A Simple Weekend

Weekends are funny things around our house. For the most part, our weekends are no different than our weekdays, with the exception that Eric usually does not have to work. He owns and runs his own commercial cleaning business and so his hours during the week are pretty unique. He is often home during the day unless he is out marketing. Most days he leaves the house around 4:30 pm and gets home around 10 pm, although some nights can be much later. So, the weekends are exciting because "dada" gets to be home for dinner with the family and to tuck the kids in for the night. That's really it for weekend excitement, but we sure do love it!

We all really love being home and often don't feel the need to be out doing things just so we can have something to do. Eric really needs the weekends to rest and refresh both his body and mind for the upcoming week. (There is a lot of mental and emotional stress that goes along with being a small business owner AND the head of a household of six!) The kids love to relax with dad on the weekends. Sundays usually mean all the kiddos and "dada" snuggling on the couch in front of NASCAR after we get home from church. Often, our Saturdays are much of the same, except without NASCAR. :-) Although we are all looking forward to getting out much more when the weather warms up, even if that just means going for a walk or playing in the backyard as a family.

This Saturday, Isabelle (our 8 year old) and I went to the library to restock our book supply for the week while Eric gave Alex (3.5) and Olivia (2.5) a bath, and Gracie (almost 1) took a nap. Isabelle LOVES to read and I think she got 9 books this time. They will all be read by next Saturday. Today, we went to church in the morning, Eric and the kids relaxed in the afternoon, and then Eric tackled 2 projects that have been hanging over his head for a while. I was amazed at what he was able to get done in 2 1/2 hours! He took all the covers off the couch cushions, washed and dried them, and put them back on. They look, feel, and smell wonderful. You almost cannot tell that this couch has taken 4 years of abuse from 4 kids. He also took up the wood laminate flooring in our hallway, removed the original carpet padding underneath, and then put the floor back down. It lays so much better now. What a wonderful man I have!

I am usually the one that has the most difficult time with weekends. For some reason, I get in the mindset that it is the Weekend and that should mean relaxation. But honestly, my workload doesn't change whether it is Wednesday or Saturday. I need to work on my attitude so that I don't resent my work on the weekends. I need to just embrace it and not let myself get aggravated. As I like to remind my children when they grumble about their work, I need to have a happy heart!

This evening I have lots of work to do to tweak my grocery plan and type up new menu plans and a master grocery list as we are implementing some new changes in our monthly grocery routine. I love this work. It always feel like such an accomplishment to be able to bless my family with healthy, scratch-made meals, and to bless my husband by being as smart and frugal with our food budget as I can. I will be posting lots more on this soon, including our budget, my master menu plan and grocery list, and how I work at implementing it, as well as if I notice any negatives in my new plan that will need even more tweaking. The science of grocery shopping and cooking....don't you just love it?