Three-fer

I need to do a three-fer post. What happened in May? Who knows. June? It came and went. July? WHAT? It's already over? No! Yep - and that is about how time is rolling for us. I really won't try to cram three months into one post - I just hope my old mind can recall a few things three months back.

May - while I try to recall the month's activities the first thing that comes to my mind for May is my mom. We call May her month. She was born in May, mother's day is in May, and don't forget that she graduated with her master's degree on May 14th at noon (many years ago.) After she takes down the Easter decorations her house fills with cards and flowers and all sorts of things for her month. We have joked that she should just put pictures of her up. Which honestly, she's pretty great so I'm happy celebrating her in May...which....we did.


Levi flew into town the first weekend in May to help us celebrate my mom's birthday. Ellie could not have been happier to have Levi to herself - meaning she didn't have to share him with his own kids. We missed the kids and Robin, but really enjoyed Levi. It's so great to have such wonderful uncles.

We went to our favorite "joint" for dinner on the 6th with some of my mom's oldest and dearest friends. Honestly as a child I didn't know if they were friends or family; I think they are pretty much both.


On the 7th we all went golfing and Ellie had a great time riding with Levi, washing balls and enjoying Jed and Grams.




We made it back to my mom's house for some German chocolate love and of course a little jig from the birthday girl.



May 8th was mother's day. I woke up to the greatest gift from Kevin and Ellie, my very own little garden! Ellie helped me plant it and we watched it grow during May. We designed a necklace for my mom with all her kids and grand kids names on it and were excited to give it to her that afternoon. We are so thankful for the moms in our lives and are blessed with some really great ones!




School and dance went through all of May, but we had some great end of year fun with both. On May 6th Ellie's school had "Little House Days" where they did activities from the time period and setting of the book they had just finished, Little House in the Big Woods. They made tin art work, shook cream to butter, learned about raising sheep and spinning wool - there were chickens and calf roping and all sorts of fun with simple items like a button. I was lucky enough to be able to stop by for a few to help with the class and just enjoy the kids. I really love going to the school and being a part of the class.




On the 18th of May, Ellie's class had their Spring program. The theme was historical Utah and I believe Ellie had the hardest line in the entire program and she nailed it (pun intended.)


The entire class did an amazing job and I am so thankful we are able to have Challenger as our school. After the program we were invited back to the classroom so Ellie could show us her Young Author project, Rose's Dream. It was a fun story about Rose and her dream with elements of Ellie's life. I enjoyed reading Ellie's mind coming to life on paper.



May 25th, Ellie's dance group had their Spring recital. It was our last recital with Hot Shots (because of the move) and honestly I am a bit sad. It was a good organization with quality dance teachers and a great group of girls in Ellie's class. For the recital they performed the "In the Navy" dance they had competed with this year and then they were also fairies in the small production of Alice in Wonderland. I didn't get any pictures other than this one of the group and Ellie is behind the lady in black tights. Good thing we have a video recording of it.


Back on the 21st, Ellie's class went on an unofficial field trip to the dinosaur museum (because they had been studying fossils) and it was fun to see the kids outside of the classroom. They were crazy and ran around and enjoyed the freedom of the environment. The night before Ellie was looking at her skinny little ribs and said, "Look at MY fossils mom." Cracked me up.



Ellie and I decided she was no longer going to be afraid of the big shark so here is Ellie saying, "I could take you."


After the museum, we picked up Kevin and went for a picnic in the park. We did some eating, swinging, and then took turns going on nature hunts for all of these great finds! It was nice to finally be out in the sun after all of the rain we had. Kevin, Ellie and I just sat on the park bench eating our sandwiches and letting the sun take us away.



As a matter of fact we did it again on the 28th - but - that bench picnic leads to my greatest and final trick (okay story) of May.

May 21st after our field trip and park lunch Ellie headed to her dad's house and he said to pack her bike helmet and pads - he was going to attempt to teach Ellie to ride her bike with no training wheels. We had already had a busy day and she was a bit tired, and completely nervous so I thought there was no way it would happen. A few hours later I received an email from Garred. It said,

"Here are 2 videos of Ellie riding her bike! The first is how she learned and the second is her killing it."
Bike 1
Bike 2

I could not have been more excited for her and I love love love that she is singing while she rides. Greatest email ever.

Of course that just made me excited to see it in person, so on the 23rd Kevin ran next to her while I videoed around our little block. It was up and down but in the end...woo hoo...Ellie can ride a bike!!


So, that takes me back to our bench picnic on the 28th. We loaded the bikes up and headed out to the Utah County section of the Jordan trail and rode our bikes four miles! Ellie conquered both going up the hill and down it. She rode the second half of the ride almost without stopping - she would have if a darn bug wouldn't have flown in her eye. It freaked her out and we've decided that glasses should be part of the safety gear when riding a bike! :D




After our ride and picnic we played some family Frisbee.


After we were parched Ellie decided to get a drink, which turned into some cooling off, and then into just purely drenched Ellie who rode home in just her unders.




And just a few extras for those still with us:

May 2nd, Ellie helping with the dishes at Grandma's for the first time (ever, I think.)


May 12th, Ellie walked into my office like this. I honestly hope this is the first and last time I ever see my kid like this. What a kook.


May 27th, Ellie at Boondocks with Kevin - playing our favorite game (I have no idea where I was that night - I think I did pretty well coming up with this much!)