What We Did While Aaron Was Away

Aaron comes home today! YAY!!! I cannot express how badly Ella and I missed him. Our daily routines were just so empty. Nonetheless, Ella and I kept very busy which allowed for time to just fly by. So, what exactly did we do these past five days? Well, other than the usual routine of work, school, ballet, cooking, cleaning, time with my parents...

I embarked on the amazing task of going through tons (like, fifteen total!) of unlabeled boxes in our garage. Ella's baby clothes, our camping gear, our Christmas decorations and other miscellaneous items were pretty much stored away in boxes that somehow kept together (although a couple of them completely fell apart when I took them off the shelf...that was fun!). It has been my intention to go through everything and get things organized, but time just never permitted it. Aaron being gone presented the perfect opportunity to get down and dirty.

The pile of clothes in the picture below is probably only one-quarter of all the clothes I actually had to go through. It took FOREVER! If God blesses us with another girl, we are SET!!!

Ella was a sport and helped me fold clothes. She is so much like me...loves to organize and create piles. She mostly had fun going through old baby toys, though. Most are all packed away again, but she fell in love with a baby giraffe that she, in fact, took to show & tell. So, this buddy of hers isn't getting re-packed. I tried, but she wouldn't allow it.

The final product! Pure organization! Sheer ecstasy!

I wish I have a before picture to show you the difference. The before picture would've been pretty embarrassing, though. Haha! The blue tubs are camping gear and then I have green tubs for all our Christmas decorations. That way, instead of having to go through every box when going camping again or when Christmas rolls around, we'll know what to grab. What a time saver!

So, you're probably wondering how all of this organization was fun for Ella? Well...while going through all the boxes, we came across a princess tent. So, of course I had to set it up for her. Needless to say, she's been spending lots of her time each day in there with her chosen "buddies."

In fact, she almost fell asleep in there a couple times. Notice what her pillow is? A boppy pillow! Yet another treasure discovered while going through boxes.

Aaron is so spoiled! On top of coming home to an organized garage, he also gets to come home to a brand new tool chest. His countless tools were always sprawled around the garage. He has an orange toolbox that holds a good amount of them, but not nearly all of them, especially after receiving my parents' birthday gift to him...TONS OF TOOLS! (Not sure if that was a hint or what!).

Here are some pictures taken before Ella left for her last day in Mrs. VanDyke's class. Aaron took the SLR camera to Portland, so these pictures didn't turn out as good as I would've liked. Ella is still hands down the most beautiful girl in the world, though!

Most of our Christmas decorations are in the rafters in our garage, so I have to wait for Aaron to get those for me to go through, but I did find a box of Christmas lights. Ella was so excited and wanted to immediately put them up. So, I wrapped them around her bed. She can't sleep with them on at night, but are loads of fun for her during the day!

What would mother/daughter bonding be without a movie night?!? Bring on the pepperoni pizza...

...and Ice Age 3!

And last, but not least, Ella (and I) made Aaron a small book (made with index cards) of why Ella loves Daddy.

I would help give Ella ideas as to why she loves Daddy. What I wrote in black is what I said and then what I wrote in color was what she said in response. It was so much fun! And she patiently outlined all 25 index cards for me. Her artistry definitely comes from Aaron.

Hope you all have a wonderful end to your weekend!