The Last Month!

The world's favorite season is spring. All things seem possible in May. 

- Edwin Way Teale

I found that quote and quite liked it. Though our May has not held anything grand...not exactly dreaming the impossible dream around here...there is a very still and quiet moving forward, progression in its baby phases, learning in its constant round...a lack of blogging in general as well. :)

But, this weekend I have caught up. Largely due to an injured foot that forces me to take it a little easier than normal. Though I've stayed somewhat busy, I am taking more time to just sit down considering that when I do attempt to walk, I do it rather gimp-ily and am left with a sore foot. So, in moments here and there, I take that sit-down time at the computer and have been catching up! 

What happened to my foot, you may ask?

As I explained to my friend, Carrie, in an email...

"I still maintain that the best way to get a one-year-old into a minivan when he doesn't want to is to do some sort of chicken-like dance and sing some goofy "let's go bye-bye" song while moving blindly backwards.

Even if it makes you lose your footing when you almost run over one of your other kids and do a strange twist trying not to land on them and fold your foot in half with all your weight on it."

Yeah, that about sums it up.

Painful.

Livable.

A little embarassing.

But still painful! 

Anyway, that is where I find myself and perhaps it was a blessing in disguise because I have gotten a lot more rest this weekend than I've gotten in a long time...especially with the week of horrible up-with-Ben nights we've had in the last week! Oh, teething, you horrible monster you!

So, I've created a few posts about specific moments of our month down below and here I shall give a quick glance over our general doings. 

The things we have found to be possible in May, if you will.

First and foremost (and not only because it is chronologically the first happening!), we made homemade bread!!!!  I have always wanted to make our own bread but it just seemed so out of reach. I pictured me slaving away in the kitchen, making a huge mess and wearing myself out only to have the kids crying for my attention...and one day I decided to just DO IT.  And to alleviate my worries of alienating the kids while I worked, I simply enlisted their help!  (Which takes five times as long as doing it myself and makes five times the mess...well...maybe...)

All set up for the big day...ingredients and recipe...

Oh, also, once I decided to attack the bread making as a family, I thought that perhaps one other thing I had long been unable to fit into my schedule without neglecting the kids could use a new perspective and family effort...

Mopping the kitchen floor. Yikes, this never gets done...and anyone who has spent time at our house can tell you so. It's so sad, isn't it? But, anyway, I decided on a new method...

I soaked a bunch of towels in the bathtub, wrung them out and then, with the kids' help, laid them out over one area of the kitchen floor after sweeping it.  No soapy water making it slippery for the kids, no "don't walk through here!" yelling while I work...just towels on the floor, soaking through old pieces of cereal or old juice stains that have embedded into my beautiful floors.  After a while, I (and the kids) scoot all the towels together, scrubbing as we go, gather up the towels and run a dry towel along the freshly washed area. Ooh, I also run the wet towels along the baseboards as I pick them up. Double duty.

Here are my old towels, hard at work.

Meanwhile, we worked on bread. James takes a closer look at what we're mixing.

That's great, just stick your little nose right in there.

The boys liked the kneading.

And Bethany really liked playing in the flour when we were all done!

She became really helpful with picking up the towels and moving them to other spots...she's a natural at this new mopping thing!

And, later, we enjoyed some yummy yummy homemade whole wheat bread with our dinner. It was a great day for me! Who knew it was possible to make homemade bread, mop my floor AND keep my kids happy??

Another May day we added to our list of new possibilities by doing another project as a family! I know, look at us!

We had our misting system installed (thanks to JC's hard work) and found that on our balcony it made the wood floor quite slippery. No good. So, we shopped around for some sort of something or other to lay down. Found some cheap indoor/outdoor carpeting and gave it a whirl!

Turns out it was the perfect thing.

Ben helps JC lay it down...

and gets a high five!

Bethany gives it a shot and proves to be a handy little girl.

And, of course, then James got his turn. We're so lucky to have such willing kids! Who knew it was possible to take on a project, go shopping, find the perfect solution and put it all together as a family within two hours!!!

As a present on the last day of school, Bethany's teachers gave her a little sunflower growing kit and I thought she was adorable getting it all planted and ready to go (grow?)

She did the whole thing by herself! She surprises me every day with what she's capable of doing...things both large and small. She's growing up so much.

To celebrate the end of the school year, our ward had a primary activity day at a greenbelt near our home. Now, if there is one thing that has not been very possible in the past couple of years it's attending anything like this! Large crowd, lots of attention on the kids, lots of stuff they don't especially appreciate...and two parents who end up rather frazzled and run ragged by trying to keep up, trying to keep the kids happy, talk to people who are trying to talk to us, be clung to and climbed on by three little ones, etc. SO, since we're slowly but surely growing out of all that (for the most part), we decided that it was worth it to get Bethany to one of her first primary activities...so, off we went as a family.

Didn't go so well. 

Started off wrong when the older kids in the ward decided that small children clinging to their parents apparently need to be chased down, poked at and teased.

Yep. Thanks for that.

All three of our kids turned to melt-down mode...but we still gave it a shot. We managed to get them to play one of the games set up!  Now, granted, we were the only ones at this particular area which helped immensely...but here they are attempting a sponge relay race!

JC tried to give them the general idea by running back and forth and showing them how to squeeze the sponge to let all the water out into the bucket.

James started catching on to the sponge thing.

And Ben liked the running part.

They actually kept at it for quite a while and had a good time!

Ben even tried the big slide that was set up.

After that, things sort of fell apart again and we headed home.

They played on our front driveway with the hose.

Equally fun, apparently. At least for now.

But we actually attempted a social event and it went...okay. :) Who knew that was possible?

The kids have taken to welcoming JC home from work by enticing him to play in the ballpit with them. Which, I think, he enjoys as much as they do! Here, he has just sent Ben sailing across a cushion of balls...that open-mouthed expression you see on Ben's face is glee, not horror...in case you were wondering.

What I'd like to state about welcoming JC home from work that fits into the "anything is possible" theme is this: 

For a while, just having JC work a part time job was really hard on those of us left at home. With so much change over the past few years and so much adjusting, hard work and pure survival we've been experiencing, it was hard to have anything to give to anything outside of this house.

BUT, JC has been consistently working twelve hour days for weeks, maybe months, now and we are doing FINE. We miss him a lot when he's gone and boy does he work hard but we are FINE. It's nice to be in a "normal" place and know that even when he is gone a lot or when I have something extra going on that takes me away from the house...we are all FINE. Who knew that was possible? :)

Next thing we've been up to...we have a standing playdate with our little friend, Rowdy. Rowdy comes with a mommy named Heidi and the six of us have had a great time hanging out together over the last while.  It's great to have something to look forward to on a Monday morning!  And, you know what? Monday mornings tend to be the day my house is in the worst shape ever. The weekend kind of tears our house apart and leaves a lot to be desired in the way of order of any sort! Yet, every Monday morning, I welcome our friends over and though I may make an occasional comment, I, for the most part, am fine with Heidi and Rowdy seeing my house in near disaray.  Who knew THAT would ever be possible for me and my perfectionistic tendencies?? Haha...but having some friends to chat with and play with gives us what we need at the beginning of our week so I swallow my pride and let them step over toys, find pieces of food on the floor and witness us in all our glory. :)

On this particular Monday, Bethany discovered that an office chair makes for a great ride for the boys. And started to spin them.

James had fallen asleep during a little movie and, poor guy, missed all the fun! I can't believe he slept through it all either!

Then, Bethany and Ben got a turn together...

with Rowdy doing the spinning!

How cute is that face?

Then it was back to the boys...just chillin together.

After this, there was some more spinning.We joked that we were surprised none of them had lost their breakfasts!

And, later that afternoon, I heard from Heidi...

Rowdy had thrown up in the car on the way home.

I felt so bad.  

They still come see us though. :)

But we have not played the spinning game again.

But we did play the mopping game again another day! We moved the kitchen table away from its spot to this area...

and the kids knew the drill!

Well, James was more content to just watch and play with his dragon.

That's okay though because two out of three kids involved in helping with chores around the house? Wouldn't have guessed that was possible with toddlers and preschoolers. Woohoo!!

In addition to bread making, for some time I have wanted to make our own dried fruit. We eat it as a snack so often and it would be nice to save a little money, be a little more self-sufficient and do it ourselves!  Well, the time finally came and we got a dehydrator!  I can't wait to use it over the next few years, especially once we have our own fruit growing well enough to have extra to dehydrate and save!

We got a bunch of fruit cut up...

and the kids placed it all on the trays themselves!

I don't have an after picture but they turned out pretty darn good! I can't wait to try it again. In fact, tomorrow I think we're making beef jerky!  That sounds like an adventure!  

So, here we are...working together on chores, projects, cooking, growing in the ways of provident living, social interaction and normality. :)

I'd say I like May.