casting my cares: September in Review

September in Review

Labor Day Weekend 2012:

September started off with a road trip to O-boro.

My bestie, Alisha, needed some help in her new bakery and it just so happens that I *love* to paint (and do any type of remodeling, really).

Here's the sort of "before." Those chairs needed to be white, the red wall would become pink stripes....

....and the white wall would become chocolate brown.

Let the painting begin! Alisha painted around the sink while her mom cleaned the refrigerators.

I started painting the adjacent wall so we could meet in the middle.

The chairs had to be sanded and cleaned before they would receive the paint....

....even little L got in on the action.

He's such a good little helper to Grandaddy!

Alisha's hubby, Scott, didn't think the primer was doing it's job.

Even Alisha's Aunt Alice was there with a brush, painting away.

Painting, painting, painting....

....funny faces while painting, painting, painting.

After the base coat of pink was painted and dried, it was time to tape the wall for the stripes.

We used a laser level and taped along the lines.

Here it is, all taped and ready for the darker pink to be painted every other row....

....and then with the darker pink painted....

....and finally, with the tape removed! Isn't it too cute??

And here's the chocolate brown wall:

While in the 'boro, we also got to celebrate Alisha's birthday, which had been a few days prior to our visit.

L was *really* into blowing out the candles - so much so, that we were cracking up!!

This video show how much he wanted those candles out!!

(We also found out that Alisha and Scott are expecting kiddo #2 due in February!!!! YAY!!!)

Saturday September 8, 2012:

Drive-In Date Night!

Armed with Jimmy Johns and chocolate....

.....and under a gorgeous sunset, we enjoyed "Brave" followed by "The Avengers."

Saturday September 15, 2012:

Spa Day with Brandon's Family

Brandon's mom, sister, Mammaw, aunts and female cousins had a Spa Day and invited me!

Here's a few pics from the day:

Kim (B's sister) and I

Half of the group soaked our feet first.....

....while the other half of the group did face masks first! (That's B's mom and Aunt Pam behind her)

After they got their faces all smooth, those that did face masks, gave us, that soaked our feet, pedicures.

Then, we switched - Aunt Sandra and Bev (B's mom) also shared pictures with each other while their feet soaked.

Even Mammaw did the face mask!

Kim and Bev made the face masks, which were edible and had chocolate base - they were yummy!

All our pretty toes....

.....and fingers!

We had *such* a great time! We talked and laughed for hours and hours!

Another special treat of the day is that I finally got to meet my great niece! Brandon's nephew had lived in Hawaii and I hadn't gotten to meet his little girl until they moved back recently.

Isn't Little A a doll???

She had fun with the water well....

....she'd put her hands under the water, then smack them together and when the water hit her face she'd just giggle!

What a fun treat to see/meet her!

Saturday September 22, 2012:

Face Time!!

Another fun treat is Face Time - getting to video chat with my brother's kiddos - The Chief doesn't quite know what to think of it.....

....but of course, The Tank hams it up and we exchanged funny faces the whole time!

Saturday September 29, 2012:
Parental Units in Town

I can't begin to tell you how much I enjoy the fact that our parents get a long SO WELL! So much so, that they've even been on vacation together!

Anywho, they all came in for the day. We set up tables and a canopy outside because the weather that day was absolutely gorgeous!!

After eating some yummy chili (via Brandon, adapted from a family friend's recipe)....it was time for Hand & Foot!! We played until it got dark, then moved inside and played more!!

Sunday September 30, 2012:

Breakfast in Bed!!! & a Life Group Outing

I was awoken this particular morning to my sweet, darling, caring, thoughtful Hubby standing at my bedside with a tray that included his famous Egg Sammich and a mug of coffee. Oh Glorious Morning!!! Isn't he the best???

After enjoying such a pampered breakfast, we ventured to a nearby fall fun zone called Boyd Orchards for a family outing with Brandon's guys group. There were hay bales piled high for kids to play on, a hayride, a corn maze and even these rolls of hay below that folks could climb up on and run across.

Brandon and his buddy, Dave, were a couple of the big kids that participated (Brandon is in the grey shirt and Dave is in the royal blue).