May

May went by so quickly!  We had so many little activities going on that it made the month busy and fun.  The boys ran a mile in the school fun run, had soccer games every Saturday, and we worked in the yard almost daily.  Brennan finished up his Let's Play Music with a recital.  He had a special part of playing "I've been to Harlem" on the bells.  We were so lucky to have Omi here for it!  She came and stayed for a few days so we could work on Family History.  Mostly we scanned old photos in to be digitalized.  It was very interesting to see our ancestors and hear mom tell stories.  We were able to upload some photos onto familysearch.org.  If you log onto the site (with your lds account) you can see photos of your ancestors!  Go to "Memories", "Photos", and then "People" and you can scroll through names and view photos.  If you have any photos to add, please do.

Mom and I were able to find and submit some pretty cool information.  Gerbie's aunt, Evelyn Virginia Ellis, was married to her first husband, William C. Jenkins in about 1887, and they had a baby, Lester F. Jenkins.  But sadly, the baby died a year later.  And then just a few months later, her husband William died.  She married later and had children and all her work has been done with them, but none of the information for her first husband and child has ever been done.  We found documentation and so we were able to enter it into family search and print out temple ordinance cards.  Now, we can get William's work done and the family sealed!  It was such a great experience.  I am still trying to get information about Gerbie's great grandfather's family (Nance).  I am really enjoying this all, I feel like a detective! 

We had a great time with Omi, shopping, making food, and reminiscing.  The kids love having her around.  It was really fun and I hope we can do it again soon!

Mother’s day was great, and the lead up to it made it even more special.  The kids were excited to be giving me things and doing things for me.  Aidan is very good at making celebrations special.  He wrapped several presents, some homemade, and put up the “tree”.  Every holiday/birthday where there are presents involved, we put up a tree.  It is a piece of paper with a drawing of a tree that they tape to the wall.  Then all the presents go under the tree.  I love it!  Weston was also very sweet and made me a ring—all by himself.  And I love it—I have gotten several compliments.  Scott was also good to me, helping the kids make it special. They let me sleep in (loved it!) and I had a delicious breakfast of pancakes, bacon, orange juice and strawberries.  We went to Scott’s parents that night for dinner (homemade lasagna) and had a very nice day together.  I must say that I love my kids and I love being a mom, especially to them.

Brennan had a field trip to the zoo and I took Elise and met him there.  It was perfect weather—not too hot, no rain, just slightly overcast.  We had a great time and I loved watching him play with friends from school.  He is one of the happiest kids I know.  He is always joyful.  He plays on a soccer team right now and is doing a great job, but mostly he is just out there having fun, making friends, and smiling and waving.  But once he gets determined, his face gets very serious and he works really hard.  I just love to watch him. 

Elise is starting to be a diva.  But what a cute diva.  The other day I said something about her room, and she looked it there, got frustrated and whined, “My room is a zaster!” (disaster).  She has been playing dress up and princess (mostly Ana and Elsa things).  She always wants her hair to be like Elsa.  Which is great, because otherwise she complains so much when I comb her hair.  Her best friend Halle is over to play daily, but it gets to be a problem if Halle ever goes home.  Elise freaks out and wants to keep playing.  I love that she has such a good friend, though.  They were talking the other day about how they wish they were sisters so they could live together.  

We had a few big activities this month, one was the Grandma Bea Memorial Breakfast and Bike/Run.  We were going to have it the Saturday before Memorial Day, but the weather didnt cooperate.  This year i invited all the nieces and nephews over for a sleepover.  They all came around 7:30 in their pajamas.  I had popcorn and treats for them and they watched a movie.  Then they didn't go to bed.  That was the plan, but instead they just played around a bunch.  I overrestimated their energy.... And unfortunately I was exhausted (I went through some sickness where I was extrememly tired all the time).  Brennan was wise enough to go up to his room.  But, around midnight I think they all fell asleep.  Not too last long, though.  I think the first kid woke up at 5 am and he proceeded to wake up the rest of the kids.  Aidan thought quicky and went up to his room to get another hour of sleep, but basically they were all up and ready to go bright and early.  The girls all slept up in Elise's room and they did great and had such a great timme together.  It rained all morning, so I gave them cold cereal and sent them home.  

On Sunday, we made the rounds to cemetaries.  I am glad that I live close by so many of our ancestors graves.  I have really felt a closeness since starting to get into family history.

I got that day of rest and then we had the kids all over again on Monday morning, with their parents and all the other Daw family for the big run and breakfast.  I bought candy necklaces and put "medals' on each one that said, "Grandma Bea Memorial 2014".  Then we had a delicous breakfast of my homemade pancakes (I learned from last year that Krusteaz pancake mix is NOT the way to go), hashbrowns, eggs, bacon, sausage, syrup, fruit, and OJ or chocolate milk.  I think everyone liked it and I am excited to do it again next year.  Everyone got into a rousing game of soccer and then slowly made their way back home.  

Weston, Aidan, and Brennan have all been playing soccer.  We put Aidan and Brennan on the same team which is really nice because we only have to go to two games on Saturdays instead of three.  Aidan has really improved and has becoe a serious soccer player.  He practices at home by himself all the time and is working to get better and better.  He enjoys playing goalie (which is a bit surprising) but has done a great job and stopping the other team of scoring! 

Aidan also received his Wolf!  His piano lessons and scouts overlapped so he had to miss the first half of scouts every week, so there was a lot of work we had to do together that he didn't get to do with the den.  He did a great job.

As did Weston on finishing his Webelos.  Plus, he got his Arrow of Light and his Religious Knot.  Our cubmaster is the best I have ever seen and he puts on aquite a production every time there is an Arrow of Light ceremony.  This was no exception.  It was a Star Wars theme and Weston was a Jedi that had to earn his "Arrow of Lightsaber Award" by fighting off the dark force, choosing the right, using the force to rescue ships, etc.  It was so much fun and although Weston played down his excitement, he felt pretty special.  Now he is on to 11 year old scouts--and his dad is his leader!  They are going on their first campout the first weekend of June.  I am so happy that Scott and Weston get to do this together and so happy that Weston is excited to have his dad as his leader.  

To end the month, we went on a quick trip to Norma and Elaine's cabin.  It was pretty short, but it was fun.  We stopped and did some shopping in Park City, ate at a fun burger joint, and then roasted marshmallows and just had a fun time together.  The next morning we made a delicious breakfast and then came home--Weston had his last game of the season and then Aidan and Brennan had a game following.  It is nice to be able to get away just for a short period of time at least!