Go, Go, Goers!

I'm pretty sure I'm getting too used to this time off thing. I was supposed to be on vacation from work this entire past week, but for a variety of reasons, I worked on Monday and Tuesday.  Working those two days allowed me to enjoy Wed-Fri without checking in on work, whatsoever, so, it was worth it in the end! I did manage to knock off quite a few things on my to-do list, plus, I enjoyed a 90 minute massage, had lunch with a few friends, and even managed to cook dinner on Friday night. That right there is a shocker. Generally, by the time I get home from work, it's way too late for me to make dinner, so Scott always manages that task. Based on her reaction when she saw me in the kitchen, I'm certain Ava thinks that I don't know how to cook. I should probably change that perception... Ava had a super week as the Star Student in her class. We practiced having her read aloud to us, as she needed to read a favorite book to her class...it sounds like she did a fant...

I had a very strange schedule this week, which made the time go by super fast, yet, by the end of the week, it felt like it was ten days long.  My time was chunked into pieces, and everything felt very distorted. All I know is that today is my day to do nothing but enjoy my time at home...no errands, no commitments, nothing. Just an unstructured day.  I need it. After working a full day this past Monday, I thought it would be fun to hop on a plane to NYC. To add to the enjoyment, I decided that's there's no better way to travel than in the last row of the plane, where seats don't recline, and windows don't exist. Who needs windows when it's a bumpy flight, and you have no idea how close you are to the ground?  Not this girl!  (Hahaha...I hate flying.)  Once I landed in NY, I had the joy of standing in the cold (it was SO cold, the wind was brutal!) waiting for a cab. I did end up getting a super nice cabbie for my commute to the hotel. Thank goodness he wa...

I often feel like I have a checklist of things to do for Ava's school and G's daycare...this week we had to take a family picture and find shoes for Ava to donate (school wide competition on which classroom could collect the most pair of shoes for donation...at last count, Ava's class had 70 pairs.  Pretty impressive!) I always start the day off with good intentions, and have a running list in my mind of everything we need to accomplish that day, but by the time I get home at night, that list is often out the window, and all I have energy for is eating dinner, getting the kids ready for bed, and then crashing on the couch.  But on Thursday, I realized we had run out of time for the family pic, so we all squished onto the couch after dinner and said cheese!  Kind of.  It was really hard to get a decent pic of all of us, and the look on Ava's face made me laugh in this one.  We all look exhausted! G was home sick one day this week...he had a fever a...

Each stage of Ava and G's relationship has been so different.  She was such a protective big sister when he was a little newborn...always wanting to hold him, and help take care of him (except for the diapers - that was a NO GO from her before he was even born.)  When he became a little more mobile, she played gently with him, and looked for age-appropriate ways to entertain him.  And now that he's running, talking, counting, laughing at her jokes, poking at her, and basically being her little shadow, she's upped her game a bit.  She loves to read to him, watch Mickey Mouse with him, and even introduced him to watching CookieSwirlC (don't ask) when she has control of the iPad. In one word, she is amazing with her little brother.  And she very rarely exhibits any jealousy, which I think is incredible.  I'm really excited to see how their relationship grows and changes - I hope it remains strong. Watching TV together, while also playing with G's drumsti...

Well, this is it...the last day of my vacation. I have officially forgotten what it feels like to go to work.  Or to wake up to an alarm. Or drive during rush hour. Should be a rude awakening (literally) tomorrow morning. What a busy week this was...I got lots of stuff done on my to-do list. There were items that had been lingering there for a while, and being able to check them off that list was an incredible feeling! No worries, though, the list has been filled up with brand new tasks...it looks like I'll need to take some more time off soon to work through those (good thing I have another week off at the end of January!) While I was off being productive, the kids had a great first half of the week. Ava went bowling, to the Mill City Museum, and to The Works with the Y group, and G continued to practice counting, learning his colors, and sharing nicely with others. Love that quality mommy-son time! And then we all packed up and headed south to ring in the new year wit...