Go, Go, Goers!

I started off the week right by watching a rom-com with my gal-pal Emilie...I'm glad that Scott doesn't mind if I see chick movies without him, haha! Em and I headed to the Mall of America (MoA) on Monday night, and in addition to watching a movie (and eating a really yummy burger at the movie theater,) we got in some steps and walked through almost the entire mall. It was nice to be able to stroll around and not have throngs of people to fight through. I realized that I'm coming up on trip #4 to the MoA in the last month. I haven't been there in ages, and now, it's my go-to meeting spot! I guess that's what happens when a job change takes me away from the west side of the cities. :) Today Ava, my mom, and I are heading to American Girl for our final brunch. We go there every year for a Mother's Day brunch, but we learned that the AG store at the MoA is closing in March, so we needed to squeeze it in before it's gone. I'm glad we were able

It’s been a fun and fast week...there were a few happy hours, and even a neighborhood party to wish our neighbors/friends well as they move into their new home (at least they are moving just a mile away...they aren’t going far!) With all of this fun, we still managed to squeeze in some quality time with the kids. Ava had a make up baton class last Sunday afternoon, since so many classes have been cancelled recently due to the weather. Ironically, it was pretty much a blizzard when I drove her to the make up class, so I hunkered down at the restaurant/bar next door and enjoyed a Bloody Mary. When Ava joined me after class, we had a fantastic late lunch together. It was great to hang out for a mother/daughter afternoon while the boys stayed at home! With all of the snow we’ve had lately, we decided it was time to employ our children to start helping with the snow clearing. Ava does a fairly good job with the light stuff, but she gets bored (and frustrated) when it’s heavy and we

This winter weather is insane. If it’s not really, really cold, it’s snowing. And vice versa. Scott and I decided that we’ve gotten too used to the mild winters that we’ve had over the last several years, so the last few weeks of this real winter stuff is extra hard to take! I did end up working from home on Thursday, but the kids had their places that they were supposed to go, so it was nice and quiet...and I was able to stay out of the commuting traffic. Scott’s been working extra hard this week with all of the extra plowing he’s been doing. Poor guy went to bed at 7 on Friday night...he looked absolutely exhausted. But he got some really good sleep that night, which is rare for him. I wish we could re-set his sleeping patterns, so he could get back to normal hours.  My mom and I went to see Aquaman on Tuesday (in the midst of a snowstorm)...such a good movie and I love our theater in town. I’m so glad that we can spend time like that on a regular basis! The next night

We survived Winter Storm Jayden! For as miserable as it was, I expected a tougher name than that. Like Vlad or Norse or...something other than a sweet name that conjures up images of happy little babies. Cuz there was nothing sweet or happy about that bitterly cold weather! The weather that we just survived broke records across several states. School was closed for four days, the post office suspended service for one day, and I think a lot of businesses encouraged their employees to stay safe and work at home, if possible. That’s what I did. I didn’t leave my house from Saturday evening until Thursday morning. I worked from home, with both kids with me, for three days, and I thought I was going to lose my mind. They were both good during that time, but there wasn’t any great way to burn off energy. They were bored, and G was a bit rambunctious by the end of each day, and was literally bouncing off of furniture. So, when the 4th day of school was cancelled, we came up with an alternat