Queen of the Castle

It's been a crazy week, which hasn't left much time for blogging. I've got a lot of progress to write about, though. I was a naughty blogger, though, and didn't take many pictures. I guess I was too "in the moment".

My parents came down to visit for two days, and with their help I was able to knock a few things off of BOB. The first day consisted of assembling Claire's birthday present from them: a cedar swing set. The girl loves to play outside, so Grammy and Pappy swooped in with an amazing gift. I wish assembling the thing was as amazing. It took us nearly SEVEN HOURS to complete it. SIETE! Can you believe it!? I did manage to capture an "in progress" photo with my Ipad.

It wasn't until the next day before we could take the fun photos: Claire playing on her awesome new swing set!

Claire is just over the moon with her swing set. She calls the little clubhouse at the top of the slide her "castle". I love playing "customer" with her on the little picnic table side of the tower. :)

The next afternoon we planted Claire's Birthday Tree. For her birthday this year, we thought it would be better to plant a tree in honor of her special day. Claire picked out a Bing cherry tree, and she can't wait for it to produce in a couple of years. :)

We also planted two berry bushes-- one raspberry and one blackberry, moved the Desoto forward and repaired the garage, assembled the patio furniture, set up my washer and dryer, and hauled Claire's new wardrobe up to her room. It was so great to have an extra set of hands for the past two days. I am really going to miss someone helping me get things done!

Sadly my parents had to head back home again. Once they left I used the last of my energy to mow the yard and take the munchkin to the farmers market. She loves it there. Somehow we also managed to find ourselves at HomeGoods later in the evening, and I came home with a few goodies. More on that later.

All in all, it felt great to spend time with my parents and get some things knocked off of my list. Of course, it seems like once something falls off the list, something pops on there to take its place! Anyone else have that problem? How are you guys spending your weekend? I wish that I could say that I was taking it easy, but I have so much to do before next weekend-- Claire's birthday and birthday party! Ahhh!