Super Thursday!!

Wow! What a super day!! A super, big, exciting day!!

We have been planning for the last week for the Boosterthon Fun Run at school. Bennett has personally called every relative (or emailed, in the case of Uncle Chad, who is overseas :) getting pledges - he called. Not me or Brad. He was SO excited!!

Here are some pictures of the big event (which, by the way, occurred in the rain - and resulted in these mediocre quality pictures... but you'll still get the idea!! :)

And... he's off!!

First lap down... gotta get the shirt marked...

The first of many water breaks...

The American Idol lap (air guitar!!)

I love the Boosterthon!! Bennett completed the whole 35 laps!! Now he gets to call everyone and tell them how much money they have to pay up :)

After school, we rested for a little bit and then Bennett had his red belt test at Tae Kwon Do.

Here he is focusing before the big test...

His form...

One Step Sparring... (He's chopping that kid in the neck - Go Bennett :)

Preparing for the board break...

He broke it!! Yippee!!

Congrats!!

Putting on the new belt...

He did it!!

Bennett totally NAILED his test!! I mean, 100% confident. Not one mistake. He did great! I am so proud!! He is so proud. There is something so wonderful in seeing your child succeed after trying and preparing so hard. Such a blessing!!

Trunk or Treat fun...

Long, long ago...

Well, actually, back before school started this year, Brad and Bennett hatched a plan for our 'Trunk' at our church's Trunk or Treat celebration... The theme?? Star Wars, of course!!

Bennett began planning right away and has thought of little else since that day about 2 months ago. He's drawn pictures, planned costumes, drafted family members, and talked and dreamt about it. It really has been so fun for me too. To see him so excited it priceless.

So, here's our trunk...

Bennett drew a scene and picked out his figures and vehicles to complete it...

And... the costumes...

Han Solo, Luke, and Leia

Can you tell that we REALLY love our son??? :)

and Luke and Padme :)

(Gigi really loves Bennett too!!)

And, this is how we ended our weekend...

I can count on one hand how many times Bennett has fallen asleep without being told to.

I guess that the Carnival at Nana's church yesterday, church this morning, a baseball game, and then Trunk or Treat really wore our little man out.

We are such a lucky family :)

the grand reveal...

Did you even know that we were remodeling our master bathroom??? Well... we were!! :)

Our bathroom has needed work since we first moved in to the house - remember that 'cultured' marble with the gnat sealed for all eternity in the counter top? Lovely as that little gnat was, I was ready for him to go...

You can imagine my thrill, uh, I mean, dismay, when our shower began leaking into the basement. Being the opportunist that I am, I jumped on the chance to make some big changes...

Here are the before pictures:

I'm sparing you the pictures of the disgusting mold and mildew that lurked below the floor...

Mr. Gnat lived, I mean died and was buried, right there in the corner of the countertop...

Turns out that the bathtub is the only thing that we kept...

Ok, and now for the after... I know you can hardly wait!!

Look at that nice clear (non-frosted) shower door!! And that front on the bathtub!! Oh, and that nice new wall color?? (I do miss the brown, though...)

Look at that beautiful tile... no more mildewy fake marble!!

One of the major challenges of the old set-up was that we had no storage - namely, no linen closet. Poor Brad had to give up his closet space for a sweater-organizer-turned-towel-holder. See that corner cabinet on the bottom? The one that spins around?? It houses all our linens!! AND....Look at that AWESOME corner cabinet!! I've got my hairdryer and all our toiletries in there. It is so great!

(and there are no gnats in that granite!!) :)

You can't really see much in this picture - but I wanted you to see the pattern of the tile on the floor... it's so pretty :)

So, that's it. Our new bathroom...

Lessons learned:

1) It may seem like a steep price when the estimate comes, but rest assured, you will want to spend more as the project gets going...

2) Having a picture to show the lady at the tile store makes all the difference...

3) Having a sister who find the 'inspiration' photo makes even more difference :)

4) A good contractor is hard to find - but I found one!!

5) If Brad's current job doesn't work out, I think that I might recommend plumbing. They get paid well. Or tile. Or painting.

6) Construction dust is gross. It gets everywhere. You must vacate the area within 50 feet of the construction area.

7) Brad will let you have the space in his closet once taken up by linens for the excess shoes in your closet. He's that kind of guy :)

So, if you come over, I'll let you try out our new shower. I think you'll like it!! :)