Category Archives: Friends & Family
Happy Papa and happy Katie!
She suckered him into watching The Princess and the Frog. 🙂
Papa and Grannie’s big surprise!
Of course, we knew that they were coming, but we didn’t tell the kids…so when we came home from baseball this morning, this is what happened:
Pics from the video:
How I get my baby fix.
He’s not actually a baby anymore but he’s still super cute and cuddly.
Mason & Owen—Then & Now
OMG! Can you even?!
Our best pizza yet!
We just made our best pizza yet!
Goat cheese with rosemary and garlic infused oil*, caramelized onions, flank steak, and fresh mozzarella. I mixed too much oil into the goat cheese so it seeped out in the oven and started to smoke on the stone…but the bonus side effect was actually a crispier, fried crust! It was our best pizza yet!
* We were gifted a bottle of goat cheese that was marinated in rosemary and roasted garlic oil. After the amazingly delicious goat cheese was gone, we used the oil mixed with our own (Costco) goat cheese to make a paste for the pizza.
And then I had a clothes bender…
So, as a byproduct of the weight loss, pretty much everything in my closet is new. But I’ve been holding off on buying summer clothes until I got closer to my final weight so I wouldn’t have to buy even more summer clothes (I went through multiple sets of winter clothes as sizes kept changing). The weather is getting nicer now…so it was finally time to get some summer stuff. As luck would have it, friends were staying with us for the weekend and Sheryl—who has worked in the fashion industry for probably 35 years—went with me to pick out some new stuff.
AND OMG IT WAS SOOOOO MUCH FUN!!! :p
AND OMG I SPENT ENTIRELY TOO MUCH MONEY!!!! 😯
But I now have a whole new wardrobe of SUPER cute and stylish (!) summer clothes thanks to Sheryl’s assistance. It was so much fun…
- looking for and trying clothes on with a friend.
- fitting into pretty much every single thing I tried.
- being able to decide what pieces I really LOVED and not just what FIT.
- liking how I looked in most of it (though Sheryl had to convince me of some pieces).
- buying most things in size large, but also a medium and even a small! A SMALL!!
I got six dresses (from a formal ball gown to casual sundresses), 11 tops, 2 pair of jeans, a pair of patterned slacks, a short skirt, two long pencil skirts, and a spring/fall all-weather parka (because the same type coat I just got in October is WAY too big—GRRR).
I don’t think I’ve done a clothes shopping trip like this EVER in my life—the closest might be a back-to-school shopping trip where I’d get like two pair of jeans, a few tops, a sweater, a pair of shoes, and some socks. It was expensive, but everything was from Nordstrom Rack and Marshalls so overall it wasn’t bad. And I am now set for summer clothes for the next few years, if not more (since NS should keep me at about this same size forevermore—I mean, realistically, I could wear these clothes for the next 8-10 years).
BRING ON SUMMER!!
Orange Twinsies!
It was also fun seeing both cars in the driveway all weekend! We did see one or two strange looks from our neighbors. 🙂
This pic was taken at the mall—we took two cars so the boys and kids didn’t have to spend all day shopping for my new wardrobe.
I had my first bender tonight.
Food bender, that is—dinner out with 15 peeps at what turned out to be an amazing restaurant (Green Pig Bistro).
The food was all excellent and everyone was passing around plates to try everything (because the portions were HUGE)…so on top of probably 15 bites of random dishes (which would have been a complete meal in itself), I ate my entire plate (which actually was one of the smaller plates—four tiny scallops and probably a cup of crab and coconut risotto) and then a few bites of desserts (ours, plus others!).
I didn’t feel overstuffed at the time, though I knew I obviously ate too much. But I ended up waking up during the night feeling like I had a hangover. I actually had to think: “Wait. Did I drink last night?” Because it felt sooo similar. (Note: I didn’t drink.)
The following morning I didn’t even want to think about food. And I was nervous to step on the scale—I had actually been pretty close to losing my 4# of fluff but that went out the window. But DAMN it was worth it. 🙂
One fun part of the dinner was a surprise birthday dessert for Tom! We had seen another table get the sparkler and one of us decided that it should happen at our table because fire. And they just happened to pick Tom!
Happy un-birthday, Tom!
Thank you Aunt Sheryl!
Aunt Sheryl always brings gifts for the kids. Today they got Easter baskets and toys—Owen got a Lego set which he had to put together immediately! 🙂
Katie talking to Uncle Eddy
Friends are coming for the weekend and Katie is excited. Here she’s “talking” to Uncle Eddy on her toy phone. 🙂
Spring break play date!
We finally had some gorgeous weather so we had a play date with friends at their house (one of Owen’s classmates).
Minecraft Mine: Complete!
Another Lego finished. This one was a bit easier–ages 8+ and only 922 pieces.
When Owen was done, he was ADAMANT that I take a picture and show it to Mason, his friend in Ohio who also likes Lego and Minecraft. So I posted it on Facebook. His mom’s reply? Mason said “Oh my gosh! That is so cool!” Then did this…
Friendly Easter Egg Hunt
Friends invited us to their community Easter Egg Hunt today. Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite Easter-y weather—it was 45 degrees and rainy! 🙁 But, the kids still had fun! The little kids and big kids each had their own side to search on, so I went with Katie and Tom went with Owen.
Boosterthon Fun Run Success!
Owen did AMAZING! They had two tracks running at the same time—Kindergarten and 1st grades on one and 2nd and 3rd on the other. The VIPs (parents, family, etc.) were in the center of each ring to cheer them on. Of course, Owen was on the outside of the track almost every time (which also meant that other kids were blocking my view) so I didn’t get many good pictures of him. I had been wondering how they were going to keep track of laps run, but the kids all had Boosterthon T-shirts with boxes on the back so every time they crossed the starting line, they had teachers and volunteers marking off boxes. Owen completed…ALL 35 POSSIBLE LAPS!! For a total pledge donation amount of…$390!! We are SOOOOO proud of him!! (The only slightly disappointing thing [for me] was at the end of the event—the kids got to take a “victory lap” with family and friends so Katie and I rushed out to walk with Owen…and he didn’t want anything to do with it and just went off on his own. I swear he’s 7-going-on-14.) If the amounts on the website can be trusted, the school hit 99% of their goal…which means the kids get the technology updates AND the playground equipment!!!
Tom wasn’t able to make it to the fun run, but Katie and I were there! Of course, she was pouting about something (I can’t even remember what since it happens so often).
Owen’s class coming onto the field.
National anthem.
Can you see Owen? (Hint in next pic.)
They had theme laps like clapping, walk with a friend, and slow-motion. This was the kangaroo lap (his favorite). 🙂
He started with the headband on, then it came off pretty quickly, and here it’s back again.
It came off again soon after.
Katie was an awesome cheerleader for Owen and all our other friends!
Westin, a kindergarten friend (we ate at their house for Thanksgiving).
Our across-the-street neighbors.
Owen and Colton (he was in his class last year and is on his baseball team this year) running together.
They had music playing the entire time so Katie did a lot of dancing!
Hazel, our kindergarten neighbor.
More dancing!
Katie helping clean up!
And the attempted class picture afterwards:
Since it was the end of the day, we went back to Owen’s classroom to take him home. This was the class goal sheet. I love to see the order of importance. 🙂
Look at me getting all Pinteresty.
A friend shared a video on Facebook showing how to make a no-sew bag from a T-shirt. I normally bookmark these types of things with grand plans to do them but then never actually go back and do them. Amiright? But since I happen to have an abundance of T-shirts and 10 minutes to spare, I decided to make me a bag. 🙂 I actually think no-sew was the key term for me.
I used a really big tee (3X) and consequently had a really big bag:
Unfortunately I don’t think it came out looking quite as cute as I had hoped. (It will still work, of course, but just doesn’t look as cute.) It’s also hard to find a tee without graphics on the front/back that will most likely get cut into and ruined. I thought this one was low enough down but it looks funny. Again, it will work…it’s just not exactly right. So I’d suggest plain tees.
It was also very confusing when tying the second layer together—it was hard to tell which strips were supposed to be tied. Maybe it was because it was all black or maybe it was just my old eyes. Or maybe it would have been easier if I had cut the strips longer. (Yes, probably that one.) But it was a valiant first effort and only took maybe 10 minutes so I’ll likely try again.
The video originally posted was in Japanese and didn’t give full instructions so I searched YouTube and found this one which is a bit better.
Friends
DC dinner with friends!
Friends from South Carolina came to DC for the weekend and we grabbed dinner with a bunch of other friends at a pizza place.
Of course, the kids were watching TV. (Guess how old the boy is. Just guess. Nope—he’s 6.5 and in first grade! I know, right? I told you we grow them big. 🙂 )
Owen’s cool crayon sculpture!
As a sidenote. We had a perfect example of why I say I hate people. Parking in downtown DC is always a nightmare, but we were thrilled to realize there was a parking garage right next door to the restaurant. Except some asshat parked next to us in a NON-PARKING spot which necessitated a 23-point turn to exit our space. (Parking is tight in the best of cases, so with him there it was ridiculous.)
Saturday Night Gumbo Dinner
New friends (Nate, a co-worker of Tom’s I’d never met—and his wife), newbies to dinner (friends from T-ball, mutual friends, and now Owen’s first grade class), good food (gumbo, rice, homemade white bread and spaghetti bread), amazing desserts (peanut butter bars and carrot cake by Nate!), and great kids equals gumbo dinner party success!
Through a small comedy of errors, Allison spilled red wine on herself a mere five minutes after arriving…so I loaned her a shirt (same shirt, different color) and we were twins!
Surprise! A new Cinderella dress!
Friends gave us a Cinderella dress because it was too big for their kids. This is me surprising Katie with it.
Happy girl!
Katie singing Happy Birthday
I asked Katie if she wanted to sing Happy Birthday to a friend so I could record it and she said yes. Here’s what happened. 🙂
Cats can be dumb.
Why lay there? Why not get IN the bed?
As usual, my Facebook friends had great responses.
Bouncing birthday!
Katie’s friend Cayenne had her birthday at the trampoline place.
Another successful birthday sleepover!
Owen wanted another summer birthday pool party, so like last year, we had a sleepover with two friends for his birthday. I’m not sure who was more excited—Owen or Katie. She did pretty good overall but didn’t understand why the boys didn’t want to go play with her instead of playing with Owen. (That said, she did get to play with them most of the time.)
We had pizza for dinner, then they all played downstairs (including Katie), and then it was time for Pie face!
Ice cream! Poor Colton (in black) doesn’t like chocolate so didn’t want the ice cream or brownie…so had an ice pop.
Attempting to play a new video game. It wasn’t quite working, so…
We watched a movie. Awwwww.
Of course, Katie was right in there, too.
Owen: “My bros!”
iPad time
Spying on them.
We put them to bed at 9:30 and they wanted to read a book so we told them lights out at 10. I happened to be watching on the monitor when they turned the lights out at 9:45. We thought it was too easy…and we were right. They were gabbing LOUDLY for the next hour. The last 20 minutes or so, Tom and I took turns going in to tell them to quiet down and go to bed. The last time Tom went in he warned them that they would not get donuts in the morning if he had to come in again. Then they were finally quiet. 🙂
Tom said they were all up at Owen’s usual time (6:30!) so they were back at Xbox and Tom went to get donuts.
The kids left by 10:30. Owen had a great time and we were glad to have our relatively quiet house back.
Snow Day 7.5
If you can believe it, we had a 2-hour delay today! On a day that’s supposed to be 63°! I think you could hear the collective gasp throughout the county as the text came in!
Following an assessment of roads and sidewalks throughout the county, despite rising temperatures today, a significant number of sidewalks and crosswalks remain impassable. In order to provide additional daylight for morning travel, including more than 40,000 students that walk to school, all Fairfax County public schools will open two hours late Monday February 1, 2016.
We watched a neighbor kid because his parents had to go to work…and Owen and Katie were in heaven. You’d think we never had friends over before!
First Saturday Dinner of 2016 is in the books!
Pre-dinner selfie!
And you can see why I don’t often take a group shot—it’s hard to get everyone in without lots of scrunching. 🙂
More proof I’m turning into my mother.
I just couldn’t throw out the shrimp peels. So I’m making a small batch of stock.
One wear only + dust catching
I was packing up clothes to go back to the Beson cousins and realized she hadn’t worn this dress! So, we changed outfits so I could snap a few pictures. Of course, she had no issues putting on a dress!
Uncle Rob was behind me, hence the funny face.
Catching dust!
Legos with Uncle Rob
Early New Year’s Eve
We went to our friends’ house for dinner and a football game. The kids watched an early NYE countdown and had some sparkling grape juice (which none of them liked).
