Mother's Day and the month of May

I had a great Mother's Day. I picked Ava up from her Dad at 9:00 am and received a very nicely colored card - she added color to it for the next week. On the way back to Oneonta we stopped at Pie in the Sky for pancakes with real maple syrup - yummy! Ava was great - she played Ava checkers and poker with Fran then after we ate we bundled up (it was cold) and went outside to play in the big doll houses - little house shed things... When we got home I was told to relax while Ava and Fran planned the dinner menu - I then received beautiful flowers and another very special card. I was encouraged to play with Ava for the rest of the day - which I did. For dinner we ate food Ava would choose, if she chose the menu - right down to the desert. We had Bologna, mac and cheese, carrots, apple juice, "gramma" cheese, gold fish and cupcakes - yummy! (Actually Fran and I had a little more for dinner - like seafood alfredo, after Ava went to bed - what a good guy :)

What have we done since my Easter post other than celebrate Mother's Day?

Well - Ava spent some time with Grammy Belva and Grammy Marva. She played on the play ground several times and I think she has brought home almost a sandbox full of sand in her shoes from day care. She is still doing well at day care and loves that she can go outside and play now that the weather is good. She requests lucky charms every morning, must have her princess blanket (made by Darci) when she goes to bed, and has two books read to her before I leave the room - she is beginning to recite most of the stories to me and feels if she "reads" then I still have two more to read. She has decided the bedroom door must be open when she falls asleep and if she wakes up at night and it is closed - she is not happy. No more getting stuff done upstairs after Ava is in bed... She comes in my room in the morning with her blanket and Diego, requests a cup of juice and sits on my bed to watch Handy Manny and Mickey Mouse club when I am getting ready for work. In the evening, she loves to ride her bike and swing at the park! She always want our dog Topi to go to the park with us.

Over the last month - I had my second set of Board of Trustee meetings and took part in all of the closing festivities of spring semester on Campus. Today was commencement. We went with Tom and Jane to Albany to see Bruce Springsteen earlier this month. The concert was great! Fran and I celebrated his birthday by going to Hershey PA (to see an AHL playoff Hockey game) and then I had some of his friends over for dinner on the actual date. I bought a grill - so it was fun to cook out and host my first party at the new house. It works pretty well. Between work and wanting to be outside with Ava, I have been pretty busy just doing what I need to do each day. It was a very good month. I am definitely looking forward to the summer and hopefully a bit slower pace.