Our Week - The One with the Daddy Daughter Dance and a Super Bowl Party

We are halfway through February already, y’all, and that is just crazy to me.  I know this time of year drags for most people, but it has flown by for me, and I’m wishing it would slow down just a bit.  I have been savoring the slower days and evenings, and I know that things are going to start getting busier in the coming weeks, and I’m honestly just not quite ready for the craziness. 

Anyway, here’s how our week went…

Monday, February 5

I kicked off the new week with a trip to Walmart and Publix to load up on groceries for the next couple of weeks, and then I headed home for the rest of the day to work.  I knocked out tons of blog stuff, and I continued cleaning out my file cabinet and updating my health and medical spreadsheet.  I also continued updating album covers in iTunes. 

At 3, I picked up the kids from school and then we headed straight home.  I’ve been loving Mondays this school year because it’s the one day of the week that we have no extracurricular activities, so we have a nice, long stretch at home Monday afternoon and evening. 

When we got home Monday, the kids got started on homework while I started putting away groceries and cleaning the kitchen, and then I quizzed Olivia on her Ten Commandments test.  She had to memorize all of them in order, and she had them down like a boss.

After that was done, I decided to go for a run.  It was cloudy, cold, and windy – my least favorite weather to run in – but it was nice to get it done.  And the sun came out at the very end, and I saw a rainbow, so that was a little treat, too. 

The kids played outside for a lot of the afternoon, and then after they came inside and prepped everything for the next day and tidied their things, they did some computer time.  Now that they’re getting older, we’ve been letting them have a little bit of screentime during the week, but they have to earn it.  We used to have hard rules about no screentime during the week, but Jacob has really been into origami lately again, so he’s been watching YouTube tutorials.  And Olivia has been watching YouTube tutorials on how to draw Taylor Swift.  Lol.

After my run, I got showered and got into my PJs, and then I started cooking dinner.  We had beef and parm pasta with zucchini and Cheesecake Factory bread Monday night, and it hit the spot.

After dinner, I did some prep for the Daddy/Daughter dance that was Friday, and then while the kids showered and got ready for bed, I got a few things done in my office. 

Olivia wanted to watch all of the highlights for the Grammys, so we did that for the rest of the evening.  Both kids wanted to see Tracy Chapman and Luke Combs sing Fast Car, Olivia wanted to see Taylor win her awards, and they both wanted to see Miley Cyrus and Olivia Rodrigo perform. 

After that, they went to bed, and B and I started the new episode of The Bachelor.  I ended up falling asleep on the couch while we watched because I was exhausted from being up late on Sunday watching the Grammys.

Tuesday, February 6

Tuesday morning, I dropped the kids at school and then I headed home to work on the blog all morning.  Late-morning, I had my annual OBGYN checkup, and everything went well.  I’ve been seeing the same midwife for nearly 25 years (since I was 17 years old), and she delivered both of our babies, but she retired late last year, so I had to find a new doctor. 

Since I had a c-section with Olivia, there was a doctor present along with my midwife, so I chose to start seeing him.  He is absolutely fantastic – kind, thorough, compassionate, knowledgeable, and patient – so when it came to choosing a new OBGYN doctor after my midwife retired, he was the first one who came to mind.  One of my friends also sees him, and she highly recommended him, too, so I decided to make the switch. 

It was the easiest transition as he was at the same practice as my midwife, and from the second he walked in the door it was like he had known me forever.  He remembered everything about me, he remembered delivering Olivia, and he was just the absolute best.  I was really nervous and sad about having to see someone new for the first time in my whole life, but I’m so glad that I chose him.  Local friends, if you need a recommendation and would like to know who I’m referring to, just text me!  I cannot say enough good things about him.  It’s really hard to find doctors like him anymore.

After my appointment I headed back home to work on more stuff at home, and then I grabbed the kids from school at 3.  We went straight home after school so the kids could get homework done before dance, and then after Jacob and I had dropped Olivia off at dance, he and I settled in at home for the evening.  I got in a strength workout, and it was good to get back to it after taking the previous week off for a pulled muscle in my shoulder blade.  Jacob also came in to show me his latest origami creations.  He is amazing!

After my workout, I got started on dinner – barbecue chicken, mashed potatoes, steamed broccoli, and leftover Cheesecake Factory bread – and then we all sat down to eat together when Brian and Olivia got home. 

After dinner, Olivia got showered, and while she did that, I started doing some shopping for her birthday party.  She’s having four girls over for a slumber party and she’s requesting a Taylor Swift themed party, so I’m taking that and running with it.  ;o)

After we got the kids into bed, B and I finished our episode of The Bachelor, and then I read for a bit before going to bed.

Wednesday, February 7

Wednesday morning, I dropped the kids at school and then I headed home to work for a bit before my therapist appointment.  After my appointment, it was back home to work some, and then I picked up the kids from school. 

After school, we dropped Olivia at dance, and then Jacob and I headed home to settle in for the evening.  He had a couple of tests to study for, so I worked on my Bible study while he did that.  Then, I got started on dinner.  On the menu Wednesday was tortellini and kale soup and garlic cheese bread. 

We all sat down to eat together when Brian and Olivia got home, and then after we got the kitchen cleaned up, I got in a mixed cardio workout while Olivia did her homework and studied for a couple of tests. 

I read for a bit while the kids got ready for bed, and then we all hung out downstairs for a few minutes before it was time for the kids to turn in for the night.

Once the kids were in bed, B and I watched some more of the SNL episode with Justin Timberlake, and then we went to bed early.  For some reason last week, I was exhausted. 

Thursday, February 8

Thursday was another day with nowhere to go, so after I dropped the kids at school, I went straight home, worked on the blog all morning, had lunch, and then spent the afternoon cleaning out the bathroom cabinets and drawers.  I got rid of all of the expired stuff, and I got everything all wiped down and organized. 

After school, the kids and I headed to music lessons where they were treated to homemade cake pops by Mrs. Janice, Olivia’s voice teacher.  She loves to bake, and she often brings treats to school, so the kids were excited. 

After lessons, we headed home, and I did my Bible study while the kids got their homework done.  They didn’t have much, so they headed outside for an hour afterward.  It was in the 60’s again on Thursday, so it was another nice day to be outside.  Jacob also had another origami creation to show me!

When B got home from work, we made breakfast for dinner, and then after dinner, I took a few minutes to clean out a few things in the kitchen.  While the kids got ready for bed, I did a stair stepper workout, and then we all sat down to watch the beginning of Mary Poppins, the original movie.  Brian had never seen it, and neither had either of our kiddos, and they wanted to know what it was all about since Olivia’s big dance production will be Mary Poppins this year. 

We stopped about 45 minutes in and got the kids in the bed, and then B and I finished the episode of SNL that we had started, and we started watching an episode of Shark Tank before calling it a night.

Friday, February 9

Friday morning, I swung by the school office to pick up my badge and key + some of the items for the Daddy Daughter dance that I was co-chairing Friday night.

After that, I swung by Walmart to grab everything for our Super Bowl party on Sunday, and then I headed home to work all morning.  We got the happiest of happy mail on Friday!  EEK!

Friday evening was the Daddy Daughter Dance, so after school, we ran straight home to get Olivia ready.  She and Brian were meeting a big group of friends to eat dinner before the dance, so we had to move quickly to get them out of there on time.  She wanted her hair curled, and she wanted her signature red lip, so once we checked those things off the list and got her dressed, it was time for pictures. 

B had gotten her a corsage (white flowers with lavender trim since lavender is Taylor Swift’s favorite color, of course), so I took some pictures while he gave that to her, and then we got some cute pictures of the two of them together.

The theme for dance was Denim and Diamonds, so Olivia chose a black dress covered in silver sequins to cover the diamonds part, and then she had a denim jacket and some white cowgirl boots to cover the denim part.  She looked so dang cute.  And, of course, I had to dress the part, too, so I grabbed my leather skirt, a denim jacket, and my silver Taylor Swift Eras Tour boots… any excuse to wear those again!  ;o) 

I co-chaired the event with my friend, Bianca, so Brian and Olivia dropped Jacob off at my father-in-law’s house for the evening, and I was back at the school by 4:45. 

I arrived before anyone else and immediately started getting everything unpacked and set up.  Bianca arrived shortly after me, and then we got to work.  She did an amazing balloon arch while I set up everything else, and our chef hooked us up with some delicious treats (brownies, cookies, and homemade chips) and the absolute cutest spa water I’ve ever seen.  Peep the words “daughter” and “dad” carved out into the fruit!  Seriously, the details.  I love little details like that.

My old friend, Shaun, is a DJ here in town, so I’d hired him to do the music for us, so he arrived shortly after that and got all set up while Bianca and I finished getting everything else ready.  We ended up finishing 20 minutes early, so of course, we had to get some pictures together.  ;o)

Meanwhile, Brian and Olivia were enjoying dinner with a bunch of our friends.

The daddies and daughters started showing up around 6:15, so I stood by the door to check the tickets, and by 6:30 the whole place was jumping.  We ended up having over 100 families sign up, some with multiple daughters, so the turnout was fantastic, and the place was packed.

For the rest of the night, I made the rounds picking up trash, cleaning up spills, chatting with the dads, taking pictures of Olivia and her friends, keeping Shaun (the DJ) pumped with water and snacks, taking song requests and relaying them to Shaun, and telling random girls to quit dancing on the stage and the ledges.  <face palm>  It looked like Coyote Ugly up in there a couple of times.  Hahahaha.

 

Shaun ended up playing Taylor Swift for probably half of the night because it’s all the girls wanted to hear, and if I’m being honest, I didn’t hate it.  I even joined in to dance a few times.  It’s hard not to when my jams are on.  ;o)

We wrapped up promptly at 8:30, and then it was time to clean up.  Thankfully, cleanup was quick, and then I hung around with our assistant principal while Shaun finished taking down his equipment since I had to pay him.

By the time I got home, it was nearing 10, and I was exhausted.  B and I got the kids into bed, and then I finally sat down for the first time all night to relax.  I hadn’t had dinner, so I grabbed some Cheez-its (not pictured), a couple of cookies, and a glass of wine, and called it dinner.  Haha.

B and I continued making our way through our backlog of Shark Tank episodes, and then we headed to bed laaaate.

Saturday, February 10

Saturday morning, I ended up sleeping later than usual… until almost 9 – yikes!  And then I made homemade waffles.  I was lazy all morning, and then around 11, I finally got off my butt to be productive.  I got in a mixed cardio workout, washed all of the sheets in the house, washed the tablecloths from the dance, tidied the house (it was a total wreck), and caught up on various other tasks while the kids did their laundry and wiped down their bathroom counter and cleaned the toilet.  It was a productive day once we finally got going.

We had a family dinner Saturday evening, so after 5:30 Mass, we met everyone at a local pizza/Italian place.  My cousin, who we don’t get to see often, sent some Georgia football gloves to the kids.  He’s the Director of Equipment for the UGA football team, so he’ll send goodies to us sometimes.  The kids thought it was so cool to have gloves that the players have!

When we got home, we spent a few minutes watching some more of Mary Poppins, and then after the kids went to bed, B and I started a new show on Netflix – Stay Close.  It’s another Harlan Coben show, and so far, it’s pretty good!

 

Sunday, February 11

Sunday was a lazy day.  We had nowhere to be, thankfully, because it started out super dreary and then once the rain started, it didn’t stop.  We ended up getting a crazy amount of rain – the local news estimated 6-9 inches of rain in 24 hours around our area, and many areas of town flooded.  We had several friends who weren’t able to leave their homes Monday morning because so many roads were impassable. 

I spent the morning doing Sunday things – yoga, sermon, Bible study, planning the week ahead, etc.  We all had a light lunch together, and then afterward, B and I started prepping for our Super Bowl gathering.  He made guac while I washed and cut all of the veggies for burgers and I also got some fruit together to have something healthy on the table.  Haha.

I helped Olivia put together her Valentines Sunday afternoon, too, and how cute are these, y’all?!  Etsy for the win!

I spent the remainder of the afternoon in my office working on a blog post, and then I headed downstairs to prep for the Super Bowl.  We’d originally intended to grill burgers, and since we’d already bought all of the ingredients, I just decided to bake them instead.  We couldn’t grill because it poured all afternoon and evening and night long.  It was just crazy how much rain we got.  We also had lots of thunder and lightning which is rare this time of year.  The burgers turned out as good as could be for baking them in the oven, but they definitely weren’t as good as they usually are on the grill.  Nothing beats the grill!

My parents, my brother and his roommate, my Mama Cass, and my FIL all came over around 6, and we spent the rest of the evening eating all of the yummy foods and watching the Super Bowl.  The game started out pretty boring as both teams were struggling and nobody was putting up any points, but it sure ended up being exciting, going into overtime, with the Chiefs pulling off the win.

I loved every single second of the halftime show.  I’ve been a huge fan of Usher since the beginning of his career, and of course, when Lil Jon and Luda came out, it got even more exciting.  I also spent the whole evening living for the glimpses of Taylor. 

All of our guests left after halftime and we got the kids in the bed, but B and I ended up staying up ‘til the end to see who won.  I was pulling for KC, so I was excited that they got the win.  It was even more exciting because Mecole Hardman was the one who caught the winning touchdown… he played for UGA, so we were excited to see one of our Dawgs win the Super Bowl for the team. 

And just for the record, I’ve been pulling for KC for the last few years… I’m not a bandwagon fan just because of Taylor Swift.  ;o)  We, of course, are Falcons fans since they’re our local team, but for the last few seasons that they haven’t done well (which is most seasons – LOL) I have been pulling for KC.  I’m not sure what drew me to them – maybe because I have so many friends who are KC fans – and then, of course, the Taylor/Travis romance has sealed the deal for me.  ;o)

B and I ended up not going to bed until nearly 11:30 because we watched all of the post-game coverage, so we were on the struggle bus Monday morning along with most of the rest of the world who watched.  Ha!

Happy Tuesday, y’all!