A Day at the Park

Nothing beats a day at the park on Monday morning. The sun felt amazing and I was able to catch up with my neighbor/friend, J and her two kids, E and E. Turns out that Tommy loves to swing as much as P did at that age and I must have pushed both P and Tommy for half an hour. We had such a good time, in fact, that I am playing hooky from my mom's group and we are going to park again to soak up some more sun today. Patrick and E
E & E

A D.C. Event

Tom and I returned this afternoon from our whirlwind D.C. trip-we left Saturday morning and returned Sunday by 10:30. This was our second year as guests at the Marine Corps University Foundation event in Crystal City. Just to make you sick, ladies, the tux Tom is wearing fit him in college. The only thing that still fits me from college is my old Jansport backpack.

We arrived at our hotel room, set down our bags, and I suddenly realized I had forgotten how easy it is to travel without any kids (they were home with my mom). Soooo easy. On went my non-mommy shoes:

...and off we went. Aren't they perfect? My feet have changed so much with my babies that these were a much-contemplated purchase for me (I love you, Kate Spade). I justified my splurge by doing my own pedicure. Not too shabby, toes.

Unfortunately, not a lot of photos from the trip, but it was good to spend some one-on-one time with my husband. Missed my little stinkers though.

For Pete's Sake

Really? 11 miles in 4 days and I haven't lost a SINGLE pound. I haven't been eating anything out of the ordinary (the birthday cake was luckily gone before I started). I am squeezing one more run for the week in tomorrow morning in prep for a big night out. Fancy clothes, fantastic shoes (the kind of shoes that make you feel incredibly happy) and no kiddos!

It's All So Easy On Day 1

6AM: Out of bed this morning and downstairs to our basement-in-progress for my first run. For the sake of my exercise program, we opted to set up the treadmill now rather than wait for the rest of our basement work, so Tom assembled it yesterday.

Enthusiasm and optimism were plentiful, so today was pretty easy (and I took it easy). 2.5 miles in 38 minutes, including my 5 minute warm-up. I then showered and dressed, all before the kiddos were even up. Ask me again on Friday how the 6am thing is going.

(Love this shot - the treadmill completely covers my problem area. I should do all of our family pictures here.)

Good Times

This weekend, I turned 35. Hmmm. Apparently when you turn 35, you should have more drinks in one night (with good friends of course) than you do over the course of a whole month. What a great time though! My longtime cohort, Gretchen, and her husband, Marty, joined us for dinner and had me laughing the whole evening. They are a riot.

Tom and the kids got me some great workout gear for my impending runs (treadmill may go up today!) and we ordered a wall organization system I have been eyeing up at Pottery Barn. I did my hardest to find a cheaper knock-off I liked as much, to no avail, so we sucked up the cost (it was on sale, at least) and it is on the way! I can't wait to get our kitchen clutter off the counter and onto the wall.

The basement is now my official arch enemy of unfinishedness.

Zoo Class

Thursday P and I attended our first zoo class, "Goodnight, Gorilla" where we learned all about animal bedtimes. It was an hour long class, well worth the 10 minute trudge through the zoo in the pouring rain to the education building. It was based off the book by the same name, and as you can see from the photos, P was able to pet the armadillo (who just wanted to sleep).

The Opossum also was not happy to be woken, and spent the whole time trying to get back in her crate.
Loved this class-and as members, the class was only $12 for both P and me. What a deal!

Bedtime Story

Tonight, as I tucked in Patrick, he started messing with the velcro on his panda pillow pet.

Me: Quit messing with Panda and go to sleep.
P: I am trying to bundle him (put him into stuffed animal form instead of pillow form)
Me: Well, it's bedtime and he is your pillow, so leave him alone.
P: He's not my pillow, he's my friend.

In Case You Were Wondering

1. No, the basement isn't finished yet, although we are getting closer.


2. Yes, Tom and I are exhausted.


3. No, I haven't started using the treadmill yet, due to #1.


4. The boys are great

I just haven't had any energy since Sunday, so I apologize for the lack of blogging. I have a hair appointment Saturday (the works!) and date night, so I hope this will energize us a bit.

Anticipating our Neighborhood's Newest Arrival

Trading in dreary, dark basement reno pictures for lots and lots of PINK today. Some of the neighborhood mom's gathered at my house for Dana's shower (front and center with Big-Sister-To-Be "E").
It isn't too often I get to throw lots of pink accessories around, so this was fun! Martha Stewart tissue paper pom pom kit from Amazon gets rave reviews from me! Pink cookies, fresh raspberries and pink flowers brightened up our snowy day.

We fed the kiddos tons and tons of sugar while we guzzled coffee. I love these girls.

Usually I copy quite a lot of my ideas from online, but this inspiration came from the shiny, transparent pink pacifiers I found at the dollar store (4/pk). Wasn't sure what I was going to do with them, so I threw them on the dining room table to sit until I thought of something. A few days later I opened up a pack and noticed that in the light, they looked a lot like the chandelier tear drops. Sooo...a little fishing line and 15 minutes later-

a perfect shower chandelier!

"E" is so ready to take care of her little sister but was willing to practice with Tommy.

I swear, it is raining babies in this neighborhood. (No, not me).

How to Catch a Fish

Patrick continually yells at me to stop taking pictures, particularly when he is the subject...except when I am photographing Patrick the Fish:

A Cozy Sunday

A little pre-game partying at our house just before the big game...

Basement: Part 44

Okay, maybe not stage 44, but there has been a lot of work going on in the basement-no slacking here. Saturday, Comcast came and installed a cable line and second DVR box, a splurge, but a necessity if I want to run for more than 15 minutes at 6:00 am when there is nothing on TV. I am not a runner, so I need some sort of enjoyment to attach to the chore. Once the basement is done, we'll move in the actual TV stand.

Painting has been all consuming. I quit keeping track of hours, but I would say we are up in the 15+ hour range at this point with more to go. I woke up this morning not knowing who won the Superbowl because I spent the entire game pulling staples out of our stairs after removing the very last of the old carpeting. Tom has been sanding those steps for hours now using a pretty powerful sander to remove the last of the adhesive so we can paint them our trim color - what I like to call Hershey's Dark Chocolate.

Wheels are turning in my head with lots of ideas for the back of these stairs which sit just to the left of my washing machine. I have no room upstairs for my wrapping accessories, so I am designing a custom wrapping paper station in this area on a tight budget. Wait until you get a look at my wrapping paper holder! Not sure when I will start in on it, but you can bet I will post "after" photos.
Tom has a new, fire-rated steel door to install, now sitting in our garage, and a few more ceiling tiles to pop in, then we'll starty on the carpet squares and assemble the treadmill, which did arrive this morning.