Madness, Mess, and Merriment in The Month of May.

Wow, forgive me for that post title.
I think it came out a lot more obnoxious than I thought it would...and yet I am too lazy to think of another title. Or even stop typing long enough to delete it and try again.
Anyway...it's been a happening couple of weeks around here.

Side note - - I just got up and walked out of the office to get a drink of water. I ran right into the door frame.

Back on track - - we're going to take a tour of the goings-on of the last fourteen or so days.
Keep your arms and legs inside the tour vehicle at all times.

First stop - Mothers' Day.
For the first time since I became a mother, I did not take a picture with my kids on Mothers' Day! It just went right on past without me remembering to do so in a moment that worked. I am actually a little sad about this. So...I may or may not take a picture like, next Sunday, and sneak it back into this post and forever pretend I took it on the real Mothers' Day.
Anyway, it was a wonderful day. I woke up with a grateful heart (at six a.m. to "Mama, can I have a SNAAAACK?") and I just felt peaceful throughout the day. I even found the missing church sock I needed for one of the boys. Every day is hit or miss with small children and a household to attempt to run, but Mothers' Day or not, it is always nice to be surprised by a day with many wonderful moments and not too many horrifying ones. :)
The kids were so so sweet, they knew it was a special day for their Mama and they kept reminding me. My favorite part of the day was when they sang in Sacrament Meeting. It was the first time all three of the kids have been involved in something like that together. And they all were brave enough to go up to the stand without much coaxing! Bethany really watched out for her brothers. Ben would occasionally look over his shoulder at her for reassurance and she would smile and gently turn his head back to the front. I love watching them together. Even with my intriguing new book and fantastic new blender (Ninja! Yessss.), I think getting sung to by my kids was the best part of my Mothers' Day.
It's also fun that now Ben walks around the house singing, "Mother, I WUV you, Mother, I DO..."
Now if I could just train him to start the day with that instead of "Mama, can I have a SNAAACK?"
Eh. Oh well.

So, we have been working toward a summertime of training these little ones to become contributing members of this household. :) I am starting to make plans for little jobs the kids can own this summer.
We had a Family Home Evening lesson about working together and being a team.
THEN, we put it into action.
Together, as a team, we made ice cream.
Sweet is the work, right?

We got it all mixed up.
(And yes, this was real ice cream...cream and all. Special occasion.)

Then, to get it nice and shook up and ready freddy to go, we utilized a #10 can (learned this trick from JC's mom) and kept it a-rollin for fifteen minutes.

It was pretty fun!
I think it actually did help internalize the concept of working together.

We got it to a pretty good milkshake consistency so we stuck with that!

Now we will see how the teamwork goes once there isn't a delicious dairy treat involved!!

Moving on...
Just thought it worth noting that James insisted he needed his face painted as Ironman one day last week.
I think the jury is still out as to my success with this one...
But he sure is cute.

Okay, so here's the really fun part of the last week . . .
I had decided a couple of weeks ago that I was going to be cleaning out every room in the house, including a couple of highly neglected closets. Every day, no matter what else the day threw at me, I tried to get through one room and maintain the rooms I had thus far completed.
I know, life at this stage is a bit too unpredictable for projects like that, but it was certainly worth a shot. And it was going well!
I was working my way toward having certain rooms done and then I was going to allow myself to detour into the room that needed the most work - - my "office" downstairs. It will someday function as my blogging, planning, crafting, writing, organizing, making, doing, sitting, etc. room. For now, it has been a complete catch-all for all the things that may or may not someday pertain to any kind of daydream I have had, organization I will have, or project I might have. Piled high and deep. Pictures, journals, manuals, craft supplies, vacuum attachments, sharpies, notes scrawled out about this idea or that...just thrown in there.
It was time to do something about it. Or, at least about organizing it. So it can all wait happily for me.
Well, it was almost time. It was all planned for Monday. Which, as it turns out, would be today.
But then Wednesday came.
And, suddenly, it was no longer Monday's job.

My stuff was all over the playroom like this:

And all over the hallway like this:

Why? you might ask? Why couldn't I wait just a few more days?
Because of this:

Which turned into this:

Because of this:

Following?
Okay, here's the rundown...James earned a dollar for drinking his super-powered smoothie back when he was super-sick. With that dollar, he made a purchase at the dollar store. (New favorite place. The kids call it 'the toy store.') He bought a little snake which, upon being soaked in water for four days, would grow to be several times its original size.
So, of course, we set it to soaking. And, of course, we used the bathtub that we never ever use! Which, as you may have guessed, just so happens to be right above the room I have been telling you oh-so-fervently about.
The one I was five days away from cleaning out.
But no.
The leak, and therefore, flood of sorts, had to happen in the days just before my appointment with the-room-which-shall-not-be-named.
And I had to discover it after it had already been going for a few days.
Awesome.
But really...it did end up being pretty awesome. I mean, not the flood part and not the stuff everywhere part. But, the fact that there were so many important things in that room and not-a-one got ruined...that is pretty amazing.
I was also sort of amazed that, even though JC was working when I discovered it, I still had help. Who knew children could be so useful? :) Bethany worked right alongside me, getting everything out of that room. It was really great to rely on her for the help I needed. It is nice to feel like we actually are a family team!
Anyway, so that was our latest unexpected adventure.
It kind of offset life and order (or whatever resemblance of order we ever have around here...) for a few days but I am feeling a bit back to normal now.
And if anyone ever needs a fantastic job done, water restoration-wise, we have a great referral to make. We had some great help from a great guy in our great ward.

Can you tell I'm feeling a bit perky tonight? Maybe it's because it's no longer Monday, I am actually finishing this post on Tuesday night and I just got my hair did.
Always helps.
I have a great referral to make for that too if you ever need a fantastic job done, hair-wise.
I get some great help from a great girl in my great ward.

Alright, enough.
I will end this story with...

...a shot of James oh-so-happy with his friend snake.
Who caused us turmoil.
(Like stuff from downstairs all over the kitchen floor, as you can see. Oh wait...that's actually kind of normal...)
Because friends forgive things like that.
So, yeah. That dollar store snake ended up costing a whole lot more than a dollar.
And he's already broken. Haha, ripped in half in fact. And I promise I didn't do it.

What I DID do was get pictures of our first non-lettuce harvest from our garden.
It's tomato time!
And...pepper time!

Bethany pointed out the ripest tomatoes. Luckily, there were three, so all three kids got to pick one. Crises averted. Though two were big and one was kind of little. So...there was still crises. But it's not about that right now.

Ben got the first pick.

And boy is he excited!

Bethany, and her baby, were next.

Cute girl with a cute tomato!

James was next and a bit distraught that the only tomato left was the smaller one.
But he went for it anyway.

And was happy...even though it was the small one.
Yes, as you can see, he had been quite upset that he had to pick the small one.
But at least he could still smile about it!

Daddy gathered the tomatoes to take inside for taco salad.



I let him have first pick at the peppers!
He went for the biggest green one!

Bethany picked one too.

And Ben acted as the transporter.
(Watching him take this pepper into the house was way better than the entirety of the movie titled as such.)

Delivered!

Everything got a good wash and here we are!

Three tomatoes, a green bell pepper, and a red one.
This is so exciting for us...and yet I know it is hardly the harvest most gardeners experience! Haha, it is a start!

Ben was literally rubbing his hands together in anticipation.
The kids love tomatoes.

Mmmm...juicy!

It is fun to get stuff from the garden. This year is definitely a starting out year for us but it has been really fun to get a taste (haha) for it all!


The kids had a lot of fun at FHE this week...we have been talking about prayer in the last few months. We have had little lessons on the different parts of a prayer...one week talking about who we pray to and why...then we had a week talking about what kinds of things we are thankful for, who we are thankful to and why...then the kinds of things we ask for from Heavenly Father...then about Jesus and His role as our advocate. I wanted to do a lesson to kind of sum that all up and talk about the parts of the prayer together and the order and stuff.
I found this online...
The Prayer Train
I loved it, thought it was so cute and simple! I usually just kind of fly by the seat of my pants with a lesson but it was fun to try this out. The kids loved it!

Here's our train!
We sat in our train to listen to the story about the little engine that could when she asked for Heavenly Father's help. :)
And each seat of the train represented a part of a prayer.
(First one, "Dear Heavenly Father," second one, "We thank thee," third one, "We ask thee, " fourth one, "In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."
JC ended up having to work late last minute so I got to fill in his spot!

After we finished our story, we each colored our own prayer train with cars reminding us of the parts of prayer to cut out and hang by our beds!

This was the first time I had ever seen Ben so focused on trying to color in the lines.
Bethany and I got a giggle out of it!

It was a really fun little activity. I need to start doing more planned lessons and activities like this...it seemed to help keep their attention...somewhat. :)
I love that they are getting older and can participate in Family Home Evening and they can understand what we are teaching. And, most of the time, with some of the comments they share, they are teaching me as much as I am teaching them! Sounds cliche, but it's true.

I am just so thrilled to have our little family.
That's all.

So, yes...the month has gone by quickly. It has been the same uneventful eventful that seems to be the theme of our life in general!
Speaking of going quickly, James is in the middle of his last week of preschool. Ever. It is wigging me out. And Bethany just has one more week after this one of kindergarten. Ever.
I think I need to lay down.

But just for a minute because it's not even eight o'clock.
Though perhaps I should start going to bed that early. Because so far this week, a child has gotten me out of bed before five thirty every morning.
That'll show me to pray for Heavenly Father's help in getting out of bed in the mornings to go walking. Huh.
That prayer train. It works.