Everyday Stuff

As I’ve mentioned before, one of the girls’ favorite things to do with Mark is wrestle.  They call it Tickle Tackle.  They get tickled, they get tackled, and they love it!  One other thing they’ve always done with Mark since they were babies were pushups or more like bench presses.  They go stiff as a board, and Mark sees how many reps he can do.  This was the first time they’ve ever done a double stack though.  They made it 1 1/2 times before they fell over!

If Nina was allowed to eat pasta ever day of her life, she would.  Since she was walking around with rigatoni on every finger, I named her Nina Noodle Hands.

What a Face!

Yesterday was the birthday party of our good friend, Kate.  She was turning five, so we headed out to the Rumple’s house to celebrate Kate with some super cool face painting.  The lady that Jill had come to their house to paint the kids’ faces was amazing.  She painted anything that the kids asked – all while being super speedy and very creative.  Nina wanted to be a puppy (of course) and Jonathan was a snake.  Lyla was a bunny and Kate was a butterfly. 

It’s hard to believe our little girls are turning five!  Jill and I were pregnant at the same time, and Kate was born two weeks before Lyla, but it seems like such a short time ago that they were babies.  I feel like I keep saying this, but time is flying.  Kate is a sweet and wonderful little girl who we were happy to celebrate yesterday.

   

Fetch Turns Two

Yesterday was a day off of school for the kids in our county, so the Hounds planned Fetch’s 2nd birthday bash to coincide with the day off and had a lunch-time party for Fetch at a local restaurant.  Last year we were at the party when Fetch turned one, so you might recognize the two little girls in the promotional flyer below. 

 

Nina and Lyla got to see Fetch, have some of his birthday cake, get their faces painted, and Lyla even won a scarf in a ticket raffle.  It was a nice way to spend some lunchtime hours on a day off from school.  Happy Birthday, Fetch!

  

  

Happy Valentine’s Day

Since I don’t have any better advice for men on Valentine’s Day than the example of the bird from last year, I’ll stick to reporting about Valentine’s Day around our house.  As usual, all good things to celebrate in the Simpson house get started with donuts.  The girls got their cards and ate their donuts, then it was off to school for Nina.  She’s recently sporting a new haircut (several inches cut off), and was excited for the whole Valentine exchange at school today.

After Nina got home, the girls got a few little treats from Cupid, and I got a Valentine that Nina made in school.  I am going to have to save this one.  How did she know I always wanted to be a rock star?   

   

In the bizarro world of Mark and I, we discovered this evening that we got each other the exact same card.  I’ve heard that people start to look alike and think alike after years and years of being married, but what are the chances with all the cards out there…

We finished things off with a great dinner cooked by Mark and the family’s favorite chocolate cake.  It was a nice, low-key day for all of us.  Happy Valentine’s Day!

Lots of Press!

For Mark’s family and friends (and mine too) that want to read what he has to say about Virginia Cavalry FC’s focus and vision, check out the latest articles on the homepage of www.virginiacavalry.com or go to the “News” link on the site.

Virginia Cavalry FC

Last night was a big night for the NASL Virginia team – they got their name! After several months of name submissions and voting, the public chose Virginia Cavalry FC as the name of their team (click on the link to check out their new site).  The name unveiling party was yesterday evening at the Bungalow Lakehouse, and it was really a great celebration.  The turnout was amazing.  There were a couple hundred people there to watch the National Team game and celebrate the unveiling of the NASL Virginia team. 

Mark was joined by former teammates, John Harkes and Eddie Pope, to do some halftime commentary during the game, then immediately following the game Mark talked about the vision for the NASL Virginia team and unveiled the new name. The event was put together very nicely, and there is a lot of excitement about the future of two professional sports teams (minor league baseball and NASL soccer) playing in a great stadium right here in our own county.

It was nice to see a lot of familiar faces from Mark’s days at DC United that came out for the event, and we appreciated the friends and my parents that came to support the event as well.  There were several real photographers there taking pictures, so The Virginia Cavalry website and Facebook site will no doubt have some great pictures posted in the near future. My few snapshots definitely don’t do justice to the event, but it was really nice to be there, taking everything in and seeing nearly 18 months of work (by Mark and the team at VIP Entertainment) coming to fruition!

 

Big News for the Williams Family

They’re moving back!  After a couple years in Asheville, the Williams family is on their way back to Northern Virginia.  Garland’s job offered him a promotion back here in NoVa, so it was an offer they couldn’t refuse.  Although they really enjoyed their time in Asheville, we’re all glad that they’ll be back “home” again!  They spent the last few days here – looking at schools, getting a feel for where they want to live, etc.  So, while they were here we got in dinner with them and friends on Friday night, cousin time and Sweet Frog on Saturday, then a family Super Bowl gathering on Sunday.  Nina and Lyla were sad to see their cousins leave today, but they had a great time dancing, creating routines, doing gymnastics, and just hanging around having fun.  The Williams family will be back up next month and plan to move back as soon as the school year is done, so we’re glad to know we’ll be seeing a lot more of them in the near future!