Week 21 at Home: Eyes Wide Open

So...this was a week. Ava has decided not to pursue the National Team for baton, and will be staying with the Performance Team. We're totally okay with it, as we didn't really want to pay for the national experience if her heart (and desire to practice) wasn't in it. I'm really glad we have that decision made, so we know how we'll proceed this year.

G had a bit of a rough week. He got into some trouble at the Y program for hitting and pushing someone, so he was suspended for 1.5 days. We had a long chat with him and it came to light that there are some older kids there who are calling him names, so I need to setup a meeting with the site director. I was fairly irritated by the entire situation this past week, so it's good that I'm giving myself some time to calm down before reaching out to the site director. Good times!

There is one interesting anger management technique that I brought up to G this week. He's doing great playing Mightier and using cool down techniques to lower his heart rate, but I think when he gets into a situation, his top gets flipped and he forgets what to do. So, I've tried partnering counting to 10, and also asking him to open his eyes wide open while doing so. It sounds ridiculous, but I was provided with an article that gave the reasons why it works. All I'm going to say is that it's really hard to stay angry if you open your eyes wide open. We've tried it a few times now and by the count of 3, he has stopped his "angry face" and is smiling again. So, thank you to my friend who provided this to me...sometimes it takes an idea outside of the box to make a difference!

Taking a break for a bite of pizza at a birthday party lunch last weekend...super red tongue from Gatorade!

Limited access to electronics resulted in a sleepy boy by Friday afternoon

This should be a good weekend...I left work a few hours early on Friday so I could get things wrapped up for our short trip out of town to see our dear friends. This is our first visit staying with someone else since January, so I'm a little nervous (from a health aspect) but will stay my distance, as needed.

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Exploring Local Places

Last Sunday was the perfect day to explore an area that neither Arya nor I had been to before. We headed east to walk around the Vermillion Falls/River and Greenway area. The path was nicely paved, with lots of overhead shade from trees; there were so many families out on bikes and walking, and we had a nice view of the Vermillion River. Arya got some great pics, and I enjoyed spending time outdoors with my sweet girl. This weekend, G and I will be heading out to explore a creek area in a few towns just south of us. And I've already got an idea for another creek I want to walk by next month (it's a bit further away, and I'd rather put that aside until Arya is off at college) The tree leans to find the sun On the way home, we stopped at the DQ in another town (we have a love/hate relationship with the DQ in our town, so I wanted to avoid it.) The warm weather felt great, and we enjoyed some sweet treats while watching the world drive by. We're counting down the days unti...

What a Week

The weather has been unseasonably warm this fall, so we've been able to extend our outdoor projects just a bit. This past week Scott's been working in the garden, cleaning everything out, and repairing the back wall of our garage. Ava was such a good little helper, scooping up dirt, but still trying to keep her hands clean while doing it! I swear, a box is all she needs to make her happy. Princess Darla. Princess Darla has had enough. I personally like how she and Ava have the same expressions in this picture. Apparently Spanky was bored - check out that yawn in the background! We went down to Grand Meadow this weekend, and as always, it was so fun to see Ava and Isabel play together. They actually had several little conversations with each other - and they were so polite while doing so! We even had them share a room last night...boy, that was a challenge. I think they finally fell asleep around 10:00pm. And of course, Ava wa...

All Done!

We made it! May was extra busy this year, leading up to Arya's graduation. And now that we are a week out from the chaos, I'm happy to report that we survived and are enjoying a slightly less busy pace in our days and nights. On Friday, May 29, 2026, 601 Rosemount High School seniors graduated, with the ceremony held at the University of St Thomas campus in St Paul, MN. It was a new venue for graduation this year, and it went really well. We were allowed six tickets in total, but were provided with a link for others to stream it on YouTube. We ended up parking at St. Kate's and shuttling over to St Thomas, so the parking situation was easy peasy for us. The ceremony was so well done, focusing on the triple A philosophy: academics, arts, and athletics. We are so proud of Arya, and can't wait to cheer her on in the next phase of her life! We did a pre-graduation photo shoot with a few friends from school Last day of high school! Red Pine is a special school in the distric...

Go, Go, Goers!

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