Week 45 at Home: It's a Beautiful Day

What a great week! I was able to tackle a new project at work, which forced my brain to focus on a different part of our business. More data, less content. It's always good to stretch yourself a bit beyond the comfort zone. Plus, I squeezed in a shopping trip while Ava was at her baton class on Tuesday night, so that brought its own level of joy that only Target can give. Ha!

Besides twirling this week, Ava has been working hard on mastering her accelerated algebra class. She has begun to ask for more help with her target checks, and so far it's been easy, but I'm looking ahead to when she moves on to even more advanced math. It has been a long time since I've done calculus or trig, so we'll see how it goes when she gets to that point. This coming week she'll register for her 8th grade classes, and then she happily reminded me that after that, she goes to high school. Nope. Not yet. Our little 12 year old isn't ready for that. Gah.

But, our little 7 year old had a successful re-entry into 1st grade this week. They are back in school, full-time, as of this past Thursday. He was so excited to see all of his friends and teachers, and to eat the school food, hee hee. When I got home on Thursday morning after dropping him off, I might have had a little meltdown. *sob* I missed him! It has been super quiet during the day with him at school. Ava is so happy to have the house without the little "rat", and to be honest, I was able to focus on the data work that I needed to, so it was easier for me, as well. BUT, it was such a joy to pick him up at the bus stop each day! I pray that he stays healthy and enjoys his time in school.

G is so creative with his legos...he made a replica of my desk with my monitor, laptop, and chair. So cute!

Ava and I made homemade ravioli and an antipasto salad last Saturday for dinner. It turned out great, and we didn't even have any leftover! It did take us about three hours to complete everything, so I'm glad we saved it for a weekend night dinner. Next month's kit is Family Fun Night, with a baked potato bar, confetti cornbread muffins, and shortbread domino cookies. The bonus recipe is sheet pan baked nachos, so I think we're going to tackle that tonight for dinner. If we can make homemade pasta, I feel like we can pretty much do anything!

I caught her with a mouthful of food here, hence the strange expression on her face :)

On a national level, I was so pleased to see the lack of violence leading up to the inauguration on Wednesday. Reading the news in the last few days has been so different. I look forward to seeing where the new administration takes our country!

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