Why I love weekends!

My weeks are full of early mornings, getting everyone up, ready and out the door.  Even though I am a stay at home mom I still have full days. I strive to get all my errands done and  to accomplish all my housework during the week. Being a stay at home mom allows for me to be able to do these things, leaving my weekends open for what I want to do.  I know some families that have working parents and they use their weekend time for being with each other and spending quality time. That might mean going out to eat, taking the kids someplace fun to play or on a nice day going to the park. I also know some parents that because of work they spend their entire weekend catching up on all the things that did not get done during the week. Our family has a pretty laid back attitude for the weekends. We try to keep them as simple as possible and not overbook ourselves.

It is so easy to do fill your weekends up with stuff to do. To plan things and outings for your children. To create things to fill up their time. I do not have a problem with families that do this type of thing, but I would love to share with you why we love the weekends.

Why we love our Saturdays:
1. I love sleeping in!! I have to wake up so early every week day (5:30 am) that I absolutely love being able to lay in the bed until 9 on Saturdays. Mind you that there are the occasional Saturday mornings that we have to rise early, but for the most part we just get to stay in bed.
2. There are the rare Saturdays my husband is home from work. He works almost every Saturday during the year and having the extra time with him is special to me and the kids.
3. I get extra snuggle time with my girls.  Of course my teenager is normally on the couch with a book, but that is our time. Me and the girls will sometimes all be side by side with our noses stuck in a  book. We are avid readers and love discussing our latest read.
4. It is just good, quiet time. I stay so busy during the week cleaning, washing and running all over the town that being home with nothing to do is an amazing thing.


Why we love our Sundays:
1. It is church day!! We love being able to get up in the mornings, going to Sunday school and Sunday service. It is such a blessing to be able to be in the House of God not just on Sunday mornings, but Sunday nights as well.
2. Every other Sunday we stop by to visit my father-in-law. He just had his 83rd birthday and we love spending time with him. Most of our visit is spent with talking and watching television, but the kids love getting to see their Papa Ellis.
3.I love my Sunday afternoon naps! I try to get me a short nap or just a little rest time every Sunday afternoon. I know y'all are thinking all I do is lay around on the weekends and for the most part that is true. I mean weekends are made for resting, relaxing and being with family and we try to make the most of all three.


I know some people would say that we should be taking our children to all types of events and activities, but our girls enjoy the time at home.

I don't want for y'all to think we don't do anything extra, because we do go out and do extra things. Most times we try to find free or cheap things to do.(That is one of my ways of saving money.) Sometimes we take the girls fishing or get out the four wheeler and ride around. There are times we go to the library to check out books. We watch and study different cultures from around the world and even try our hand at different art techniques. I always try to find something interesting and fun for the kids when we do go out, but they are so busy during the week with school and extra activities that they long for the quiet time on the weekends as much as we do. I am sure my fifteen year old would love to do more, but she understands that everyone needs time to unwind and recharge after a busy week.

"That's my 'two-cents worth', what's yours?"

 

 

 

 

 

 



The Trip of a Lifetime:Part 7

 

On our last day in Paris we were up and ready for our ride to the airport by 7 am. We made it in plenty of time and waited 2 hours for our plane to be ready. After boarding, I had a window seat, I took one last picture of the French sky (even though it was cloudy) and off we flew heading back to America. 

 Right before leaving Paris

 

The flight was uneventful, we had our meal watched two movies and did a little sleeping. After many hours in the sky our pilot informed us that we were once again over American soil. That piece of information sent a happy thrill through me. I had desperately missed my home!

 

Finally over American soil

 

 Washington DC aerial view

 

When we landed back in Charlotte we had no trouble going through security or costumes. We said goodbye to my sister-in-law as she headed off to catch her flight back to Indy. It was a sad parting for us. We had enjoyed spending the week with her. We made it to our gate and waited about 30 minutes to board. It only took about 45 minutes to make it back to our home airport. It felt like we had barely reached altitude when it was time to land.  Our limo driver was waiting for us, we picked up our luggage and headed home. When we arrived some of our wonderful friends and neighbors had created us a welcome home present. It was such a blessing and made me cry. 

 



Some sweet freinds had left us this sign and....

 

some yellow ribbons when we arrived back home.

 

I have to say Paris was a great place to visit, but I was sure glad to be home. We take so many things for granted. In America. I don't see armed soldiers as we walk the streets, there you do. In America, the dollar is good, there it is almost worthless. In America, the people are very friendly, in Paris, most of the people are unfreindly and think themselves better than us. I don't want to make you think that all people were unfriendly, we did find several people who were very helpful and kind.  I am just so glad to live in America, where I can order food and understand the people I am talking to. It was so difficult to be in a foreign city and only knowing a little bit of their language. Over all our trip was amazing and we are very thankful for the oppurtunity. We are sad that our daughter had to go through cancer,  this was her wish and we are so grateful to the Make-A-Wish foundation and to all those that donate to them, for making so many childrens wishes come true.

 

If you have ever considered donating to Make-A-Wish please do, the work they do for so many families and children is amazing. I know that Grace's cancer changed our lives forever, but so did her wish. We will always look back on it as a way for her and our family to heal after the ordeal that we all went through.



Thanks again Make-A-Wish, y'all are the best!!

 

 

 

 

"Oh the things you can find, if you don't stay behind!" ~Dr. Seuss

 

 

 

"That's my 'two-cents worth', what's yours?"

The Trip of a Lifetime: Part 6

When we woke up on our sixth day of our trip we knew that it was our final day in Paris. We went down to the hotel resturant for breakfast and then took the Metro over to see Sainte Chapelle church. This church was the place were the Kings and Queens of France would go to worship God.

 

 

 

  The church was amazing, beautiful and the stain glass windows were breathtaking.  The windows tell the story of the entire Bible from Genesis to Revelation. You start on the left hand side and read the pictures from bottom to top. I can only imagine the undertaking, time and patience it took to create such a masterpiece.

 

 

Place of honor for the King and Queen
 

 

We then went over to one of the must see attracations (according to articles online), the bookstore Shakespeare and Co.  The bookstore has been open for almost 100 years  and was once a meeting place for great authors, such as Ernest Hemingway. My oldest daughter bought a copy of the Hunchback of Notre Dame and had it stamped with the bookstore stamp. She was very excited about buying a book in Paris.

 

 

We then took a walk through the city, stopped at a pet store and went to get Pizza for lunch then we met my sister-in-law for a bus trip out to the Palace at Versailles. At the meeting place was this amazing statue of Joan of Arc.

 It took about 45 minutes to make the trip and it was a very crowded place.  We had an audio tour of the palace and were able to go room to room and learn about the palace. The palace started out as a hunting lodge and then became the home of the royal family in 1682. King Louis XIV, known as the Sun King, wanted a home away from the city of Paris. He began the expansion of the "hunting lodge" and created this grand palace.  The opulance and granduer of the palace goes a long way in explaining the final revolution of the French people.  As the royals were living in such wealth, the common people were starving without even any bread to eat. The Revolution was a hard and difficult time for the French people.

Hall of Mirrors

 

 

 

 Hall of Mirrors

 

Bed of King Lous XIV

Doorway through which Marie Antoinette

escaped during the French Revolution.

 

Gardens of Versailles

 

 

As we headed back into the city we went through the tunnel in which Princess Diana was killed and then saw the small version of the Statue of Liberty.

 

 

We knew we were going to have to get up early the next morning to make our arrival time at the airport, so we had supper and got all packed up. As I lay there that night I was so excited about getting back to America, but I still felt a small pang of sadness to know we were leaving Paris behind.

 

 

 

To be continued.....