The kids and I were on our own this weekend while Trav was visiting friends in TN - no dad, what were we supposed to do? Well, here's what we did . . . had movie night, rake and mowed the yard (only about 1/3 of it, but still, it was really hard), made monkey bread, made "mummy dogs", had a bonfire (which I made on my own - more on that later), had friends over, installed a new wireless keypad for the garage door, cleaned out the entire laundry room/office area, took too many items to the hazardous waste drop off site, the list goes on and on. Apparently I(we) like to get down to business when Trav isn't around!
I'm going to back up to Friday . . . Trav left really early on Friday morning, so early in fact that the kids didn't even know he was gone until Ryan asked if Dad was taking him to the bus stop - um no, Dad is almost to TN already. Anyway, with Trav off and Ryan at school, I packed up the rest of the kiddies and we headed out to the annual Halloween dance party in town. Lauren wore her "Spiderella" costume while Ellie and Colt opted to go with a simpler look, Halloween shirts. The kids all had a blast! By the end of the dance party, I had three very tired kids - a sure sign that the party was a success. Their was lots of booty shaking and creepy crawling - how could it not be fun! Friday wrapped with nice warm baths followed by a Halloween movie before it was time for bed.
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| Lauren dancing away with Scooby Doo (aka some random boy she met) |
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| Colt is definitely a Loken - look at those swivel hips! |
Saturday. Saturday started out nice and late - no one was up before 8:00am! When everyone finally did roll out of bed, we were all in for a treat . . . monkey bread! With the assistance of my little helpers, we wiped up a batch in less than 20 minutes and feasted on almost the entire pan (this was "Mom's fun weekend" so I let them go crazy). After breakfast, we headed over to drop off some stuff at the hazardous waste site and got back home just in time to make some delicious "mummy dogs" (hot dogs wrapped with crescent rolls to look like a mummy - a very fun and easy meal to make). With our spooky meal done, Ellie went down for her nap and the big kids, dog, and myself headed outside to do some work. We managed to rake and mow a good portion of the yard before we finally decided to call it quits and save the rest for Trav (he needs something to do when he gets home). With work behind us, Ryan had a great idea . . . why not have some popcorn and cocoas while sitting by a bonfire. I liked the popcorn and cocoas part, but bonfires and I don't mix so I wasn't sure about that. After a little encouragement from the kids, I decided to give it a try (Ryan assured me that when I couldn't start the fire on my own, he would go ask the neighbor for help - clearly he didn't believe in me). But, much to my surprise (and Ryan's), I was able to get a fire started and most importantly, I didn't even use gas or lighter fluid to do it (maybe I was a boy scout in a past life)! So there we were, three kids, one dog, and a happy mom sipping a beer by the bonfire she just made - life couldn't be better. Or could it? We decided it could so we called up some friends and invited some neighbors over and wouldn't you know it, life did get better! The kids were able to run around and play with each other while the adults snuck in some real conversation. When it was all said and done, we had been outside by the bonfire from about 3:30-9:30pm (we did go inside to eat pizza for a while). So needless to say, when it was all over, we were all pretty tuckered out. It was a great way to spend a beautiful fall day though, and I hope to have another chance to try out my fire making skills someday soon so Trav can sit and be amazed at all the new things I learn when he is away.
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| Look at that fire . . small, but beautiful (and it did get much bigger)! |
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| We even invited "dog friends" to come and play at our house. |
With Saturday in the books, we awoke to kind of a dreary Sunday. The kids were slow to get out of bed, and before we knew it, it was almost 10:00am. By then, I figured it was time to get out of the house and finish a few last projects before Trav would be home. First up, a trip to Kohls to use my free $10 and 15% coupon to buy Trav some new boxers - a somewhat boring task if I went on my own, but because the kids all came with, they made it fun by picking out different patterns for the boxers (Lauren wanted a pair with dogs on them, Ryan wanted a pair that were green and red plaid - I'm sure Trav would have loved either). In the end, we picked out some pretty plain Jockey boxers based on the fact that the guy on the front of the package looked, "nice" as Lauren put it. Clearly the best way to make decision when buying underwear. After Kohls we headed out to the Y for some fun for the kids and exercise for me. With all of our errands complete for the day, we spent the rest of the day bumming around the house - a nice way to wrap up a fun-filled weekend!
Until next time Trav ventures away for the weekend . . .
