May Madness

I know, I know, the term is March Madness. But in this house, MAY is the month of madness. It’s a good kind of madness, though.

These two DESPERATELY want to have a pet. So I let them keep a caterpillar in a jar. Since this picture was taken, the caterpillar has died. Then they had another one PLUS a pet snail. The second caterpillar lasted quite a while before it died and Mr. Snail has been in a jar on my kitchen cart for over a week now. It makes a great pet.

Bethany’s garden has been growing and we have been able to harvest lettuce, spinach, and radishes so far! It’s kind of thrill to go cut lettuce for your lunch 5 minutes before you eat it.

The WA Ball Family is officially in training. We are going to Yellowstone with the SoCal Ball’s in August…and we do not want them to kick our butts. So we are training. A few weeks ago we did the “Walk of Doom”, otherwise known as the Sehome Hill Arboretum. We did awesome. I think we’ll be fine. Perhaps we will not need to train anymore…

At the lookout tower at the top!

I’m pretty sure that isn’t the trail, girls…

Our final GEMS meeting of the year fell on Cinco de Mayo, so of course we had a little party. These are all my counselors, minus the 2 8th grade counselors who took their girls out for dinner. I LOVE these women and they make my job as club coordinator SO easy.

What Cinco de Mayo party is complete without a pinata?

Elise had “tacky day” at school…

I promise you could not see her bare belly when she was standing normally…only in this tacky pose. That would be a little TOO tacky.

Aaahhh, Mother’s Day! I had a beautiful Mother’s Day! Warm sunshine, hugs, gifts, plants, delicious food, and lots of family time with my girls, mom & grandma. All these amazing females in my life. I am so blessed.

Except I’m not sure my mom and grandma have got the “crazy photo” thing down just yet…

One day I got to go to the Beauty Studio of Becca & Elise.

I have been looking for MONTHS for an old ladder to lean against the wall for blanket storage. I have seen a few, but they haven’t been just right. And if I am going to pay $50+, it’s going to have to be just right. Last Saturday I found one at a garage sale. It wasn’t just right…but it was close…and it was only $10. Woot! Woot!

This past Saturday was Family Fun Night at school. By far the most popular attractions were the Human Hamster Balls. Becca is in the orange shirt in the one above and Elise is in yellow below.

And no, those “inner tube” holes don’t close up while you run inside. Elise fell out a couple times! It was so FUNNY!

The girls had a ton of fun running around with their friends. As they say, “Why do they call it FAMILY Fun Night? We just want to play with our FRIENDS?”  So true.

Next up: May track meets!

Aaaaannnd….the rest of April

What follows is a little picture storytelling of the rest of our lives from April…

The teacher I worked for had a birthday and she LOVES chewy, gummy, sweet candy, so I made her a candy bouquet and candy cupcakes. The candy bouquet was almost a Pinterest FAIL, but due to my genius crafting skills, the bouquet made it to school in one piece. The multi-color cupcake was a Pinterest SUCCESS!! The teacher was surprised and loved the candy-themed celebration.

My sweet friend gave me a flour sack towel with the this turquoise Ball jar (because I collect Ball jars…you know…because our last name is Ball…) for my birthday! I LOVE it, but didn’t really have a place to hang the towel, SO….Becca came up with the great idea to make it into a pillow! I bought red & white chevron fabric (which unfortunately you can’t see in the picture) and MADE A PILLOW! It really turned out so well! Therefore, I am not only a genius crafter, I am also domestic.

Sarah brought gifts from her CA trip – very fitting for all her sisters. Thanks, Sarah!

It’s beginning to feel like summer lately…warmer days, staying light in the evenings…we LOVE this!

And a friend from church worked for us and fixed our fence that was falling down and it turned out great! Now as soon as he’s done adding a dining room to his house, I think he’s going to expand our patio for us!

Ed had Good Friday off, so we got to have a breakfast date at Starbucks! Then we went to Lowe’s and shopped for a new grill. Such romance. I love it.

There was this tree in front of our porch. I didn’t like it and it blocked my view. So I asked on Facebook if anyone wanted it – said “Free. U dig.” Immediately a friend claimed it and soon, I had no more tree!

And now I’ve planted a hydranga in its place and my porch is now usable as a sitting space.

These should have been in the Easter post…these were our Resurrection Rolls we had for breakfast Easter Sunday morning. Use crescent rolls…dip marshmallows in butter and cinnamon and sugar and roll inside crescent rolls and bake as normal. When you bite into them, they’re EMPTY! Just like the tomb on Easter Sunday morning. Praise the Lord!

There have been some ducks wandering the neighborhood…we assume they live at the pond at the KOA next door. The girls fed them, and so did the neighbor kids. Of course the ducks came back the next day and were fed again! I haven’t seem them in a few days now, so maybe they found another neighborhood with children eager to feed them.

Becca & I went to one of Sarah’s track meets last week…it was a long track meet. But we had lots of fun!

Last weekend was the Pops Concert at school. Sarah was dressed as Prince Eric from The Little Mermaid…all the altos dressed as princes from Disney movies. Her friend was part of another group dressed as Mr. Incredible. It was a FUN evening!

Last Sunday we had a potluck with our life group at church and had a blast with our epic corn hole tournament. Kids and adults all mixed together on teams and my team took SECOND place! I scored the highest of anyone in my family, so I am currently the reigning corn hole queen at my house.

And that does it for April….May is up next!

Pioneer Week

Creative Arts week at school was a BLAST this year…other than the tears that choosing a pioneer outfit produced for a while with my children…The theme was Little House on the Prairie and there were lots of fun activities. Kids dressed up, had a chuckwagon cookout, walked to school one day, took a field trip to the Lynden Pioneer Museum, participated in one-room schoolhouse learning, and even got to feed calves and shear sheep!

We only had one bonnet, so the girls had to take turns.

In the buggy at the museum

Apparently it was a little sunny out there for the cookout! It was a great day! There were grandpas cooking baked beans over a fire in a big pot, cornbread, dried meat and dried apples! Once the kids ate on blankets spread out on the field, they could go to lots of fun stations. Looking out at the field with all the kids dressed in pioneer clothes and the animals and the blankets and wagon, I felt like I was on the set of Little House on the Prairie. Apparently one high schooler (not Sarah) who wasn’t informed of the activities saw what was happening from a distance and asked, “Are there Amish children visiting our school today?” LOL!

(And yes, Tam, that’s your friend helping card the wool. )

Becca was in heaven feeding the calves! Later, she even got to ride a horse! Unfortunately, I had already left and didn’t get a picture of that. A big thank you to all the teachers and moms and community members who helped make this event really memorable for the kids!