Is it REALLY Monday morning again??  I just read this weekend that during the last legislative session in WV, they formally named the day after Thanksgiving, Lincoln’s Day.  Hmmm……..are they trying to honor the former President, or simply justify taking that Friday off??  Well, I have decided that if they can busy themselves with this type of “work”, then they should really start working on changing the work week to TWO days per week and the weekend to FIVE!  Now that would be an impressive bill, don’t you think?

One reason that our weekend went by so quickly, was that we kept busy.  Very busy.  Our house was filled with the hustle and bustle of FALL!  We kicked off the weekend with our Friday night homemade pizza.  I have worked hard to “perfect” both the crust and the sauce, and I think it is finally accomplished!  Everyone loves pizza night!  Infact, it was one of the foods that the kids said they missed most when they were at their dads this summer.  Brandon even called to get my “secret recipe”.  How flattering!

SATURDAY

I tried to get a headstart with my cleaning early Saturday morning, but little Jarrett thought he would get a head start on Mommy time.  Actually the entire family was up by 8:00, which is rather unusual around here.  I got a little bit accomplished before jumping into the shower.  I had very little water pressure during my shower, and quickly discovered that we were without water due to a water main break a few miles away.  That left us without water until late afternoon.  So much for the mountain of laundry that I was going to tackle today. After my shower,  DJ left to go help his dad get some lawn power parts from a nearby town.  Jarrett cried and cried, wanting to go, so we quickly got him dressed and he went to spend some one on one time with Grandma.  Emily and I headed to town for a weeks worth of groceries. When we got back we popped in some fish sticks for lunch, and I ran over to pick Jarrett up. 

During Jarrett’s afternoon nap, DJ and I were able to get away for an hour by taking the 4 wheeler over the hill to spend some time on our back 40 acres.  Deer season started this weekend and we wanted to make sure our make-do fences are secure and that our property markers are clearly defined.  Everything looked good and it was GREAT to get away.  Brandon did a wonderful job keeping an eye Jarrett as he napped; Hunter and Emily did a wonderful job keeping themselves quietly occupied.  They kids only used the radio to call us one time and that was just to “check on us”.  How sweet!

I spent the rest of the day cutting up apples and drying them in the dehydrator.  Everyone LOVED dried apples.  I love it too, because it is such a healthy snack!  I also baked 2 loaves of cinnamon banana bread.  MMmmmmm………….the entire house smelled so yummy!

DJ spent all of his afternoon and evening cleaning out our storage area.  I can’t believe how much “Junk” gets thrown in there with the hope of someday using it again.  He didn’t get it all finished, but it sure looks much better than it did!  Emily spent Saturday night with a friend.  She has made friends with a little girl that we all really like.  She comes from a good family with loving and watchful parents that seem to share our values and morals.  It is so nice to be able to let her go and not have to worry, or even worse to have to tell her no she can not go to a friends home.

SUNDAY

We missed church again.  We have got to get better about this!  The kids miss going, too.  DJ, the boys and I spent about an hour getting the house back into shape.  The boys had some time playing playstation, DJ enjoyed watching football, and I busied myself in the kitchen making a stew for dinner and more dried apples.  Brandon and Emily had small groups in the evening.  While they were at small groups, Hunter, Jarrett and I went to a school playground to play.  We had a blast going down the slides, swinging and just running around enjoying the mild temperatures before winter strikes.  DJ got to spend some time home alone working on his reloading.  It was a nice evening for everyone.

Today it is back to work as usual.  Brandon and Em are in school, DJ went to work, I have daycare, and Hunter will be doing his school work this afternoon while the little ones nap.  I need to get going and make some Italian bread for tonights spaghetti dinner.

HAVE A GREAT DAY!

JODI