Away With May

School is out and we are pretty much going nuts here with all our freedom. (I'm exhausted already and summer has just begun).  May was a blur.  I can't even remember anything that happened in May. Funny, because I just looked and apparently I blog-posted NINE times last month (???) so there's proof something happened in May.  Anyway, here's the rest of it.  At least what I can remember.

  With May, came the hot weather.  Popsicles (a.k.a "rollypops") have become the number one requested Family Night treat these days.

 It's really too hot to do anything else outside unless it involves swimsuits and water.

 Which we have plenty of.

 The boys agreed to help make dinner as long as they could choose some of the menu items.  We've been eating a lot of corn.  A LOT.

 I spent most of May putting together this recipe book as a surprise gift for Brigham's teacher.  I also spent most of May wondering (again) if being a room mom is really worth it.

 The book turned out so cute though.  And very international.
There are 26 kids in Brigham's class and through blood, sweat, and tears I managed to get recipes and pictures from all of them.  Here are a few sample pages. (mom, can you spot the Russian recipe?)

 Swim Team practice took over our lives in May.  Clayton, Isaac, and Brigham are on the team this year in three different age groups.  Which meant three hours at the pool for our family every. single. day.  All month long.

 Plus an extra hour at night to deal with all the sand.  Humidity + Sunscreen + Sand is a very bad combination.  I'm sure gallons of sand went through our washing machine and even more went down our bathtub drains. And all the rest ended up on our kitchen floor. It was like ice skating.

 But the kids really loved the long hours of playtime at the park.

 And I have to admit, I did too.

So, When? Did we do all our piano practicing? And homework? You ask?  Ha! Like I said, May was a blur.

Nate helped organize a great Memorial Day breakfast and service project for our ward.

 It began with a flag ceremony complete with a rendition of "Taps".

 And a delicious pancake breakfast.

 Nate gave an inspiring (as always) Memorial Day devotional.

 And the morning ended with weeding, landscaping, and spreading mulch.

 Oh, and catching frogs.

 Which the kids tried to sneak home in the car.

 Multiple times.

 Lydia wasn't much help.  She fell twice and bonked her head - which meant I wasn't very much help with the yard work either.

 But in between weeding, Michele and Jess and I managed to take a picture to email to our dads who just all happened to be in Ghana at the same time on church assignments.  Small world.

 They, in turn, sent this picture back to us. 

 Clayton and Isaac went to an ice skating party.  Clayton made this clever pop-up birthday card for Anne with foil ice and hanging snowflakes and everything.  I don't know how he figures these things out.

 Brigham also had a birthday in May!  (blog post coming soon. . .)

 Jess sent me this picture of Eliza and Lydia playing dress-up at her house.  They look a little camera shy here but when it comes to dress-ups, these girls are in heaven.

Jesse and Deb and their kids came to visit us from Dallas.  We sure miss living in the same city with them.  As you can see our boys line up with each other perfectly.  These guys had a blast together and lucky us - we'll be seeing them again at the Ranch next month!  It'll be just like old times.

 This is a funny picture.  Yeah, these people are all related.

 Clayton and Brigham competed in the National Piano Guild competition.  They both received the highest possible marks.  Only judges and the piano student are allowed in the room, but Ms. Asya and I listened intently at the door and I even snapped a few pictures through the window.

 Lydia and Eliza also came. Do not let these pictures deceive you.  We were there for a long time (Clayton's program alone takes 30 minutes to get through) and most of the time these girls were scream-laughing and falling all over each other while Ms. Asya tried to shush them and other parents gave me dirty looks.  We were not a very dignified sight.

I did snap a few pictures of their five minutes of good behavior though.  Reading Bob Books.

Clayton entered an international composition contest.  There were over 500 hundred entries in his category.  He didn't win.  But he did get his picture on the magazine cover! 

That's a bigger claim to fame anyway, right?

 Eliza learned to write her name.

 Our cypress tree finally filled in - providing some really nice shade on our driveway.

 Lydia discovered she absolutely loves black bean soup.

 with lots of cheese.

 and chips.

 Happy Happy Happy May!