Go, Go, Goers!

I've been in pretty good control of things this holiday season...did all of my shopping, wrapping, baking, activities, etc. with enough planning and time so that I never felt rushed or stressed out.  BUT, it's amazing what happens when there are now two children in the house who are excited to open gifts.  We've always been a family to take turns opening gifts, but not yesterday morning...we let both Ava and G open their gifts at the same time, and there was paper flying, ribbon everywhere, and cries for assistance on putting toys together RIGHT NOW.  It was a little more chaos than I'm used to on Christmas morning!  Ava was very patient and waited if we asked her to, but G would look right at us while we were saying "take turns"...and his little fingers would be working that paper open, and it was clear that there was no stopping him.  So, we didn't.  And it was fine!  No, it was better than fine...it was wonderful! I had Friday the 23rd off, and Sc...

Last Sunday I took Ava to see The Nutcracker at a nearby performing arts center.  This show was billed as having a bit of a Minnesota twist, which I thought sounded interesting, yet...I hoped they wouldn't stray too much from the original ballet.  Turns out that the story is the same, it's just the background settings that changed - and honestly, unless you read the playbill, you wouldn't have even known that it was set in Minnesota, as opposed to Germany (Austria? I'm not 100% sure where it is supposed to be!) It was a lovely afternoon spent with Ava, where we both enjoyed the ballet...the dancing, the costumes, and the music (my favorite part!)  It reminded me of all of the times my parents took me to see it when I was a little girl.  I hope to continue that tradition with Ava.  Afterwards, as an additional treat, I took Ava to a Caribou and treated us both to some hot chocolate. She was pretty excited to discover what coffee shops were like, and also taste ...

We've had a family-filled fun weekend, so far.  On Friday night, I had dinner with my little family and then spent several hours with Scott's cousin and his wife.  Initially I was there to make some essential oil sprays, and then I ended up staying until past midnight...we were catching up on family things, and chatting about life, in general.  It was a great way to spend a Friday evening! Me, Nick and Melissa Yesterday was a baking day!  My mom came over for a big chunk of time yesterday and we did some holiday treat-making.  Ava and Mom cut out, baked and decorated the traditional sugar cookies. I spearheaded the fudge-making (although, something was different this year, as the fudge didn't turn out like it has the last several years...I'm still not sure what caused the difference...it's a mystery.)  And it took all three of us to make the sticky holiday wreaths.  All around a fun time!  G was running around during most of it, pretending...

'Tis the season to visit with our favorite jolly man in red!  We've had a busy weekend with holiday festivities, and with the snow fall from last night, it finally seems like winter is here (I was just saying yesterday how odd it was to have no snow on the ground in early December.  Not that I'm complaining...I don't want it to stick around until May!) Friday night we met up with Grandma Karen and Grandpa Doug and visited with Santa (#1.)  Ava asked for a trampoline and G asked for a puppy (a real one, not a stuffed one.)  The answer to both of those requests is NO and NO.  I know, I'm no fun.  I'm sure Santa will come up with some other fun things that they'll both like, though. After we were done with the Santa chat, we headed out to a family dinner and had a good chance to sit down and catch up for a bit.  I think we've officially moved out of the high chair/booster phase...G is sitting on regular chairs at restaurants now (he sits on...

This has been a really good time off of work.  I checked in a few times on things at work, and while I know I'll be super busy when I get back into the swing of things tomorrow, I'm hoping that overall, things didn't crash and burn while I was out (I'm sure it was all fine!)  If I could find a way to earn a salary and not have to worry about working, that would be really super.  If only... I had a LONG list of things on my to-do list for while I was out, and I managed to get through 98% of them.  Plus, the house is all decorated for Christmas, I only have 3 presents left to buy for Christmas, and my Christmas cards should be delivered in the next week so I can get those out the door to our family and friends.  I LOVE being so productive! Having the time off of work meant that I was able to watch G's last soccer class for this session, and I was able to cheer him on while he played and received his certificate and medal.  I'm pretty sure there's nothing ...

Last Sunday, I knocked out a big part of the Christmas shopping for this season.  Feels good to get it done!  My mom and I went to the yuuuuuge Canterbury craft show, and enjoyed a fun mom-daughter afternoon.  I'm so glad my parents have moved here - I feel so fortunate that we have the chance to see them so frequently.  Had I never moved thousands of miles away from them after I graduated from high school, I don't think I'd have this profound appreciation for now having them close.  It just took 20+ years to get to this space! We found this awesome toy bow & arrow set for G for Christmas...he will love it! (And so will Ava, and Scott, and me...!) Intertwined with the good feelings of being productive (at home and at work), we had a little bit of a negative.  G has been fighting fevers for the last 2 months or so.  He'll have an elevated temp, and then it'll be gone within a few days...no other symptoms.  Finally, we decided that eno...