Our Week - The One with the Kaleo Concert, Halloween Fun, and Momma’s Birthday

Last week wasn’t as busy as the previous week, but we sure did have a busy weekend!  Let’s get to the recap!

Monday, September 16

Monday morning, I dropped the kids at school and then drove around to the big shed by the football field to help a couple of other ladies get it cleaned out.  The shed houses all of our Home and School Association’s stuff (seasonal decor, items used for various events, etc.) as well as some of the stuff for the school in general, and it was a HUGE mess.  There was so much stuff that was damaged and no longer needed, so we ended up getting rid of a massive pile of stuff.  When we arrived, we couldn’t even set foot in there, and after it was all said and done, we could walk all the way to the back, with all of the decorations neatly boxed and lining the shelves along the sides.  I wish I’d taken a picture of the before and after, but I forgot.  I did take a picture of this massive pile of junk that went to the trash and donation bins, though.

After we finished up at the shed, I dropped a couple of boxes off at the school office, and then I headed to Walmart and Publix to grab groceries.  The rest of the afternoon was spent working on the blog and getting some other random things done around the house, and then it was time to pick up the kids from school.

After school, Jacob had a golf match, so we headed straight home so he could get changed, and then he and Brian left shortly after we got home.

While the boys were gone, I did my Bible study while Olivia did homework and read for a bit, and then she helped me chop all of the veggies for dinner – one pan chicken, potatoes, and broccoli, and then I made some blueberry muffins to go with it while she showered.

Jacob’s golf match ended up running longer than usual because they have a TON of kids this season.  He ended up shooting a 37 (par is 30), which is his best score ever since he started playing a couple of years ago… he had one birdie, three pars, two bogeys, and three double bogeys!  And he’s currently sitting at 8th place overall in the city out of 38 kids!

When they got home, we all ate dinner together, and then I got in a stair stepper workout while Jacob showered and got ready for bed.  After the kids went to bed, Brian and I watched some football before going to bed.

Tuesday, September 17

Tuesday morning, I dropped the kids at school and then I stuck around to do some alumni affairs work in the school office.  They’re currently scanning old yearbook photos to get everything archived (and ready for our homecoming event this week), so I worked in the office, scanning photos.  I got seven yearbooks worth of senior photos scanned, and then I had to leave to go tackle a few other things.

Next up, was a quick trip to my friend, Christy’s, office to drop off items for the grade level tailgate that we had last Friday.  Unfortunately, it had to be moved from early September because of the weather, and they moved it to a date that I wasn’t able to attend, so thankfully, Christy stepped in and helped me out since I couldn’t be there to decorate.

After that, I headed to the local music store to pick up some more guitar picks for Olivia so she can have some extras on hand.  I ended up chatting with one of the employees for a long time.  Since they’re locally owned, the same five guys are in there every time I go, and since I’ve been going a ton lately, they’ve gotten to know me somewhat.  Haha.

After that, I made a quick trip to Staples to drop an Amazon return, and then it was home for the rest of the morning to work until I had to pick up the kids.

After school, we headed straight home, and the kids knocked out homework.  I did my Bible study while they did that, and then I ran Olivia over to dance class.  While she was at dance, I tidied the whole house to perfection and got the house photographed for my fall home tour… FINALLY.

After that was done, I started on dinner – beef and rice skillet topped with cheese and served with tortilla chips.  We also had some fruit on the side.  Brian got home with Olivia just in time for him to leave for tennis, and the kids and I to sit down to eat together.

Then after dinner, I headed out for a walk/jog while the kids showered and got ready for bed, and then I spent some time hanging out with them until Brian got home.  When he got home, he reheated dinner and I hung out with the kids in “the music room” as we’re going to have to start calling it soon since Jacob’s piano and Olivia’s guitar accessories are now housed in there. 

Jacob played the piano and Olivia strummed a whole song and sang along at the same time and it just made me so happy to see them both doing what they love.  This music journey we’re on with both of them is just so exciting!  Y’all know I love music with my whole heart, so to see both of the kids thriving at playing instruments and learning to read music couldn’t make me happier!

When Brian was done eating dinner, we got the kids in the bed, and then he and I watched the rest of the Emmy’s that we’d recorded.  We wanted to see the cast of Schitt’s Creek do their presenting at the end and it did not disappoint.  They are just so fabulous!  I miss that show.

Wednesday, September 18

Wednesday, I had no place to be – praise hands – so I dropped the kids at school and then headed right back home to work all day long.  I knocked out a ton of blog work as well as a bunch of alumni relations work that I’m doing for the school, and the day went by way too fast.  Before I knew it, it was time to pick up the kids.

After school, I helped Olivia with some homework, and then she got ready for dance.  I dropped her there, and then when I got home, I made dinner – bacon and corn pasta with steamed green beans – and Brian and Jacob and I ate dinner together.

After dinner, I got out for a run and then I did my 8-minutes arms workout, and then I got showered and ready for bed.  While Brian was out picking up Olivia from dance, I did my Bible study while Jacob practiced piano, and then after Olivia was home and showered, we got the kids in the bed.  B and I ended the day with an old episode of Shark Tank, and then we went to bed.

Thursday, September 19

Thursday morning, I dropped the kids at school and then I headed to my office to knock out some work before my annual skin check at the dermatologist.

Everything went great there, and she told me she’d see me in a year!  Let this serve as your reminder to get your skin checked annually, friends… especially all of you tanning bed Millennial girlies like myself.  Cringe.

After I was done there, I had to return some books to the library, and on the way home, I decided to swing by the local music store one more time since I had to pass right by it.  I had told Olivia about a book they had there that was a blank tab book so you can write your own music, and ever since then, she has been begging for it. 

I was browsing the books when a door opened right next to me, and out popped Joseph, Jacob’s old piano teacher.  It was such a surprise!  I ended up chatting with him for a while since we hadn’t seen each other in so long, and he told me that he now teaches lessons there at the local music store a few mornings a week because it works out with the schedule for his full-time job. 

When he left our music school to take that other job, he wasn’t able to continue teaching at our music school because they’re only open in the afternoons/evenings, which is when he works at the other job.  This other store does lessons in the mornings, which works with his other work schedule, so he’s now teaching there, but he only takes a few students a week.  It’s such a bummer that we can’t make it work for him to teach Jacob again, because Jacob surely would love that!  But unfortunately, Jacob is at school during the time that Joseph teaches now.  We snapped a quick selfie before we left so I could show the kids.

After I left there, I stopped to get gas, and then I headed home to grab a quick lunch and finish up with some work before it was time to pick up the kids in the car line.

After school, we headed straight to music lessons.  Usually the kids’ lessons are back-to-back, but Mr. Steve’s 3:30 lesson had been cancelled, so he was able to get Olivia in there at the same time that Jacob had his piano lesson.  I ended up sitting in there with her, and Steve worked some more with Olivia on Red from The Rise of Red, and he also played intros to several songs to show her just how many songs use the same four chords that she already knows. 

He’s in a couple of bands that play around town, and one of his bands plays all 90’s covers, so he started playing intros of songs by Goo Goo Dolls and Matchbox 20 and Tonic, etc. and I was jamming.  Haha.  Then he busted out some I Can Only Imagine by Mercy Me and I was so excited I couldn’t stand it.  That has been one of my favorite songs of all-time since it came out in 2001 when I was just 19, and the kids love it, too, so Olivia and Mr. Steve and I all had a little singalong.  Haha.

Brian came to the music school to pick up Jacob for his golf practice, and then Olivia and I headed home.  I quizzed her for a test and got the kitchen cleaned up, and then I did my Bible study and got in a strength workout while she played around on her computer for a bit and got showered.

We had breakfast for dinner, and then after Jacob was showered, we got the kids in the bed and ended the night by starting the new season of The Golden Bachelorette.  Why do these “Golden” versions always make me sob?!  Haha.

 

Friday, September 20

Friday, I swung by Walmart to pick up groceries for Sunday dinner.  My Momma’s birthday is TODAY (HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOMMA!!), so I cooked for her Sunday, and I had to grab all of the ingredients for the stuff I was going to make. 

I had nowhere to be for the rest of the day while the kids were at school but Brian and I were heading to Atlanta for the evening for a concert, so I spent the day working on the blog, prepping for the evening ahead, and getting my Bible study, meditation, and all of my other “late afternoon/evening” things done earlier in the day.

I grabbed the kids at 3 when they got out of school, and then we headed straight home so the kids could get changed and packed for Pop and Cokie’s, and then it was time for us to drop them and hit the road!

Brian and I had plans to meet some friends for dinner at 6 PM before the concert, and when we turned on the GPS, we saw that it was giving us an ETA of an ENTIRE HOUR longer than it normally takes for us to get to Atlanta from our house.  We knew immediately that something had to be wrong (ie: a bad wreck or something), and sure enough, about 30 minutes into our commute, we hit horrible traffic that had nearly come to a standstill.  It did, indeed, add almost a full extra hour to our commute, so we ended up arriving at the restaurant 45 minutes later than originally planned.

Thankfully, there was an opening band, so we had a cushion, and we were still able to eat with our friends, Fahed and Conner, before heading to the venue.  We ate dinner at Superica in Buckhead.  Superica is one of our favorite Mexican restaurants ever, and we’d only been to the one at The Battery, and I loved the one in Buckhead even more because the ambiance was *chef’s kiss*.

As usual, we had a great time with Fahed and Conner, and we tried to snap a picture on the way out, but it was so dim in the restaurant (and dark outside by then) that it came out all blurry.  But I still love it!

B and I hightailed it over to the venue after that, and thankfully, it was only a five-minute drive.  We walked into the venue just as the opening band was finishing, so that gave us just enough time to take a bathroom break and grab some beers (the most expensive beers we have ever paid for, by the way… the refreshments are INSANE expensive at Cadence Bank Amphitheatre at Chastain Park… FYI in case you’re ever in Atlanta.  Haha.) before the show started.

The band we saw was Kaleo.  Most people haven’t heard of them, so you’re not alone if you have no clue who they are.  We stumbled upon them when they opened for The Lumineers years ago, and we’ve liked them ever since then.  The lead singer’s voice is just insane in the best way.  It’s so unique, so powerful, and he always sounds so good.  I posted several snippets of the concerts in my Instagram stories and saved them to a “live music” highlight if you’re interested in checking them out.

The concert lasted about an hour and a half, and then we were out of there.  The great thing about that venue is that it was super easy to get right out of the parking lot.  We didn’t have to wait in any traffic, and we were home by 12:15 AM which is probably the earliest we’ve ever gotten home from a concert in Atlanta.

B and I stayed up with Maui for a bit when we got home, and then we crashed around 1 AM.  I think I fell asleep within seconds of my head hitting the pillow.

Meanwhile, my parents had taken the kids to the school tailgate/football game while we were gone, and they had a blast running around with their friends all night, collecting all of the glow sticks (the theme was “neon”), and eating all the snacks.  ;o)  My mom gave Olivia some “space buns” in her hair before they went and she was as happy as a clam.  Her current obsession is The Rise of Red, and the main character wears space buns, so she’s been wanting to do her hair like that, too.  ;o)

Saturday, September 21

Saturday morning, Brian and I slept in a bit, and what was originally supposed to have been a Saturday with nothing to do, ended up being crazy busy.  Jacob decided to join Velocity this year, which is Teen Advisors for middle school, and they had their big city-wide kickoff meeting Saturday.  Since the kids were at my parents’ house, Brian had to grab them at 9:30 and then get Jacob to Velocity, before dropping Olivia at home.  While he was gone, I sat on the couch with Maui for an hour and watched ESPN College GameDay since we’d spend no time with her Friday night, and then it was time to hit the ground running.

Brian headed out for a haircut, and Olivia had to make her poster for student council elections, which she’d just decided randomly to run for on Thursday.  Haha.  Thankfully, I keep posterboard on hand, along with tons of scrapbook paper and craft supplies, so she was able to find everything she needed to make her poster. 

She ended up doing the whole thing with very little help from me, and it turned out so dang cute!  And fitting for her personality.

While she did that, I got in a mixed cardio workout, made the bed, unloaded the dishwasher, gathered all of the dirty towels around the house, started a load of laundry, unpacked my clear bag from the concert the night before, tidied the whole house, and let Maui in and outside of the house 84 million times… all while assisting Olivia with her poster. 

After that, I assisted Olivia with baking a cake for my Momma’s birthday dinner, and while I did that, I made and ate my lunch and did a few more things around the house that needed to be done.  Saturday was multi-tasking at its finest. 

I popped the cake in the oven at 12:45, and had exactly one hour to shower and get ready for the day, remove the cake from the oven, let it cool for five minutes, and flip it out of the pan before (literally) running out the door to pick up Jacob from Velocity.

When I arrived at the church where they were meeting for Velocity, I headed straight inside because they had a meeting for the parents to let us know what to expect for the upcoming year.  I saw several of the other parents from Jacob’s class, so I sat with them and chatted for a couple of minutes before they got started.

The meeting lasted about 30 minutes, and I was so impressed with the whole program from start to finish, and I think it’s going to be a fantastic thing for Jacob to be a part of.  He’s a super shy kid, but he’s such a great kid, and I think it’ll be awesome for him to be able to gather with all of these other like-minded kids who are making it their mission through Velocity to lift each other up and help others.  They’ll be going into the classrooms of the younger kids throughout the school year and talking to them about peer pressure, and kindness, and making good choices, and I’m just thrilled that he wants to be a part of such a great group of kids.  It’s such a safe and loving environment, and I think he’s going to have a blast participating this year.

When we left, I got the scoop from him, and he talked nonstop all the way home about everything they’d done – they’d played games, they’d played trivia, they’d eaten lunch and lots of snacks, they’d broken up into small groups to chat about lifting one another up and peer pressure and all of the other things that go along with being a middle school kid in today’s society, and most importantly, they all signed a contract to stay alcohol, tobacco, e-cigarette, and drug free.  He got to hang out with two of his besties all day and he’d met some new friends, and he’d enjoyed it immensely.  He’s already excited for every single one of the city-wide events they’re going to be doing this school year.  And I’m so proud of him for stepping outside of his comfort zone and trying something new.

We got home earlier than expected, so I had some time to work on the blog for a few minutes and get my Bible study/quiet time done before it was time to leave for church.  We went to 5:30 Mass with Momma and Daddy and Mama Cass, and then our little fam of four went to dinner with my parents.  Our usual big group wasn’t together because others were off doing other things (fall is so busy!) so we had a small group.  We decided to eat at our favorite local barbecue restaurant and they had live music which is always SUCH a bonus.  They usually have a bluegrass band on Saturday night, but this time they had a singer/songwriter who did an acoustic set and he was fantastic.  We really enjoyed his music!  Apparently, he just put out an album, so y’all know I’ll be checking that out and supporting our local artists.

After dinner, Brian and the kids wanted Blizzards, so we ran through the DQ drive-through.  They have pumpkin right now, so Brian was excited.  Normally, I can’t resist a pumpkin Blizzard, but I’m telling y’all, ever since I had Covid almost two years ago, ice cream just doesn’t hit the same way anymore, and I had zero regrets about not getting one.  I guess that’s a good thing?!  Haha.  And yes, yes we did bust out this song on the way home since it was "the 21st night of September."  ;o)  And yes, the Earth, Wind, and Fire version is better but this was the only one we had.  Haha.

When we got home, we hung out for a bit, and then got the kids in the bed, and then Brian and I spent the rest of the night watching college football.  Georgia didn’t play, but we’ll pretty much watch any college football game these days (especially SEC games!) so we did that the rest of the night.

 

Sunday, September 22

Sunday morning, I made homemade waffles for breakfast since we hadn’t had them Saturday morning, and then it was time for my Sunday morning routine – yoga, online sermon, planning the week ahead, and Bible study.

By the time that was done, it was time to get showered and ready.  My MIL and step-FIL weren’t cooking lunch, so the kids had already planned out our entire itinerary for the afternoon – lunch at a local taqueria (because they’re creatures of habit and love this tradition), Spirit Halloween store to shop for costumes, and then Beetlejuice Beetlejuice at the movie theater. 

I opted out of the movie because I was cooking Sunday dinner since it was my Momma’s birthday weekend.  While they were gone, I got some blog work done, prepped for the week ahead, got dinner in the slow cooker, and did various other things that needed to be done – sorting clothes for laundry, tidying the house, dusting a couple of areas, setting the table, and finishing up with dinner.

They got home about 45 minutes before all of the guests arrived, and Brian helped me in the kitchen while the kids got everything prepped and ready for the week ahead.

Everyone came over at six and we had a big group – the four of us, Momma, Daddy, Mama Cass, my brother and his roommate, and my Uncle Billy and his girlfriend.  We had ranch chicken pasta, Caesar salad, garlic cheesy bread, pineapple, and chocolate chip bundt cake for dessert.

And we celebrated my beautiful Momma!  She was really excited about her gift, too – some Young Living Thieves oil!!  We love that stuff!  Haha.

After everyone left, B and I finished cleaning up the kitchen, and then we got the kids in the bed.  He and I finished the night watching the Falcons play the KC Chiefs.  We almost beat the Chiefs, but I can’t say that I’m sad that the Chiefs won, because as we all know, Olivia and I are now honorary fans because of T. Swift.  Hahahaha.

And that was our week!

And now for a few current things…

Currently Reading

This month I only read one book – Can’t Look Away by Carola Lovering.  While it was a really good book (4 stars) it wasn’t as good as Bye Baby by the same author.  That one had me riveted from start to finish.    

I’m also still reading New Morning Mercies: A Daily Gospel Devotional by Paul David Tripp as my daily devotional. 

And I’m still working my way through The Bible and The Bible Recap… I’m on Day 294 as I type this (Monday, 9/23), and I’m still 27 days ahead of schedule!  I still cannot believe that I’ve almost read the entire Bible from start to finish! 

 

Currently Watching

With B:  This month, we started and finished A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder (really good!), The Perfect Couple (good, but I didn’t love the ending), The Presidential Debate, The Emmy’s, and we started the new season of The Bachelorette, plus we watched a whoooole lot of college football and some pro football.

With the Kids:  We’ve just been watching America’s Got Talent.  We only have a few minutes here and there to watch TV with the kids right now since we’re so busy, so we have been having a hard time keeping up with it.

Alone:  The Wedding Planner on repeat every Sunday, and during the week, I just listen to music while I work.

 

Currently Listening To

Pretty much the same as last month – Abe Parker, TS, DMB, Phil Wickham, Brandon Lake, a few random new songs that I’ve downloaded here and there, and some of my happy standards like Rod Stewart, Frank Sinatra, Michael Buble, etc.

Happy Tuesday, y’all, and happy birthday to my Momma!!