** MAY

I guess I will continue in my tradition of condensing each month into one post. So here goes....MAY! First of all, it was a beautiful month...not too hot, not too cold, and we got a little rain. Lovely. Second, it is the end of the school year and there are one million things going on and I am not going to post pictures and talk about them all. Just know that with 3 kids in 2 different schools, that the last few weeks have been jammed packed!! I enjoyed each event, but for the sake of efficient blogging I will only include my favorites. And so May begins with:

The Annual May Day Dance

at the elementary school. This is a very old tradition at the school. It starts each year with the 5th grade braiding the May Pole and then each grade performs a different dance. The kids work very hard to get them all right. Everyone in the valley comes and it is a very big deal. Getting seats is tricky, but it a a very fun night for all! Kyle is required to take this night off of work every year, so that he doesn't miss all the fun and because I refuse to handle this night alone.

Josh (and all of the first graders) getting into place before dancing to: "I Like To Move, Move It" from the movie Madagascar. I believe he is playing the part of a zebra. (We didn't coordinate outfits with the girl on his left) Josh is usually very shy, but he really showed us his moves that night!! (see video below). He had his tongue sticking out in concentration almost the entire dance (Kyle does the same thing when concentrating...it must be genetic).

Nate (in costume) really "getting down" to "Stayin' Alive". The 4th grade does this dance every year and it is a crowd favorite. After the 4th grade dances, they play the song again so that everyone in the audience and the other grades can "get down" too! Nate loved doing this dance and was not shy at all (see video below). He had a lot of fun!!

Later in the month...

Ansley had her Spring Orchestra Concert. They have improved so much this year and it was actually a joy to listen to this time. She wasn't thrilled about performing because she felt like the viola section wasn't as prepared as they should be, but they did a great job! This isn't the best picture, but it was the only one that wasn't too blurry. This past week, her middle school had a 6th grade awards ceremony. She did great this year and received several awards and even some cash...they never gave out cash when I was in school! We are so proud of all she accomplished this past school year and can't wait to see what she will do next year!

Claire has become very mobile (see video below)! And she loves to make a good mess. This particular night, she scattered all the school papers that had been placed on the side table in the family room and then she was also able to reach a can of Pringles that Kyle left on the table. She didn't like the chips (dill pickle flavor), but she sure enjoyed dumping them out and smashing them into the carpet! It is a good thing she is so darn cute!

We have started a new tradition in our house that has changed my life! It is called: Laundry Night! We spend the day washing every article of clothing in the house. Then we dump it all on the family room floor, turn on a movie, and sort, fold and put away all the clothes. We all work together (some more than others) and it gets done so quickly! We get to spend time together as a family, everyone has clean clothes for the week, and the laundry room is always clean. It is a win-win-win situation! Love it! Can you see Eli on top of the pile?

7 people + 1 week = A LOT OF CLOTHES

Memorial Day Weekend...

We had some much anticipated guests for Memorial Day weekend...Dave, LaNeace, and Elle came for a visit! The kids couldn't wait and were talking about it for a week before they got here. They always have some much fun with Dave and LaNeace. Dave, Ansley and Nate decided the sleep on the trampoline one night. Ans and Nate have never done this before (too scared), but with Uncle Dave with them, they decided to brave it. They loved it! And so did Dave. He said it was way more comfortable then sharing Ansley's bed with LaNeace and Elle. Sorry about the accommodations, Dave. But you can sleep on the trampoline anytime you want!

Cute Elle and Eli. Eli is one year older than Elle. They have always had a love/hate relationship. Eli loves Elle and Elle..well...she doesn't love Eli...until now! I think Elle officially likes Eli! She has never been a fan of Eli's "in your face" way of doing things and was scared of him when she was smaller. But, this time, they had a lot of fun playing together and Elle really warmed up to Eli. They spent endless hours jumping on the trampoline, swinging on the swings and riding bikes. I am so glad they had fun together!

We got the pool all set up before Dave and LaNeace came so that we could enjoy the weekend in the pool, but it was a little too chilly. The kids spent a little time in it, but Elle wasn't a fan of the cold water and so they were only in the pool for a short time. This picture is of Nate being thrown in head first by Kyle.

Fun in the pool.

This past week...

Every year, the 4th grade does country reports. Each kid picks a country to do a report on and the spend a lot of time learning everything about that country. They then write a report, make maps, and do several projects about that country. This year they had a musical program where they dressed in costumes from their chosen country, sang songs from different countries and even learned a few dances. The performance was really cute. Nate chose to do Germany and that is him in the back row in the light blue shirt and suspenders.

This is Nate and some of his classmates performing a Russian folk dance. They did a great job. Yes, Nate is a head taller than everyone his age.

The day after the musical program, the 4th graders line the hallways of the school with their desks and displays from their chosen countries. All the parents and students from the school get to walk to halls and ask the kids questions about their countries and see all the hard work they put into their projects. This is Nate in front of his display. He is standing in front of the flag that he and I sewed together. He worked really hard on his project and he it was awesome!! He looked so great in his costume. He looked just like a little German boy. You can just see the German in him. I was proud and my grandma would be SO proud.

This is a picture looking down the hallway at all the displays. The girl next to him did Germany as well and the 2 of them looked so cute together!

And last, but not least...

Claire is walking!! She has been timidly trying to walk for a while now, but just barely started doing it all the time. It is a whole new world for her. I have learned since becoming a mother, that it is possible to be happy and sad at the same time. I am so proud to see her up and walking, but so sad to see her growing up and out of the baby stage. Tear in my eye. I love this little one so much and I just want to bottle her up! She has also become a little chatter box...which you will see in this video. I am really sick of all the growing up that is going on in our house!!!

UNTIL NEXT MONTH...BUT MAYBE SOONER...