Go, Go, Goers!

Spring has arrived, and I think it’s here to stay! Last weekend was glorious, and we thoroughly enjoyed the Minnesota sunshine. Ava has rediscovered her love for bike riding, and was zooming around the neighborhood all day on Sunday. G isn’t quite at the point where he can pedal on his own, but, we’re working on it! Ava was testing out her friend's hoverboard...and now she wants one of her own! How many times can you say you've shoveled snow while wearing shorts? Ava has inherited her dad’s skin, which means they tan very easily, and very rarely burn. I couldn’t believe it when we realized that Ava’s cheeks and shoulders were pink from playing outside last weekend. This may be the first time she’s ever been burned, and boy, she was not happy about it. G and I have fair skin, so burns are a common occurrence for us, no matter how much sunscreen we wear. Ava’s pink cheeks were a great reminder to pull out the ol’ SPF and make sure we’re protected while enjoying ...

We celebrated my #42 birthday yesterday...I'm so grateful that I've made it this long on this earth. With the crazy things that happen throughout the world everyday, I consider it a blessing when we wake up each morning, and have a chance to celebrate another living day. G knows how old I was turning, but twice, he told me I was turning 22. I thought about that briefly...would I want to be turning 22? The answer is a solid NO. That decade was such an uncertain time...where was I going to work? Where was I going to live? Was I going to get married? Was I going to have kids? Of course there was fun, too, but it always felt like I was waiting for the next big thing to start (career, home, relationship, family, etc.) I don't remember much of my 30's...probably because we were busy shaping our careers, building a house, figuring out marriage, and producing children. It was exhausting! But I'm thinkin' that the 40's might be a good time. We have settled into o...

I'd like to say that winter is coming, but that’s not quite right. Winter is here, has been here for several months, and I think it’s settling in for the long haul. Yesterday, we were under a winter storm warning, a blizzard warning, and also a lightning alert. I have never, ever heard thunder during a blizzard, but, it happened!  The rest of the US experienced significant storms last summer and fall, and now it’s our turn to deal with Mother Nature. So weird. It’s supposed to snow for the rest of the day, be calm for a few days, and then snow again mid-week. Bleh. Ava claimed it looked like Christmas...fun if it was December, not so fun in April! Ava and I were supposed to participate in her school’s color run and health fair yesterday, but due to the weather, it was rescheduled for next Saturday. Nothing like an event with my girl to kick off my birthday right! As long as it doesn’t snow...right? Scott and G have both been sick this week, and I put in 50 hours at work....

Last year I remember being overjoyed that our last snowfall came in March. A few years ago, we had a snowstorm in early May. I'm not sure why I'm so surprised that we are still getting snow in April. And there are at least two more snow storms in the forecast for the coming week. I didn't even mind the snow storm (that closed school!) this past Tuesday until I realized that everyone else was really irritated by the lingering winter. People have dubbed this season as "Sprinter"...Winter + Spring. My thought is that if it snows, it won't stick around long. The ground has warmed up enough, and the sun is stronger and brighter during the days now...so it's only a short time that the white stuff sticks to the ground. I'm used to rain on my birthday, so I'm okay with that...as long as it doesn't turn to snow. Come on, Mother Nature, you've got two more weeks to get this back on track! We had a weird schedule this past week...we had a snow ...

G and I had a wonderful Good Friday off this week. We were successful in getting his hair cut, renewing my driver's license, and even shopping a little bit in the morning. After we got back from running errands, I was able to take a little snooze while he played with trucks in the living room. I haven't napped in a while and it was GREAT! After G went down for a nap in the afternoon, I was super productive and plowed through a bunch of stuff that I needed to get done. I even had time to boil eggs so we could dye them that night! I found a fun metallic egg dying kit, so the eggs were different than anything than we had done before. The kids went wacky with their decorations, Scott added a face to one of his and the word "BEER" to another one (no surprise there...he won 3rd place in my workplace pumpkin carving contest a few years ago with that same theme for a pumpkin!) I kept mine nice and simple and just painted them solid metallic to match the dye. So, we have a n...

What a super busy week - it just flew by! There were so many appointments and errands to run, not to mention work, school, and daycare...wow! Speaking of errands...we were shopping for basement lighting last night, and Ava found a light with my name. Sure, I can't ever get a ready-made personalized magnet or mug due to my unique name, but I could get a light if I wanted one. Except...it is really, really ugly...not a pretty, bright sparkly one. This one looks like it would be found in a dusty attic, with cobwebs and spiders all over it. Maybe the spiders think it's appealing? Ava successfully tested for her "pink bead" on her recorder, and it sounds like real music...not just squeaks and squawks coming from a piece of plastic. I need to take in our borrowed trumpet to make sure it's ok to play for 5th grade band. Soon it'll be great to see/hear how brass music comes to life at the hands of Ava! Ava also let me take her in for her twice yearly haircut....

This was a good week. I'm still terrified to drive, but I have been putting a lot of space between me and the drivers in front of me, and I've been taking it slow(er) on the roads. I am so relieved when I make it to my final destination safely, and am quite happy to exit my vehicle! My new car is great, so that brings me a tiny bit of joy during my commute. I did notice two interesting trails through my sunroof, though. And I only took this pic when I was stopped in the car! After baton on Tuesday night, we took the kids out for dinner, and they got another round of face painting on their arms. This time, we had a sparkly fish and a happy, fat bee! G decided it would be fun to run around pretending to sting people. We'll see if this will help him with his fear of bugs during the summer! Ava's been doing great in her music class. She's been getting top marks for her recorder playing for the teacher. I love seeing her learning to read music....