Go, Go, Goers!

We had some wacky and weird weather this week. On Monday it started to snow, and I noticed the strange juxtaposition of the softly falling snow and the beautiful autumn leaves that were still on the trees. And not just a few leaves...those branches are still very full! Add in the still-green grass, and I believe that Mother Nature might have been a little drunk. So that was really weird...and then we got about 7" of snow dumped on us throughout Tuesday. The roads were a mess and people forgot how to drive. I was so happy that we didn't have to go anywhere (Ava's baton class for that night was cancelled due to the weather.) Fast forward a few days and on Thursday, around 9am, the sky turned a very strange, dark orange color. It was so dark outside that the streetlights popped back on, and Ava refused to stay in her room to do her schoolwork. She spent most of the morning with me on the main floor. There were two factors that contributed to the sky looking like that: 1) the

It was another wonderful week, filled with family adventures. Last Sunday, Scott and I headed northwest-ish and went to a winery. It was about an hour drive, and it was freezing when we got there, but it was still worth the drive in order to spend some time together. The winery is super cute, and they had live music and a plump little beagle that loved getting all of the attention. It was a wonderful way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Ava and I made another one of the Raddish recipes this week...sweet potato gnocchi. It was SO good - Scott couldn't stop talking about how great it was. I'm very pleased that we joined this cooking club. It's been fun to get Ava out of her room/away from her phone, and helping out with dinners.  This was shortly before she grated her thumb...hard lesson to learn, but necessary The kids didn't have school this Thursday/Friday (MEA), and I took Friday off of work so I could spend the day with them. We kicked it off with a trip to the library,

We kicked off the week with a fun overnight trip to the Great Wolf Lodge. Not the one in the Wisconsin Dells (been there, done that) but the one in Bloomington...just a 20 minute drive from our house. This was our only vacation so far this year (and will probably be the only place we go for an overnight), so we made a point of saying YES to the kids. You want a fancy drink with dinner? Sure! You want to play in the arcade? You bet! (But that led to a conversation about claw machines and how they don't really count as games...and how you can't win tickets to redeem on them...that was a painful lesson for G to learn.) You want to do some mining? Why not?? Magic Quest? OKAY! Mini-bowling? Okee dokee! Anyway...you get my drift...we said yes to several other things, as well, and it was fun. It's been a rough year so far and we wanted to give the kids a break from all of the NOs they have been hearing. Hanging out before heading to the water park  Fancy drink - yum! Mining for pr

I can't remember what we did this week? School stuff? Work things? A few adventures in the evenings? Honestly, I was so happy by the time Friday came around and I don't know why. I think this was a week that just kinda sucked. Both G and Ava are still doing great in school. Ava's rocking distance learning, and G has only had a few meltdowns at home so far. I'm actually pretty proud of him as this week he was able to work ahead on an assignment without me telling him how/what to do. It seems like a small step to someone who hasn't had to try to balance working from home and also "teaching" from home...but trust me, it was a moment of joy for me.  But by far, the most important thing I did this week, was to vote in the general election. Both Scott and I requested absentee ballots earlier this year and we got them a few weeks ago. I wanted to be sure that they were dropped off into safe hands, instead of putting them into the mail (I do trust the USPS, but th