New TV

A few weeks ago we had a major snowstorm and we all decided to just hunker down for a day or two. The girls and I decided to play the wii and after about 5 minutes half of the screen went blank. Frustrated we went to David. He determined that it was not worth fixing it since we only paid $50 for it 5 years ago. It was a good friend to all of us, especially when it enabled me to get a few naps in here and there.
David thought it would be fun to take it apart for FHE so the following Monday night we tried to open it up. We couldn't find the right sized screwdriver though so my manly husband just yanked the thing apart. Then he gave us about a 20 minute lesson of what each part does. It was quite fascinating! Give us a call if you have a tv for us to destroy :)







So for the new TV we really weren't sure what type to buy. Flat screened tv's have become so cheap that we were considering buying a nice new one, but we didn't feel right about spending that much money right now. Then we thought about buying another junk one on craig's list, but we didn't really feel right about doing that either. In the meantime Candy and Tony were awesome enough to lend us their 19 inch flat screen. We fell in love with it. Then Candy offered to sell it to us for a pretty awesome price so we bought it! Even though it is quite small because of the quality of picture we can see things so much better. It even has a dvd built in. All of these are cool features, but the best part is being able to carry it with one arm :) Our old one was a struggle for David and me to carry together.
Feel free to stop on by to watch a show on our new awesome tv :) Just don't bring Jan and Michael Scott over or we might have a problem. (Did anyone get the reference? Thanks people!)

Gigi's workout routine

I haven't posted in forever, which means that just thinking about posting is overwhelming. I hope this random video will inspire me :) Since my marathons I have been rather sick of running so a friend of mine lent me her copy of 30 day shred with Jillian Michaels. It is 20 minutes of pain people! Anyway on Saturday evening David and I still had not worked out and we hadn't had our FHE for the week so we decided to do the shred as a family :) It was pretty awesome. Gigi was seriously into it and didn't quit once! Afterward she wanted to keep going and I was able to get a bit of her workout for all of you to see:



I also have to share this bit of really exciting news: My mom came to town a few weeks ago and treated me to something I have wanted for years...boots! I love them!!! Everytime I slip them on my feet I feel fancy. I guess I really am still 12, but I don't care! I love them! Thank you SO much mom!! I don't actually have a picture of them on me, but here are both of my girls enjoying this truly girly and luxurious item!!

at the dinner table

Madeline's either a math genius or just really likes saying the number 2. You decide :) Grandma Payne notice the green smoothie on Madeline's tray, she LOVES them!

Richmond Va

This post is a bit long and emotional so feel free to skim :)
So it sounds a bit crazy I know, but last Saturday I ran another marathon.
Let me explain: The night before my last marathon David gave me a great blessing promising me that I would be able to run the entire marathon and that I would have a really spiritual experience and be able to work through some of the emotions that I have been having. For those of you who don't know, David didn't get an offer for employment from his summer internship, so we have been looking for a job since August. It is a long, hard process and I have really been struggling with faith.
Well during the marathon I sort of gave up. I walked quite a bit and didn't have faith in the promised blessings I had been given. When I finished I felt that the lord was disappointed in me. I also felt like it was the same problem I had been having for months of not having faith in God. So I decided that I needed to run another marathon to prove to God that I would trust him. So I trained and 4 weeks after my last one I ran another one.
The hardest part was that I had to go through it all alone. We were going to make a weekend trip of it since Richmond is 5 hours away, but David realized a few days before the marathon that he had a big school function that he was in charge of on Friday so he couldn't go. That also meant that the girls couldn't go since I couldn't watch them. My amazingly sweet and kind friend Jenny watched them all day for me and then David had them until I got back.
I really don't like doing things alone. I'm horrible with directions and get scared pretty easily so I was pretty terrified of making this trip alone. It turned out to be a good experience though. I took a few books on tape, prayed a lot and didn't have any trouble with directions. I got to the hotel fine, slept great and got the start line with plenty of time to spare. I pushed myself really hard. My goal was to not stop through the entire race to prove to God that I would trust in him. It was dang hard! Around mile 13 I got horrible blisters all along my arches and had to run the rest with them. I really felt like giving up, but I persevered. God strengthened me and I had a pretty incredible experience. Around mile 18 I decided that I was going to call David at mile 20 for support and right after I crossed the 20 mile mark my phone rang. It was David! He said that he had a feeling that he should call me. The lord was really with me. It felt so great. I did end up walking some after mile 20, but I put everything I had into it. Ironically I only finished about 5 minutes faster than my last marathon, but this time I gave it my all. When I finally crossed the finish line I started crying and the woman giving me the medal asked if I was okay. It was just such an emotional experience. I felt so strongly that God accepted my offering. Even though I didn't run the whole way I did my best and it was enough. It was hard not having anyone there to greet me at the end, but God was there and that was the point.
Since I went alone I don't have any pictures to show, but I did take a picture of my blistered feet :)

Revolutionary War Re-enactment

I have lived on the east coast for over 2 years and now I can FINALLY say that I have seen a war re-enactment. I think I mentioned that I love history so this was SOOO cool. I saw a sign advertising a revolutionary war re-enactment a few weeks ago and got really excited. I asked Candy and Tony to come along and we all went today (minus my studious husband who had to study :( We missed you David!). It took place at Hope Lodge, which is just a few minutes away from Candy and Tony's house. A few men preparing for battle
Hope lodge was originally the home of a prosperous Quaker family. Then the Wests lived at Hope Lodge from 1776 to 1782. The house was then known as Whitemarsh Farms and as Whitemarsh Estate. The Wests were in residence during the Whitemarsh Encampment, a six-week period of the American Revolution when the Continental Army camped in the surrounding fields after the Battle of Germantown and before encamping at Valley Forge. During that time the house was used as headquarters by George Washington's Surgeon General, John Cochran. So the re-enactment displayed the fighting that took place in the surrounding fields. There were times that it almost felt like I could have been a part of it. Everyone was in costume and played the part really well. We saw a lot of neat things:

A surgeon describing and showing us with his tools how he amputated legs (really neat, but he said some people have actually fainted during the presentation!) Why is it that morbid stuff like that really fascinates me? I also love hearing about disgusting food that people used to have to eat (Seriously odd I know!)

We saw the actual food preparation of the time. It was especially neat to see them actually use the kitchens that usually just have fake food layed out nicely.

We saw a lady making silhouettes. I would LOVE to have one of those, so fun.

Gigi found a real "pioneer" hat. She has been wanting one for almost 2 years and we finally found one for only 5 bucks. For a price like that I had to get both kids playing the part :) Then Candy bought the girls a flute (we'll ignore the made India tag). Thanks :)

Gigi outside a tent. She was so stoked to have that hat. She was pretty bummed that I won't let her wear it to church tomorrow. I explained that the pioneers wore their hats outside. Then she explained to me that the pioneers often had church outside and so would wear a hat. No question that she is David's daughter...soo logical and clever :)

There was a tent set up with a surgeon from the time who was actually sleeping there tonight. He even let Gigi try out his straw bed.

Tony and Candy with the girls outside of Hope Lodge. It is a really beautiful building.

After the re-enactment Candy and Tony took the girls and I out to lunch. It was tons of fun. You guys are seriously so generous. Thank you :) Gigi and Madeline even got dessert.

Don't you love Madeline's smile? As we were leaving Gigi saw the claw game. You know the one where you can NEVER win a prize, but as a kid kept wanting to put money in, assuring yourself that this time you'd win(hmm maybe that was just me?). Anyway Gigi played once and of course didn't win. She was pretty bummed and so of course Uncle Tony decided to play for her. He has NEVER played this game before. Yes you guessed it he won a Dora doll for her! Wow!!! I was so amazed! Gigi was in heaven. Then a few minutes later I was in heaven because when we got to the car Gigi decided to give the Dora doll to Madeline because she knows that Madeline LOVES Dora. Wow again!!! Gigi sometimes has moments of such unselfishness. Way to go Gigi :)

Sweet Madeline exhausted after the long day. Isn't she sweet? We ended the day by watching a Betty Hutton film, the perils of Pauline. Betty Hutton starred in Annie get your gun (Gigi's fav movie right now) and so Candy taped it. It was such a cute movie. I highly recommend it if you like old comedies. Thank you Candy and Tony for enjoying such a great day with us. I will always remember it!

New Clothes from Grandma Payne

Thank you, Grandma Payne! She puts on this skirt and shirt every day now as soon as she wakes up!

The Big Switch

Tonight I had a rehearsal at the church for the Messiah. David stayed home with the girls and put them to sleep. When I came hope (around 9:30pm) the house was dark, except for the bathroom light. I was surprised that David was already asleep so I slowly opened our bedroom door. The light was off and the fan was on so I closed the door again. After piddling around a bit and doing the dishes I got ready for bed. Then I went to go check on the girls. Their door was locked! I was so annoyed!!! Gigi knows not to lock the door to her room and is actually really good about not doing it. The only way to unlock the door is to take the knob off of the door. I questioned whether or not I should do this at 11:00 at night, but I decided I better just do it. I was also stressed because I didn't want to wake David up. David sometimes suffers from insomnia and once he is woken up it is hard for him to go back to sleep. So I really silently opened our door again only to find this:



I was SOOO surprised!!! Both girls were so innocently asleep on my bed. This has NEVER happened before! Our kids are not the type to suddenly arrive at your bed in the middle of the night. They know to stay in their bed all night. So what was going on? And where was David? Well I quickly found out. I then knocked on the girls bedroom door and David slyly asked, who is it? Uhhh your really confused wife! He opened the door with a grin on his face and explained that Gigi and he decided to play a trick on me. Well it worked! Don't I have the funniest family? I sure love how fun they are.