LABOR Day

Whew, I think we took the LABOR Day weekend was too literally. We worked our rears off around our house spending some long overdue time with out landscaping. But, about 12 hours of work, 30 bags of mulch, and bags full of weeds later - we have a great looking backyard! I'm still not done with the front, but that part shouldn't take as long. Just need to throw down a few more bags of mulch and have 2 small flowerbeds to weed out. This is the first time I've ever had to really take care of landscaping, and now that we've been in the house for 2 years I kind of know what everything is going to do year after year.
We did have fun too though. Friday- that seems soooo long ago - we went up to a High School nearby and met up with Fran and her family for a little Friday Night Lights. man I love high school football. I can't wait till Mackenzie is out there cheering and the boys playing football. There is just nothing like the feeling of Friday night football in the air. And I couldn't even tell you anything about the game, just love being there in the stands. And it is so great for people watching. Of course the hormones are so thick in the air that you can practically feel them. All those girls walking in twos trying to "casually" walk by the same boys over and over and having that -"Oh I'm just here to support my team" - Ha, I don't think I'll EVER let Mackenzie go to a HS football game without me!!! it is like a breeding ground!
Saturday we got up early and started working on the yard first thing. By the time I was done I had to take off my rings because my fingers were swollen like sausages (and yes I was wearing gloves) and had to drive with my wrists because my hands hurt too bad to grab the steering wheel. About 2 I left the house for Girl's Night. Kelly Fran and I rode over to Jen's house and we all just sat around drinking wine and chatting all night. It was AWESOME! Thanks Gals - it felt good to catch up with some of my dearest friends. I got home about 10:30 on Sunday and we packed up and headed to Super WalMart for some much needed grocery shopping. Got home, unloaded, ate lunch and back outside to work.
Yesterday was - you guessed it - more yard work, and then we went and had our family pictures taken. Here is the link to view them https://www.searsphotos.com/?shareid=S206400899l78JKBH5W4N . We ended up getting the first pose that is a horizontal pic of the family, the first pic of all 3 kids on their bellies, and the 2nd one of Austin sitting up to mark this stage that he is at. I think they turned out good, not great, but good. I try to get our family picture taken about ever 6 months or so. I know a lot of people that don't get family pics done very often, if at all, and I think it is mainly because they put too much pressure on it to be the "perfect" picture that is going to represent your family for the next decade. But when you get them taken more often it takes away that pressure. I just picked out a few things in our closets that went together, and off we went. And when you get them taken more often you don't feel the need to spend a lot of money. You just buy the 8x10 to hang on the wall for $8 if you are tight on money. We got there at 4 and were back in our van at 5. It wasn't a big time commitment. I strongly recommend getting a picture taken fairly often. It is so awesome to see our family grow through the pictures. Just take the pressure off of yourself and swing in the next time you have everyone in the car together.

I have some great pics on my camera with my Girls and of the kids, but don't have my cord today, so hopefully tomorrow I'll have them uploaded. Hope you had a great holiday!