Happy Happy Birthday, Baby!

Today, my youngest sweet-pea hits the double digits, the big one-oh, in other words, my baby is 10!!! It seems like only yesterday she was a diaper-wearing, reflux-having, colicky, screaming infant. Today, she is a bright-eyed, animal-loving generally happy, energetic 10-year-old girl! Happy birthday, my little Tatiana-monkey! We love you lots!!!

Mom's fabulous vacation part II!

Did you think I had forgotten about the rest of my wonderful vacation? Let me assure you, I did not! I have been both taking care of a fabulous found doggie, and looking for a job, and let me tell you - looking for a job is more work than actually having one!
After two days of sight seeing with Lisa, I headed over to my in-law's house in Leesburg. They have some wooded property there, and it is absolutely beautiful! I don't actually have very many pictures of my time at their home. I was way too busy relaxing! :) As silly as it may sound, I had heard about a fabulous grocery store they have there from both Lisa and Donna, and just had to check it out, so we had lunch at Wegmans and did a bit of grocery shopping on my first day there. We took a day and drove to the mountains in West Virginia where they will be building a house for retirement, and spent the rest of the week petting dogs, drinking coffee, and chatting. Four dogs resided at their home while I was there - Wayland (sheltie, bottom pic) and Jasmine (cattle dog mix, top pic) are permanent residents there. Fosters at the time included Dusty (an Australian Shepherd / Sheltie mix, third dog) and Millie (Sheltie, second dog down) who was a breeding dog at a puppy mill. Millie has since been adopted! :) She was a sweetie and will make a great pet once she realises she is safe. :) I did jump in the pool once while I was there, but let me tell you, it was just a bit chilly for this Texas girl! On my last night there, Jonathan's brother and girlfriend came over, and we had dinner and played a board game together.
This was the first actual vacation I had taken since Jonathan and I went on our honeymoon, and I certainly needed it! The entire week was the perfect balance of doing fun things, and doing absolutely nothing at all. I am so lucky to have such awesome in-laws who let me hang out with them just because I needed to get away!

We interrupt your regularly scheduled program for this important news flash!

Calypso has been found! That's right, apparently, she was in the woods behind the Creekside development across 455 from us. Someone has been feeding her for 3 weeks (who knows what the little rascal was eating before that) and finally managed to catch her and take her in to the shelter! Contrary to Floppy's experience, she has not lost any weight at all, and looks great! I took her in to the vet to be looked over, and have microchipped, and also got her a flea dip. Other than that, it's like she never left! We're so happy to have a ll 3 of our doggies home, safe and sound! Our family now feels complete again. To whoever found her, though I know you'll never read this, but I want to say thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Even Mom needs a vacation, sometimes.

About a month ago, my friend Lisa called to let me know that she would be driving a new (to her) car from Brownsville, TX to her home in northern Virginia. She said that she was trying to break the drive up and wanted to stop in Dallas to see us. Before she even had all this out of her mouth, I was thinking "Take me, too!" Besides the fact that I'm somewhat friend deficient here in town, Jonathan's family lives up there, and I love to visit them! I know it's crazy, right? I have the best in-laws, though, and staying with them makes it really easy to see why I have such an amazing husband. :)
Lisa, her new dog, Mattie (also acquired in Brownsville) and I left at around 6:00 AM on Saturday morning, and drove all the way through without sleeping. About 22 hours later, we arrived at her home on Wildcat Mountain and sacked out for around five hours. Needless to say, our Sunday activities were limited to visiting a local farmer's market, and eating. We didn't have much energy for anything else! Honestly though, I had never been to a farmer's market, and I have to say that it was really fun! I need to find one here to shop at! :)
Despite the fact that I have been to Virginia a couple of times, the trips have always been short, (and mostly in the winter, brrrr!) and never included time for any sightseeing or touristy-type attractions, so Monday, we set out for Washington DC, and the Smithsonian. While there, we had time to visit both the Natural History Museum, and the American History Museum, although could have used another hour or so at the latter. Before returning to the Metro to go home, we walked past the White House and took a picture or two there.
Tuesday, we spent the day at Mount Vernon, and it was absolutely beautiful! It was fascinating to see where our first president lived, and look at the actual chair he sat in while running the country. We splurged for the deluxe package which included an audio tour with stories about their way of life and the people (and animals) who lived there, a mini "cruise" on the Potomac, and tickets to the grist mill and distillery. I am quite sorry to say that we did NOT make it to the grist mill and distillery, as one could easily spend two days at the main grounds and museum there and still probably not see it all. The tour included all sorts of interesting information about Washington and his family that I never knew, and I am in the process of planning an entire history unit for the girls based on this visit! :) On the way home, Lisa introduced me to Trader Joe's, and I think we definitely need one of those here! :)
Wednesday morning, I wrapped up my stay with Lisa, and moved on to the in-laws' house, which I think, is a story for another day!
Thanks to Lisa, for letting me tag along and showing me some of the sights, and to Jeff for letting me steal his wife for a couple of days! :)