3rd Floor was for smokers. We must have looked kind of rough after our journey to the hotel that they thought we'd fit in just fine on the 3rd floor. We got out into the fresh D.C. air and headed toward the Capitol. Found this great brick wall. Never knew that "Coca-Cola... Relieves Fatigue."

On the steps of the Capitol Building. Look how small Katie and Ally are!


The trees are GORGEOUS! As was the inside of The Library of Congress. Stunning. I think I like it here! :)