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One New Stripe

We kicked off the week with a wonderful Sunday afternoon and evening spent with my parents. It was the first time that we had really spent time with them since last July. That's a really long time! But, we were being very cautious and following guidelines for safe visits with family. And, it was well worth the wait! It was so nice to be able to catch up on things, eat great food, and HUG! It was also a small birthday celebration for me....so there was yummy cake, gifts, and singing. Singing courtesy of the real people in the house, and also Google (thanks, Scott, for that one!)



I also met up with my college friend, Angie, on Monday night, and am looking forward to seeing her more frequently in the near future. I had an NPR event that I called in for on Tuesday night (I was really tired so I *might* have fallen asleep during it, lol...but, luckily, they recorded it so I can watch it later!) And then Wednesday night was the first day/night in several days where there weren't plans to rush off to...and it was so nice to do nothing. I have gotten used to staying at home over the last year, so it takes a lot of effort in order to get out and socialize with people!

G and Ava had an exciting Taekwondo class on Thursday night...they tested for their first black strip on their white belts, and they passed! It was a surprise test, but they both managed to demonstrate the next levels in learning. And more importantly, they are both still enjoying it and look forward to going each week. Looks like that activity is definitely a keeper!


I'm toying with the idea of signing G up for "Boys Tumbling for Athletes" this summer. It's directed towards helping boys in sports, which G doesn't do much of, but I still think he'd enjoy it. Community Ed is a great way to try out new activities for these kiddos!

With that in mind, I asked Ava if she would be interested in learning archery, but she passed on that one. It'll be interesting to see if she stays with baton after this year...

On Friday after school G had FOUR separate friends stop over to play. We were trying to relax before dinner so he had limited time with them, but it's neat to see that he has so many kids to play with in the neighborhood. On Saturday afternoon he's heading next door to play and enjoy the sunshine. I kicked off Saturday morning on our deck with a nice cup of coffee...I very rarely have a chance to do that, but when it all comes together on a beautiful weekend morning, it's important to jump on the chance!


Scott has been fairly busy this week with side work and helping out a friend with some retaining wall work. He's hoping to spend part of this weekend encouraging G to learn to ride his bike without training wheels. It'll be interesting to see how that goes...

I can't believe that summer is right around the corner. It's been such a weird year, and everything has felt a bit out of whack. I'm hopeful that we'll be able to enjoy this summer a little bit more, BUT, still keep in mind that it's okay to say NO to getting together. If there's anything that this last year has taught us (besides how to properly wash hands and stay healthy,) it's that our mental health is important too. And, that "No" is a complete sentence. It's okay to set boundaries and not always have a full schedule. And it's also okay for the kids to find their own things to do...we don't need to entertain them all of the time. I wonder what historians will say when they look back on 2020...

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