Labor Day Weekend - Sunday

Sunday morning we woke up and chatted while drinking coffee and eating a bite for breakfast. {Doesn't Payton have awesome bed head?}

A little while later we laughed when we realized that all 3 kids were doing this:

We packed up, said goodbye to Papa & Sasha and headed back to Tennessee. We stopped about halfway thru to say hello to our friends who just bought a home in Chattanooga.

Ethan and Payton swang.

Conner and Dylan wrestled.

Mason & Rylan watched Frozen.

Ben and Chris played football.

And Jen and I caught up on life.

Look at the "old men" sitting in the rocking chairs! {Ben and I went to school together so the old man jokes are flowing Chris' direction every time we hang out!}

We said goodbye.

And the kids quickly fell asleep the rest of the way home. {That's Dylan under the red sleeping bag in the back.

At bedtime I took one last picture of me and my sweet nine year old. Tomorrow he turns TEN!

Labor Day Weekend - Saturday {Dylan's Birthday Party}

Dylan turns TEN years old on Monday. Can you believe it? 10? I can't. I'm in denial.

We went to Georgia to celebrate his birthday with Craig and Sasha and then to also take him to Andretti's to go go-kart racing.

Here we are with 2 of his buddies ready to go. (Payton was in Papa & Yaya's car.)

Jacob (lives next to Craig & Sasha), Dylan & Brent (was in Dylan's 4th grade class & also at his old karate studio).

We played video games.

The boys got ready to race.

And then it was on. Dylan crashed into another racer (but it was all good).

He had such a blast.

Buds.

They bowled.

And did the Sky Trail.

They were pretty high up there!

Payton and I raced Chris and Rylan on Batman.

There's Papa & Yaya behind us!

More games.

Dylan kept saying, "This is the best birthday ever." He was one happy boy.

Daddy and his little buddy.

Papa & Yaya took us out to pizza afterwards and the boys got their own table . . . and they were SO well behaved. We were all impressed.

Birthday cake time!

Present time. Dylan had been saving up his money for an iPad Mini. We (Papa, Yaya, Daddy and I) got it for him. He just might have peed his pants.

And then this was him, all evening. 😉

Labor Day Weekend - Friday

Friday morning, Chris woke the kids up and surprised them with the news that they would be playing hookie from school and we headed down to Georgia (one day earlier than they expected).

Here they are, excited and heading out (in their jammies).

Oh look at that, 3 hours later, things look pretty much the same!

Shortly after we arrived, Chris and I headed to the market, sans children (thanks Craig & Sasha!). We joked that it was like a date so of course I had to document that with a pic.

The men grilled hamburgers & hot dogs while Sasha and I sat on the porch, and watched the kids play. After we ate lunch (which was so good!), the school bus got there and Dylan left to play with his old buddies. He was gone for HOURS, literally 5 hours. They all picked up right where they left off! 

Guess what I did during that time? I took an hour and a half nap. It was a-maze-ing. Then it was back out to the porch for popsicles.

We saw some neighbors and ended up talking with them for a long while. It was a great, relaxing, and fun day!

A Peek At Our (Not So Exciting) Week

This is the 3rd week of the kids being in school, and although we have gotten back into a rhythm again, there's not many exciting moments to document and share . . . And actually that is okay. Life is good. God is great. And I love my little family.

~

I made a double batch of zucchini chocolate chip muffins to freeze for lunches/snacks again.

While reading to Ry, I pointed to the peas and asked, "What are those?" He yelled "YUMMY GOODNESS!"

Awesome. I'm glad he likes peas. I hated peas when I was little. And bacon. {Actually anything that came from a pig. I know, crazy right?} Man am I ever glad to have changed my mind on both of those. Otherwise I would have missed out on this Crunchy Pea Salad:

Peas, crumbled bacon, and Craisins? YUM-O!

Oh and if your wondering, I just kept trying peas and they grew on me (I LOVE them now). And bacon? I can thank the hot dog vendor outside of Home Depot when I was pregnant with Dylan for that one. All of a sudden it smelled good and I had to have one. Then when I realized how good a hot dog was, I of course HAD to try bacon . . . And ever since I have been trying to make up for all the times I missed out on yummy, tasty, amazing bacon.

~

My whole life growing up the sewers all said "drains to ocean". Now I see "drains to river". Its just one of those things that make me pause and think of So Cal.

Rylan's been mad a lot lately. "I'm mad momma."

Fortunately it lasts about 3 seconds, he jumps up and is on to the next thing, which in this case was climbing a fence to watch Payton's cheer practice.

I Love You Because...

I thought this was a super easy and fun thing to do to let the kids know how loved they are.

I got these 4x4 frames at WalMart (2 in a pack for $2). Then I printed out "i love you because . . ." on a piece of paper and cut it to size. Put it in the frame and hung it in their room.

Then I just write on it with a dry erase marker.

I will change what I've written on it every so often.

I want my kids to ALWAYS know how much I love them, no matter what, and not just for the things that they do well, but just because they are mine.

{And of course I'll make one for Rylan when he can read.}

Linking up at: http://madefrompinterest.net

http://thefreshmancook.blogspot.com

Summer Cobb Salad {recipe}

Thanks to Pinterest, I came across another yummy salad. This one is called Summer Cobb Salad with Creamy Garlic Lime Vinaigrette by A Spicy Perspective.

The two things I did different from the original recipe was I used Red Leaf Lettuce in place of the Romaine and I omitted the blackberries (They were $4.98 for 6 ounces. Yikes!). I followed the dressing recipe exactly and it was perfect for this salad combination.

Weekend Wrap-Up {1st game of the season}

Saturday was the 1st official game of the season. Payton was super excited to cheer at her first game. Their uniforms hadn't come in yet, so she wore her practice uniform to the game. 

Check out the "RealFeel®" temp. Holy moley it was a hot one!

While we waited for the game to start, Sparkie came and visited us. We passed him back and forth . . . it's so bizarre!

The football team finally got their uniforms in. Dylan is number 9.

Payton is the second in from the left.

The girls were so cute!

Did I mention it was hot? How hot was it? Check out Payton's face!

Shortly after I took that pic, the thunder started rumbling and then lightning struck. The game was called (a draw) and we headed out. Isn't the sky ominous?

We ended the day eating at Mac's Grub Shak for dinner.

Sunday after church we went to the pool for a couple of hours. The kids got to show Chris all the tricks they learned this summer and all the progress Payton has made with swimming (she's a better swimmer than me now!).

Dylan wanted to make something, so he made granola bars (playgroup granola bars) for this week's lunches and snacks. He's getting really good in the kitchen!