September is Flying!

This ended up being such a nice weekend. It went way too fast, but it was one of those weekends where everybody seemed happy, the weather was good for the most part, and nobody really had anywhere they needed to be. Those are usually the best ones.

Gage had a few boys come over after school Friday to go fishing, and somehow that turned into them staying most of the weekend. Declan, Jackson and Zach were here, and they are seriously such good kids. They fished at the pier Friday, got up early and went back the next morning, swam for a while, ate burgers and hot dogs Gary grilled, and then asked if they could stay again and camp out in the backyard.

We said yes because they had been so easy to have around. And listen, waking up after a house full of teenage boys has been there and finding the house basically the way you left it? Beautiful. 😂 They clean up after themselves, don’t leave food everywhere, and are just really respectful. Harper’s friends are sweet girls too, but when she has spend-the-night company, it usually looks like somebody kicked in the front door and searched the house for evidence.

Girls are just different. Fun, but absolutely feral with snacks.

Harper had a good time with the boys too. She swam with them and hung out, and I was glad they included her without making her feel like somebody’s annoying little sister. That’s one of the nice things about Gage and Harper being so close in age now that they’re both in middle school. She knows his friends, sees them in the hallways, rides the bus with them, and apparently gets plenty of “Hey, Gage’s sister!” at school.

Two of his best friends also live right up the road in the neighborhood connected to ours, so now that they have the gate code, they can ride their bikes back and forth whenever they want. That makes life much easier because I have no desire to become a full-time gate attendant for teenage boys.

Gary and I had such a good weekend too. Yesterday was just fun. Nothing huge or exciting happened, which was probably the whole point. We hung out in the pool with the kids, cooked out, and then took a long walk through the neighborhood down to the pier. We held hands and talked, and he told me more about his new job and explained some things I didn’t really understand before. I love hearing him talk about work. I like knowing what he’s doing, what he’s learning, and what he’s excited about. I like being part of his world.

Later, while the kids were doing their thing, we watched a movie, got caught up on our Big Brother stuff, and just laid around talking. Nothing fancy. Just good.

This morning we did our Bible study and watched our sermon together like we usually do on Sundays. That has become something Gary takes very seriously. He doesn’t like missing it, and I think it’s become his reset for the week.

I’ve always said that if you go to church every week and leave feeling beaten down, ashamed and miserable, something might be off. Of course there are going to be things that make you look at yourself. Sometimes you need that. Self-reflection is a good thing because every one of us is a mess in one way or another. Nobody is walking around down here completely finished and polished.

But I also think church should encourage you. It should make you feel closer to God, light a fire under you, and send you into a new week wanting to do better than you did the week before. That’s what it does for us, and I think that’s why Gary loves our Sunday routine so much.

Now we’re watching the Saints and hoping they play a little better than the Tigers did this weekend. 😂 Gary has slowly become less of an LSU person and more of a “put any football game on and I’ll watch it” person.

He originally got into football years ago watching games with my parents. My mom was a huge LSU fan, and his mom has always been an LSU nut too. Somewhere along the way, though, he stopped just watching LSU and fell in love with football itself. Now the man will watch old games on ESPN Classics during the off-season just so football exists in his immediate surroundings.

That’s a level of commitment I simply do not possess.

I think part of it is that he wishes he had played sports when he was younger. He’s said before that if he could go back, he probably would’ve done more of that. I understand what he means, and it’s something I tell our kids too. The people you surround yourself with when you’re young really can affect the things you try, the things you miss, and the opportunities you take seriously.

If you’re good at something, try it. Join the team. Take the class. Do the thing. You don’t get those years back.

So football, UFC, food, kids running in and out, and somebody yelling at a television pretty much sums up our weekends this time of year.

I also finally did a little fall decorating, although I have decided I’m not putting everything out this year. I just don’t feel like it. I like fall. It’s pretty. I like when the weather finally cools off and the house feels cozy. But fall and Halloween have never excited me the way Christmas does.

I’m perfectly happy putting out a few pumpkins and calling it seasonal participation.

Gary likes the harvest-type decorations, but Halloween is another story. He hates the skulls, skeletons, gore, fire and all of that. Even back when skulls were everywhere on kids’ clothes, he’d say, “Why would you put death on a T-shirt?” 😂

And honestly, I think more than anything he just thinks it all looks stupid and cheesy.

That’s fine with me. To each their own. It doesn’t bother me that he feels that way, and it also doesn’t keep me from letting the kids enjoy Halloween. We compromise. I don’t go overboard because I respect the fact that he doesn’t like it, and he respects the fact that it doesn’t bother me. The kids still trick-or-treat, I still decorate a little, and nobody is being oppressed by a pumpkin.

I usually keep everything more silly and cute than creepy anyway.

When we get closer to Halloween, I’ll put the pumpkin arches out so everything is nice and lit up for trick-or-treaters, and we’ll probably put a few smaller things around. I am still stalking this ridiculous disco ghost at Michaels that I want for Harper’s room. It’s multicolored and pastel and would actually look really cute in there.

It is also $189.

Absolutely not.

I keep checking the website waiting for them to mark it 50 percent off because Michaels loves a dramatic markdown. I’ve already told Gary that if it drops to half price and they still have one, I’m getting it. If not, I will take that as a clear sign that we somehow managed to survive without a giant disco ghost in Harper’s bedroom.

This week is going to be busy because Harper’s birthday is Wednesday. We’re going to check her out of school a little early, take her to LongHorn Steakhouse for an early dinner, and then let her go to TJ Maxx and pick out a few outfits, maybe something for her room, and possibly a pair of boots.

We are absolutely establishing a budget before we walk through those doors because we just bought her a brand-new VR last week, and this birthday is starting to require financial planning. 😂

But I do want her to have fun picking out a few things she really likes and enjoying her day.

Anyway, that’s about it from here. It really was such a good weekend, and I’m grateful for it. I hope everybody else had a wonderful one too.

Don’t forget to stop and thank God for your blessings, especially the ordinary ones. The weekends at home. Kids running in and out. Food on the grill. Somebody holding your hand on a walk. The people you love sitting in the same room with you.

God is so good, and we are all very loved and very blessed.