Weekend

We had a busy weekend. We were out of town all day Saturday- fun but tiring.  Sunday was spent doing some yard work and doing little house projects.  Our last major front yard project was to deal with the hill of bushes, John spent hours chainsawing and pulling up bushes. Not totally done yet- hope to have a photo by the end of the week.

Chester was a big help.

What did you do this weekend?

Back To Reality

So, I inadvertently took a summer vacation from blogging.  Opps.  I had a great summer and was pretty busy.... I have plenty of bloggy material stored up.  I went back to school work today.

My last week of vacation was, unexpectedly, eventful.  First, there was the earthquake.  We are fine, no damage.  I was home, so Chester and I crotched in the hallway together.  He didn't leave my side for the rest of the day.  John was evacuated from his building and spent 3 hours trying to catch a metro train. Then a few days later there was a late night aftershock.  Finally, the week ended with a hurricane.  Again, we were very lucky to have no damage.  Although Buffett Day was rescheduled (to a weeknight- boo!). Even though the best day of the year (aka Buffett Day) was moved, my good friend still came up for the weekend. We had a great time shopping, eating, chilling.

Since we weren't enjoying "island time" with Buffett....we Chelsea complete a puzzel during the hurricane.

PS- This took 7 hours and I hate puzzels- so you should be super impressed.

How was your weekend?

Getting Started

 We hosted last day of school party for my school.  Since we are lucky enough to have a pool, this was obviously going to be a pool party.  Our outdoor furniture was definitely not party ready.

The two adirondack sets were a deal from the Christmas Tree Store in 2008 (see more here).  And I still loved them, but I've always wanted them to match and the paint was badly peeling.

       

 
 These metal tables were left by the pervious owners.

I spent a couple days sanding and painting.  FIY- the chairs were a pain to paint- so many nooks and crannies. Next time I would use spray paint.

Chester provided the entertainment. 

Both chairs and foot rests became a high gloss white. 

All 4 tables (2 round metal and 2 square wood) turned green.

Ready to party!

What summer gatherings have you enjoyed?

Memorial Day

Part of our holiday weekend was spent car shopping (my transmission died, and it isn't worth fixing)...but most of it was spent like this

actually most of the time people (and dogs) were in the water, this was after Monday's dinner.  

I made a delicious strawberry rhubarb pie.  

What did you do with your long weekend?

Getting Ready For The Season

Oh, my-where have I been?!  A whole month flew by without a post- opps.  I've been up to a lot (not blogging clearly), so I have much to share in the coming weeks...get excited!

One thing we've been busy doing is working on our curb appeal.  Chester has found a new way to help with the gardening.




And we John spent a week getting the pool ready.  Our holiday weekend plans are to lay around the pool- Chester is already enjoying it.  (he was so excited to have it open again, he has been doing nightly laps)

How are you spending the three day weekend?  

Whatever you do- have fun and stay safe!

Cherry Blossoms

Last weekend we went to see the cherry blossoms.  This is a big DC tradition, meaning it is packed 24-7 and there are a ton of tourists.  John and I were both off on Fri so we drove in (so we could bring Chester) at 2pm and it took 1 hour to find parking.  Although we are experiencing some cold temps (and waiting for snow), it was a nice, sunny day.

This is what the boys did within an hour of our return.

What did you do this weekend?

Merry Christmas

Sorry I've been MIA for a bit.  I've been busy enjoying many fun seasonal events.  I have lots of photos to share and three (super late) posts to link to Kim's DIY challenge. Keep your eyes peeled for many new posts.

To add another excuse to my list...my 6 year old Dell died last week. For those who care, that makes two important tech tools that have crapped out on my this fall...my external hard drive and laptop.  Don't even get me started on how upset I about all I lost.  I'm now blogging from a brand new Macbook. I have a lot to learn, but so far so good.

Anyway....from us to you~

Warm Wishes for a fun, happy and healthy holiday

4th of July

My parents were in town for an extra long holiday weekend.  We had a great time- fun (baseball game, pool time), productive (house projects and unpacked the craft room), action packed and relaxing.  


They also brought our family golden- Cody.  He and Chester had a boatload of fun- they swam nonstop.  It looked like a water aerobics for dogs crossed with a relay race.  We all had a great time playing with them, they provided a ton of entertainment. 

Of course, we enjoyed fireworks on the 4th.  DC has an extensive display, and it is a very cool setting in which to watch fireworks.  Rather than braving the insane crowds downtown on the mall, we opted from a slightly be smaller crowd.


Our viewing location

Hope you enjoyed a great holiday! 

Crafty Tails- the sequel

When we moved not only did a realize C-Bear needed a 2nd floor bed, but I noticed his current toy box was a bit small, and not so stylish. AND he needed a second box to go upstairs.  I want him to hang out there during summer days while I work (i.e. read/craft/hang out), so I'm thinking toys will engage him.  
Surprisingly, this simple project took months to complete (that ever happen to you?).

1st floor

2nd floor

Crafty Tails

When we moved to the new house I decided Chester needed some new digs.  He has a bed in our living room, but sometimes sleeps upstairs or hangs out while I craft.  So he deserves an upstairs bed right?

I actually made this in April when my mom was visiting; I needed her to teach me how to do a zipper.

I used a bed insert from Ovis .

time for my close up!

Exciting Event!

Guess what we did tonight?

Had our first swim in our new (to us) pool!  

This is the only (horrible, phone) photo I took.

Birthday Bear

Remember how I told you I've been busy celebrating some birthdays? Here are some pictures from one very important birthday!

Chester turned 4!

Wanna know his favorite recipe? 
1 scoop of double churned (gotta watch the puppy figure) vanilla ice cream
a chicken flavored treat
bbq sauce 
sprinkles of cheddar cheese 

I guess it was tasty.

Snow Puppy!

Playing in the snow is almost as much fun as swimming. 

Running in the snow- is hard when it's over 2 feet high

Looking for a snowball, what else? He is standing, it is that high.

Current Conditions

Current  Snowocalypse Conditions - lots, and still snowing 

October Flashback- number 5

One thing I really wanted to do was take a drive down Skyline Drive to see the fall colors. Sadly, the weather on peek weekend was nasty, lots of rain and just generally overcast.

Saturday morning, wasn't pretty but it was dry. In an effort to enjoy some festive fall foliage, we took a walk along the George Washington Parkway. This very pretty road, leading into DC, runs parallel to the Potomac river and offers views of the iconic DC buildings and monuments.

Fall Leaves- at last

What a stately puppy!

We are signing him up to be an LL Bean model

This one reminds me of a screensaver photo from college

We got caught in (about half a mile from the car) heavy downpour

Dug the Dog or Chester?

Earlier this year, we saw a movie that had me cracking up

the first time I saw one particular scene. Below is a short

clip from the Disney Pixar movie "Up". Suspiciously,

Dug reminds me of my own howling dog asleep in my

living room. Watch and find out what I mean.

I want one of those collars for Chester. I have a feeling he would just say "food, soccer, car, swimming"

over and over again. Still it would be cool.

4th of July

To celebrate July 4^th, we took an extended long weekend to the Roanoke area of southwestern Virginia to visit John's family. While there we spent a day on the warm waters of Smith Mountain Lake. We rented a little motorboat; it was Chester's first boating experience. He loved it! After all it is a combination of his two favorite activities- swimming and riding in the car with windows down and sunroof open! Even with sunburn, it was a wonderful day!

“Schools Out for the Summer!” (Now my real life can begin)

I know I’ve been a bad blogger (again); it’s been over a month- yikes! In fact, I hope there is still someone around to read this. But in my defense, it has been a busy month: wrapping up the end of the school year, a couple of plays, a few baby showers, a batch of out-of-town guests, a weekend trip, and a two concerts. I’ll be doing a couple “flash-back” posts to review all those fun happenings.

But the real time-consuming reason I haven’t blogged much is, that we’ve been house hunting. We’ve been looking for about 2 months (although it feels like three times that); and contrary to media reports, it isn’t a great buyers’ market. Most of the reasonable priced houses are crapholes, which need more work than they’re worth. The nice houses are overpriced, and the seller’s won’t negotiate because they bought when the market was inflated, so now they don’t want to lose money. And the ones in-between (well priced, and needing just the right amount of updating) are few and miles between. Clearly, none of the 5 offers we’ve submitted have been accepted. While, it is frustrating and time consuming we are fortunate enough to be working with a great agent!

Anyway, on to fun topics…..today was the last day of school! Actually, the kids finished Wednesday, and then we had 2 teacher workdays.

How have I celebrated so far?

The summer table runner and centerpiece have been pulled out.

Summer berries have been baked into breads and muffins.

We enjoyed a “Huey Lewis and The News” concert last night at the beautiful Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts, with a picnic prior to the show.

I’ve painted my toes a bright shade. (Yes, I have stars tattooed on my foot). Chester is excited to have me home (I didn’t have pose him that way).

And look at the awesome end-of-school “gift” someone left for me in their large item trash pile! (Yes, I totally looked like an idiot pulling over on a busy road and single handily tossing it in the back of car.)

I’m so excited about it!!! I don’t have any plans for it yet (where it will go, how I’ll refinish it), but I’m pumped to have the set!

Now, I think I’ll take a nap before going out for an end-of -school date tonight!

Happy summer to all!