What I did with my day

Since you all know the kids were away Saturday and Saturday night I figured you would be interested in what I did with 24 (and a few) hours without my girls. Surprisingly, or probably not so surprisingly,

I grabbed a Chai Tea Latte from Starbucks (I like my Stash version better- their's was waaaay too sweet) and headed to the mall to check out the Disney Store. Last year I was able to get some amazing deals because I just happened to be there on a weekend when they had some amazing sales (hence the amazing deals) and figured it wouldn't hurt to stop in occasionally to see if I could do it again this year. Their Halloween costumes were 50% off so I got Ella a beautiful Bell dress up costume with shoes for her birthday - so great to have that out of the way a month in advance. Of course after I left I realized I could have stocked up on birthday gifts with some items that were marked way down.

After the mall it was on to the church where I had consigned bins and bins of clothing for Kids' Sale. I was hopeful that I would make some money that I could put towards Christmas gifts and clear out a ton of space in the attic. I felt like I priced stuff really reasonable and even on the low side, but there was so much inventory overall that it seemed like it would have been hard to pick through the piles. So I brought a lot of stuff home and left some stuff there to donate.

It was a dreary rainy day so I was seriously tempted to veg on the couch, but I decided to organize the closet/wardrobe units that Matt had installed for me in our room. To make it more fun I watched episodes of Ugly Betty while I purged piles of underwear and socks. I know none of this sounds exciting, but it definitely needed to get done and would not have happened it the girls were around. It is physically impossible for them to see piles of clothing, be it socks, underwear, bridesmaid dresses and especially shoes, without wearing it in weird combinations and then discarding it all over the house.

While I was busy with my stuff, Matt was busy doing this

This is where I was going to put a picture of our bathroom that he spent all Saturday demolishing. But part of the demolishing involved cutting the electricity in the room so when I went to take a picture tonight I realized that it was kind of pointless, even with a flash.

He hooked the sink back up to the plumbing because I complained that it wasn't sanitary to not be able to wash our hands after going to the bathroom (yes, I know we could have used the tub...but, really, who wants to do that!?). The mirror and all our toiletries are stored in Ella's room. She knows about the mirror - kind of hard to miss, but she doesn't know about the toiletries, three drawers full of creams and soaps and shampoos, and, because the mirror is in their so is all my makeup. I'm in trouble when she figures it out.

The bathroom project is something I'm really excited about because it's going to give us more space and a double sink vanity. Also, I am hoping and praying that everything works out for us to get radiant floor heating. Swoon! No cool feet during middle of the night bathroom trips or in in the early morning before the heat kicks on. This could be just the thing to make me a morning person!

After I was done with the closet I worked on a modge podge project for the girls' rooms. I always admire other people's creativity and feel like I've somewhat stifled mine and convinced myself that I can't do anything crafty or creative. Someone in my mom's group was encouraging me during a project we were doing (and yes, it involved modge podge t00, so that doesn't make me very creative) and I figured I had to start somewhere. Not sure if I like the results but I can always start over.

Then we headed out to dinner. We went Outback last night. Read that last sentence to the tune of the commercial - it fits perfectly! Enjoyed yummy food and good conversation. Drove home in a monsoon and worried that our newly demolished bathroom was flooded because the window was left wide open.

I know, not a very exciting day, but a good day. It felt good to accomplish some tasks and I love opening my wardrobe drawers and seeing my clothes nicely folded and my socks all matched up and shoes lined up. I'm glad Matt got started on the bathroom, even though I have no idea when it will be finished. When I ask for an estimation of completion he told me I watch too many home improvement shows where they finish these thing in two days. Hmmm....makes me think I'll be using a flashlight when I brush my teeth for awhile now.

We were thankful to have Rose, Renee's mom, watching the kids for the day and night. I think they wore her out and I know that Catherine was a little cranky, as she tends to be when she's out of her comfort zone. Catherine was so exhausted and grumpy after church and wanted to go to sleep in the car. We live two minutes from our church so I told her she couldn't go to sleep in the car, we were going home and she could be in her bed. To which she wailed "but Rose let's me sleep in the car!" Ella kept referring to her as Nana Rose or Grandma Rose and she was upset because she wanted to make her Halloween costume with Rose. Rose generously sewed a top and bottom in Dalmation print for Ella, but I guess Ella wanted in on the action. I think they loved their time away and I'm sure I'll be hearing stories about it all week. The thing that cracked me up the most, is when Renee's dad Joe told me that he was surprised when he started the bath for them and they both started ripping off their clothes. What can I say, they love their bathtime!

Well, I'm going to catch the end of the Phillies game and hope to have something to cheer about after that depressing Steeler's game. See ya later