Friday Night Photos

I don't have very many pictures this week, unfortunately! But here goes...

This first picture is just a random fact from my calendar (which got wet, and that's why the pages are all wrinkly now) that I thought was very fitting after I wrote about a very lofty goal yesterday (the 4x4x48 running challenge)...

With all of the hundreds (thousands?) of goals I've set over the years and then tried and failed, I can totally understand this! It makes achieving goals particularly exciting, though. I think the keyword here is *reachable* goal. It's hard not to beat yourself up when you set a goal that you know is attainable, but you fail to complete it for whatever reason. At least it is for me! But I definitely don't think it's a reason not to set goals.

Funny story about Riley... When I babysat Luke and Riley on Wednesday, Riley had me cracking up. She was very excited to show me something but she couldn't find it, and she was getting really frustrated. She asked if I could help her find it, but she wouldn't tell me what it was because she wanted it to be a surprise. She asked me if I could text her mom to ask if it was in the car. Becky didn't know what it could be, so I told Riley should could talk-to-text on my phone and I would cover my ears--hahaha.

So, I showed her how to use the microphone button and send a text, then I told Becky that I was handing the phone over to Riley. I went across the room and covered my ears while Riley sent the text. I didn't read Riley's text, because I wanted to see how this whole thing played out, but Becky responded to check the "Barbie room" (where Riley keeps her Barbies) or the living room.

We continued to look--still, I didn't know what I was looking for--and Riley finally asked if I wanted a hint. I said sure, that would be helpful. So she starts gesturing and describing:

"Well, they're stacked on top of each other, and they're pointy, and they go like this (she opens and closes her fist)... and they're orange..." then she just got very excited and apparently decided to tell me, because she yelled, "AND THEY'RE TEETH! THEY'RE VAMPIRE TEETH AND THEY'RE ORANGE!"

I was dying at this point. It's kind of like playing hide and seek with a kid, and you say loudly, "Hmmm, where could she be?" and then she yells out, "I'm right here!" (Well, that's what Eli used to do anyway.) Riley told me to turn around so that she could put the teeth in her mouth and surprise/scare me.

She looked so funny! And she wanted to scare me with the witch finger, too. She couldn't really talk with the teeth in, so I was laughing just trying to understand what she was saying. That was a fun time :)

One of the things I'm doing with the bathroom (which I feel will never get done at this point!) is making a cat hangout. When I built the closet where the shower used to be, I didn't bring it all the way to the ceiling. I left a space up there and topped the closet with plywood. Then I glued down a piece of carpet (it was super cheap, more like a very thin rug--but the fabric was felt-like and perfect for cats to scratch). This is what it looked like from the top at that point:

On that far wall, which is where my bedroom is, I cut out a square hole. I haven't framed the hole in yet, but I will make it look cute when it's done! Anyway, the other side of the wall will have shelves that the cats can climb up and down to their little hangout.

Chick, Duck, and Estelle have all been using it already. I have the paint ladder set up in the bathroom and the cats climb the ladder to get up there (and down). In this picture below, I was looking in the bathroom mirror and noticed one of the cats up there behind me. It's hard to see in the photo, but at first it looked like two cat heads.

Then I realized it was Duck, lying on his back, with his feet propped up! Hahaha.

Here is what the hole looks like from the bedroom side right now. Duck loves to look out. I really need to get the shelves up soon! It'll be fun to watch the cats use it.

Noah finally got his hair cut (and dyed). I really wish he'd cut it shorter, but he likes it long. It looks much better than it did before, though! I really like the color.

Well, that's all I have this week. We have last-minute plans tonight to go see Sarah and Ne, who are here from Arizona for just a couple of days. Have a great weekend! xo