May Quick Takes

A week of Summer in Spring

We had several days of near 80 degree weather in the middle of May. The kids were so excited to get out and play. Especially in the pool! The first swim of the season is always a fun one. I just love how well they all play together. 

Reid's Artwork

Reid brought home another bag full of his work from art class. I loved the details in top right one. Nell was smitten by the rainbow horse and has it proudly hanging by her bed. Coraline claimed the kitty and it's up by her bed. The Starry Night (top left) got a photo and was chucked in the garbage. 

Let's get one last look at that piece, and the boy, I love.

Volunteering at Reid's School 
The Girl Scouts at Reid's school organized a Walk and Roll -- a neighborhood walk or roll (bikes, scooters, etc) to school. Because there are no sidewalks in our community, all of the kids ride a bus to school, so this was an especially fun day for them. It was scheduled for the Friday following Monday's splash in the pool (photoed above). On Monday and Tuesday we had gorgeous summer weather, but by Friday it felt like winter again! It was just above 30 when we all rode or walked to school.

I'd offered to have Reid ride on the Co-Pilot, but he turned me down. So when Nell begged to come along I asked Reid if she could join us on the Co-Pilot. He said yes, and after putting on all our winter gear we were ready to go. Well, we barely made it down the length of our street before Reid started throwing a fit. He was tired and demanded Nell get off the Co-Pilot and go home. He wanted it! Ugh ...

Nell immediately started crying, because "now I don't get to go!" but I quickly told them both to shut-up. I turned to Reid and laid out his options, "you told me you didn't want it. And you told Nell she could come along. So it's this or the bus!" He chocked down the tears and anger and we moved on. Luckily, he caught a little break at the end of our street. Rather than continuing to the starting point (a nearby Church) he hung out in his buddy's front lawn and waited for the whole big crew to come by their house.

Reid waiting with Livi and her Dad

Isn't our neighborhood gorgeous? I love it, even when it's barely about freezing

And lucky for me she snagged a couple of photos, because I left my phone at home and didn't get a single picture of my fun morning with those two sweet big kids of mine. We (and a couple other Kindergartners) were definitely the tail end of the group, but we did eventually make it through the nature center and to the school. There were donuts and juice waiting for us. Each kid who participated also got a sticker and a chance to enter a raffle for some prizes. Reid was pretty excited he won some bike beads. He even shared them with Nell when he got home. The weather was much warmer by then and we went out and decorated each of their front tire spokes and went for one more ride down the street.

A week or two later (or was it just a few days, I can't really remember now ...) the Kindergartners went bowling, and I was one of the score keepers. A neighboring member of our ward does school from home. I'm lucky enough to get her to babysit every now and again for things like this (Ben just went to work a half our late for the bike thing). Reid was so excited when I showed up. He couldn't stop snuggling me.

The same neighbor mentioned above took these photos as well. They had disco lights on, and each kid got a soda. It was a serious party! Reid's best buddy, Ben, was in our group and Livi was on the lane right next to us (photoed below). I'm so grateful that in a city as big as Oshkosh, Reid's school and our little neighborhood can still feel as small and intimate as my own childhood community. 

Raised Garden Boxes

For mother's day Ben (and his friend Aaron) made me some raised garden beds. It feels so good to have my hands covered in soil.

Learning to style my hair

May must have been pretty weak if I'm adding this as a category, right? No really, this is a big deal. I feel like I really have not taken good care of myself for the past, what, six years. I'm trying to focus a little more on making time for basic things like showering and spending just a few minutes getting ready each day. Even if I know I'm never going to leave the house, I feel so much more productive if I change out of my lounge/pajama clothes.

Sidenote: this hair style is exactly what I wore through most of High School. So ... what does that say about how old I am?

Handling church like pros

I just had to include this sweet photo of Ben finally getting Mara to sleep in the last five minutes of Church. I swear, our pew at Church is more reverent with four kids than it ever was with just two. It's funny how some aspects of parenthood actually seem easier if you have a bigger family.

African Children's Choir

On the very last day of May, when I should have been prepping for our garage sale, I took these two kiddos to a performance by the African Children's Choir. It feels so awful typing that. Like ALL of Africa is one big country with one singular race/culture. Ugh. But that is the official name of this group, so there is nothing I can do about that. 

Reid was in heaven. He beamed with joy. He danced along with glee. He commented on all their costume changes and prop techniques. Nell, ehh. Nell was sleepy and wanted to be at home reading books with daddy (her usual routine for this time of night). She's really into music, so I'm surprised she didn't love it a little more. When I could read the lyrics to her she seemed to complain less. But overall she was not impressed. Her maturity makes me forget how young she really is, but if we had left her at home she would have been just as (probably more so) unhappy. 

So there's some of the highlights and some of the totally ordinary moments from our May. Brought to you on the last day of June. Phew, I'll catch up someday.