May 2015

May always means big Spring cleaning projects. We prepped the garden for planting, and then we had a big cement project.

Because of the weather, we assumed the contractors wouldn't pour until the end of the month.  In order to cut almost $1000 out of the cost, we decided to dig all the prep work ourselves. Neil had done about half of it and then had to go out of town for business. The next day, they came by and said they would be ready on May 8th. So, it was up to me to finish the rest of the cement preparation. I dug for almost 2 hours and only got 4' x 4'  square done because I was trying to help kids simultaneously. My plan was to finish the 20 remaining feet in the dark after they went to bed. Lucky for us, Sam saved the day and volunteered to finish digging for me. He had it all done by the time I served dinner. Hooray for awesome Brothers!!

The final issue to solve the day before the pour was sprinklers. Our sprinkler repairman came to the house at about 9:00 p.m. totally exhausted from a hard day's work. He could hardly stand, let alone think straight, so I sent him home. He returned the next day right as Neil returned from work and, somehow, the two of them got everything completely ready. The pour went smoothly, and now we have such a nice sidewalk going through the garden and a much needed extension to the back patio and driveway. It sure eliminates a LOT of mud in the back yard.

May also means Mother's Day, and this mother's day was a great one. As is tradition, Neil took care of all meals, diapering, and helped the kids make me cards. He always makes such a great dinner that I wonder why I don't let him in the kitchen more often...

Days like this remind me that I really am living the dream. I'm so lucky to have this good life.

The most prolific flower we had blooming in May were dandelions. I decided to eliminate them by popping them up one by one and then spray the roots with broadleaf weed killer. The kids were good to help me for about 20-minute bouts and then play in the yard while I kept going. We sang "Spoonful of Sugar" from Mary Poppins while we worked, and we actually had a lot of fun.

Speaking of Mary Poppins, I spent some time this month prepping for an audition to be in a show the local community theater is putting on. Grace and I saw signs advertising it as we drove to school one day. She acted really interested in doing it, but when we looked up the details, we found that children needed to be 8-years-old to try out. So, I tried out instead. It was a really great learning experience for her to see what it takes to get on stage. She is always talking about wanting to perform, but when put on the spot, she gets in her shell and has a hard time. Grace was my little coach, listening to me practice singing my audition piece and studying the show. Then, she got to come with me to the two-hour audition. I really had to get out of my own shell as we learned and then performed dance steps to "Step in Time." Then, she reminded me to remove my gum before I sang my solo. It was so fun.

I made it to call-backs which happened at 8:30 on a Tuesday night. This was the acting portion of the audition. All the memories of auditions past came flooding back as I remembered why I usually didn't score lead roles in my childhood. I can't act. Still. It turns out that the lesson I thought I was teaching Grace about getting out of her shell on stage is one that I still haven't completely learned myself!

I returned home that night and found Christopher strapped in his carseat, inside the laundry room, screaming out a tantrum. He woke up about an hour after I had put him down and Neil tried everything to help him, but to no avail. Thus, I was once again reminded that this is not the season of life for me to have much leisure outside of my home. My family needs me, and I don't want to miss out on all the good stuff here.

School ended May 22, and as an end-of-year present, Neil purchased about 50 classic children's chapter books to read to the kids this summer. Grace and Kade automatically sorted the books into their own piles- "girl stories" and "boy stories." We already started on Swiss Family Robinson, and they are loving it!

On Memorial Day, we joined the Bennions in Orem to honor Neil's Bennion and Tobler Great-grandparents with the kids. The fallen Utah soldiers was the more exciting part of the cemetery for the kids and they skipped through the flags with their cousins, Cara, Jonah and Lucy Swan, and had a grand time.