Last Half of May

May 13th

Art Show

Our school district had an Art Show and both Hopie and Nessa's Art was chosen to be displayed in it. We left right as they arrived home from school since Wednesday's are such a busy night for us. We had a great time looking for their school's display and their art projects. Hopie had two on display this year and Nessa had one. They did so well on them and I think they are very interesting. For Nessa, it was her first Art show and she has continuously tried each year. She was very excited! Hopie said she was glad to be in the Art show again this year. She only wanted me to post the picture for her favorite entry.
I was happy for them and I know they both worked so hard.

Hopie with her 3-D pencil art drawing and a close-up.

Vanessa with her art project which was an ancient mask using glue, mesh paper and paint.











May 16th
Share Art

We had a very unique and special experience with Hopie as she was invited to a reception for a city-wide Art show. Unfortunately, we had a technical difficulties with our camera so we lost the photo's we took that day. We're planning another trip to take some more pictures of it. I'll post when we get them. In the city-wide art contest, where only 100 students' art was chosen, Hopie's drawing is permanently displayed in the Family Justice Center downtown. So, I felt this was noteworthy and had mention it. She did a Sharpie and tempera paint abstract. It looked amazing! It is a really cool program called S.h.a.r.e - Students help art reach everyone. You can see some amazing art here and you may find Hopie's too. She's in the 2009 gallery. It has been an incredible experience for her.

May 23rd
In Remembrance

Brig went with his scout troop and put flags on all of the graves of the soldiers in the cemetary. He did a good job and felt good about being involved in this service project.

May 25th
Memorial Day

Jared was actually off for Memorial Day this year. So, he planned a very fun day with the children. First, he took our oldest four children tubing in the river. I stayed home with the littlest ones. They woke up at 6 a.m. to arrive early at the river and avoid the crowds. The plan worked and they avoided the crowds. It was super fun for them! This is what happened to the camera, incidentally, it fell in the river. Jared is already planning to buy another one for his birthday coming up.
Later, we had a barbeque and Jared set up a super water slide in our backyard. Good food and getting super wet - what more could you ask for out of Memorial Day? The kids loved it!

May 26th
Healthy Boy!

Noah had his eighteen month well-child check up today. He is growing so much! He weighed 22 1/2 lbs. and is 31 inches tall now. He has really light blonde hair now and he smiles so wide all the time. He did a really great job getting his shots and was very brave.

May 29th
Dance Festival

Isaiah did a very good job, according to his dad who went, in the dance festival at school today dancing to "Twist and Shout!" He was so cute all decked out in '60's attire.
Nessa's class did their dance to the song called "The Eye of the Tiger" and she wore an orange shirt and black capri's. They had made tiger eyes in class that they wore too.
Brig's class danced to "Beat it" by Michael Jackson. His class wore royal blue colors.

May 31st
Our Favorite Meal

Jared made us a really great Sunday dinner today. He made pasta with fresh tomato, basil, and Parmesan cheese mixed in. The flavor was fresh and appealing. Jared's garden is growing very well. It looks good and has sprouted up.
For dessert, Jared made chocolate lava cakes. He decked them out to look really pretty with fresh strawberries, blackberries and cherries.
The other day after we ate lunch, Gracie said the cutest thing to me; "Mommy, I just love food!" Funny thing is I think we all do and it is showing itself through this blog.

Overall

May has been wonderfully busy and the school children are anxious for summer break. They've worked so hard this year and deserve it! I can't wait to start summer activities with them and summer reading too! So much to look forward to!

First half of May

May 1st

I was able to find a babysitter for Noah and Gracie so that I could go on the Kindergarten field trip with Zayah. It turned out to be a very warm sunny day. The field trip had been rescheduled because the first time it was scheduled in April it had been rained out. I had a group of three boys with one being Zayah. I had a really good time as I took the boys around the Zoo. I made sure to go to all of the exhibits that I thought boys would love like the jaguar, leopards, monkeys, lions, etc.. One of the boys didn't like the snakes and so we bypassed that one. We actually heard the lion roar, saw the elephant do a little show, and Zayah noticed a new family of baby ducks.:) This was the first time I've heard the lion or see the elephant actually working with his trainer picking up tires, a tree trunk, laying down etc... I learned the elephant at our Zoo is Asian so he has a one lobe that is like fingertip at the end of his trunk. African elephants have more than one lobe that acts as fingers. Elephants don't drink through their trunk instead they use it to draw the liquid into their mouths. They eat and drink a lot during one day like about 300 pounds of forage a day, and up to 50 gallons of water. Learning this, as the Zookeepers were telling us, was fascinating to me but we had to move on because the boys are only five and their attention span was weakening. Cool, anyway. We ate lunch together in front of the Africa Live exhibit and it was fun! Seeing Zayah's bright smile all day was worth the trip!

Mother's Day, May 10th

My day started out fabulously because my children woke up early and made a yummy breakfast of my favorites: waffles, sausage, scrambled eggs, yogurt, chocolate milk and a smoothie! Jared had to work and so I know that he wasn't able to help them actually cook it. He did help then by getting what they needed at the store the day before. I was quite surprised and it tasted so good.
They each presented me with cute homemade cards and coupons for me to redeem to do little chores and things around the house. I loved them and I'm posting a picture of a group of all the cards. They wrote wonderful stories and poems on them for me! I've definitely been filled with love and I'm super grateful for having such tenderhearted, wonderfully talented children!
Later that evening, Jared came through in a big way to surprise me for Mother's Day. He made homemade hamburgers, fries and grilled corn on the cob. It was the most mouth-watering meal and delicious! There was no way I could finish eating all of it. We had so much fun having a family dinner that I couldn't have dreamt of a nicer gift than that! Very enjoyable!










Jared also gave me a big beautiful bunch of flowers. So pretty!









Nessa and Hopie helped a lot with Noah today as well so that I could have a little break. It didn't go over as well for Noah because he just wanted his Mommy which made for a cute photo! Thanks to all of my children and my dear husband for all the wonderful things you did for me today. I felt loved. It was a Happy Mother's Day for me!









I hope it was a special day for all women everywhere!