Labor Day Weekend

Hi all, I hope you had great long weekends! 

Before I get started, I must tell you a story.  Last Friday morning I was sitting at my desk at work, listening to Elvis Duran on our local radio station like I do every morning, and all of a sudden during one of the commercial breaks my grandfather’s voice filled the air (he passed away about a month ago – you can read my tribute to him here).  It caught me totally off guard.  I immediately turned it up, and I was delighted to hear that it was one of his old commercials from when I was a little girl.  Now y’all, I have been listening to this same local radio station every single weekday morning for the last ten years and never once have they played this commercial.  Not to mention that the commercial was recorded sometime during the 80’s or 90’s so it is incredibly old, and I didn’t even know that any of our local radio stations played it anymore.  It was pretty freaky, but it made me smile, for sure.  I know Big Daddy must have just been trying to say hello.  :o) 

Anyway, we had a great long weekend, and it’s always great returning to work knowing that you have a short week.  Friday evening we went downtown to one of our favorite local restaurants/breweries for a bite to eat, and then we walked down the street to a gallery opening for some local photographers.  One of those photographers just so happens to be my mom!  She just recently started her journey with photography and she already has a piece hanging in an exhibit!  Pretty impressive.  After the opening, we took the kids for some frozen yogurt to reward them for their good behavior.  

Saturday was the start of COLLEGE FOOTBALL, BABY!!  Brian picked up donuts (pumpkin for me, duh) and my first Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte of the season, and we watched ESPN College GameDay followed by aaaallll the football.  In the early evening, I took a breather from football and Jacob and I went to church, and then we met up with Brian, Olivia, and my parents for dinner at Panera.  After Panera, it was bedtime for the kiddos, and more footbaaaallll + a pumpkin beer for Brian and a Not Your Father’s Root Beer for me.  And if you haven’t tried the Not Your Father’s Root Beer, you need to drop what you’re doing and go get you some!  You can thank me later.

This is about as good as it gets when asking two small kids to pose for a picture!  Haha.

I've been waiting for this moment my whole life - putting my own little girl in one of these!!  I die.

Sunday I cooked lunch for Brian’s family since his mom’s kitchen is still being remodeled.  On the menu?  Homemade spaghetti using my momma’s recipe (mine sadly did not turn out to be near as good as hers), salad, breadsticks, fruit, and a S’mores Pie, recipe courtesy of Mix and Match Mama.  The kids spent some time playing outside afterward, followed by naps, and then we headed to my parents’ for Sunday dinner.  My grandmother has joined us for Sunday dinner a couple of times since my grandfather passed away in July, and I sure do love having her there with us now.  I’m hoping she’ll start joining us every week because the kids (and I) sure do love seeing her.

Monday was, of course, Labor Day, and we spent the entire morning being lazy.  Jacob, Olivia, and I laid around and watched Frozen while Brian cut the grass.  We decided to take the kids out for lunch and some fresh air, and we chose Five Guys followed by a date with the playground since the weather wasn’t so stifling.  Olivia went down the big slide all by herself for the first time ever and she loved every single second of it.  This child has no fear.  Which makes me extremely fearful.  Haha.  She went down the slide about 5,000 times after that.  She couldn’t get enough.

Monday evening, since the weather was so much cooler than usual, we took our new outdoor table for its first test drive.  Dinner al fresco is one of my favorite things, but only if the weather is just right.  I hate eating when I’m hot.  We decided that it was still a little too warm for our taste, but hopefully the temps will come down a little more so we can do it again soon.  Our outdoor table is so spacious that we have plenty of room for a few more, so I can’t wait to have people over to eat outside.  Now if only I could figure out a way to hang our twinkle lights out there to set the ambiance!

Hope y’all enjoy your Tuesday evenings!  I’ll be back later this week for an update on a project or two that I was finally able to complete during the long weekend.

I'm linking up with B Loved Boston for Weekending.