May + end of school = programs

It is May!  

We have a tradition on May Day where we take flowers to the kids' house, 

put them on the door knob, ring the doorbell and run away.  

This year, they happened to be outside so they saw us.

I think if they catch you in the act, you are supposed to give them a big kiss!

I brought them a May Day dessert.  Ice-cream in a plastic cup and placed inside a little flower pot.  Add crushed chocolate cookie on top and add a flower.  I used fake flowers, but if you use a real one, just put a straw in the ice-cream, then insert the flower.

May means school is wrapping up!  

There have been lots of programs!  

The first program we had was Sophia's ballet recital.

Great job, Sophia!!

Because she takes lessons from mommy, she didn't have a piano recital, but she plays some pieces for us when we go to their home.  Learning it well!

She was ill the day of her school program.  Sad.

Hannah had several "end of year" events.  First, she and a couple others from her class were selected to enter the PLTW (Project Lead the Way Kansas) competition at WSU!  It is an engineering scholarship program for high schoolers, but a few elementary age kids were also invited to participate.  What an honor to be chosen!

They built a pulley structure that could lift items 

too heavy to carry into a tree house.

Papa has a few words of wisdom.  I think he missed his calling.  He is definitely teacher material!

Interlocking furniture design

We liked this idea! - a tailgate model that turns into a ramp for easy loading.

Of course, if you're in the big city, it is a good excuse to go out to eat!!

Another evening, Hannah had a school program we went to.

Hannah isn't in the band, but Al had Claire on his lap and he said, 

"Claire, look at the trumpet!" 

"No.  Look at the Amerigo fyag!"  

(she LOVES the flag!) 

Hannah is taking guitar.   

They offer lessons at the school and she has learned so much!

So on another evening, we went to her guitar recital.

 Daddy helped out with accompanying with the djembe and also on the guitar.

A good time to hang out with friends and watch their older siblings perform.

My grands in Arkansas also had end of year activities.

Eli had his last "alone with Mommy on Monday" activity.

They went hiking and had lots of special time! 

He also graduated from training wheels!

Emeri had award day and here was Staci's e-mail about it:

The school had an award ceremony today and each child was given a character award. Emeri's teacher gave her the character or virtue. And she also got the highest achievement award for having the highest grades in her class!  She was so excited. And one of our carpool buddies got the award for her kindergarten class so we went out for ice cream (and it was Eli's half birthday AND he had his interview for Kindergarten in which the teacher said he is MORE than ready for kindergarten!  Not surprising, that boy cracks me up! ) Then we had a cookout around the fire pit with some friends and neighbors. It was awesome weather. This time of year is so fun!!!  The only bummer of the day was that I didn't get a medal. I wanted to yell out "where are the momma metals?  We all need one! " lol!

 And Claire?  We are still waiting for complete potty training!  It will be soon, I think!

We must have a little celebration for that!

Oh yes, Staci, you mommas and daddies need medals too!

Bravo to you!!

Mother's Day

The ladies in our family have taken this motto to heart.  In fact, we began a tradition several years ago to take ourselves out to eat without the family!!  It's a day we take to relax from motherhood.  We just have a fun "alone" day together!

Some pictures from years past -

This is my first Mother's Day without my mother here.  She is with her loving heavenly Father, which is by far a better place.  But oh goodness, I miss her!  So often I catch myself wanting to call her to tell her something.

This year Mindy has moved to Denver.  Staci wasn't here either, so it was just Jill and I.  

My neighbor invited me to an artsy spring fair.  

Jill and I decided to make it part of our Mother's Day celebration.

 Woods in the middle of Wichita.

ceramics, stained and handblown glass, suncatchers, 

miniature fairy gardens, metal jewelry.....

The buffet was Italian chicken, baked polenta, Italian herb bread, romaine salad and tirimisu.

We spent the rest of the afternoon shopping and decided we weren't quite ready to go home yet so we went to Red Rock Canyon.  Delicious!!

Enough to split in half and take the other half home to my husband!

And because it is Mother's Day, I have to show a picture of my 3 kids back in the day!  I thank the Lord for the family He gave to me!

Playgrounds and tornados

The Schott family is adopting from China once more; their third child from there.  Adoptions are very costly, if you don't know!  Kari posted that they were selling some things to raise funds.  Their family had outgrown their playground set and it was for sale.

Our kids were wanting a playground so it was a win-win situation!  Adam arranged for help and the day was picked.  It happened to be a rather soggy, off and on rainy day.  But no matter, it would go on as planned.

They walked around the playground set, trying to figure out the best way to take it apart.

 Yikes!  Kari went to find wasp spray, but before she could, Dennis just kicked it away!

When we arrived back at the house, we saw Claire watching from the back sliding doors.  

 Deciding where to put it.

Someone driving by saw the need for help and jumped out of his car to assist.  Small towns are just that way!  Friendly people!

 Adam drilling the playhouse reminded me of another drilling bonding session the boys had!

 Claire woke up from her nap and immediately ran to see if the playground was done!  Yay!!


The girls got home from school and went to play before they went in the house for their afternoon snack.

 

Many happy hours will be spent here!

Thank you, Schott family!

 Al and I began our drive home.  There were storms in the area.  We had been on tornado alert much of the day.  As we got back to town, we could see the dark clouds.  You can just "feel" tornadic weather.

 I went in the house to check the news and they said a spotter at the outlet mall had seen a tornado.  It was several miles west of town.  Al and I decided to do a little storm chasing.  Safely, of course.

See the stove pipe tornado?

 After awhile,  it turned into a rope tornado

                          then disappeared in a whisp.  You can barely see it in the center.

We heard that a house was destroyed but no lives lost, thank goodness!  More storms predicted on Saturday.