Our Week - The One with a Field Trip to the Museum and Two Birthday Celebrations

Last week was surprisingly low-key, and it was nice to have some time to get caught up on things since this time of year is usually so packed with events and fun stuff.

Monday, September 19

Monday morning, I dropped the kids at school and then I headed to Publix to do our grocery shopping for the next two weeks.  I had just enough time to get the groceries home and put away before I had to leave for my annual skin check at the dermatologist.  I had a couple of spots that I wanted her to check, but thankfully, she said they were nothing to worry about.  One was just an itchy patch of skin that’s been there for a few months, and she was able to freeze it to remove it.

The rest of the day was spent working in my office and watching all of the coverage from Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral.  What a historic day. 

Friday afternoon, I picked the kids up from school, and then we dropped Olivia at the dance studio for her three Monday classes.  Jacob and I headed home after that, and then I got dinner started while he worked on homework and studying. 

Brian picked Olivia up from dance class, and then we all ate dinner together.  After dinner, the kids got showered and ready for bed and I got in an arms and abs workout, and then we all sat down and FINALLY finished America’s Got Talent.  Whew.  I can’t believe I never saw any spoilers!

After the kids went to bed, it was an episode of Vampire Diaries for B and me and then BEDTIME.  My favorite time of day these days.  Lol.

Tuesday, September 20

Tuesday morning, I dropped the kids at school and then I headed to get gas, go to Target, grab some chicken from Fresh Market, and then stop at the post office on the way home. 

The rest of the day was spent working on blog stuff, organizing recipes, and getting lots of other stuff done.

Tuesday afternoon, the kids got homework done after school, Jacob and I dropped Olivia at dance, and then I cooked dinner.  After dinner, it was showers for the kids and a two-mile walk/jog for me.  The heat and humidity was back in full-force last week and it was misssseryyyyy.

Once everybody was ready for bed, we watched an episode of Nailed It with the kids, and then an episode of Vampire Diaries without the kids before calling it a night.

Wednesday, September 21

Wednesday, I had no commitments, so I headed straight home after I dropped the kids at school, and I worked on the blog all day.  I also spent a good chunk of time getting my recipes organized.  It is so much work because I have collected so many throughout the years!  I put that on my list as one of my big goals for 2022, so I’m determined to make it happen, even though I started very late in the year!  Ha!

Wednesday evening, we had nowhere to be, so I cooked dinner and then the kids and I took Maui for a long walk around our neighborhood.  Olivia’s Halloween costume had been delivered, so of course, she had to try it on and test it out.  Here’s a little sneak peek!  And how perfect is it since we have our very own little Toto?  ;o)

After our walk, the kids took turns showering, and we worked on my Friends puzzle that we started back at the beginning of the year and never finished.  Seriously, that thing has been sitting on the floor under our couch since January or February.  I had forgotten all about it!

Brian had a tennis match Wednesday evening, so he wasn’t around for dinner or our walk, but he did get home just in time to watch an episode of Nailed It with the kids before they headed off to bed.  And then, Brian and I watched… Vampire Diaries.  Lol.

Thursday, September 22

Thursday morning, I dropped the kids at school and then I headed home to do some work.  Maui started having a terrible cough again on Tuesday (the same one she had for about 10 days in 2020 and then again in 2021) and she sounded terrible Tuesday morning.  I called our vet, and they told us that they couldn’t get her in until Friday afternoon, and unfortunately, our emergency clinic is only open in the evening, so I couldn’t take her there either.  They told me it should be fine to wait as long as she’s not struggling to breathe, and they told me signs to watch for – a blue tongue or white gums.  Thankfully, Maui’s breathing seemed just fine, so I tried not to worry too much. 

Midday, I headed out to grab a gift from Kohl’s, and then I visited with my therapist for my monthly appointment.

After school, the kids and I headed home to meet B and then we all loaded up to go to Jacob’s golf match together because Olivia’s voice lessons had been canceled for the day.

When we arrived at golf, the temperature was 99 degrees, y’all, so the weather didn’t get the memo that it was the first day of fall.  Not at all.

Jacob is only allowed to have two people with him on the course, so Olivia and I weren’t able to walk the entire course with them.  We were able to see the first couple of holes, and then after that, she and I headed to Walmart to pick up a couple of things, and then we got back to the golf course as the boys were approaching the seventh hole.

Just after we arrived, the wind started picking up, and it rained pretty hard for a few minutes.  Since there wasn’t any lightning, Jacob was able to continue playing through the rain. 

It stopped after a few minutes, and by the time it had finished, the temp had dropped to 72 degrees… that was more like it for the first day of fall!!  Olivia was very into the fall spirit, so her little festive self picked up a bunch of leaves and she made herself a little fall bouquet.

We were able to watch the last two holes of Jacob’s match as well, and on hole 8 he got a par!!!!  His first par of a golf match!  I was so proud of him.  And overall, he ended up improving by one stroke from his last match. 

On the way home, we stopped by Zaxby’s to grab dinner per Jacob’s request, and then after we ate, the kids headed upstairs to get ready for bed while I went for a walk… well, what was supposed to be a walk, quickly turned into a (mostly) run because it was late, and it got dark faster than I’d anticipated.  I knew I wanted to do at least two miles, so I had to run most of the way to make that happen before it got dark.

When I got home, we all sat down and watched episode one of the new season of Lego Masters, and then the kids headed to bed while B and I watched a Vampire Diaries.  

Friday, September 23

Friday, Olivia had a field trip to the museum, so I met her class there mid-morning, and my Momma and Daddy came along, too.  They explored the current exhibit there and learned a lot about the artist, and it was a great trip all around.

By the time that was done, it was lunchtime, so I headed home to eat with Brian, and then I got a few minutes of work done before it was time to take Maui to the vet.  She was still having major coughing fits on Friday, so we wanted to get her checked out. 

The doctor said that all of her vitals were great, her heart sounded excellent, and her lungs looked fantastic, so she chalked her cough up to her collapsing trachea.  A lot of small dogs have narrow tracheas, and she said that it’s likely irritated from fall allergens or some other external factor, but that it’s nothing to worry about since she’s not having any trouble breathing.  She did give us an antibiotic as well as a prescription for another medication that we can give her if she has trouble settling down, and I’m hoping it helps.

Maui and I wrapped up at the vet just in time to get in the car line, and when we got home, we had just enough time to have snacks and wrap a gift, and then Olivia and I headed back out for a birthday party.

The party was at a trampoline park which made me soooo nervous.  After Olivia’s elbow break last year, everything makes me nervous, but especially stuff like that.  I hung out with the parents all evening while the kids jumped, and that helped pass the time and prevent me from being a helicopter mom.  Haha. 

After jumping, the kids had pizza and cake, and they even did a little cheers with their cups.  It was totally unprompted, but a couple of us saw them do it and we asked them to do it again so we could take a picture.  Lol. 

The kids had the time of their lives, and by the time we got home, Olivia was hoarse from all of the screaming and yelling she’d done at the party.  We picked up Five Guys for the boys and me on the way home, and then after dinner, we finished watching Lost Ollie that we’d started a couple of weeks before that.  Y’all, it was a very odd show, and it was pretty depressing, too.  Admittedly, I did doze through parts of it, but every part I did watch was just SAD.  Do not recommend.

After the kids went to bed, B and I watched a couple of episodes of Vampire Diaries, and then we went to bed.

Saturday, September 24

Saturday morning, I realized I was out of flour for waffles, so we did our Sunday cinnamon rolls on Saturday instead.  After that, we watched ESPN College GameDay while we cleaned off the back porch.  We do a big porch cleaning twice a year where we take all of the furniture off, sweep and hose everything off, and then put it all back.  I also removed all of the dead plants from their pots, and we put the pots away until spring. 

By the time we were finished, it was lunchtime, so I made some sandwiches, and then we watched the Georgia game.  I always hate noon football games… give me a 3:30 or 7 o’clock game instead, please!

During the game, I got in a stair stepper workout, and then it was time to get ready for 5:30 Mass.  After Mass, we went to dinner at our favorite local Mexican restaurant with my Momma and Daddy and Mama Cass because it was my Momma’s birthday!

After dinner, we swung by DQ for pumpkin pie Blizzards, and then we watched more college football!

 

Sunday, September 25

Sunday morning, B went and picked up some donuts from our favorite local shop because they had all of their fall flavors, and then we all watched a couple of episodes of Nailed It.  The kids’ new Halloween PJs had delivered earlier in the week, and we’d finally gotten them washed on Saturday, so they wanted to take a picture with them on.  And they had also dressed up Olivia’s stuffies in Halloween costumes, so they wanted them to be in the picture, too.  I love that Jacob will still do that kind of stuff with Olivia. 

After that was done, B headed outside to tackle the mowing and to get some other yardwork done, and my little helper and I spent the rest of the morning baking a cake for my Momma’s birthday since we were hosting them for Sunday dinner.

 

The rest of the day was spent getting the house ready for guests, doing some brief blog work while watching My Best Friend’s Wedding, and then cooking my Momma’s birthday dinner.  I tried a new recipe – lasagna soup – and it turned out to be really yummy.  Very rich, but yummy. 

After dinner, we all headed outside for dessert, and then after everyone left, it was bedtime for the kids, and House of the Dragon for B.

 

And now for a few current things…

Currently Reading

 

In September, I read three books – The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, It’s Not Summer Without You, and We’ll Always Have Summer.  I absolutely loved The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, and I also enjoyed the other two books in the The Summer I Turned Pretty trilogy.  The last book does tie everything up in a nice little bow, so you’re not left wondering what happens.

 

Currently Watching

 

With B:  We are still making our way through The Vampire Diaries (as you all know from above – haha), and I was thrilled that it moved to HBO Max the second it left Netflix so there was no period of time that we had to be without it.  Brian is also still making his way through House of the Dragon and I’m still steadily ignoring it while it’s on.  In addition to those two, we are watching a LOT of college football + ESPN College GameDay every single Saturday morning!  ‘Tis the season!

 

With the Kids:  We finally finished America’s Got Talent and we also started Nailed It which is absolutely hilarious.  (Thank you, Jeannine, for recommending it forever ago… we finally had time to take your advice!!)  In addition to those, we also watched Lost Ollie (do not recommend), we started the new season of Lego Masters, and we also started the new season of The Amazing Race.  Oh, AND THEN THIS FRIDAY WE WILL BE WATCHING THE NEW HOCUS POCUS MOVIE!!!!  Y’all!!!!  I’m so dang excited! 

 

Alone:  I’ve been watching Gilmore Girls a lot while I work, but I’ve also watched several movies.  This is 40 is on Netflix now, and y’all, that movie is one of the funniest movies ever.  It is definitely one of my favorite comedies of all-time and I think I’ve watched it five or six times this month alone.  Haha.  I’ve also been watching Clueless since it’s on Netflix, and I’m also still watching my favorite movies of all-time on DVD (yes, DVD) – My Best Friend’s Wedding, The Wedding Planner, and Father of the Bride 2.  I’m sad because my Wedding Planner DVD is literally worn out and it’s skipping around during my favorite scene of the whole movie now (“She’s nothing but a poor man’s Mary.”  SWOON.).  Must get another one ASAP.

 

Currently Listening To

The Halloween play list has been in full effect this month even though I keep telling the kids we need to pace ourselves since we’ll be listening to it for another month.  It’s not like Christmas music where you have tons of options.  Haha.  And also – Yung Gravy’s Betty on repeat.  Lol.  That is both of the kids’ favorite song right now.  Lol.

Happy Tuesday, y’all!