May 2024

The Merry Old Month of May is up next in my whirlwind attempt to catch up on the blog!  May rivals December for the jam-packed-ness of the month and the end of the school year always brings its own kind of madness.  Haha.  I apparently didn't take any last day of school pics, but at least I have field day covered for Isaac!  Lol.  As for everything else, here are the happenings of May 2024...

• Field Day

It's kind of sad to think that we're in the last few years of elementary/middle school Field Days.  Of course, it does make it easier only having one grade to watch and take pictures of, but it still feels a little odd to not be scrambling to hit up all the classes for the other kids like I did back in the heyday of yore.  

Getting ready for the pass-the-hula-hoop-from-one-kid-to-the-next-while-all-holding-hands event.  A total classic, amiright??  Hahaha.

(I just love that cute little face.  And that hair, tho.)

A successful transfer!

Cole, Cort, and Isaac

Potato sack races -- another classic.

And a wheelbarrow race to complete the trifecta of classic Field Day events!  Hahaha.

So hot and sweaty -- thank goodness for that popsicle!

Isaac and his BFF Cort

Lol

And lastly, the tug-of-war -- one final classic event to finish off the day!

• Mother's Day

It feels like Mother's Day was kind of a non-event for this year, but at least I got my annual school-led-project-efforts in the form of a fill-in-the-blank "All About My Mom" sheet and and a cute little colored in flower pot.  😂

All About My Mom

By: Isaac  Age: 8

My mom's name is: Jessica

She is 42 years old

My mom looks beautiful when she is working in the garden

My mom is really good at gardening and taking care of our family

When I am at school, she works on the garden

My favorite thing to do with my mom is watch shows together

If I could buy her a gift, it would be 700 plants for her garden

I love my mom more than anything

(And from the flower pot -->

I love my mom because...

She snuggles with me)

😍😍😍

And a nonsensical sacrament meeting Mother's Day acrostic poem.  Hahahahaha.

• Ethan's Homecoming

And now for the biggest excitement of the month -- Ethan returned home from the Kentucky Louisville Mission at the end of May!!!  While driving to the airport to get him, however, we totally hit a ton of traffic and ended up being a little.  Womp womp.  We didn't find out until later in the day that Ethan apparently waited for us around the corner at the top of the elevator and timed it just right to come down and make it seem like we were right on time to greet him.  LOL.  Regardless of the circumstances, it was SO good to see him again and have him home for a couple of weeks before heading out to Utah for his summer job!

😍😍😍

All my little chickadees!

Some of the signs that the kids made were absolutely ridiculous.  Lol.

Home Sweet Home

Other than being with family, the thing about being home that Ethan was the most excited for was finally having his iPhone back.  To say he detested the Androids he used on the mission is an understatement to the highest degree.  Hahahaha.

{This was his genuine, unscripted, candid response to having it back in hand. I'm just glad I managed to capture the moment for posterity.  (And in case you can't tell what is happening in this pic, Ethan is lovingly cradling his iPhone to his chest.)  LOL.}

Ethan and Isaac bonding over Isaac's Crunch Labs subscription boxes.  The engineering major in Ethan was really into building whatever was in each box.

• Garden Tour

And now for May's monthly garden tour!  Haha.  Enjoy the following pictures...

'Georgia Peach Pie' Dianthus

On the front corner of the house, we have some salvia, garden phlox, and gaura amongst some other plants.

'Tess of the D'Urbervilles' -- a crimson climbing rose with a beautiful Old Rose fragrance.

'Fruit Punch' Oriental Poppy

Gaura and fuchsia

Back left corner of the backyard garden

Orange blossom -- these smell divine!  😍

(I'm kind of obsessed with Gaura)

(Here's a dark pink variety of Gaura)

'Roald Dahl' -- a beautiful, peachy-colored rose that I absolutely adored and was so sad when rose rosette disease claimed the bush later in the summer and I had to dispose of it.  😢

'Scepter'd Isle' -- a lovely, true pink rose with open cup shaped blooms.

'Lady of Shallot' -- an orange-y climbing rose.

Corn poppy

Chinese Astilbe 

• Miscellany

Right on the heels of Ethan's homecoming and school letting out, we left for our annual road trip at the end of May.  Due to Ethan's need to be out in Utah relatively quickly, the trip was -- out of necessity -- short and sweet.  Our "Less is More in 2024" summer road trip will obviously need its own blog post(s), so to finish off this month's recap I'll leave you with some random, miscellaneous pictures from May 2024...

One of the mini highlights of the month for me was getting a new label maker.  Hahahaha.  (Isaac was also delighted by the purchase.)

The kids are constantly stealing my charger out of my bedroom.  Hence the "DO NOT TAKE -- XOXO MOM.  Lol.)

More nights than not, Alex ends up sleeping on the floor in our room in front of the box fan.  Isaac usually ends up climbing into bed with us, but for this night he just joined Alex on the floor right from the get-go.  Hahaha.

Poor little sick boy.

Another night of sleeping on the floor together.

Some robins have built a nest under the eave at the back of our house and have been returning every year.  (To be fair, I have no idea if it's the exact same robins each Spring, but the nest has been utilized for the last few years regardless.). Watching the newly hatched chicks was a high point of entertainment for a couple of weeks during the month of May -- or at least it was for me.  Lol.

And that's a wrap!  I'm not sure yet how many posts the road trip recap will be broken down into, but I think it's safe to say there will be more than one.  😊  Until next time!