Laboring the weekend away!

I know that most people go through Labor Day and have big plans away for the weekend or have multiple barbecue invites. We normally stay around home and end up working in the yard, getting things ready for the fall. I don't really know what that means, but it sure sounds good. On Friday, Rebecca and I spent the whole day cleaning the inside of the house since we have neglected this the past two weeks of summer. We thought it would take a couple hours, but this turned into an all day event with multiple loads of laundry and de-cluttering. We were both exhausted by the end of the day. Rebecca had a Creative Memories party that night (which is why we cleaned), and the boys and I watched a movie over at Papa Mark's house. It was a good end to the day.

Since we had spent the whole days in doors on Friday, we decided to do the same outdoors all day long on Saturday. We mowed, trimmed trees (by the great picture of Rebecca at work), weeded the flower beds, and cleaned out the garage. It was a full day, but it felt great at the end of the day to have it all done. The kids even helped out with weeding the flower beds, which is always helpful. We had the big talk with all the kids on how there are times that we all work together as a family and get chores done. Jonah wanted to be paid for his services that day. There are times when we will give him fifty cents for a job here or there, but today, he wanted a full paycheck. This is what I call a "teachable moment". We had a long conversation about family and what it takes to keep a house going. He understood, but he certainly didn't like it. After we massaged this conversation, he was still on weeding duty along side his brothers. I am sure that if Jonah could describe his feelings more specifically, he would say he feels like he lives in a prison on work detail. I would be willing to give him the orange jump suit, but I fear he would like it too much. After he finished the weeding and picking up of the yard toys, he said, "Hey, that wasn't that bad."

In the meantime, Rebecca finished up cleaning out the garage which took over 3 hours. It looks great now and we can even find things now when needed. We ,of course, have another load for the dump. Jonah offered to go along to the dump in offering his services to help the family out. By the time we got done at 7 p.m., Rebecca was so tired. I reminded her that a month from now, she would be laying on a beach in Maui and that did bring a sort of half smile to her lips. We then had Rebecca's sister Hannah, and Sarah and her husband, Josh, over for dinner. Well, Sarah and Josh actually picked up Thai food-sooooo good. It was also exactly what Rebecca wanted. We did play Yatzee and then crawled into bed. Busy weekend so far, but we definitely got a lot done. Tomorrow and Monday, we are planning on doing more resting and playing. Have a great Labor Day weekend.

RnR