That's A Wrap

Another month in the history books. 

Sometimes I question if I am living or surviving. 

Then I remember how happy and fulfilled I am, just busy - which I would rather be than bored. 

May is over, but here were some highlights:

 Mother's Day

 Such sweet tender care of Owen.

 Raising and releasing trout in 4-S this year!

 High School Girls' Night

 Finally the weather got warm

 Kody won the game ball

 Trixie loves a good car ride

I changed my hair color.

 

What did you do in May?

Blah, Blah, Blah - This is What We Do

I may not love mornings...

or more accurately not sleeping,

but if you have to be up -

I guess a good sunrise is the way to do it.

Found a belated Mother's Day paper in Issac's backpack.

It's close enough and fairly flattering.

I'll take it.

Bella may be pint sized, but girl is strong.

She lifted this 50 lb bag of rice up from the basement.

I actually sent her down for a 10 lb. bag.

Travis and I suspect Issac may be rich.

Dude is not afraid of a little hard work.

So if his siblings have tablets and he doesn't...

but he wants one, he is not afraid to earn it.

Thanks to our neighbor who was changing,

he got a screamin' deal.

Look at that happy boy!

Likewise Kody is now feeling left out.

It didn't help when Issac won this learning Geo Safari laptop.

But alas, he sold it to Kody for $5...

 the last of the money he needed to buy the tablet.

And ironically Wyatt may play it the most!

 

All is well that ends well.

We are doing okay!



Happy "Me" Day

That's right, I'm a mom.  So I get a second whole day each year devoted to me.
The kids and Travis are great at spoiling me. 
I slept in, baked lots, and got hilarious and touching (I'll spare you the ooey gooey ones) cards.

I think there is a broken lamp in my house that I don't know about.

Hair and eyes good, quarter woman due to my short stature - ehhh.

Poor kid has joined the army of children whose parents call them by their siblings' names.

Second To...

Mother's Day may be my favorite holiday, only second to my birthday.  Of course.  Well that's partly true, but only in the fact that both aren't really holidays but celebrated events.  Once again this is a day devoted to me.  And I like to think that most every day I am a pretty selfless mother and wife, but if you tell me that I can have a day to be selfish...game on.

My day was made perfect by my husband and children.  Basically they just pour the love on even more than usual.  It started with breakfast in bed, flowers from Bella.  I then came down to a table of donuts and elementary school kid craft for mother's.  And let's be honest I love this stuff too.  Hearing kids fill in blanks about their parents is a hilarious read for me.  But maybe it's just my kids.  Nothing too crazy this year, but lots of endearing things.

Then Travis and the kids managed themselves for Church that morning, Travis handled all kid behavior issues and we came home to a late lunch and finished the day by laying out.  The kids played happily on the trampoline and in the sprinklers as I read and eventually napped with Bella in the backyard.  And that folks is pretty close to perfection in my book.

After a light dinner and dessert we opened more presents.  Two awesome sets of sneakers.  The kids went to bed and I took the time to update my blog and catch up on the important but rarely urgent matters of my life, that I tend to neglect.  I then read in bed before falling peacefully asleep.  Ahh isn't it nice this mother thing.

All of that aside, it really is.  Best surprise of my life was finding out how much I enjoyed being a mom.  And it helps that I have the best kids, making my job pretty easy.  Happy Mother's Day out there to all the selfless, wonderful mothers who make this world a better place to live.  Your actions matter and have a far reaching influence for good.  Keep up the good work.

from left: pen, book, he can't remember, granola bar, cell phone, $5, and keys

In Breaking News:

1.  The birth control came in on Saturday, before I ran out.  Hooray.

2.  I am selling a big old bird cage and a children's train table with all the parts if anyone is interested in buying them or just one or the other.

3.  Manheim had Community Days at Pleasant View.  Bella danced - May 5.  Man she is a gorgeous angel of grace.  I'll never know where it came from, but she amazes me constantly.  The boys played on bounce castles, all rode the barrel wagons, we ate junk food and won free stuff.  It was a good day.

4.  Travis was home last week.  I finally am uploading some of the pics.  The kids riding bikes, Wyatt relearns riding a training wheel free bike.  Bella and Wyatt rock climb a dirt mountain from the builders.  Travis returns to Wyoming :(

5.  Bella has an orchestra concert, two field trips, and it was a crazy busy week this past week.  So busy that my mom came over to help me stay afloat.  Aren't moms great.  She also got to see the said orchestra concert, the boys play baseball - May 10, and me run a million miles a minute.

6.  In other news I am up to six kids.  Like being single mom to four kids isn't enough, I can't help but adopt all the strays.  Having been PTO president we had an influx of neighborhood kids this year at our house.  Two have stuck.  Without going into all the details, these two probably could benefit from a little extra TLC.  I've always wanted foster kids, who needs all the paperwork and home visits when you can just do it this way.  They are over every day, eat dinner with us at least three nights a week, and wait patiently for us in the backyard for us to return home when we have gone out.  I love these boys. 

7.  Mother's Day was a lot of fun and I acquired oodles of plants and some fresh flowers too.  See my own greenhouse.

It Feels Noteworthy to Me

So many of my posts have lately been a mere travel log of the events of our life.  At one point I would have considered myself clever or witty, those days no longer exist.  It's not that I'm not clever or witty anymore it is just that those things require a bit of thought-at least for me and blogging is one area where I am choosing not to think.  So what has the past week covered that I've missed...
Well Friday May 6th - Issac's Pre-K class had a Mother's Day Party.  Despite coming straight from the gym I ate total junk and loved every minute of my popcorn, Goldfish, Cheerios, M&M, raisins, pretzals, etc...trail mix.  I also loved the frosted sugar cookies.  Three times I loved those babies.  Shh.  Don't tell!
The kids had made pictures and written a sentence about why they loved their mom.  Well I rocked it out because Issac loves me because I play ball with him.  I was feeling good overall and far superior to the mother's who were loved because "my mom lets me have fruit snacks every morning when I first wake up." and "she gives me whatever I want whenever I want."  Oh this wasn't a competition?  Crap!

Saturday May 7th - I woke up at 7:40 just in time to drive a couple minutes up the hill to the first ever Manheim 5K @ 8:00am.  I was excited to give real running a try after so many miles spent on the treadmill and the course ran by my house.  There stood the kids and Travis cheering like crazy.  Oh and letting me know I was in 52nd place.  Well about two minutes into the race I tweaked a muscle in my back.  Blast me and my not stretching or warming up.  But 32 minutes and 3.18 miles later I felt like I had a really had a good experience.  With no watch and nothing but a good pace to keep me moving I average once again a ten minute mile.  I had totally forgotten that running in PA on hills is totally different than on a flat treadmill.  Note to self: Use hill setting on treadmill from now on. 

Then for one of my Mother's Day presents Travis, the kids, and I embarked on our Spring Cleaning.  With 6 1/2 of us at work it only took us four hours to spring clean the entire house.  Then we played in the back yard, flew kites, and enjoyed the perfect weather.  Later that night we went to see the youth of our church in the Road Show.  It reminded me just how awesome my ward is.  They were a total hit and the choreography was amazing.  Shout out to Camille! 

Sunday, Mother's Day and May 8th, I had a lovely French Toast Breakfast, a scavenger hunt to find three new purses and extra shelving to hang in my laundry room.  I would post pictures, but let's be honest, I am getting to the age where no makeup, bloated morning face, Mary pictures just are not worth sharing.  That afternoon we spent taking walks, trying to feed ducks - they weren't that receptive, and Travis giving Wyatt a bloody nose.  It was from a football and quickly forgotten amid the fun.  No worries.  Overall I lead a charmed life and so each moment does feel noteworthy to me.