It is hard to believe that May wasn't yesterday. It is hard to believe that tomorrow is August 1st! As I was uploading and resizing these photos it seemed like these events just happened, yet some of them were about three months ago. I decided to do one HUGE May post with the bulk of our May events and then two additional small posts with out first trip to the zoo and our Memorial Weekend fun.
The beginning of May started out with some warm days. We had neighbor friends over to play some water games on a hot day!
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Drip, Drip, Drop!
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T and S worked with Brandon to make some plans for the tree fort!
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Buttercup and Sunshine loved being near the open window!
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Ever since T held a squirrel last spring, she has been very into squirrels and hopes to pet and hold one again. She was doing her best to lure one to her. She set our peanuts in the shell all the way from the tree to our house and then waited patiently for the squirrel.
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T: I hope Teeny Tiny will come and have a snack.
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This was not exactly what I was excited to find when I checked on her. She is calling to the squirrel in the tree with a path of nuts leading right to our house. Thankfully no squirrels came inside our house.
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T: I had a great plan, but was not successful.
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These two greeted me when I got out of the shower one morning.
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A very cool design!
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Sunshine: Boxes are my favorite!
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Sunshine: I kind of wish I was still in the box.
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A lovely creation and a lovely creator.
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Charissa and I make many visits to children's hospital with our combined five children. We even visit some of the same offices and have had back to back appointments at some points, but on this day in May we had appointments at the same time and didn't even know it. We pulled up in the parking lot just as they were getting out of their van. It was pretty wild to wait in the waiting room with them.
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T: J and I both like to watch cartoons while we wait.
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T acts like she owns the place whenever we visit Audiology. She touches everything and Mary Catherine her Audiologist just rolls with it. She kept saying, "I can't believe I have not seen T in over 18 months, it feels like she was just here." I personally know it is because she is so busy that she leaves and impression on all she is around. When it came time to go in the sound booth she insisted on taking the Dr. chair in with her so she could be more cozy. I needed to take a pic to document the level of "at home" she feels in this office.
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We sure are blessed by the Children's team!
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Sunshine is Brandon's buddy in all things!
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Sometimes I am a "Yes mom" and we make and decorate donuts for no reason!
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In hindsight we should have not made donuts right before our trip to our favorite bakery, but that is what happened. We had baked goods galore!
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A full display of treats safe for our whole family!
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Yummy! These are the real deal, and they all came home with us!
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T: I got a new tire and I filled it myself... with a little help.
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This year Brandon had to play the role of teacher and dad to prepare the kids for Mother's Day. He did very well and the kids worked hard to shower me with sweet things. We had a lovely morning of church and Sunday School. Brandon grilled fajitas (my favorite food) for dinner. I even got to watch a Hallmark movie while the kids had screen time.
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Mother's Day 2021! So thankful for these two and their willingness to take a pic with me!
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I love the Q and A so much!
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When they read it to me, my heart sings!
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Very personalized printables too!
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T's four story LEGO masterpiece.
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Wet braided hair equals curls!!!
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M made a creation too!
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Some days you get out your carrier and put your nine year old in and bounce her around.
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He barely fits, but he feels no shame!
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| When your tween joins in a family game, you document it with a picture! |
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We learned about Jews returning and rebuilding the temple. Our milk carton blocks came in handy once again! The kids had great fun working together to build the foundation. The parents cried as they pretended to remember the older bigger temple. It was great!
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I love teaching!
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After dinner entertainment!
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Seeing them nap never gets old!
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Warm Day = Water Play!
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We Facetimed with Brandon's cousin, T!
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Brandon's AA left lots of gluten free cereal at church and we were happy to grab our favorites!
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Te following week in Sunday School we talked about the amount of animals sacrificed and used grains of rice to represent each animal.
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I love how easily kids can be amazed by small things.
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M and T: "Take our picture, mom."
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I found them like this! Aww!
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Brandon and T went to a store to buy garden plants and T presented me with all of these flower tops. After I learned that she picked them up off the ground I was very happy to appreciate them with her.
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T: Look what I found!!
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| M: I love to walk my mentor's dog. Her name is Sadie. |
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What a lunch!! A foot long hotdog in a special bun!
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This thing was wild and worthy of a photo. Brandon really scored big on the school lunches.
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T: Make sure you notice my eyes and the whole Jello cube in my mouth!
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M got to have a few hours with his buddies. When I picked him up he was driving the lawnmower as the boys attempted to sort of wake board behind it. I am so thankful for the big kid fun he has at this house!
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M: Now do you see why I love being here?
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T: I am ready to get working on my tree fort!
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Tree fort steps complete!
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They look like summer!
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| Buddies! |
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M: This is pretty cool!
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We decided to add some boards in the tree for support. M wanted to help do the cutting.
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M: This takes a lot of focus.
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Learning life skills!
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A rainbow on his face!
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During the final day of Sunday school we learned about Nehemiah and rebuilding the wall. All the families worked together to rebuild the wall. We typically have 30 weeks of in person content each school year. This year we had only 7 weeks in person and many weeks of at home content. The pre-recorded lessons and packets were endless work and man hours. It was so much fun to be able to do some in person classes at the end of the year. I was not ready psychologically at the beginning, but by the end I was so thankful for the chance to teach them in person.
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Great work!
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The kids performed their themes for the parents and for a video online. They learned a lot in 7 weeks.
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T: I got to have a rainbow on my face too!
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After putting the boards in the tree it was decided that they should be painted so they would blend in a bit more. T enjoyed watching them blend the colors. She thought it might turn purple, but it turned nicely brown.
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T: I am not sure about this.
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T: Painting is so much fun!
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| T: Since it was messy, I decided to wear my raincoat. |
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Right after the painting was finished the tree started to really product sap and it made the boards sticky. For about a month after it was finished T didn't want to try it at all. Then suddenly the sap stopped and she was eager to be in the tree again. We have had many friends over and the tree is a hit. I am so thankful for T and Brandon's creativity. I am also thankful that we had a good climbing tree in our yard, even if it is our front yard.
