May=Crazy Busy

 May....such a beautiful month.  My birthday, Mother's day, beautiful spring, and the close of another school year.  Life is always busy.  I get that.  I also know that being busy won't change until I probably die, however the end of school just makes my brain want to explode with information overload.  I thought Christmas was bad but this comes close. The only thing that saves me, is I don't have to buy presents. I know once all the field trips, camps, and concerts are over the kids are home and summer is upon us.  Not that summer will be any less busy....but I can hope there will be some lazy summer days in there with flip flops, popsicles, and a good book. That is a beautiful thing.

With school officially out I couldn't be happier.  I have a lot of people, when they talk to me about my kids being home, ask if I'm ready to have that many home for three months.  My answer is YES! Bring it on! I love having them home with me and I love how carefree summer can be. Yes, it is probably going to be our busiest summer yet but I'm ready.  Here is what May was for us....

 May has consisted of running...trail running to be exact and because I am a complete klutz, I tripped on a rock and went down.  Luckily Rob was there and just happened to turn back to see me flat on the ground. It hurt but I was excited to show my kids how tough their Mom is.

 May brought an extremely excited child to earn his Weeblos badge.  I think Rob did a great job on the painting however I'm not how excited Jacob was.

 May brought brotherly time together. I try and picture how they will be when they get older.  I'm sure they will be the best of friends and there will be no fighting what so ever.

 May brought field trips. I worked it out so I could go to the farm with this cute nine year old.  This is our bus picture.  I kept thinking of all the field trips I could have chosen....it was really smelly but so fun to hang with my girl.

 May brought more brotherly time.  I'd have to say these two are pals and Brandon thinks it's because he doesn't talk, thus can't be super annoying.

 May brought accomplishments and pride in a job well done.  Riley was a part of the robotics club this year again and was able to compete at Lagoon.  He and his friend placed first in their school and I got to spend the whole day with him going on rides that made my adrenaline pump harder than it has in years.  There was no ride that I said no to.  I told Riley it was an act of love to brave some of those rides, but it is a day we won't ever forget.

 May brought beautiful sunshine EXCEPT for the one day that we needed it to be warm.  It rained really hard most the morning but got better by the afternoon thank goodness.

 May brought beautiful flowers on some great trail runs that I was able to go on.

 It also brought a fund raiser for our youth.  What is this you ask?  Emily and her friend did a glow stick dance for the fundraiser to Michael Jackson's "Smooth criminal."  I'm still singing the song in my mind.  I never thought I'd see Emily do something like this and it was really fun.

 May brought crazy hair day at school (I think that is what it was?) Party, party party...that's what May is all about at school and don't get me started on how I actually feel about that.

 May brought concerts and songs of "Hot cross Buns" on the recorder.  If you look very close you can see Megan in pink on the front row.

 May brought my baby turning five months old and a smile that can light up a whole room.  I love his cheeks!

 It also brought a 5K for a good cause that Rob and I ran for our date night.  I wanted to puke by the time I was done.

May brought running with my bestest friend again!  How I have missed this lady and the many runs we have taken together.We always have something to talk about, complain about, or just plain laugh about.

 May brought piano recitals for these four that have given me so much grief about taking lessons!  You will thank me someday people.

 May brought memories of those we love that are no longer with us.  My Dad sent me a picture of him and my Mom sitting on their newly purchased gravestone which made me shed a few tears.  He then sent me this quote by Elder Maxwell "In the grammar of the gospel, death is not an exclamation point, it is simply a comma."  I'm so grateful for this knowledge and for unseen angels that I know are there helping to raise these children.  I always tell my children that I am sure that Mom Andrea got to choose who raised them and how honored I am to be that person.

 May brought a hike with the family even though we had to go back and leave this guy with Grandpa and Grandma.  He can't quite handle the big back pack yet.  His head is pretty heavy to hold up!

 I

 May brought boy's best friend. Maggy and Ammon hang out together when the kids are in school.  I've seen him take her for a walk in the backyard, tie her up, sit with her for hours under the trampoline, and put a glow stick around Maggy's neck.  Ammon also informed me that Maggy is teaching him Spanish.  What a good dog.

 May brought awards...and a lot of them for my kids.  Riley not only placed first in his robotics, but he received the presidents award for academics. Brandon also got a straight 4.0.  So nice to have smart kids.

 And now summer has started and so we have enjoyed a little park time....even though I was sad that after lunch most of my kids wanted to leave.  What happened to those days where I could sit for hours reading a book while they played?

The first week of summer has also brought camp outs.  Riley went on his 11 year old camp with his Grandpa and Rob, then the next weekend Rob took all the boys (minus Porter) on a Father's and Son's camp out.

We've already been to the pool and Porter was a real champ.  I wasn't sure how that would all work out but we were able to fit in a couple of hours.

Summer has brought a lot of loves and hugs from this guy and my favorite thing in the whole world is to hold his chubby body in my arms.

The first week of summer consists of a phrase "What the heck am I thinking?" as I, in a weak moment signed up and paid for a full marathon in September.  Because I won't be able to fit in training like I would normally, I have decided to increase the intensity when I am running.  I've been doing a lot of miserable hills and dragged Jen to do speed work with me at the track.  I have no idea how this is all going to work out and I may be experiencing my first DNF.

The first week of summer has brought lots of treats....this one being my new favorite...chocolate cake with a creamy mousse filling,with crushed heath bars. Oh yum!

We also had girls night out while the boys were camping.  I took these pretty little ladies to dinner and boy was it good!

The first week of summer brought a 10 mile trail run with my main squeeze.  Nothing quite like fresh spring mountain water (it was filtered).

And lastly, the bug catching has begun.  You know you live with a three year old boy if he takes his most recent catch of the day (a huge dragonfly) and tucks it under his arm and falls asleep....Priceless!
More summer adventures ahead! Welcome Summer!