Go, Go, Goers!

I often feel that our lives (and our office) is overrun with paper.  It can become overwhelming, as things get misplaced, notifications go unread, etc.  This past week I took both Monday and Friday off of work, and got that paper monster under control!  The biggest pile to go through and determine what to discard was Ava's preschool craft projects.  She's brought home so many cute crafts over the last several months, and it breaks my heart to throw them away, but if I don't choose my favorites and discard the rest, we'd be up to our eyeballs in glitter, construction paper and paint.  For now, it's under control and the office is on its way to being neat and tidy again! In addition to the fun crafts that Ava is bringing home, we're also beginning to see some homework.  I am very grateful that we're not dealing with the super heavy-duty homework yet...I'm beginning to have flashbacks of the hours of calculus (not sure why I'm fixated on that - after

What.A.Week.  I will not complain about being busy, as I am thankful to have a job that I genuinely enjoy.  I will not complain about Ava's dramatic tendencies, as we are blessed to have such a bright little girl.  And I will not complain about the frigid cold (this is a hard one), as we could choose to move to another state if we were that miserable. So, all I will say is...what a week.  Glad it's over and that there's a new one awaiting us! Scott and Ava have been having fun with the toy shotgun Scott bought Ava for Christmas.  It's giving her an early glimpse into gun safety, which makes me happy.  Imagine my glee when she came out dressed like this, ready to go pretend-hunting (for rabbits, no less!)  Scott might need to introduce the concept of mossy oak/blaze orange to this little girl. Even though we were super busy this week, we still found a few minutes to snuggle... Yes, we still have three dogs...they just don't get featured too much.  Here

Last week was the first 5-day week we've had in a while, and wow...it was loooong.  We certainly weren't looking for additional things to do, as the days just flew by! Ava was very happy to be back at Maple Tree with all of her little friends, and has started bringing home pictures that the girls have drawn for each other.  It's neat that the pictures are actually beginning to look like things that we recognize - no more blobs on the paper that we have to pretend to know what they are. One of the items that she brought home last week was a sealed envelope.  When I opened it (even though Ava was telling me no-no-no!) I discovered a picture with Scott and I on it.  I was dancing and Scott was planting a garden.  Seems nice, right?  Until Ava proceeds to tell me that it's a picture she's going to give to me when I die.  Ummm....hm. Hoping she's not plotting something in her sleep... Ava also seems to be focused on blood these days.  On our way to school on Frid

Well, 2013 seems to be off to a good start...we rang in the new year with great friends, we all went back to work/school as planned (it's a sick, sick time of year!), we just had our last Christmas party last night, and we even got our nice new TV all set up so we could enjoy larger than life entertainment.  Seriously, we skyped with my parents today (using the TV), and they were life-sized.  It was GREAT!!  No more crowding around my laptop to say hello! The three of us headed south for New Years, and we had an excellent night catching up with old friends, and getting to know new ones better.  All of the kids behaved well, neither Scott nor I fell asleep prior to midnight, and no one broke anything.  I consider that a very successful night! Spicing up the peach wine with HUGE strawberries...it actually tasted good! Darren refused to listen to Tiffany regarding making jello shots - he was convinced his way was the right way... Let's just say Tiff's actua