The rest of May in pictures

Daddy is finally home:

Auntie Em in her element:

David turns 9 (and is MUCH happier about his cake than Andi was with hers. Geez.):

Bring Your Sibling to School day with the kindergarten classes:

Temple makes me happy:

Peter wakes up early:

Swimming in a cold pool but warming on the hot cement:

Memorial Day parade:

Thursday

Chores.

Folder stuffing at the school.

Gardening.

We rode our bikes to pick up kids from school.

We stopped in at the Farmer's Market. Got some more plants for our garden.

Home. Cleaned the kids' closet. That's a huge chore. They make the biggest mess out of that closet.

Dinner. Bed.

I'm tired. In really glad Jonathan gets back today. Hopefully. The kids are all talking about how much they miss him. Peter was having a hard day yesterday as we were going about the day. When I asked him what was wrong he said "I just miss Daddy." And he cried. And cried and cried. So we cuddled and hugged until he felt better.

Tomorrow Emma and Matt are visiting. I'm super excited! Emma is my favorite baby sister ever!! ;)

Wednesday

Kids got sent off to school and made it on time. Yay.

After dishes and picking up Pete and I ran errands.

We stopped at the park again. I got another (third) sunburn. I really need to stick some sunscreen into my purse.

The ice cream truck was at the park, and I happened to have enough quarters to get Peter a treat. I handed him the quarters, and Peter was so excited to give them to the ice cream man that he tripped over his order and almost threw the quarters at the man. Mr. Ice Cream Man gave Peter his Popsicle, collected the quarters, then asked me what I wanted. I said no thanks, and Peter looked up and said in a happy rush "Thank you too much!!" and skipped off. Mr. Ice Cream Man cracked up and said I had the cutest kid. I agree.

He's a pretty cute little guy all right. ;)

We didn't play long. Peter wanted to play at the water today and throw rocks into the river. We saw this GIANT frog (he was at least as big as my hand) and a family of geese.

After the park we went home, I made dinner, the kids got back from school, we ate, and we took off for Walmart so we could get Andi a new backpack (her zipper completely gave out yesterday).

We got home, kids got ready for bed? David and I practiced his song for Sunday... It was a pretty uneventful day.

I wonder if Jonathan's Wednesday was as uneventful.

Tuesday

Kids got to school on time. Ish. They were only five minutes late.

Peter didn't wig out all day.

After I folded mountains of laundry Pete and I made a trip to the park.

Then we got the big kids and went on a trail ride.

Actually, they rode. I walked and jogged. 

Peter started out staying pretty close to me so I could stop him when he started going to fast down hills.

But then he really figured out hill-braking and took off with the big kids. When I called to them to slow down some he yelled back "Come on, Mom! Go faster!"

😑

I did improve my speed this run. Went further by a tenth of a mile trying to keep up with them. Stinkers.

We had dinner and then changed out clothes. I figured out why I had mountains of laundry. The kids were hanging onto things several sizes too small. I immediately put old clothes into a garbage bag to take to SA and Once Upon a Child so they won't get mixed back into rotation. We are back to our simple capsule wardrobes. Only a few things left on my list to get. Peter needs a couple more shirts and a set of swim trunks, Andrea needs one more pair of shorts and a new swim suit, David is set. So close to summer ready.

Monday

After a late night Sunday (I had a mandatory meeting at the stake center) the kids and I woke up really late yesterday morning. We were up at 8:50, and school starts at 9:00. That, and Peter's close-eyes-and-collapse response to every request, made for a hectic morning and frustrating morning. But after we finally got the kids to school (only thirty minutes late) I was able to get in a groove despite Peter's melodramatic efforts to thwart me.

Blankets and towels needed washing, so I decided to go ahead and truck all the laundry up and clean everything.

I got some scout stuff taken care of.

We spent time at the park and had a healthy lunch.

I got to the pick-line at a read only time and wasn't late getting the kids.

Andrea made dinner while I worked on her bike.

We had an FHE bike rodeo where Andrea learned to ride without her training wheels. This was a big deal for us both. She's been saying for a while that she already knows how to ride on two wheels, and she was sounding pretty cocky about it, too. But I wouldn't let her ride her bike without the training wheels until we had a chance to practice together. She and David have been itching to ride their bikes to school more often, so two wheel practice became a priority. I picked tonight to teach her and so we all loaded up our bikes and went to the local high school parking lot. It was empty at one end, so there was plenty of room to ride, and a curb and grass separating us from the school driveways so I felt pretty safe.

After the initial ride, and the ensuing shakiness, Andrea actually did pretty well! She had one brief moment of fear and tears, but I calmly told her she could do this, I was running right next to her so she wasn't going to get hurt, and I had a hand on her back. She calmed down and got right back to it. Within five minutes she said she didn't need my help anymore. I was one proud mama. :)

After riding for another half hour we headed off for ice cream at Twist and Shack. Baby comes are 80 cents there, so we really loved going there last year. They have a new sandbox this year, so that distracted the littles from their ice cream (who gets distracted from their ice cream??) but it was still fun.

After that we went home, cleaned up, finished home work, and headed to bed. 

My crazy day ended pretty well. :)

Now We Are Six II

When I was one,

I had just begun.

When I was two,

I was nearly new. 

When I was three,

I was hardly me.

When I was four,

I was not much more. 

When I was five,

I was just alive. 

But now I am six,

I am clever as clever. 

So I think I'll be six,

Now and forever.

- A.A. Milne

Garden

We decided it was time to get to work in our garden plot. We went over to weed for FHE this evening. After a quick prayer we got to work. 

The kids worked hard. They especially liked clearing the plot of some carrots that were leftover from last year.

After all the hard work we got a great at DQ.

We have a bit more work to do before we start planting, but we will get there.

Sunday

Another tooth gone. Another piece of her babyhood out. I remember that tooth coming in and it was not a pleasant experience.

Andi has been hyper aware of her upcoming birthday for a while. I think she started counting down (officially) when we had sixty-ish days to go. Now, with eleven days until she turns six, she's just gotten me her wish list: a unicorn (of course), Irish Dance classes, and a Barbie doll (oy vey...). I've already been working on an apron for her, and we got her a mini rolling pin to help foster her desire to become a chef so we will see what of the other things we are able to cover.

We are coming back from our mini vacation happy and ready to get back to our routine. It was a fun little trip. 

We stopped in at the local Ward for church and enjoyed their testimony meeting. It is a small Ward, there weren't ten kids in Jr. Primary and only fifteen sisters in Relief Society. But everyone was very friendly and helpful. Everyone asked if we were moving in. They were only a little disappointed when we said no. :) 

We had lunch on the way out of Muskegon at this fantastic little 50's diner called Toast 'N' Jam. Every bite was delicious!! I would definitely go back there next time we are out on that side of the state.

We went back to the beach to take a nice picture in front of the lighthouse and then started the drive home. 

Susan, Scabbers, and Hermione were glad to have us back. I was glad to see they were all in their proper places and not escaped or eaten.