My Stay-Cation

The second week in August was bliss for me!  Josiah took the 3 oldest kids on a road trip/vacation to his parent's house in MN for 8 full days!  They had a WONDERFUL time with family and cousins and riding in Grandpa's speedboat and on his 4-wheelers and even got to go to Reptile Gardens (my boys' dream vacation) on the drive home.  I knew they were in great hands with their Daddy, so I wasn't worried about them at all.  I had the house to myself for 8 days!  Yes, Kate was here, but she is at a very easy stage and she sleeps 18 hours a day (and no, she doesn't have a heart condition) so I got a LOT of quiet time.  It was my first time with only one kid in 5 years and my first vacation lasting longer than a day away from the 3 older kids.

What did I do?
*Went to breakfast with a friend one day.
*My brother took me out for dinner one day and my parents for lunch another day.
*I hosted an all-day craft day and got most of Katri's scrapbook done and lots of fun time chatting with my friends and eating pizza.
*I ate whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted and did not cook for an entire week!  I did a load of dishes once or twice.
*I painted for at least 30 hours and got my schoolroom wall done, Ali's room, the boys' room, and Katri's room done.
*Read for 2-3 hours a day
*Babysat my nephew a couple of times and hung out with my sis-in-law while she did laundry at our house (she helped paint for an hour too)
*Hosted a fiesta for my brother and his family after church where 15 people came and ate a taco/nacho lunch at my house
*Watched 6 chick flicks
*Listened to at least 20 hours of sermons/Focus on the Family broadcasts while I painted.  I find audio messages to be SOOOOOOO encouraging and I think this was the highlight of my time.  It was so encouraging!  I almost never listen to music when the kids are in the house just because they are soooo noisy and disruptive and loud that I can't handle it.  When I'm alone, I enjoy music again!

Here's Katrielle's room!

Rebecca (purple), Elm Valley (green) and Heavenly Sands (white)

A vintage print of girls in a garden from the thrift shop

I made the hat and flower pot decoration for her Garden Tea Party room using materials from yard sales or the dollar store.  The other decorations were yard sale finds.

I painted this frame and then put pretty fabric in it and then glued a teapot cookie cutter into it for a wall decoration

I got the cute "I'm a Little Teapot" decal from a friend's etsy shop.  It matched the colors I picked PERFECTLY!

I'll show you the other rooms I painted in the next post.....