Labor Day Weekend Update

We had the best time this weekend, and things felt really productive around here! It was nice to have Steve home for an extra day to work on some projects. We're having an Indian summer, so the weather has been beautiful, and our house is finally warm enough inside to run the fans :) I took some great photos of the boys, though I wish I had been shooting with our big camera instead of my cell phone. With carrying a toddler and a diaper bag, it gets hard to lug around a heavy camera as well. But I'm going to get better about it! :)

Starting off with Friday night, Nolan helped me make chocolate cake donuts with brown butter glaze. He chose the neon green and purple colors, and the donuts turned out really pretty! We ordered our Friday night pizza, and it was the dinner of champions ;)

 

On Saturday morning, Steve and I tagged along with my father-in-law Jack to look at a house/ potential rental property. This house is a block away from our house, and it's for sale for $15,000! It hasn't been lived in for quite some time, and there are major things that need fixed, but you could tell this house was gorgeous in its prime. It's three floors with high ceilings and original wood floors. In the above photo, Steve and Jack are standing in the turret room (the little tower)--which I loved. It makes me sad that a house like this is so undervalued in our town!

This was the hallway on the second floor, and below is the elegant living room.

On Saturday night ,we were invited to "Music on the Mountain" with a group of our all-ages friends. Steve joined a few other guitarists to play John Denver songs next to the campfire.
The boys joined in on the music-making with small percussion instruments. They also had a blast playing out in the yard and feasting on watermelon, strawberries, and chocolate chip cookies.

 

 

The cutest little Pennsylvanian cowboy!

 

On Sunday, my friend Sue (also the hostess of Music on the Mountain) gave the children's sermon at church. As a first-grade teacher, she collects caterpillars in September to show her students up-close how they turn into butterflies! She shared the caterpillars with the kids at church. There was one little caterpillar who hadn't made its chrysalis yet, and she generously gave him to me :)  I brought him home, watched him eat and crawl around for a day, and last night he started the big change! He is supposed to become a monarch in a couple of weeks! I've never gotten to watch a caterpillar turn into a butterfly, so I'm excited. And I think Nolan will be amazed!

 

 

Also a big deal, our tomatoes have finally started turning red!

My new favorite mug (a birthday present from Steve) says, in Swedish, "Coffee is the best of all earthly drinks."  This may be true :)

 

 This is a sneak peek of the work that Steve, Nolan, and I did yesterday! We're painting over the red porch, and it looks awesome!

We had a lot of screaming fits yesterday (on E's part), so I'm hoping the rest of the week will be less dramatic :)  Today marks the start of the year for my MOPS group! I can't wait to get back to seeing my friends on a regular basis after the summer :)

Hope you enjoyed your Labor Day weekend with your family and friends!