The Manic Month of May

 "I need to get into this competitively -- like cup stacking."  

    -- Alex, on why he NEEDS a 3x3 speed cube.

I mean -- the title says it all, peeps.  Forget about the merry month of May -- this month is never not manic, as the school year winds down and there's so much to do.  Rather than creating multiple posts to belabor the chaos, I'm going to cram everything that's been happening into the following recap of our month.  Starting from the top...

• MOTHER'S DAY

Apparently, I'm the "Best Mom Ever."  Who knew??  Hahahaha.

Since making my peace with Mother's Day several years ago, I have enjoyed having zero expectations on a day that used to bring me down.  And when there are no expectations, literally ANYTHING is lagniappe.  Hahahaha.  This year's lagniappe came in the form of Isaac's adorable handmade gift -- (thank you, elementary school teachers everywhere!) -- and the stuff that the girls threw together the night before to create a celebratory vibe for my "big day."  Haha.  Would it have been nice to get a picture of me with all my children for Mother's Day?  Sure.  But having no expectations REALLY helps to keep things in perspective for me -- especially since we've been battling sickness over here for the last few weeks.  

Sophie was the architect of the decorations.

She also gave me one of my favorite gifts in recent memory -- a cleared off and cleaned up desk!

This adorable card reads: "Mom, my love for you grows...and grows...and grows"

My favorite thing about this gift is how many times Isaac told me he worked "really hard" on this.  Stringing the beads on a pipe cleaner was a true labor of love, y'all!

Scott took Sophie and Jane to the store the day before, and here's the haul they came back with for me.  Pens, chocolate, and protein shakes.  Lagniappe, I tell ya.  Hahahaha.

"Mom of the Year Century"

• COVID & STREP

Our household medicine cabinet looks like a small pharmacy on a normal day, but throw in the fact that we've had multiple sick family members this month, and we have now entered territory that would be a "pill popper's dream," according to Grace.  Hahahaha.  In all seriousness, though, I'm sick of being sick!  Isaac kicked things off at the beginning of the month, and then when first Sophie, then Scott, and then Ethan fell ill as well, we discovered that Covid had hit our family once again.  I'm surprised it didn't get everyone, but half the family was more than enough.  And just when the Covid started to peter out, we got hit with a new wave of sickness that once again originated with Isaac.  Last week, after a full 24 hours of him crying about a sore throat and using a "spit cup" because it hurt too much to swallow, I brought him in to get checked out and as the doctor said upon peering in his mouth, it was the "streppiest throat" he had seen in a while.  Thankfully, he was feeling much better (and once again swallowing his spit) by the end of his first day on antibiotics, but unfortunately -- although perhaps inevitably -- for ME, he passed along his germs before recovering completely.  And since Alex and Isaac are together more often than not, he passed the baton of Strep to him as well.  

LOL.  I think this was Ethan's first negative test after his quarantine was over.  Either that, or it was a preemptively prideful negative test right before he got hit with Covid for real.

• ETHAN'S FAREWELL

We were a little worried that all the illness would effect the start of Ethan's mission, but he lucked out with being out of his Covid quarantine by Sunday, when he spoke in church one last time before he was set apart as a missionary later that evening.  His farewell remarks were powerfully humble and I'm so proud of the young man he has become.  He's always been so pure in heart -- with a genuine desire to do good and to be good, and I know his light will shine brightly on anyone who crosses his path.  And that's a fact. 😉

He ordered practically his entire missionary packing checklist from Mr. Mac in Provo before he flew home at the end of his school year.  The day his shipment arrived was like Christmas morning.  Obviously, he needed to put on a fashion show for the rest of us to see what he got.

He got a navy suit and a dark grey suit, because obviously as a "soft summer," a black suit was NOT going to work.

The full haul -- 2 suits, 10 shirts, 2 pairs of shoes, 2 belts, 6 ties, a 3-in-1 winter coat, 4 pairs of slacks, a couple of sweaters, and a messenger bag.

Kentucky flag sold separately.

Elder GQ

Believe it or not, this is the first time our whole entire family was at church together in MONTHS.  And I don't mean because Ethan was at BYU up until a few weeks ago.

 Monday was his first day reporting for missionary duty at the "MTC" -- aka our Bonus Room for this week -- and things seem to be going smoothly.  He'll leave next week to fly out to Utah to spend a couple of weeks in the actual MTC (missionary training center) before heading to Louisville, but I'm selfishly glad that we get to have him for just a little bit longer.  

I thought he jerry rigged a nice solution for hanging up his stuff.

How could I not include this little gem of a flashback?? The years go by quick.  😢

• FLOWERS

Okay, random non sequitur time!  My flowers have FINALLY started to bloom and I'm in love and I don't care who knows it!  Hahahahaha.  Seriously, though -- it's taken me a while to get the hang of dealing with the roses and I've been tickled pink with the profusion of blooms for their first showing.  My peonies decided to finally make an appearance as well, even if some of the bushes were less abundant than I was expecting.  They're still my favorites, though, and the fragrance more than makes up for how few the flowers are in number.

• ROAD TRIP PLANS

And now we get to the looking-towards-the-future part of the post!  *drum roll please* I have finally finalized all of this summer's road trip plans!!  Hahahaha.  We're going to Meander through the Midwest (trademark pending *wink*) this year and we've got some super exciting stops in the works.  Grace seems to be most pumped for our visit to the National Hobo Museum in Iowa, while Jane is delighted that we'll be at the Mall of America on the 4th of July.  Meanwhile, I'M stoked to visit the Laura Ingalls Wilder museum as we pass through Wisconsin, and Isaac -- after watching the slide show I put together -- was apparently enthralled enough with our end point destination of Mackinac Island in Michigan that it was the first thing he told his occupational therapist about the very next day.  Haha.  Other exciting plans for the trip include river tubing, visiting Music Man Square in Iowa, and posing with a Paul Bunyan statue in Manastique (Michigan).  {Side note -- the kids don't seem nearly as enthused as I was when I suggested that we should track down all the Paul Bunyan statues we can find for future road trips.  I just might have to be satisfied with our Maine and Michigan photo ops.  Womp womp.}

Did I create a slide show of our itinerary to get the kids pumped up for the trip?  Yes.  Yes, I did.

• SUMMER READING CHALLENGE

The last piece of planning for the summer fell into place this morning when I decided to come up with the categories for this year's 12 weeks of summer reading challenge.  I attempted to insert opportunities for enriching our road trip experience, which is why the first category I came up with is to read a Little House on the Prairie book (preferably Little House in the Big Woods, since that's where we'll be going) and the second is to check out a non-fiction book to learn about one (or more) of the states we'll be passing through.  We've been doing our summer reading challenge for several years now, so I'm fully aware that the most likely outcome is that no one will end up reading much of anything, but a mom can always dream.  Right??  Hahahaha.

Summer Reading Challenge 2022

1.) Little House in the Big Woods (or something from the series)

2.) Road Trip state book (Kansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, or Missouri)

3.) Mythology/Tall Tales/Legends

4.) Poetry

5.) A Classic

6.) Mom's choice

7.) Your choice

8.) Memoir/Biography

9.) Caldecott Winner

10.) Graphic Novel

11.) Award Winner

12.) Book that's been made into a movie

Well, that's all folks.  Next week is the last week of school and I will obviously be recording our traditional end-of-school-year exit interviews with each of the children.  Stay tuned to discover just how this school year went.  (Spoiler alert -- I will probably be inserting my own personal commentary as well.  And while this year wasn't the wash that last year was, it had its own unique struggles regardless.)

This is how the month of May has made all of us feel.  Hahaha.