Our Week - The One with Winterfest, Lots of Girl Time, and House Guests

Well, this past week was crazy but it was filled with nothing but good things!  I was able to spend so much time with many of the different girlfriends in my life, and time with them truly makes my heart feel so full.  More of this in 2020, please!

Monday, November 18

Monday was my only day that was completely free of obligations – no meetings, no appointments, and nothing at the kids’ school.  It’s SUPER rare for me to have a day like this these days so I used it to my full advantage.  I decided to skip the gym, too, so I could have a true “free” day and I drove myself straight home after dropping the kids at school and I got to work.  I worked on blog posts pretty much all day and I also started on some house cleaning since we had guests arriving later in the week.

Monday evening I cooked dinner for the four of us, and then right after dinner I let B take the reigns while I headed out to see the movie Last Christmas with my Momma, Aunt Joy, and cousin Shelby at the theater.  All four of us loved it and I’ll definitely be watching it again when it moves over to Netflix.  It’s a British romantic comedy and it’s done by some of the people who did Love Actually (my favorite movie of all-time!!), so it’s warm and hilarious and it has just the right amount of quirkiness to make it unique.  It was great.  And girl time with these pretty ladies is always a favorite!

Tuesday, November 19

Tuesday was another day of tackling blog posts, decorating for Christmas, working on house stuff, and running errands, and I also met my friend, Adrienne, for lunch.  We went to a local restaurant here in town that’s been around for a couple of years, but I’ve never had the chance to go.  I had the fried green tomato sandwich with bacon and ranch aioli and it was delicious.  Adrienne and I got to spend over an hour catching up and chatting and it was so good for my heart.  I swear, she and I are so much alike it’s scary sometimes – ENNEAGRAM 6s UNITE!  Love you, A, and I’m so happy that our jobs brought us together all those years ago!

Tuesday evening was Winterfest at the university here in town, so we grabbed Chick-Fil-A for dinner after B got off of work and then headed to the campus.  My friend, Jeannine, and her hubs and two boys met us there and we spent the evening together watching the tree lighting, watching fireworks, and letting the kids play in the bouncy houses, make Christmas cookies, meet Christmas characters, and slide down the big slide. 

The big slide was so popular that the line was crazy long and we ended up spending most of our evening (one hour to be exact) waiting in line for it, but we all made the most of the waiting and the kids were perfectly content playing and laughing and watching everyone ahead of them slide down.  All of the kids agreed it was worth the hour wait! 

Wednesday, November 20

Wednesday was more blogging as well as some errands, an appointment with the doc, and a hair appointment.  I had received a coupon for a free Peppermint Milkshake at Chick-Fil-A, so I decided to swing right in there and grab it after my hair appointment as a little treat.  Y’all, I’ve never had one prior to that day, but they are pure heaven!!  They are so dang good!  I have always been a huge peppermint lover and y’all know I love me some ice cream, so I have no clue why I’ve never tried it.  If you have a CFA nearby, drop what you’re doing and go grab one!  It’s perfect for this time of year!

Wednesday evening my bible study girls got together but I decided to sit that one out because Wednesday was literally the only free night I had all last week and all I wanted to do was get in my PJs and snuggle up on the couch.  And we did just that!

Thursday, November 21

Thursday was crazy.  I was all a flutter around the house getting it cleaned and ready for company, I managed to work on some blog posts for a bit, I ran some errands, and I also had Thanksgiving lunch with both of the kids during their respective lunch times during the day.

B and I both met there at 11 to eat with Olivia and then we hung out until 11:50 when Jacob came in for his lunch.  The school had prepared a Thanksgiving feast complete with turkey, dressing, mac n cheese, and all of the other fixings, but our kids won’t touch any of that, so they ate the lunches I had made for them at home.  Haha.

Thursday evening after ballet, I made grilled cheese sandwiches for B and the kids and then I headed out to get together with some of my girlfriends who have kids at our kids’ school.  The five of us had worked closely together on the fall carnival and the carnival chair had arranged the dinner as a little thank you for our volunteer work. 

We met at a local Mexican restaurant and ended up chatting for over two hours over tacos and chips and margs and it was just the best evening.  As always, I’m so thankful that we can send our kids to such a close-knit school that feels like family.  

Friday, November 22

Friday I worked all morning to finish up all of the blog posts for this week as well as a couple for next week.  I was able to knock out every single post to keep the blog rolling along this week while the kids are out for Thanksgiving, and I’ll only have to do minimal maintenance.  It’s been a much-needed break this week so I can focus on the more important things in life like Brian and my babies and extended family.

People who don’t blog don’t realize just how much work it actually is to crank out each blog post – writing, editing, photographing, editing photos, creating graphics, linking items, putting everything into the post and then formatting it – it’s a huge undertaking, and each post typically takes anywhere from 2-4 hours for me to compose… and that doesn’t even include the social media/promotion portion of it.  I enjoy it, so that’s why I continue doing it, but every now and then it’s nice to step away for a week and recharge!

Friday afternoon was Olivia’s Kindergarten Thanksgiving picnic and performance at school.  We were allowed to pick up whatever we wanted to bring for lunch, so I grabbed Chick-Fil-A as a special treat.  Brian and I, along with my mom, all met in the hall in our church and then both of the Kindergarten classes sang several songs in their precious little turkey hats.  My gosh, I’m going to miss when our kiddos stop wearing handmade hats.  How precious is she?

The rest of the day was spent running errands, Christmas shopping, preparing for company, and organizing recent Christmas purchases and getting them hidden away.  Time flew by and before I knew it, it was time to grab the kids from school.  On another note, how beautiful is the view from my home office?   I never tire of those gorgeous fall leaves.

Friday evening, B and the kids and I all went out for Mexican and then we spent the evening in for the kids’ first viewing of Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.  I probably hadn’t seen that movie in, like, 25 years but it was just as good as I had remembered.  In case anyone was wondering, we are most definitely getting the most out of our Disney+ subscription!

Saturday, November 23

Saturday, our family of four was supposed to have gotten up early to head to Athens for the Georgia vs. Texas A&M game, but the weather was awful and it was expected to be awful in Athens all day, too, so sadly, we sold our tickets.  B and I have watched many a Georgia game in the rain, but when it comes to taking the kids to a game in the rain?  That’s gonna be a hard no for me, dawg.  Normally any of the grandparents would have been happy to keep the kids for us, but we’ve been using their care a lot lately, and we knew they’d all be busy prepping for the holidays, so we just didn’t have the heart to ask any of them again. 

We were pretty crushed that we didn’t get to go as this is the first time and the last time we’ll play Texas A&M at our stadium until Jacob is in college (is that not crazy?!), but mostly because Brian’s cousin and her family flew all the way from Texas (they’re A&M grads) to be at the game, too.  Such a bummer.  In the end, we were thankful we didn’t go because it rained buckets for the entire first half of the game.  I just know the kids would have been miserable and I would have been miserable knowing that they were miserable. 

Instead, we spent the dreary day at home, finishing up house-cleaning, washing sheets, and prepping for B’s cousin and her family, who were staying with us Sunday – Tuesday.  We watched the game at 3:30 (another nail biter, but we pulled out the win) and we had Five Guys delivered.  It was a pretty perfect day spent in PJs, so in the end, it wasn’t as bad that we missed the game. 

Sunday, November 24

Sunday was spent doing more prep for the guests – more laundry, tidying, baking a homemade chocolate chip bundt bake, and getting the rest of the house ready.  We stepped out for lunch at Panera and a Publix run, and then came home to wait for Heather and Mark and the kids to arrive. 

They arrived around five-ish and my father-in-law and sister-in-law and her family all came over to visit.  The kids played Cornhole outside while the adults chatted.  I’d never met this particular cousin of Brian’s before, and she and her whole family were just lovely… it truly felt like I’d known them forever.

I tossed a salad and set out some fresh fruit while B picked up pizzas for dinner, and we all sat around the dining room table for hours that night, catching up and getting to know one another.  My SIL and her family left around 9:30 since they had to work the next day, and then we stayed up for another hour or so chatting.  There were lots of smiles and lots of laughter and it was a really great night in with great people. 

By 10:45 the kids (and the adults!) were exhausted so we all called it a night.  We let Heather and Mark and the kids have Jacob’s and Olivia’s bedrooms so Jacob and Olivia camped in sleeping bags on the floor in our bedroom.  They were out like lights in seconds.

There’s lots more family fun to recap from Monday, but this post is already a book, so I’ll save it for next week’s recap!  Stay tuned…

Happy Thanksgiving Eve, y’all!!!!

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