Labor Day Weekend, Projects, and Tailgating!

What a great weekend just relaxing! This was our last weekend before Southern's home games kick off, so we really didn't make any plans. It was nice to just be at home as the five of us and not have anywhere to go or be at a certain time. I think it's really important to have time for your family to regroup and relax. Sometimes you have to say no to other invitations in order for you to have family time. It's a priority in our house!

Can I just say how excited I was when I woke up to cool weather Saturday morning????? I opened all the doors and windows, and I made the boys go outside to play before we even had breakfast. I didn't want them to miss the wonderful playing weather!

While they were playing, I grabbed my coffee and dug into the One Year Bible for the day. Then I made a huge stack of our Saturday morning staple: chocolate chip pancakes. They came, ate breakfast, and headed back outside. Even Trace! He is no longer a baby, I'm afraid. He gets right in the middle of whatever the big boys are doing!

Over these few days, I got a lot of laundry and organizing done. I'm working a couple of projects including painting Trace's dresser. I chose this gorgeous red from Devoe paint called Century Brick. It is actually the same color as our guest bath; I'm being frugal and using leftover paint. I'm still finishing his drawers but the red is so precious in his cowboy-themed nursery!

I'm also painting my kitchen table and chairs. The chairs were a pretty walnut color with rattan seats. They were perfectly fine. But I got tired of them so I decided to paint them. They're still in progress but here is the before.

I would like to thank The Nester for inspiring me to paint. Somewhere in life my creative juices have gotten a bit stymied when it comes to home-related projects, and I think "if it's not perfect, I can't do it". The Nester's motto is "it doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful"...and as I paint, I keep repeating that in my OCD-prone head. It works! And I must say I'm so happy to be accomplishing these projects in my home. So thank you, Nester!

So, switching gears...the boys stayed out in their tree house on Sunday night. They anxiously wait all week long to be able to stay in their tree house on their bunk beds their Daddy built. I sent them out Sunday night with a big bowl of popcorn and a movie on the portable DVD player. They were in heaven!

Yesterday we went to Jeffry's parents house for lunch. They grilled tuna steaks and hamburgers on the Big Green Egg. Lots of sides and an apple pie for dessert. SO yummy! What a way to finish off a great weekend!

Oh, one more thing. Tailgating starts Saturday! This will be our first year to do all our own tailgating food. I need your recipes and ideas! Do you have certain recipes that are no-fail, super easy-to-make, or kid-friendly? Please share! I'm trying to pick some healthy things too. Are there certain things you do to make tailgating easier? Especially with kids? Let me know! Hope you all had a wonderful weekend! God bless!