May 2017

Dave left cub scouts in our previous ward when we moved and I joined them in our new ward. I am now an assistant Bear den leader. Don't I look cute in the ever-flattering uniform of scouts? Lexi wears it a bit better than I do.

Lexi finally had her ballet recital the end of May. She enjoyed ballet at first, but by the end of the class it was getting painful. Not her passion, but she looks cute in her costume! Clara loved dancing along with the girls in the aisle during the recital. She may or may not have done a better job at the dance than half the girls on stage.

I love this picture of Lexi because it reminds me of my Mom. When she gets really tired her eyes start going cross-eyed and there isn't much she can do about it. There is a little bit of Blacker in one of my kids! ;-)

We took the kids mini-golfing for a family outing for the first time. Cole was able to at least hit the ball by himself, but the girls required a little more help. They still loved it though. The girls' favorite part was climbing on the random animals all over the course (yes, the ones with the "please stay off" signs).

I turned around, and Clara was randomly hugging the giraffe. She has a soft spot for lonely animals.

Mother's Day this year was a sweet day for me. Cole wrote me this note at school and it reminded me that despite all of the frustrations I have with him, he remembers and loves the little things that I try to do to show him I love him. In case you can't read it, I'll interpret his writing:

My name is Cole.

My mother's name is Aubry (Aubrey)

My mother likes to cudl (cuddle)

My mother looks prettiest when her hear (hair) is down

My mother is special because she cears (cares) for me and my sisturs (sisters)

My mother's favorite food is meat

I like being with my mom most when she lace (lays) by me

If I could give my mother something special it would be a big hug

The funniest thing I ever saw my mom do was ticking (tickling) me

My mother's favorite place is cudling (cuddling) with me

My mother helps me most when reading

My favorite thing about my mother is that she laes (lays) by me

I love my mom because she plays with me

I loved the kids' cards, but Dave's was pretty cute too.

Cole decided he needed to do my hair for me on Mother's day. This was the style he settled on.

We have some amazing sky colors here when there are big storms brewing in one direction and sunshine coming from the other direction with bright green trees in the background. BREATHTAKING.

Getting my little pots inside in preparation for the END OF MAY snowstorm. The last one this spring, for real.

Lexi is excited to be done with ballet and starting gymnastics. She's also started doing weird poses and faces in pictures.

We had a lot of landscaping work done in May. We had lots new trees planted and ones already on our lot moved so they could grow better. The kids loved riding on the tractor and helping. We also had our front landscaping done and lots of work on the back, including all of our downspouts buried out away from the house and lots of rock put in. Dave spent tons of time putting in our artificial grass in the back for the kids, putting up the trampoline, and putting up our play set again. It is truly a fun place for the kids now. Between all that and "exploring our new land", they are keeping busy.

Lexi and Clara LOVE having their nails painted. The color doesn't stay on very long because they instantly pick at it, but they feel so special afterward.

We recently discovered that Clara's favorite snack is freeze-dried strawberries. How did we learn this? She dumped out the entire box of Special K with Strawberries on the pantry floor and picked out all of the strawberries. We've learned that freeze-dried bananas are also really yummy. And raspberries are sour, but good on cereal.

I substituted Lexi's primary class in May and that week they were doing the game, "I mustache you a question" in sharing time. The kids picked a mustache and got to wear it while leading the song on the back of the face. Both Lexi and Cole got to pick one and lead a song. It was adorable. :)

Cole has been going to karate now for 6 months, and in May he graduated from his white belt and earned his yellow belt. He has made leaps and bounds of progress as far as his attention span at karate and his physical fitness. We are proud of him (and I think he was pretty proud of himself too). As a special treat he got to pick out whatever ice cream and candy toppings he wanted.

Dave and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary this month by going to a "Bare Naked Ladies" concert. A little punk rock from the 90's was a fun way to celebrate.