Our Long Weekend

 The day after Thanksgiving our Elf on the Shelf always returns.  

I set a special table for Mr. Piggy's arrival.

We spent the rest of the day putting up our tree.

Mr. Piggy is apparently more adventurous this year.

Saturday night we braved the chilly snowy weather to go watch the Festival of Lights parade downtown.

It feels so magical every year.

...and cold.

 We made good use of the long weekend by getting a good start on our castle model.

We still need to lay the ground inside the castle walls, and attach the drawbridge.

I'll report back about that sometime.

 We have lots of fun stuff planned for this week.

This season is so magical!

Stuffed

Today was a fantastic feast.

If you ever want to be seriously entertained during a meal, watch a seven year old try to figure out the extra forks and spoons at a fancy table setting.

I didn't think about what his reaction would be, but shortly after starting our meal I heard him say, "Oh darn! I used my turkey fork instead of my squash fork!"  I nearly choked.  So funny.

He ended up using nearly all of his utensil options.  

It was a good meal, and we have some good leftovers in our future.

The dogs enjoyed the massive amount of food to watch.  

Though Bonnie could hardly contain herself when Dave left his drumstick remains unattended with the chair out and everything.  

Luckily she is a good dog and didn't in trouble.

Dave and the dogs slipped into turkey comas after dinner.

Once they came out of it we played Life and enjoyed movies.

It was a nice holiday.

Mondays

Everyone complains about Monday.  

It feels long.

You gotta go back to work/school.

This year, Mondays are saving my sanity.

Well it's really just good time management.

But it saves my whole week from feeling overwhelming.

Last year I let everything slide.

School was stressful, people kept dying, I constantly felt behind. 

This year I decided to do better.

So Monday became my day for making sure I got crap done.

Thankfully school is going AMAZINGLY well.

I credit the workbox system. 

It keeps Nate motivated.

It's a piece of cake for me to get our day ready.

I don't forget things nearly as much.

And I can reload for the next day while he finishes the last box, which is usually something fun.

Recently he has been following along with the audiobook of this Magic Tree House book.

He really likes is.  

And by the time he is done, I have tomorrow ready to go!

We have been doing so many more coloring pages and fun worksheets.

After school I work.

I usually have an hour or two until lunchtime.

I clean the bathrooms.(which was a task neglected last year)

I wash the towels.( Also neglected last year)

I wash kitchen laundry.

I wipe down the tables and chairs.(I nearly never did this last year)

While I'm at it I refill the napkin holders.

This is a new task and I love never having to stop my dinner to get napkins.

I refill all sorts of things while I'm at it.

It's been amazing.

Such an easy moment for me on Monday makes the whole week smoother!

This week I did toilet paper, my counter-top spray, and my mop solution.

After I'm done with all of that I usually sweep and mop the kitchen floor.

Then I wash all the rags!

We make a small load of rags every week!

This year is night and day from last year.

I don't think it's just because we don't run out of clean rags or napkins....

But I'm going to keep this up just incase.

Day 14

We are still married!

Now we just need to wait for the replacement cabinet to come in.. then prime and paint it.

We ordered a new dishwasher.

Guess What Day It Is.....

It's put the kitchen back together day!

The excitement is overwhelming.

The relief is huge.

We will be so glad to have this project done!

Yesterday we had a snowy day here in our neck of the woods.

It was a pretty snow.

We listened to Christmas music at breakfast.

The UPS man delivered our Christmas sheets.

Nate went out to play after school.

Then he warmed up with the first cup of cocoa of the season.

The UPS man also delivered "Comet".  

A surprise from my folks.

Nate is in love.

Us too.

Dave immediately said, "We NEED MORE!"

Day Eight

Two coats of primer front and back.

DONE.

Also, all of the hardware and screws have been transformed!

Tuesday or Wednesday Dave is going to paint them. 

He won't be able to do it tonight because Nate has hockey.

Tuesday we really want to go to the movies.

So it probably won't be until Wednesday that he gets to paint. 

That's okay.

Having the rest of the kitchen put back together feels so great it is no biggie if we don't get the doors on until the weekend even.

Day Seven

Yesterday we got a lot done.

When it came to mid afternoon and it was either stop for the day, or start the priming, I told Dave he should stop.  

It was a lot of work yesterday.

So we relaxed a bit, had a nice dinner, and went out for a treat afterwards.  

We needed that.

But today the priming will begin.  

I'm sure he can get two coats on today.  

Inside things are much better today.  

The stuff that was stuffed in the pantry is back where it belongs on the counter tops.

The things that were piled up on the breakfast table are back on the top of the cabinets.

Having the kitchen put back together is great!