The Weekend Flew By

The kids and Rob had off of school on Friday which gave us all a 3 day weekend. On Friday morning, Ellie ran with me to the thrift store to pick up some new inventory  I wish she was my thrift companion more often because she was a rack ahead of me and pulling all my brands. We ended up with a mounded cart load of clothes and saved almost $100.00. We did a quick run into the post office and then picked up the boys. We met the GGs for lunch at the Zodiac at Northbrook Court. It was neat to see it really hasn't changed since we met Grandma GG for lunch when I was Ellie's age. The waitress, Kathy, knew the kids from the summer when they joined the GGs for lunch. It was really nice and i hope we can meet them again when we have the day off. We did a quick walk through the mall and Ellie began her Christmas wish list at the Lego store. 

It was a busy social day...we went over to Eric and Pam;'s house on our way home. It was so nice to be able to visit with the both of them without the hurry and hustle of the holidays. The kids played outside in the yard. Pam and I got to talk and Eric and Rob got to talk. It was great to visit. 

Friday night we stopped by Mom and Dad's for a little bit before coming home for movie night. We watched Practical Magic on ABC Family and had popcorn and cookies from lunch. It was nice to cuddle on the couch together. Ellie also helped me package items up to mail - I had 29 people pay on Friday and had to get all those items into the mail Saturday. 

Saturday morning we divided and conquered. I did my Salvation run and ended up with a cart load and only 2 items that weren't in the Saturday sale. Rob took the kids to the bank to trade in their postcards for pumpkins and a treat bag. We spent the early part of the afternoon in Skokie. The merchants did a wonderful job setting up a trick or treat through town. I felt like I lived in one of the small towns that do special things like that. We got to trick or treat through the stores and grab menus from some of the new restaurants. They got comic books from the new comic store. It ended at the historical museum with an old fashion fun house. It was a bit cold but fun and I really hope they do it again.

Nick was cold after the trick or treating so we dropped him and Rob off at home. Ellie and I stopped by Harvest Fest at Old Orchard. It turned out to just be a vendor fair with a bunch of raffles and sweepstakes. We did a quick run into the other Salvation and Ellie was able to find a couple pieces for her costume in case it is too cold for her original plan. We ordered Chinese and had another movie night. We started watching the Secret Garden. It was nice because it really settled the kids down before we went up to bed. 

Today was a work around the house day. We started in the basement and really got it cleaned up. Nick went through and picked a couple toys to donate to kids who might need them. I got all the craft bins re-organized and put away. It looks great down there now. We went outside to do leaves. A couple hours later we have a jumbo pile of leaves. A car pulled up and a couple got out...turned out the man grew up in our house. We got a bit of history about the house and it was neat to see it through his eyes. 

We went to Mom and Dad's for dinner. We ordered Mexican and I made monkey bread and cut up our melon and pineapple to bring. Mom was making butternut squash apple soup. Dad took the kids to the park for a little bit before dinner. We came home and got the kids into their bath, got clothes ready for tomorrow and read. 

Hoping I don't feel the outside raking/mowing aches tomorrow. Visualizing my healthy and continually healing body and the new normal, Tree