Go, Go, Goers!

Funny how the summer time flies by, while the winter months drag on.  It's hard to believe that today is the first day of summer already.  We've been super busy with birthdays, work, house projects, visiting with family and friends, and enjoying the warmer weather when we have a few minutes to breathe. My parents are back in town, so two Fridays back,we had my parents over for cake and birthday wishes...it was Mom's birthday that week, so it was great to be able to celebrate in person.  Two years in a row now!!  Plus, it was a great night to sit out on the deck and enjoy the wonderful Friday night weather...  "Happy Birthday, Dear Mooooommmmm!" What a great night! The following week, we celebrated Ava's 7th birthday!  WHAT?  When did that happen??  She's been having a blast playing with all of her new toys, but loves, loves, loves her new Barbie vacation house so much!  They've had all sort of parties at the ne...

We now have a 1st grade graduate!  Friday was the last day of school for the year, and Ava started it off with a bang.  And a puke. Or two.  She ended up being fine, but we were concerned that she wasn't going to be able to take place in the "last day of school" festivities.  And once again, I am thankful that I purchased a little carpet cleaner...it has come in handy so many times over the years! This coming week, Ava starts her Summer Power adventures, which include swimming lessons at the Y during the day.  I am so thankful that they offered that as an option, as I wasn't sure when we were going to fit that into our nighttime activities.  Plus, I signed G and I up for a lottery to enter a toddler and me class...so if that actually happens, and we get in, at least we won't have to work around a swimming lesson schedule, or any other of the fun things that we are going to do! Pretty excited to be a graduate of first grade! We thought it would be ...

Even though this was only a 4-day workweek, it felt like we packed 7 days worth of work into that time frame.  I've warned my closest family and friends that this next month is going to be hell for me at work.  Mid-July cannot come soon enough! Last weekend, Scott picked up some veggies to make fresh salsa.  He hasn't made salsa since we moved out of SSP in 2013, so this was a wonderful treat to have.  I think next year we'll get our garden planted, and we'll be back in the fresh veggie and salsa business! G managed to keep his teeth out of all of the other kids at daycare this week...hooray!  Except then Ava tried to take a toy away from him yesterday, and he bit her...boo!  One of my neighbors mentioned she had a kids book about biting, so we're going to have a little sit down with G, and see what we can accomplish! Ava's first grade class had their end of year celebration on Thursday afternoon.  She and I went to the school library,...

It's a darn good thing that G is such a cutie.  His favorite things these days are to poke at the dogs, yell for the dogs at the top of his lungs, run with sharp objects (note to self: do not put the screwdriver where he can reach it), bang on the fireplace with his tee ball bat, and look innocent while deliberately doing the opposite of everything we say. We have our hands full with this little guy!  The good thing is that he's super healthy.  He's in the 85th percentile for height, and 40th percentile for weight.  He eats and eats and eats, but does a lot of running, so there are no cute little fat rolls on this guy. We're enjoying seeing how he differs from Ava at each stage in his growth.  They may look alike, but they are very different people!  Good thing, because I don't know if we could handle TWO Avas! :)

I never understood how much I could love someone, 100% unconditionally, until I had my children.  That doesn't mean I don't love other people just as much...it just means that I grasp the "unconditional" part a little bit more now. Ava is a constant challenge - she always has been, and she always will be, but I see so much of me in her, and vice versa. I find myself emulating her actions, her questions, and her way of looking at and analyzing life.  She always looks on the bright side of things, even when a situation isn't going very well.  And she is so, so generous and willing to share with people...her food, her hugs, her time, her non-stop chatter...  Ava is also the best big sister to G.  Jealousy isn't a trait that she acts on...she is G's constant cheerleader, 2nd mother, and is always on the lookout for ways to make him smile. Simply put, she is AMAZING. G is coming into his own.  As a baby, he was sheer perfection, never giving us any troubl...

I honestly don't know what we did over the last few weeks, except I know that it was really busy and there wasn't much downtime.  There was work, and birthdays, and haircuts, and decks, and lost teeth, and gatherings with neighbors, and yoga, and little boy bite marks, and cake.  Oh so much cake. Remember Ava's concert a few weeks ago?  Here's a pic of her leading the group saying "hello" in a plethora of languages!   (Thanks, Grandpa Doug for the picture!) And during my birthday weekend, the kiddos were with Grandma Deb and Grandpa Whitey, and they went to a park! (Note, I "stole" these pictures off of Grandma Deb's Facebook page!) And then my parents kidnapped Ava for dinner one night, and Ava and Grandma Karen got crafty. (Hey, I wasn't there so clearly I didn't take this picture!) So, I think the real question is, am I ever present behind the camera, or do we let the grandparents do everything with the kid...

After the craziness of last weekend, I've been looking forward to how quiet this weekend would be. Grandma Deb and Grandpa Whitey picked up Ava and G on Friday night, and we haven't seen them since.  The house has been so quiet - and we've been able to get so much done! My parents took us out for my birthday dinner on Friday night - yum!  We went to Porter Creek in Burnsville (never disappoints) and the weather was so beautiful, they had the windows wide open, so there was a fresh breeze coming through while we were eating.  So nice! Scott and my dad worked on our deck all day on Friday and Saturday, and they made amazing progress.  It's so nice to be able to walk outside of our kitchen door...into our backyard!  There's still quite a bit of work to be done, but the goal was achieved for this weekend.  The balusters are on back order, so the railings, steps, and concrete pad will come later! The lumber was delivered mid-week. Friday's progress:...