I sense a decrease in productivity...

Mom and dad have been here 10 days and will leave in the morning.  Dad has been a machine around the house.  I couldn't bare to look at the bathroom after the leak was discovered.  My F-I-L took care of the leak and dad went to town on patching it up.  Then he moved on to the trimming out of the bathroom. LOOKS AWESOME!  installed and painted the baseboards, painted the window trim, trimmed and painted the door and built a beautiful threshold.  So nice!  Going to be sad when mom and dad leave.  Has been nice having them.  Feel bad that dad was WORKING the entire time.  Mom was very helpful with Christmas eve's food prep.  I was able to get wall number 3 tiled and dad was amazing washing my tools for me even though he was working along side on his own stuff.  Love you guys!

Bathroom take two (hundred and five)

Got back into things again these past two weekends.  Crunch time before Christmas.  My father-in-law helped first weekend with the leak (gave him a break on patching up the holes).  I took on the tiling of the tub surround and after two weekends of labor, have almost two walls done.  Darn bathroom has no parallel or perpendicular walls.  Made work VERY slow.  Must have done 50 sets of stairs this weekend alone running down to cut tile in the garage.  Hopefully one day soon that bathroom will be up and running FULLY.  The toilet and sink are back in action thanks to the plumbing help, so it is at least a half bath.  My father-in-law also trimmed out the window.  That was a BIG help.  Much nicer to look at.  Just needs painting which I am ok with.  I will tackle all the painting at once -baseboards, door and window trim, wall touch ups...

Everyone is good here.  Dylan had a bug today - threw up a couple times, but seems to be on the mend.  Poor guy just doesn't catch a break.  He has been having trouble with that darn eye tube and were were at the doctor THREE times because of it.  Hopefully it will not cause any troubles over the holidays.  Mom and dad arrive in a couple days and I am looking forward to putting my old man to work :)

Deck the house

 

Got our tree the other weekend and Dylan was very eager to help with everything.  First there was the trimming (like with snippers, not bows and ribbons).

Dylan REALLY got into this part.

 And like a good little elf, he was quick to clean up his mess.

 Then we got to decorate out tidy, trim tree.

Birthday Party.

Sophia's birthday party was great!  The kids had a blast at Ellis Gym.  Much more organized than the one we had for her 4th party.  Both had their benefits.  The 4yr one was good to be loose and the kids ran wild for 1.5 hours.  This year they have 3 coaches guide the kids through activities and obstacle courses.  They had 20 minutes at the end for free play and I asked if parents could play too.  I had a secret desire to play myself and try out the uneven bars.  We got the go ahead and away I went, haha.  SO MUCH FUN.  I need to get into a gymnastics class for over the hill adults.  I was still able to spin around the bar - wahoo!  Flooded many fond memories of my favorite sport and my glory Junior High days of yore.

Birthday Party.

Sophia's birthday party was great!  The kids had a blast at Ellis Gym.  Much more organized than the one we had for her 4th party.  Both had their benefits.  The 4yr one was good to be loose and the kids ran wild for 1.5 hours.  This year they have 3 coaches guide the kids through activities and obstacle courses.  They had 20 minutes at the end for free play and I asked if parents could play too.  I had a secret desire to play myself and try out the uneven bars.  We got the go ahead and away I went, haha.  SO MUCH FUN.  I need to get into a gymnastics class for over the hill adults.  I was still able to spin around the bar - wahoo!  Flooded many fond memories of my favorite sport and my glory Junior High days of yore.

Tree day!

Turned the house into Christmasville today.  First started with the tree shop at Home Depot.  We have really gotten quite nice trees there over the years.  This year is no exception.  I think our first tree was from a nursery and cost over $65.  The ones at HD can run that high, but we have found nice Balsams for about $35.  This year is a blue silver balsam fur, about 8.5 feet tall and beautiful.  Nice, full....  We decorated the tree and Ethan put the lights up outside and it is beginning to feel more Christmassy.

Sophia's Birthday party is tomorrow.  A little early, would have preferred NEXT weekend, however, I am glad to have it at the gymnastics gym the kids go to, so I took what I could get.  I am putting my foot down next year, though and doing a house party.  These places are SO expensive!  In case I forget, I will say it now for me to read next year - Sophia, you will have a pajama party next year.  Guests can arrive in their jammies, you can get your nails done, do each other's hair and watch a movie with popcorn.  Fun, right?

Anyway, that's it for now.  Will update on the party later.