May!

My blog posting is finally starting to catch up to the right season of the year. May was a crazy month, arguably the craziest one of all each year for me. 

Speaking of crazy stuff, a couple of wild mallards visited us several times this spring. Usually they hang out at the lake, but a few May mornings they strolled up through the yard and across the driveway. I threw them some bread and they pecked at it a little bit, but didn't seem to know what to do with it. I guess there's no wild bread out swimming in the lake, so they aren't used to it.

The first Sunday in May the preschool choir sang at church. This is the one I've been helping to lead this past year, ages 3-5. Avery and Elizabeth were both in it. They sang once back in the fall and at least a third of them were terrified, crying and snotting, putting their fingers in their mouths. This time they were well prepared.

Hey mom and dad!

They sang in both services. The early service bunch was a little smaller than the late service.

 We sang the ABC song (A, B, C, D, E, F, G, Jesus died for you and me), and Our God is a Great Big God. They sang loudly and did a great job. Heather and I were proud of them.

On May 8th Avery hit a milestone. He lost his first tooth! It had been loose for awhile, and with some encouragement from me, he finally pulled it out. I always thought it was mean to torture a little kid with the threat of going to get the pliers or tying their tooth to a doorknob. They're big enough to pull them out themselves when they get loose enough, and he finally did.

He was very proud of himself.

Mid-may James and Daniel decided the zip line needed some little testers. We finished our morning school work, suited Amelia and Shannon up, and I watched through squinty eyes as they rocketed down the cable towards the pole on the other side. That's how it looked to me, anyway. Daniel was there to catch them just in case the cable was still too taut...which it was.

Shannon

Daniel grabbed him before he wiped out on the grass. It was decided that the cable should probably be loosened a bit. But not before Amelia went, and then he went again, then she went again, etc. They pretty much said it was the best thing ever.

Amelia

Shannon, trial #2

Amelia, trial #2

 I have done it now that summer has begun, and can testify that yes, it is really fun.

I spent a lot of time in May on the phone with different folks who had horses they were willing to let me try using for the summer, so there were a few horse errands with the trailer here and there. (Turns out ONE of the four we tried actually worked out. That's how it usually goes.) We were also trying to finish up school for the year, get the barn clean and ready for my upcoming clinic (there were a couple of after hours midnight and beyond barn cleanings), as well as get staff training week finalized. There were also retreat groups here every weekend during May.

Our official last day of school was Friday, May 11, and we finished if off with a field trip to Zoo Atlanta. You can get a pass from the library once a year that gets two adults and two kids in for free. The nice lady at the ticket booth let all of us in for free! Lisa met us there with Jordan and Reagan, and we enjoyed our last day of school very much.

Here's a montage of pictures to demonstrate how difficult it is to get six kids to look cute for the camera.

Here's the official last day of third grade, last day of first grade picture for Amelia and Shannon.

Who knew lions used a phone book?

This one actually scares me a little.

I recently saw a Family Circus cartoon where the family is at the zoo with elephants and giraffes in the background, and one of the kids is bent down near the ground saying, "Look! Ants!" That's kind of how these cut out face animals were for our kids.

At lunch we took a break for some food. I had to parallel park on the main road, which thankfully had a picnic table right beside it.

Lisa was a trooper, chasing a nearly five year old and nearly three year old the equivalent of a 5K or two while 7 1/2 months pregnant.

After lunch we headed back in to see what we had missed.

There's an entire enclosed area where you can mingle with the budgies (parakeets). These are some hopeful budgies, ready and waiting to brave it in the big world just as soon as someone left the door open long enough.

You could also buy sticks with seeds on them. Or if you're us, you can pick up the ones off the ground that other people deserted! What would have been over a $100 day only cost gas money to get there and back. That's my kind of field trip.

We got a good view of some gorillas and a couple of gorilla babies.

Baby birds in a nest!

Feed us!

Avery was pretty excited about seeing the Komodo Dragons, so he liked finding one he could sit on outside the reptile house. Flash photography of reptiles and snakes wasn't allowed, which was fine by me. The whole time we were in the reptile house I kept thinking about that scene from one of the Harry Potter movies where Harry speaks to the enormous snake and then sets it free by making the glass disappear. I desperately hoped that wouldn't happen that day.

There's also a nice little playground, but I was a mean mommy and said no to it, because if we didn't get in the car in time we'd have some nasty Friday Atlanta rush hour traffic to sit in. Turns out we got to do that some anyway. Every time I have to sit in traffic I am grateful we live in the sticks and our worst traffic issues center around great grandpas who like to drive 35 in a 55. 

It was a great day at the Zoo with cousins, and a fun way to end our school year. It's hard to say who was looking forward to the end of school more, the kids or me. By the time May arrived I had resolved to work harder to find a way to get more organized, as well as research some curriculum options that will hopefully make some of the weekly planning easier. The past school year wasn't my favorite one ever. I was pleased with what we learned and accomplished, I just felt like there wasn't enough marginal time. When I took time for something spontaneous or fun, it threw the entire week off and I had to make up for it somewhere else...usually late at night. It's hard to be an early morning person (which I really need to be to keep this ship afloat) when you're also a late night person. I found that going to bed earlier and getting up early didn't solve it like I wanted it to either, because you just can't get up early enough. Small kids feel the subtle vibration of a    mom's eyelids opening no matter how dark it is outside. I'm planning to give it another go this fall, however, and see if I can't get a better schedule going. I've said that out loud now (sort of) so the three of you reading this need to hold me to it.

Here are the kittens on May 12, at seven weeks old. I thought this was a pretty typical representation of life with kids. Sure, a mom can eat, but not without taking care of everybody else all during the meal!

Here's Twilight at about 10 weeks old.

Hi-yah!

First we bug mom while she's eating, then we take the rest of her food!

Avery and his favorite kitten. This is the one that went to the Hicks and got a bath courtesy of Tozer.

The week after we went to the zoo, Amelia had testing for part of the week. Home schoolers in Georgia are required to test in third grade, sixth, ninth, and twelfth grades. The powers that be (whoever they are) don't care which test you do, and they don't even want to see the results, they just require you to do it. We chose the ITBS, and she tested with a group of kids who were supervised by Pam Y. from church, a certified tester, who also happens to be my dad's first cousin. I keep forgetting we did it and will probably be surprised when the results come in. It will end up being a comparison point for me to see how she's doing in relation to other kids her age, though truly that doesn't matter unless we intend to put her in public school sometime soon.

Testing was Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, and Wednesday afternoon my mother drove in with Cecily H., the co-instructor for my horseback riding instructor certification clinic. She had flown in from Texas and mom picked her up for me since she was coming right by the airport on her way up to watch the kids during the three days of the clinic. I didn't take any pictures during the clinic because I was just trying to keep my head above water long enough to breathe those three days. Last year I took 11 in the clinic and swore I'd never do it again because of how difficult it was to get everyone through it, and how non-stop tiring the schedule was. (One night we were up until nearly 11:00 trying to finish everything for the day.) Cecily is the new head of  CCHI, the organization I certify through, and convinced me there was a way to do it that took less time, so I took 12 for the clinic. I'm not sure how it was supposed to work to make it shorter, but it sure didn't! So, I'm back to setting a smaller number again. I'm not so interested in making money off of it that I'm willing to sacrifice the quality of the clinic. It was still a fun three days, because hanging out with horsey people doing horsey things is something I really enjoy.

The clinic ended on Friday morning, giving me just enough time to shower and throw some clothes and the kids in the car and make a trek to McDonough for the weekend. Staff training was scheduled to begin Wednesday of the following week, and I knew if I didn't go visit family before then I wouldn't see them until August. I also wanted to go to Strong Rock School's graduation because my cousin Sarah was graduating, and because they were going to honor Granny by naming the piano lab at the school after her.

Granny is the reason why my dad and his siblings, and therefore all of us cousins, are interested in music. She  decided as a young mother that she wanted to learn to play the piano, and took enough lessons to become adept at playing from the hymn book. She knew it would be important for her kids to play too, and made them all take lessons and practice through their childhoods. All of them play at least two instruments and either play for or sing in choir at church. They all passed it down to their kids, though some of us ran further with it than others. I can play reasonably enough to teach my own kids the basics, but my brother actually majored in music. My cousins all play instruments and sing as well.

They surprised Granny with the honor

The whole thing was actually my Aunt Jackie's idea, as she's the piano teacher at the school and teaches group and individual piano classes there. She's my aunt on my mom's side of the family, and was also my piano teacher for many years as a kid.

Granny was quite honored, and now Strong Rock School has the Pauline Adams piano lab.

Graduation was a neat event, and really reflected how intentional the school is with everything they do. Amelia went with me and Shannon, Avery, and Elizabeth stayed with Nanny, which suited all of them just fine. It was Nanny's 85th birthday and she was glad to have their company for the morning.

Sarah and Granny.

Jonathan, Lisa, and the girls made it for graduation as well. They stayed part of the afternoon, then headed home. That evening Mom, Dad, the kids and I went to Uncle Doug and Aunt Reda's for Sarah's graduation party.

Nanny, Jonathan, and I on Nanny's 85th birthday.

 

Then the Princess Brigade came up from the basement. Reagan had on a see-through skirt, and apparently also a see-through shirt!

We went to church with mom and dad, then headed back to Cleveland. The next day was our last gymnastics class for the season. The kids really enjoyed it and want to do it again in the fall. Elizabeth has been telling everyone, even strangers, that "when I'm four I'm gonna do 'jinnastics,'" so I guess we'll look at enrolling her in the fall too.

The week and days before staff training began on Wednesday the 16th, we held an archery clinic and a life guarding course. Like with my CCHI clinic, summer staffers from other camps came to them as well. We've become a destination for certification courses. It's really great to have staff certified in what they are teaching for the summer, first for safety, and also because they will teach higher quality classes. It was fun finally getting all the staff we had been hiring for months in one place for staff training. It was a busy time, lasting for nine days. We like them to be well-prepared for camp.

The following pictures are of the first official swim of the season at the end of May. I sat out because it takes awhile for the lake to warm up (usually about mid-June to get to my liking!), but cold water never deters kids.

Yoga.

Kickboxing.

Muscle man. He's a full-service fitness guy.

Communing with nature.

Daniel and Kristi's baby was born on May 25th. Daniel brought him by to visit when he was six days old!

Elliott, A.J., and Tozer were visiting. Everyone likes little Carson.

May wrapped up in a whirlwind of camp activity. A large retreat group was here for part of our staff training time, and in addition to working with the staff we also had to manage the group. First session was slated to start on June 5th, so we had a lot to do!

Did I mention that the dining hall was open for business at the end of May? That's partly what makes this the best time of year for me. Show up, eat, leave. It's magical!

Whew, May is a wrap, on to June!