Go, Go, Goers!

Garret and I had the last of our Toddler and Me classes this past week.  The learning discussion was on tantrums...how we react to them, how to handle them, what calms them down, etc.  I thought that G was going to have his usual 7pm meltdown at class, so I could practice what I learned, but to my surprise, he was very well behaved and sat on my lap during the last 15 minutes of class...until he threw a plastic duck at the girl sitting next to us.  Sigh. My week was pretty busy getting ready to head out of the country. On Friday, I told Ava that she needed to help take care of Daddy while I was gone.  She gave me a really funny look and said, "Isn't he supposed to take care of us?"  Scott will have no problems taking care of the kids while I'm gone...it's all the small things, like remembering to pack her lunch, getting her dressed in the right, required outfits for Summer Power, paying daycare, etc., that he needs help with.  He even told Ava that she ne...

Last weekend, we went out of town to visit our good friends, the Winfields, who used to live south of the cities.  Recently, they moved west of the cities, and even though the mileage is shorter, we have to drive through many small towns, which means the speed limit is constantly changing.  So, while they're physically closer, it still takes us over an hour to get there.  Maybe one of these days we'll be able to start up our Wednesday night dinners again with them! :) Regardless of the distance, we always have a great time when we're with them...and the kids got along pretty well.  The only time they kids started fighting was when it was late, and Ava and Isabel couldn't agree on where to put their feet in the bed they were sharing.  Easy to resolve!  We noticed both Ava and Isabel are getting to that sassy stage where there's a lot more attitude and exclusivity.  We had to remind them to include the younger kids while they were playing, not to exclu...

The month of Hell is officially over.  I survived, but barely.  All three of my projects launched successfully in the last two weeks of June, and now I can scale back my work hours to those of a normal human, and not a workaholic robot. This has been a fantastic 4th of July weekend....we've had a (literal) blast with friends, family, and fireworks!  After I left work on time on Thursday (hooray), Ava called her little friend in the neighborhood, and I walked her over to her house for a fun playdate, complete with trampolines, and a gaggle of other 2nd grade girls.  Back at our homestead, after G went to bed, Scott and I headed over to the neighbor's house for an adult evening of drinks and a bonfire.  Someone in the 'hood was setting off those floating lanterns, so it became a game to see who could spot the next one.  It was a GREAT way to start of the long weekend! Bringing Annie on her playdate... The next day started off bright and early with ...

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! :)