Time to decompress

I love my kids. I honestly do. But staying home 24/7 can be an energy drain, as I'm sure many stay-at-home moms know. There's no time off, and vacations mean taking your work with you. But the rewards are endless. While my kids can fight like siblings do, they also have moments of pure fun. I was fortunate enough to catch them on camera a few days ago.

Kiersten is putting a ribbon hair tie ON Nolan's head,
which he then proceeds to shake off. This results in
uproarious laughter from them both. It's a contagious
laughter. I'm still grinning thinking about it.

Kiersten was invited to spend the weekend in south Georgia to celebrate her cousin's birthday, and to continue celebrating her own. With her out of town, Richard's mom asked to keep Nolan that Friday night until the next Saturday, bringing him back after his nap. Tiwsh my arm some more, why don't you? 

Friday night we enjoyed a home-cooked dinner of the coffee-rubbed steak I'd made a couple of weeks ago, this time using ribeye steaks. We had a slow Saturday morning, and Richard made bacon & egg "artisan" sandwiches on our 3-cheese garlic bread from a local bakery. Then we headed out to Hickory Nut Gap Farm. This place sources meat to over 30 local restaurants, including Tupelo Honey, where we had brunch for Kiersten's birthday weekend. Richard drools over the sausage, so we decided to go to the source. There's now a little pouch of it in our freezer. Hubby is pleased. 

After HNGF, we headed to Biltmore Village. I was in search of a large coffee mug, and we were hoping to find one locally made. We went to the newly-opened Southern Highlands Craft Gallery and the New Morning Gallery. I found several, and got some great gift ideas, but no mug really struck me as something I absolutely had to have. So we moved on. 

By then it was nearly 2, and we realized we were getting pretty hungry, so we made the decision to go ahead and eat in the Village, at The Cantina. It was fortunate for us, because this weekend kicked off the Village's Restaurant Week. Diners get 2 meals for $30, including appetizer, entree and dessert. Most of the restaurants there are upscale, so this is a wonderful deal. Our chosen appetizer was the Ultimate Queso Dip, and for dessert we ordered the Mexican torte. Our entrees are in the pic below.

Richard enjoyed a pork carnitas burrito,
and I, for the first time ever, had a burrito,
too! Mine was the Loco Chicken.

We took our dessert home because we were pretty full by that time. We had it later with some Pumpkin Spice/Espresso roast French pressed. Once Nolan came back home, I felt so mellow I couldn't believe it. I even was able to handle his exuberant running and jumping back and forth on the porch, and was energized enough to bake! So, my mom stress meter has been reset, and I'm ready to tackle another week of mommyhood. We're waiting on Kiersten's return, when the noise level kicks into high gear until they both get to bed. Bring it on, kids!

The only time his off switch works
is when he's sleeping.