Week 37--Ridge Rehab

This entire week was devoted to Ridge Street for me.  Outside of still doing life like kid commitments, cooking, previously scheduled dinner with the girls, etc....aside from those 'normal' things, I was at the house from 7am til 10pm most days.  Lots of work that I will put into a separate Ridge Rehab post with before and afters.  It was very physically demanding, such a circus of coordinating workers, so many trips to Home Depot and just trying to hold it all together!

Monday, Sept. 7th

We woke up to the news that Elia Valor made her safe arrival and Mama and Baby were both great!  She has a whole post of her own HERE.

Perfect weather for our tradition at Harkness!

The loveliest of evenings for our annual Girls Night Out in Mystic.

The dog was having a few bad days and I felt bad I didn't have more time to devote to him.  I also started wondering if we needed to make some difficult decisions before I left the following week.  He laid in this spot, not eating or drinking, and only getting coaxed outside to pee a couple times a day.

Tuesday, Sept. 8th

ONE day old.

A memory from Harkness popped up.

This was the big demo day for the bathroom.  This was the only professional job.  The rest of the house was me, Colombo, and my handyman.  This one involved plumbing, electrical, flooring, etc, so we left it to the pros.  I had interviewed multiple contractors and ended up using Thumbtack for the first time and found a small, local biz made up of three brothers.

Wednesday, Sept. 9th

Another memory Maddy sent to me.  

My dad stopped by to see the new place.  He wasn't there to work, but he couldn't leave without fiddling with something.  

Thursday, Sept. 10th

I attended "Back to School" Night at East Catholic.  I was on my own so had to do my best to meet Rocco and Renna's teachers.  I focused on meeting new ones who didn't know me since I couldn't be in two places at once.

Friday, Sept. 11th

Typing that date....I will never forget :(

The dog started acting himself again- even being nosy (just like Bo) about who was in and out of the garage.  

I wanted to keep my commitment to have Bo for the day, but I still needed to meet contractors, etc, so he came with me and grabbed his nap where he could. 

My mom stopped by to drop blankets for Ezra and Elia, so she got to see the new place as well.  Paint buckets weren't the most comfy place for a visit, but we made it work!

Saturday, Sept. 12th

Looking so handsome in his little man church clothes.

Sunday, Sept. 13th

Maddy was so sweet to send 'daily doses' of Miss Elia.

Renna's game was in Hartford so that made it easy to take a break between coats of paint and watch.

NFL week 1.  Albano's hosted the kickoff to Football Sundays indoors / outdoors, with the sweetest of boys. 

Week 20--Trevor's Home!

Monday, May 11th

Mother's Day with Mom.  We met at "our spot" for breakfast.  

Later in the day, Mom and Russ came out to his close-to-them tennis match.

...and Fan, too.

Tuesday, May 12th

Ninny wrote that the "memory" of Maddy's grad popped up from 7 years ago.  At that point, Mike Pence and Ben Carson were the 'big-deal speakers, but also.... a rising star, Charlie Kirk spoke as well.  

Today, Maddy is the same age as he was then.  Just wanting others to know the Truth.

Just like that...6 months!  (And Ezra 2.5)

C4 introduced a-new-to-us lawn game.

I have no idea why I'm squinting or why I look twice as big.

Wednesday, May 13th

Sometimes Wednesday mornings work well to FT the girls because Mason teaches English those evenings.  We are still working on a rhythm.  She was so excited to show us her new shirt with a flamingo on it.

I can't put into words how much I love Rocco on the tennis court.  It's his just-for-fun sport, spring is spring-ing, and it highlights his individual grit and determination.

Thursday, May 14th

All I got from the day--stolen from IG.

Friday, May 15th

Fridays with Bo....Before he was born and before we knew his gender, Auntie Renna found the perfect Stitch outfit.  Today, he wore it.

Colombo's great Aunt- Sweet ReRe (Marie Savage who went by ReRe ((Karen's Mom's sister)) passed away.  (I believe 2 of the 6 Gardner siblings remain).  It was a bit too complicated for us all to do the 5.5 hours to Rockland, Maine, so C3 went up and back with his bros in a day.

The repass was at ReRe's house that the boys have sweet, nostalgic memories of, so I'lll leave these here.

Saturday, May 16th

A very special day (weekend) celebrating one of my BFFs new grandbaby on the way.  

Colombo got all his boys (including Trevor who arrived home for break the night before) to attend the men's conference.

Sunday, May 17th

Daddy's Dinner

Coke minis are doing the states and I found by birthplace.

Trevor's home!