Mission Accomplished

After nearly a month of weekends of hard work, the townhouse DIY project is complete, and the townhouse is on the market!  Check out these gorgeous floors!

My Baby Girl is FIVE!

Sydney turned 5 years old this week.  I feel like she was a newborn just yesterday!  This fall, she'll go to Kindergarten, and I'll need professional counseling.  Here is this year's edition of the birthday questions:

Favorite food? Macaroni and cheese and milk.  Last year: Macaroni and cheese - WITHOUT ham!

Favorite color? Pink.  Last year: Pink and blue

Favorite thing to do with your family? Go to the playground and on the bike path.  Last year: Snuggle, swim, and go to the beach

Favorite book? Pinkalicious.  Last year: Strawberry Shortcake Easter Hunting book

What do you want to be when you grow up? Veterinarian.  Last year: Super star

Weekend Projects

For years now, we've rented out a townhouse in Ashburn.  We've had really good luck with renters, and for the last three plus years, we've had the same set.  Just recently, however, we received noticed that they'd be moving out.  The townhouse needed some TLC, so Tom and I decided a DIY project was in order.  For the last couple weekends, we've worked to pull out the flooring on the middle floor of the townhouse, correct some subflooring problems, and lay new floor.  Anyway, it was an adventure!  Here are some pics of the project in progress:  

Ugh - what a mess!

Getting there...

Purrrty!

Woo hoo!  Just needs some trim!

Required material for such a project.

Stay tuned for pictures of the finished product.  It looks gorgeous!

Snow Day!

We haven't gotten a lot of snow here this winter -- just enough to get out and have a little bit of fun.  This week was no exception.  Thursday morning, we made the most of an inch and a half of snow!

 

Evie Visits Crazy Town

Lorraine needed a sitter this week, so we offered our professional services.  Even Papa came over to help.  Poor Evie was probably a little overwhelmed.  She was read to, presented with many toys, told what to do, snuggled (perhaps violently), fed, covered in blankets to "keep warm," and entertained in other assorted ways.  Anyway, she was returned with no visible injuries, and she seemed to enjoy herself!  The kids and I can't wait to have her back!

A Trip to the Zoo

Along with my parents, Lorraine, and Evie, I took the kids to the National Zoo for the first time ever last week!  It was supposed to be 65 degrees and partly sunny, but it ended up being probably 40 degrees (at best) with drizzle.  Notwithstanding the weather, we still had a good time, and I saw more animals than I've ever seen at the National Zoo (Tom swears there actually aren't any animals at the zoo, but I'm here to tell you there are).  The kids had fun, although next time, we'll skip the three-mile bike ride we took Syd on the day before (it doesn't lend itself well to having her walk the grounds of the zoo without a stroller).  Some of the animals we saw included the sea lions, elephants, wolves, gorillas, fish, snakes, lizards, lemurs, zebras, and cheetahs.  We even took a ride on the zoo's new train!

Kicking Off a Healthy 2013

What a great way to start off the new year!  Only 11 hours into the new year, and we've got a 5K under our belts.  Here's to a happy, healthy 2013!