Best Mom Ever

 I fully realize that I may not be the one to take them on insane adventures to skate parks and the circus, but we have our fair share of fun too!!!  

Our camping trip in January was canceled due to rainy and windy weather.  We were totally bummed out, but made the best of it and trekked up to Safe In Austin instead!  Beth and the girls joined in which was really fun since they missed our last trip up there.  If you haven't heard about my love for this nonprofit, please visit www.safeinaustin.org to learn more.  These people know my heart.

Meeting Mabel and Louie

The last time we visited, Halle fell in love with a little dog named Francis.  He doesn't have use of his back legs and is in a special yard with soft astroturf to slide around on.  This trip, there were so many people and they were not allowing close contact to some of the animals.  While we completely understand why, this was disappointing for Halle.  Happily, Francis came right over to the fence to greet her and stayed there for a long while just hanging out.  I could tell that it made Halle feel really good to know that perhaps he remembered her as a safe person to be around. 

Lia and Erin both loved a sweet dog named Duchess during our last visit in July.  Sadly, Duchess passed away a few weeks before our visit.  They were heartbroken, but also were able to understand how many animals and people she inspired while she was at Safe In Austin.  They were both in search of a new friend to call their favorite and to follow online.  Lia enjoyed meeting Gabriel and Erin connected with this "little" calf named Petunia who has epilepsy.  

The other big thing going on in our world is GIRL SCOUT COOKIES!!!  These girls set some BIG goals for this year and I'll be honest, it was a little intimidating...  We haven't sold cookies since 2019, so seeing that Lia's goal was 160 boxes, Erin's was 300 and Halle's was 250, I was sort of freaking out.  710 boxes of cookies?  Seriously?

My personal goal was to get them to the "stuffy" reward level.  215 boxes per girl would get them to a level of Girl Scout sponsored rewards that they have never attained before.  Having 3 girls in the same family all selling cookies diminishes the sales pool per kid considerably.  Basically they all dilute each other's opportunities.  It sucks.  We have to work 3x as hard to get to the same goal as a kid with only one girl scout.  I psyched myself up and basically was committed to going for as long as they were invested and motivated.  I didn't want to be the one selling these cookies - it had to be them.

We had the opportunity to visit my grandmother's independent living facility apartments to sell cookies to the residents.  The girls were so excited!

They asked that we do not go door to door as planned, but said we could set up a little station for the residents to come and visit us!  We were BUSY!  

Booths are where it is at if you want to sell a bunch of cookies in a short time period.  Brownies have to work in pairs, but juniors (Lia's level) can do a booth alone and get full credit for every sale.  We did a combination of booths just us Gates girls and some with friends (b/c let's be honest, it is more fun with friends!).

I'm so proud to report that as of today, the girls have MET their BIG goals!  They got to the stuffy reward level and BEYOND!!!  Super pumped.  However, 732 boxes of cookies is no joke.

Erin was delighted to have her friend Nyliah come play after school one day.  Big smiles all around.

Lia has made a new friend this year who she seems to have really connected with.  Equal parts girly and adventurous - her name, ironically, is Lillian.  Must be something in the name!

Defence Lab mom goals