A Productive Weekend

Ever have one of those weekends where you just get a TON done? That was our weekend this weekend. It was a little bit of a "if you give a mouse a cookie..." scenario.

It started Saturday. My parents got new outdoor furniture, so we got their hand-me-downs...a pretty teak bistro set and a dining table and chairs. They also got rid of a rug, which we put in our study, and a little side table. All of which we gladly took (thanks, guys!) Well because we had new furniture, Ronnie wanted to get our fountain back up to par on Saturday, so he fixed it and cleaned it. Works like new. Then I, of course, wanted to make the outside patios and sidewalks look nice. So when Mckenna was up at 5 on Sunday I thought, "hey...let's capitalize on this." So me in my PJs and Mckenna in hers, with coffee and milk in hand (I had the coffee, obviously) we started hosing off the patios and sidewalks. Ronnie joined us. But because we hosed the patios, that meant the windows needed to be cleaned because they had water spots, so we cleaned the windows. When we cleaned the windows, some dirt and water leaked in, so we cleaned the indoor window sills. Mckenna decided she wanted to color, so while she did, I picked up, dusted and vacuumed. Then because things looked nice and because I was already moving stuff, I changed out some decorations and spruced things up a bit. When I did, I saw what a mess some of our storage areas were. So I cleaned out under our buffet, and our kitchen desk area. All the while, Ronnie was trying to replace the light in our microwave...which apparently is jimmy rigged with an automotive lightbulb and no manual, anywhere, says how to change it. We also went to Home Depot for a couple new plants and planted those.

Ronnie then took Mckenna with him to try to hunt down the light bulb for the microwave, while I ran to find something to fashion an activity table out of the end table my parent's handed us down (see left). I ended up buying a train set...that was WAY too big (Apparently I pictured the table was HUGE when at the store lol). So, I need to find another solution, but for now, it'll work well...it's just missing 3/4 of the train tracks. Sorry, Mckenna! Ha! It's just a piece of felt cut to fit, and then the train tracks on top of that. It'll work well enough for a little bit. Does anyone have any activity table ideas that DON'T require beans or sand or rice? I really don't feel like making, "leave the ______ in the bin," the most common phrase in my life. We play with beans and rice, but at designated times, and it's a mess, and I don't want it out all day long. But what are other ideas? I thought about legos, animals, felt pieces to stick to the bottom that make pictures. Fill me in on what you've done or what your kiddos love. I should mention it's a copper thing on top and indoors, so water should be avoided too.

Anywhoo..it was an eventful and productive weekend and has left Ronnie and I deciding we need to have days like that more often. It's tough sometimes with a toddler to feel uber productive, but she was a good sport and just "helped" all day. So I have a feeling next weekend will be a project-filled weekend as well.