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.