More May

I have lost sleep (not a ton though) over how much money I have spent in mulch, over the past 4 years, when I found out I can buy a whole truck load for $2 at our county yard waste recycling place. A whole truck load for $2!! The boys went with me to witness the big backhoe in action. They were amazed!

They have been helpful spreading the mulch where we need it. It's nice have a few set of extra hands!

Lincoln's handwriting has come a long way. This was a paper he had to write a few weeks ago. Now, he can write on each single line. I have enjoyed having him home this year, but he has decided (after making a list of pros and cons) that he will be returning to public school in the  fall. I think the biggest deciding factor was that Drake was going to be starting Kindergarten.

Here he is playing a made-up game with Drake on the trampoline. He told me he was on level 15. I'm pretty sure the pool floatie was being used as handcuffs.

We had non stop rain for about a week. We got to the point, where we still had to get outside and play. The lightning stopped, so we played in the puddles.

I even jumped in with them too! It will be a precious memory for me; all holding hands and squealing together.

Beauty Parlor!! Dorothy loves to sit in front of her vanity and have me put on as many bows as I can get in her hair.

Grandma sings a song to all the grandkids that goes, "Rock a bye, don't you cry, we'll go to grabdma's. Around the hills and down the bends to see all of the ______ (animal and then do animal noise)." We were singing that together one night and I asked her what Doroty says. She responded, "that mine." She is big into playing with babies right now. She took baby outside for a nice swing.

Drake is now a preschool graduate. After all that hard work of coloring, singing songs, and learning letters, he was able to walk down the aisle in his cap and gown.

They had an after party where they introduced each child. Drake said he wants to be a scientist when he grows up. He was so sweet to give his teachers long, tight hugs. I'm really so proud of this little guy for having such a great year!

We start Memorial Day weekends off with a Family Home Evening to explain to the kids why we have a long weekend. I think it's important to have them respect the holiday, but I also think it's a great time to make some family memories.

Friday, we went swimming with some friends and then we went to our neighbor's house for dinner. The boys played hard outside! The Sherrills always tease Dorothy about how much she can eat (In a very loving way), so they laughed  when Lincoln came over with his plate and said, "Please keep my burger away from Dorothy." Saturday, we had a great family day. Lincoln finished the 4th Harry Potter book, so he was able to watch the movie. We also went swimming again and went out to one of our favorite Mexican restaurants. Get this...the kids were angels at dinner!! We didn't have to entertain them or pick up tons of food off the ground. They all enjoyed their food and SAT in their chairs. It was pretty epic!

Cleve and the kids came down to hang out on Sunday after church. The kids got along great and spent most of the time racing and playing on the trampoline. It makes me so happy when kids go play outside!

The kids planned all of our activities for Monday. It started off with a little daddy wrestling time. 

Followed by building a birdhouse.

Our finished product...

Drake painted the front and Lincoln painted the back red. It turned out pretty patriotic with the colors and the pennies on top!

The kids jumped on the trampoline with a hose attached. They were sliding like baseball players, and Dorothy figured out how to do a somersault.

We took a break for lunch and a nap for Dorothy, but came back outside that evening. Lincoln hooked his big wheels to the cozy coupe with a bungee cord and have Drake and Dorothy rides around the driveway. Everyone was so sweaty, we came inside to eat snow cones before baths.

4 more days until Lincoln is done with school and we can really do Summer!

May

For the past 2 weeks, our house has had 2 visitors! Kipling and Chaucer are the Edwards' dogs. My boys have loved being able to play "bark and chase," take the dogs outside, and give them treats. 

Drake discovered it was pretty fun to pee outside the same time the dogs do. It's pretty difficult (I assume) to go potty and hold a leash, so he ended up with multiple pee pee pants and pee pee feet, before I had to tell him NOT to do that!

I have discovered I'm not ready for a canine to enter the Shinsel family yet!

Dogs are a lot of work!!

Lincoln asked Dave if he could get me a dog for Mother's Day. When Dave said no, Lincoln asked about a fish. Meet Blade Blue!

It is entertaining to watch him swim around. Drake made me a very sweet picture at school.

And look at the magnetic picture frame Dorothy helped make in Nursery.

I had such a nice Mother's Day. The kids behaved so well, and were great listeners getting ready for church. Dave has early morning meetings, so it's up to me to get everyone dressed and fed. At church, they sang so sweetly with the rest of the Primary. They knew the words and were smiling at me the whole time. It's one of those moments where you think, "can heaven possibly be this good?" Later that day, we went up to Hickory. Dave made a delicious Indian dinner and the kids played army outside most of the night.

School is wrapping up for the year. Lincoln participated in dress like your favorite book character. He made a great Harry Potter! 

He made the Griffindor crest himself. He is on the 3rd book right now, and loved the stories. He is allowed to read 20 pages a night, while in bed. 

Lincoln also earned his 2nd stripe in Jujitsu. He is making wonderful progress, and it's fun to see him and Dave practice together.

Dorothy fell down some brick stairs at a friend's house. Her little face got pretty busted, and she keeps pointing to it and saying "owie."

Drake posed for his Spring preschool photos. This little guy is all registered for kindergarten in the fall!

I asked Lincoln to take the trash out and some spilled on the ground. When I asked him to sweep it up, he put up a fit because he said the trash was nasty. Drake was so sweet to say, " Don't worry, I'll do it for you." It was a proud mommy moment to watch them work together.  A few days later, when we were  bringing home the fish, I asked the boys to get their seatbelts on quickly. Drake didn't listen, so I let Lincoln hold the fish bowl. Drake was very upset about it, so Lincoln asked, "Mom, is it ok if I let Drake hold the fish?" It makes me feel like I'm doing something right as a mom when I see their kindness to eachother.

We went strawberry picking with our neighbors at our favorite farm.

Dorothy had her first tea party! 

Lincoln and big bunny also attended and helped take some pictures. Lincoln showed Dorothy the proper way to hold your pinky!

We had peach mango herbal tea and bagels together.

Dorothy loved it all, but is still heavily influenced by 2 big brothers! She was trying to eat her bagel with a knife stabbed through it.

Spring is here!

This is my most favorite season! The blooming trees and flowers make me giddy. Dorothy also enjoys all the flowers: she must have picked ten before I saw her doing it.

All the kids jump at the chance to help water.

We had a terrible storm one night, so we lost power. It was more light outside than inside, so we had breakfast on the back porch. 

It's amazing that the kids tend to remember and talk about small things like that.

Besides the flowers blooming, I also love being able to spend tons of time outside. The kids enjoyed watermelon and water balloons one afternoon.

Another afternoon, we played with cousins and had icees. This pictures just screams "childhood" to me.

The trampoline has already got lots of use. We even got BB on there!!

Drake's good friend Abby came over for an afternoon.

After playing outside, Dorothy was glad to have someone to play dress up with her.

Update on the kiddos:

I haven't seen Lincoln dress up in costumes much anymore, so it made me smile to see this.

He is growing up so fast! His feet are like man feet and he is already up to my shoulder. He and Dave have been going to Brazilian Jujitsu at least once a week. Lincoln earned his first stripe earlier this month, which means he has shown progress. Dave earned a stripe this weekend. 

He has been reading Harry Potter, loves to draw and is such a creative dude.

Drake has really enjoyed preschool and has earned the name "hot shot." He loves animals and jumping around the house. I have to brace myself when I hear him say, "Oh, come here you." It means he is running to me, getting ready to hug me. I'm pretty sure he has been teaching Bear Bear how to take selfies!

Dorothy is saying more. She says the boys' names, night-night, there it is, poo poo, potty, and mine. Whenever Dave or I get our shoes on or get our keys, she starts shouting, "Me, Me, Me," so she won't get left behind. Even thought she wakes up before 7am, she isn't a morning person. It takes her a little while to not be grumpy! She gets very upset if we give her a drink in a sippy cup. She wants to be just like her brothers and use a regular cup.

She had a fever one morning, which is the only reason she wanted to slept in my arms. 

The days are getting busier with school winding down and end of year activities. As much as I enjoy Spring, I am looking forward to the summer, when our schedules are lighter.