Go, Go, Goers!

Our house had a very exciting week!  After months of staring at a yard full of dirt and weeds, we were finally able to make it green.  680 yards of wonderful sod...laid by my husband and friends...amazing!  Ava has been our little sod monitor, trying to keep everyone, including the dogs and ME, off of the grass until we say it's okay to play on it.  That's our little rule follower! Not only that, but had gutters added to the house as well this week, so we no longer have soupy mud puddles after a rainfall.  I know this doesn't seem very exciting, but considering that it's been almost a year without a yard, coupled with the heavy rainfalls earlier this summer, it's been a fantastic week at our house! Plus, we celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary on Wednesday, so that feels like a pretty big accomplishment, too.  I gave Scott gutters, and he gave me sod.  Did you know that the 9th anniversary traditional gifts are landscaping/home maintenance items?...

Some days, my kids really crack me up.  And some days, they make me want to pull my hair out!  A few nights ago, Ava woke up at 6:30am screaming bloody murder.  That was one of those moments where you wake up, the heart is pounding, and you run into the room, expecting the worst.  But, then you're greeted by a sobbing 6-year old, doing her best to avoid a...mosquito.  To be fair, the mosquito had really attacked her, as she had 7 big welts on just one of her legs (must have been hanging outside the covers.)  No worries, little girl, it's Mommy to the rescue.  And then Mommy went back to bed. Then, last night, she ran and jumped into her bed, but in the process, managed to catch her knee on the bookcase next to her bed.  I've noticed that both Scott and I deal with things like that in the same manner...we minimize the issue, and try to make a joke out of it.  Scott told her that if it kept hurting, he'd come into her room in the middle of th...

Scott's family lost a very special woman this past Monday.  Adeline, Scott's grandma, passed away peacefully in the early afternoon.  Her passing was so quick that her family wasn't present during that moment, but very soon after, they were able to be by her side. It's been a rough week...the wake was on Thursday evening, and the funeral was on Friday morning.  There have been a lot of tears, lost sleep, and many questions from Ava.  She knows that Great-Grandma is now with Grandpa Bruce and Spanky, and all of the other family and friends that went before her.  Ava understands that she won't be able to see or talk to her, in person, again, but she knows that she's still with us, at all times. When sad events like this happen, it's always interesting to see how life alters a bit.  It makes one think a little bit more about the brevity of human life, and how we should celebrate each moment that we are alive. On the other hand, it's also a practical rem...

I've never been a mom who gets teary-eyed when dropping a child off at school or daycare.  I always figure that navigating through new situations, no matter how difficult, can only help my children prepare for future scenarios.  Plus, we've got a lot of other stuff going on, so there's not much time to sit around and think about how much I miss them. However, this week was very, very different.  I dropped G off at daycare on Tuesday, like normal, and then Ava and I headed up to her new elementary school.  I wasn't 100% sure which door to go in, where to take her backpack, and how to sign her in.  We were both a bit lost, but when you follow a) signs and b) a herd of parents with kids, it's not too hard to figure out!  A very kind employee showed me how to use the online check-in system, and warmly welcomed Ava to the before-school program.  They were just about ready to sit down for a meeting (do the kids have "meetings" in elementary school now?...