Random days off

The kids didn't have school today because of a teacher planning day so I took the day off to spend time with them too.  State offices were technically open today but I have a feeling I wasn't the only one making a three-day weekend out of it.  Usually when I plan for these days, I try to cram too many 'fun' activities into the day and all of us end up being grumpy and tired.  So for today, I had a few errands in mind, picked an afternoon movie matinee and let the rest of the day work itself out.  The kids have some friends in the neighborhood and the weather was nice so I anticipated a few visits from kiddos.  Long boring story short, we had a really nice day.  We ran our errands, had a pizza-filled lunch, watched an entertaining movie, cleaned kids' rooms (!!), dehydrated a bunch of apples (I'm so middle-aged right now!), cooked a big pot of chili for dinner and dressed a cat.  

Coco the Jedi Master 

More thrilled than we thought she would be. 

We discovered that outfits from Build-a-Bear are perfectly sized for a medium-sized calico cat.  In related news, Coco is going to be a mermaid for Halloween.

The rest of our three-day weekend was nice too.  Will had his last football game on Saturday.  More on his first tackle football season soon.  On Sunday, we got to spend all day with Baby Boy Cousin and Toddler Cousin and it was delightful.  It's so fun having little people around the house and their presence kept me from yelling at the tv during the Broncos game which was appreciated by the rest of the family.  Toddler Cousin follows Reina around and when she's not doing that, she tells me funny things like "your chickens are beautiful!" and while looking at her brother "that's my boy" and "I want to watch Bob Bob Square Bob."

Will feeding BBC.  They were both equally unsure about that plan at first but it worked out just fine.

Finally, here's a picture of Reina looking cute.  She's much more interested in her hair lately and asks for a ponytail or braid every morning, about five minutes before it's time to walk about the door.  I think I need to teach her how to braid soon.

I tried pigtails - they are a little uneven but they don't detract from her cuteness.  

The week is off to a good start.