Kid Free Weekend

Over the Summer, while Jason was away, I had the luxury of enjoying some kid free days thanks the grandparents. Since Jason has been home we have not had a weekend to ourselves. Until now. 

When I realized Jase had a Monday off from school, I immediately went into planning mode. What am I going to do with them? Where can we all go? Wonder if Jason can take a day of leave? Then it hit me. Kid free weekend. A conversation with the hubs - who was on board with the idea -  and a phone call to Nana later, the boys were going to Louisiana for the weekend and Jason and I would have some quiet time together. 

Friday after school, with the boys packed, the three of us headed to our half-way meeting point in Louisiana. I  made the drop - like how I refer to the boys as the drop - and headed back to Texas. When I arrived home Jason and I looked at one another and both asked "what do we do now?" 

This is how our kid free weekend played out: 

Visited friends. 

Slept in. Until 7:30 for me. 10 something for Jason. What the heck?? 

Cleaned the house.

Lunch with friends.

Nap.

Run.

Friends house to watch football.

Church.

Lunch with friends.

Shopping with friends. 

Home to watch TV.

The end. 

Sounds like a fabulous weekend, huh? Well I can't complain because I did get to spend time with my husband and have at least one uninterrupted conversation. The next kid free weekend we have will be, well I don't know what it will be but I will sleep in past 7:30. Guaranteed. 

Thanks to Nana and Paw Paw Kipp for giving Jason and I a kid free weekend. :) Much appreciated. 

Lunch Date

Yesterday Jase asked me to have lunch with him at school. I immediately gave him fifty reason why I could not. He then told me I should try one day to have lunch with him. I said I would.

Last night I sat thinking how I wished I could fulfill Jase's request. Again, I ran down the list of why I couldn't. Jason was underway. I didn't have a sitter for Cole. Those were my top two hold backs. Then it occurred to me that I could make the lunch date happen. A couple texts later Cole was going to my bff's so I was set for my lunch date!

I decided I would surprise Jase. I would not tell him I was going to have lunch with him. So when I dropped him at school this morning we said our 'byes like normal. He had no idea. I dropped Cole with Amy a little while later, picked up Sonic, and headed to the school. After checking in with the office, I made my way to the LR. (LR equals lunch room. this is how my friends and i referred to the lunch room back in the day. we were cool. oh, yes we were.) I waited for Jase's class to arrive on the stage amid other parents and grandparents lunching with their child. When Jase's class arrived he was not in line with them. After a quick chat with his teacher, here come Jase and another boy running out of the bathroom. Jase looked at his teacher when she told him to quit running then he looked over at me. Surprise! "Mommmm", he said! "What are you doing?" We joined everyone on the stage to eat our lunch. Jase was a little chatter box - telling me who was who and the do's and don'ts of the cafeteria. When it was time for him to rejoin his class he told me bye then gave me the biggest hug and kiss he has given in a long, long time. I didn't even have to ask. I almost cried like a baby right there on the stage in the LR.

I will never forget today. Ever. The look of surprise on my little man's face. The tight hug he gave. The kiss he have me. The kiss he let me give him...he didn't even wipe it off. The waves of goodbye as I left the cafeteria. I will never forget any of it. I hope he doesn't either. 

When I Get Big

Today, for the first time ever, Jase shared with me his dream for his occupational future.

"Mom, when I get big I want to be a policeman just like PawPaw Joe so I can catch all the bad guys!"

We were in the car when he said this so I adjusted the rear view mirror to see his face - excitement was written all over it. I immediately get a big lump in my throat and my heart filled with pride...and fear. The lump for "oh my goodness, my little boy is growing so fast", the pride for "oh my little boy will make a great police officer" and the fear for, well you know, "oh please Lord, guide my boy's dream and keep him safe." I choke back that lump and tell him that sounds like an awesome job and he'd made a great policeman.

Soon after Jase shares his plan Cole tells us what he's going to be when he "gets big". He's going to be Spiderman so he can catch all the bad guys! I laugh and tell him he's going to be an awesome Spiderman! A little sigh of relief here cause, on most days, Cole is going to be a bull rider. Wait, I don't know, which is less dangerous and will cause me fewer gray hairs?? A criminal catching superhero or a cowboy riding big dangerous bulls??

I do not know what the future holds for my little guys but as of right now it's looking like they are going to be a crime fighting duo.

Look out world!

Labor Day Project

Here is what this little family did on the last day of the holiday weekend...

This is what we started with - empty area of backyard, some lumber, and some dirt. Mission: construct a box garden.

My handy hubs sawed and nailed and hammered everything together. Our boys, along with the neighbor boys, helped to haul the dirt to the backyard. They LOVED mixing the dirt and garden soil together. What is it about boys and dirt?!

They had to make sure the two different kinds of dirt was mixed together just right.

Once the dirt was carefully prepared it was time to do some planting. We chose to plant cucumber, romaine lettuce, winter squash, and carrots. Also, tomato and four different kinds of pepper plants.

The finished product! Mission: Accomplished! This was a fun little family project. I loved watching Jason explain and show the boys what he was doing. The boys aren't so thrilled with the garden now that we are just waiting for something to grow. I hope they are excited when they get to pick their own cucumbers and carrots. I have prayed over our little garden - I pray we get to see the fruits of our enjoyable labor.

September

Wow, where did the summer go? Oh yeah that's right, it was spent moving, unpacking, visiting family and entertaining visiting family. It was a good summer.

Back in April when we left NY I could not wait for the summer to be over because the faster the summer went by the closer I was to my life returning to normal. Well, normal as I know it anyway. So here we are relaxing over the Labor Day weekend and I cannot believe how quickly the summer went by. I have my "normal" life back and I am adjusting to new norms - kindergarten and being a wife to a Coastie who is on a cutter and a thing called duty. I have learned I do have the ability to adjust to the new norms in my life and I'm doing a pretty good job at it. Life couldn't be any better. Thank you to the man upstairs.

With the summer months behind us - the traveling is over and we are officially done with business on the East Coast (until Virginia calls the hubs back anyway) - we are finally settled into our life in Texas. We are looking forward to college football, fall weather (does that exist here??), the holidays with family, and spending time together.

So long summer, welcome September.