Laid Back Long Weekend

Our long weekend kicked off with an awards ceremony at Jacob’s school.  They do one at the end of each quarter and as per usual, Jacob racked up!  He received awards for the following:

All Day Every Day (attendance)

Religion

Principal’s List (for having straight A’s)

AR Goal (Advanced Reader – he met his goal for the quarter)

Top Five AR in his class

We are so proud of him!

The awards ceremony was at the very end of school, and instead of me having to send him to the after school program and go back to work, I was able to just take him home with me right then and there.  Man oh man does it feel insanely good to not have to work during this season of our lives!  It made me so happy to see the look on Jacob’s face when I told him he got to just come home with me right then and there!

Jacob and I picked Olivia up from school to surprise her and then we all went home and watched a little bit of TV to unwind.  We don’t allow screen time during the school week, but on Fridays anything goes!

B got home from work around 5:30 and then we loaded up and headed “ow-town” (downtown) for dinner per Olivia’s request.  We ate at a cute little local burger place and then we headed down the street for ice cream per Jacob’s request.  It was freeeezing, so it was insane getting ice cream at that point, but I’m not one to turn down an opportunity to have some Marshmallow S’mores Ice Cream… it’s the only ice cream that makes me change up from my usual Mint Chocolate Chip!

Friday night B and I caught up on shows after the kiddos went to bed and then it was time for bed ourselves.  I was beat after a week’s worth of waking up at 6 AM!  Man oh man, how I’m missing the lazy mornings from Christmas break!

Saturday was spent laying low at home.  We watched some cartoons, we played some games, and I spent a little more time working on my office cleanout.  I’ve been organizing my pictures all week long and I’m finally almost done!  It’s been a huge task!

Saturday evening we went to church and Olivia was a perfect angel until the last 20 minutes… she completely went nuts toward the end.  Sigh.  Then when mass was over we were all standing out in the commons area chatting with family and friends and Jacob and Olivia both kept crashing into each other (playfully) until, finally, Olivia accidentally head-butted Jacob and he got a bloody nose.  Y’all.  This girl is a piece of work.  And she has been driving me positively nuts for the last two weeks.  I’m pretty sure she’s either readjusting to school life again or she’s going through a growth spurt.  Something is definitely up because she has been off the chain.

All the tears were dried and we headed on over to Mex with my parents for some queso and margs… because margs do make everything better (for the adults anyway – haha)!  B and I spent the rest of the evening watching a few episodes of Master of None.  It’s a new Netflix series that we started and it is really funny.

Sunday we got out to have lunch at a new place that just opened and then we ran some errands.  I’m on a mission to find some decorative storage boxes for my office bookshelves, so we stopped by Marshall’s, Ross, and TJ Maxx.  I had zero luck with the storage boxes, but I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the Rae Dunn herb planters at Marshall’s. I have never ever once found anything Rae Dunn at any of our local stores so I couldn’t believe that it was sitting there.  It was basically like seeing a unicorn.  I went nuts and I’m pretty sure B thought I was crazy.  And yes, naturally they came home with me!  I mean, one of my New Year’s goals is to start growing my own herbs!  How could I not get them?!  It was meant to be.

The rest of the afternoon was spent going to Dick’s to get Olivia’s soccer stuff purchased (she’s officially signed up for spring!), Sam’s, and then back home to play outside.  We’ve been cooped up for what has seemed like forever, so despite the fact that it was cold, we went out and did some sidewalk chalk.  We drew and colored and traced each other’s shadows… and then the kids added faces and hair to the shadow people… it was pretty creepy.  Lol.

Sunday evening we had dinner at my parents’ house with the usual crew – barbecue chicken, mashed potatoes, broccoli, and a new cauliflower recipe that was soooo good.  Then Momma made chocolate chip cookie cheesecake bars for dessert.  It was good eatin’!

Monday we went to Chick-Fil-A for lunch and then since the weather had warmed up to the 50s we took the kids to the playground.  We spent a good hour there just letting them run around and blow off some steam, and then we walked around the ball fields and re-hid all of the painted rocks that we have been hoarding since the summer.  The kids were excited to get them back out there to make another kid’s day and I was excited to get them off my kitchen counter once and for all!  ;o)

Monday evening I cooked and then we watched The Bachelor after the kiddos went to bed… The Bachelor always makes Monday evenings a little less crummy! 

And before I go, I just wanted to let all of you know that I am over at The Sirois Family today interviewing with Johannah for her Meet & Greet Tuesday series.  I hope you'll all hop over and give it a read!

I hope you all enjoy the day!  I’ll be back to purging and simplifying all the things!  Be sure to follow along with me on Instagram Stories!