Corinne and Daniel Babysit

Tuesday night Ellie did not sleep very well - she woke up once or twice coughing from the congestion in her throat. At one point I turned on the shower and steamed up the bathroom and held her in there until I was afraid she would be too awake to fall back asleep. So I put her back to bed and she went right to sleep. She ended up waking up relatively late, after 8:30.

Finishing breakfast in the car

We went to church for Precepts and Ellie hung out with her cousins and Aunt Corinne (among others). Following the study we went home and ate lunch and Ellie went down for a nap. She woke up and I taught a piano lesson at home.
In the afternoon I decided we should run out and see some items I wanted to purchase on Craigslist. I bought some games (nine for $3, although I probably will only keep three of them) and a hutch for the basement laundry room. I had time before dinner so we ran to T.J. Maxx and Target. I found a new blanket for the basement, fireplace screen, and a box for our receipts (long story).
Ellie was exhausted and so read for bed once we arrived at home. I forced some dinner into her and changed her into PJs and put her down. Then I spent an hour watching a TV show (PBS all the way) and working on Ellie's quilt.
Thursday morning Ellie slept in again (after another night where she woke up a few times). It was rainy and dreary. We spent the morning at home so I decided to take advantage of some down time by doing a couple loads of laundry, cleaning my bedroom, picking up the house (for the most part) and listening to what sounded like a mouse in the wall. I heard it near the attic steps so I'm hoping it's in the attic! I contacted Jon with an SOS and declared he needs to buy big traps as soon as he gets to America. Ellie also took a bath.

At 4:00 Corinne and Daniel came and we went together to pick up the hutch that I found on Craigslist in the van. We brought it back to the house then celebrated the purchase with dinner from Zou's Garden (Daniel chose Chinese). They might have messed up our order but it hit the spot.

Waiting for Daniel and Corinne 

Kelly brought her kids over and then we left to go to the week of prayer meeting at the Saint's house down the road. Josh lead and did a great job. I came back two hours later and Kelly's kids were gone (she left earlier than me) and Corinne and Daniel were hanging out in the basement. I heard a bit about their night.
Corinne said that Ellie did great (she had been super cranky over dinner), she was a new child once the other kids arrived. Daniel had brought his guitar to practice and was playing and singing. Corinne said as soon as he started Ellie looked back at him smiling, as if he was playing just for her. Then she would dance a bit (her dancing is very understated). Later she opened her mouth really wide and "sang" along with him. I wish I had seen her do that! Apparently she went right to sleep without any crying - something that surprises me since she usually fights sleep when company is around! Thank you, Corinne and Daniel, for babysitting tonight!