The Picker Family: Monday Musings

Now that we have a two year old, I probably won't post monthly updates. So, I'm going to try weekly family updates instead. I did this when Nora and Luke were younger before Jace joined the family. It's fun to reminisce on the week and capture more every day memories.

The first week of school went well for the kids...and parents 😊 The kids did well with new routines, earlier bed and wake times, etc and us parents managed to remember all of the carpool times getting them to and from school! We are extra thankful for wonderful neighbors with whom we can share driving responsibilities.

Driving Eli and Luke to their first day at school on Tuesday

The new school year schedule also allowed for my first Tuesday off work with just Jace and I. We visited Papa and Gma and made a trip to the park. Tt was nice to share some one-on one-time with little man.

Breakfast with Daddy before work

Coloring while I cooked

This is his newest "cheese" face

Not sure you can read his shirt, but it says "See you later, Excavator"

A gift from Papa and Gma Picker for our truck-loving boy!

Jace was VERY intent on lining up all the trucks he could find at the park

I wore him out

We also had the added fun of preparing for a garage sale during the first week back to school. We had originally planned to hold a garage sale in May during Stewartville's city-wide sale, but that was cancelled due to COVID-19. There is a smaller city-wide sale every September, which did not get cancelled, so we ramped up! My sister and her kids were over several times to help set up, my dad hauled stuff and tables for us, and my cousin Steph made a couple trips to set up too. The actual sale was Friday and Saturday and we got to share the day with Steph, her little guy, Otto, and my aunt Ruth. It was very nice spending a couple days together and we had a successful sale with great weather! Special thanks to Papa and Gma Picker who had Jace for the day Friday and to Brent for being parent-on-duty during the busyness of the sale. We ended the sale weekend having Piper and Parker sleepover Saturday night. Needless to say, we were all sleeping early after a full week!

Nora and Otto

Luke, Otto, and Steph

Otto, Brent, Luke

My sister is the queen of baby snuggling 💓

Garage sale team!

Dinner with cousins

Playing with Piper

Reading with Bridgy

Last week also brought news that I will be working from home permanently. I've had many people ask me how I feel about the change. I'm glad to have an answer so I can buy an actual desk (I've been working on a card table for six months) and I'm glad to work at home 😊 I never would have requested working from home prior to the pandemic, but it's been working out really well!

Jace had a fun milestone this weekend: his first haircut! My friend, Cindy, cuts hair in her home and she did a fabulous job with Jace! She knows kids and she knows cuts and Jace handled it all VERY well. I truly thought it might be a wrestling match, but he sat still and let her work!