Go, Go, Goers!

Sooooo, this was another week where I didn't take many pics. Just one, actually. Yesterday, Ava and the other Performance Team members took part in the Winter 2020 competition for twirlers. I think these girls want to do well, but it's always a rough performance for them. Ava almost caught her one-spin, and at one point, they all caught the batons that were thrown to each other, so that was an exciting moment. :) One of the other moms and I have talked for a while about what we can do to help them practice. We still don't have an answer, but I've been trying to figure out what will motivate Ava to *want* to do well. I'm also encouraging her to explore joining the track team, as well as looking into being a part of the spring musical (both things that she has expressed interest in previously.) She also gets to choose her language of choice to learn, and she has chosen Chinese. I have forewarned her that I will be of absolutely no help to her, but she is excited to ...

What an exciting week! Ava had her first middle school concert on Thursday night, and they did great! She's been practicing pretty thoroughly over the last few months, and her tone sounds wonderful. There was a small little glitch when they walked to their seats and none of us could find her. Luckily I tracked down a few directors and they helped me to locate her...right in the middle of the trumpets. Yep. Pretty embarrassing that I couldn't even find my own kid. But, whatever, she was there and she did very well! Smiling proudly after the concert! (Hey, look, there she is!) G also had a super fun week...his elementary school was celebrating their 25th anniversary so they had an ALL-SCHOOL (!!) field trip to a bowling alley on Thursday during the day. They bowled, played in the arcade, and competed in a school-themed bingo game. Everyone had so much fun that day, and it was a wonderful way to celebrate a great school! Scott and I had stuff going on every night this we...

I can't quite tell if the five-day work week was long or short? I heard my co-workers say a variety of time frames and then I realized that I didn't know either. It was a very busy week (plans each night with family and friends) and the days flew by, too. But, it seemed to take a while to get to Friday. In any case, it doesn't really matter...we made it! The kids had a good re-entry back into school. I think Ava was happy to see her friends again, and she's back into the swing of doing her schoolwork without too much complaining. She also had a great baton practice on Tuesday night and managed to catch a few one-spins. With a bit more practice, I think she'll nail it! She also had fun making an Orange Julius in her FACs (home ec) class, and is looking forward to attempting garlic bread soon. She has a chance to earn some extra credit if she cooks at home, so guess what we'll be doing in the next few weeks! :) Ava and I had a productive afternoon of shoppin...

It's a new year, and a new decade! It's the decade where our oldest child will graduate high school  and our youngest will learn to drive. When I look forward to the future time frame, I'm very concerned about the state of the world for my children, and am praying that things will turn around for the better. But, for now, we can focus on what's happened in our lives in the past week. I wrapped up a glorious long vacation from work, and was VERY happy that I wasn't filled with dread to go back to the workplace. I pondered that thought on my short commute into work on Thursday and it struck me that I'm still really happy that I made this career change in my life. I'm being challenged to learn new things, and work with a variety of personalities (all very respectful, and still zero drama, thank goodness.) The commute is ideal, and my work-life balance is still very healthy. Yay, me! Ava and G have continued to revel in their 2-week break from school, althou...