Labor Day 2014

I try my best to make holidays fun days. So, with that being said, this is how we spent Labor Day 2014.

Cruz got up at 2:00 a.m. and crawled into our bed (that was his second night in a row).  Thankfully he went on back to sleep and let us rest until 6:00 (as much as you can rest with a four year old in your bed).   Needless to say we got up pretty tired.  Days that start like that are hard.

I headed straight to the kitchen to make a pan of biscuits and get them in the oven while I got dressed and ready for the day.  In addition to the biscuits our breakfast included scrambled eggs and watermelon.  Both of my boys love biscuits so they are always a big hit when I make them.  When I think about how we will spend our holidays my first thoughts are almost always what we will eat.   Food is my main form of celebration.  I try to fix the same things for holidays to build that memory and tradition for my boys.  Having biscuits for breakfast on Labor Day is a tradition.

my boys eating breakfast on Labor Day 2014

Cruz had school so we got him dressed and ready to go.  Before he left I had us sit down for a family picture.  It added a little rush to our morning but I was afraid to wait until later in the day to do it.  Family pictures on holidays is a must for me and one of my favorite things to do.  I'll treasure these photos for years to come!

our family on Labor Day 2014

While Cruz was at school Ben and I did a little decorating.  I had him color some stars to put in the kitchen.  My little guys love to color, paint, draw, etc.  I love that!

Our decorations were simple.  The boys colored stars and a sign to hang on the wall.  I hung some star streamers from the windows and I used a star table cloth that I brought back from the States.  David said it looked more like the 4th of July but I was just trying for something that looked American. 

Cruz colored the sign and Ben colored the stars.   

The night before we had barbecue chicken, potato salad, and black beans.  I made enough to have leftovers for lunch on Labor Day.   The only thing we lacked was a dessert so I baked some M&M cookies that morning.

Labor Day lunch dessert

When the boys got up from their afternoon naps I plugged in the ice cream machine and made some homemade ice cream.  That was a cool afternoon treat that we all enjoyed!

homemade ice cream is another holiday tradition

Here are the boys playing in the afternoon.  We had dumped out the ice and salt from the ice cream maker and they had a blast playing and stomping in it.

We had planned to go swimming that afternoon and watch an outdoor movie that night but as you can see in the photo below the rains came.  It's been dry, dry, dry here lately so it was a welcome treat to get some rain even if it ruined our plans for outdoor activities.

It rained for about two hours and at times extremely hard.  We sat outside and watched it.  The boys stripped down and played in it until almost dark.  They have the best time when it rains.  The only problem is that when it rains the power most always goes out.  We had planned to grill so it didn't affect our meal but I was about to get the candles and lanterns out so we could see to eat when the power came back on.  That was a blessing!

We grilled hamburgers and hot dogs for supper.  Here we all are with our hats on.  It was fun to share with the boys about all the different kinds of community helpers and pray for them that night.

My boys are going to grow up thinking Jello is a holiday staple food, ha.  I always try to incorporate some shape of Jello jiggler into our holiday meals.  It's just fun and easy.

my little firemen eating supper on Labor Day

I found a Coke with David's name on it.  That was a fun thing to add to our celebration.

And here's my precious boys at the end of the day.  Holidays just take on a whole new life since having kids.  I want to celebrate big for them.  I want to make memories and build traditions for them to grow up with.  Overall I just want to make their little lives fun.  It's a labor of love and something I truly enjoy doing.

And here they are on Labor Day night 2013.  They are sitting in the same chair and sporting those same sweet smiles.  I love holidays and I love spending them with my little family.  These are some precious years and I'm doing my best to treasure them!