But, I may just catch up before Christmas??? Who knows! So sit back and enjoy the peek back!

Anyway, May. Well… Mother’s Day which means Mother’s Day photos. Of course since the weather was decent we drove down to the end of our road and took photos on the path. You can check out the photos HERE since this post is HUGE already!

Ken bought me the most adorable Totoro socks. We went to church. It was a lovely day.

May also found us at Mall of America at what I felt was one of the happiest places on earth… TIM HORTONS! There are multiple locations in state now, and I have visited more than a few!!

All out of Legos!

May was also Sean’s yearly visit. He drove down this year. We had a lot of fun with him.

Emanuel and Trinity got their white belts in karate. More on that HERE.

Of course we continued swimming lessons and visited ClubY. With myself keeping suitably busy as well.

New stationary machines!

Zander and Gavin had track.

I even got my hands on some back in production Clearly Canadian!!!

For lack of a bonfire we got creative making s’mores.

Ken and I tried our hand at some minor landscaping.

We even tried some backyard gardening.

My best gardener with her Gypsy dog toy pal

dead heading in pj’s

Berry bushes!

And we bought a can crusher which was fun for the kids for about… a week.

We had company… and went visiting.

Cousin Robbie

Schwartz family

Snoopy!

Crochet…

With Gavin

School…

Reading in the best vantage points

Eating out…

Walks to the park…

It was a busy month looking back! I forget how busy when the days pass by.

A sweet apology

sparklers!

Emanuel perfected his bicycle riding.

Quiet moment!

Toad!

May tends to be absolutely lovely here so we try to take full advantage with LOTS of time outside. 

And in the sprinkler.

We got started on our planter boxes as well. Tomatoes and cucumbers this year. 

Plus Ken and I snuck out for a wedding.

Congrats you two!

I even had my very own Mother’s Day (not professional of course) photo shoot! 

We had a field trip to a local museum with homeschool buddies.

We broke out the freezies.

And worked on our meager landscaping skills.

Climbed trees.

Went on long walks. And learned our route to the YMCA.

Had lunch outdoors.

And started our Canada unit. 

We even managed a visit with the Schwartz family.

And S’mores on the bbq… improvising!

One of the things I love about May in Minnesota is that it does warm up. And this year we took full advantage!

Yup slowly but surely we are working our way to current life… it has just seemed like the year has slipped away before we could truly grasp it! But on I go… May…

Well, what happens in May? Mother’s Day… that is the big one.

Mother’s Day dinner with Nana and Baba

But we had so much more going on… Spring means sunshine and park days! We do have a couple nearby.

It also means (in Texas), roses are big, gorgeous and mailable… Gammie has always sent us beautiful blooms from her garden that seem to make it in record time for the most part, smell and petals intact!

Garage sales have started back up as well. A goldmine for books, toys and the odd piece of clothing… especially when they are walking distance.

The hot find for this year – LITTLEST PET SHOP pieces! Trinity and Echo are now addicted to them. Odd little bobble head things.

Miss Trinity completed a couple workbooks, as did Emanuel.

We dressed up fancy for church, especially when there was singing to be done for the Cherub Choir!

Scouts figured highly in our activities around the month of May… anything to fulfill Emanuel’s arrow points. This is a game where you throw washers into a pie plate. All the kids enjoyed that one! Noisy though.

One of Trinity’s birthday presents was a knot it yourself fleece blanket with a Hello Kitty theme. Trinity was such a go getter with this one – her goal was to finish in time for the Family Night movie at the YMCA… she made it!

Miss Echo was gifted a lovely selection of shoes thanks to the Schwartz family’s neighbour! What a blessing!!

We took the whole family for a special outing to the carousal at one of the smaller malls.

The kids rescued some free chairs from the end of the neighbour’s drive as well. Decent condition and rather comfy!

May also marked the beginning of this year’s straw bale garden. Nana and Baba are gone so much now they figured they would set it up and let the boys go with it. The results were… varied… but they did enjoy the process of setting things up, planting and such.

It is surprising how quickly winter melts away around here. The kids are always quick to embrace that change, really they are quick to embrace each and every season with a great deal of enthusiasm.

Cousin Robbie even found the time for a visit! A college student now we see a lot less of him but the visits we do have are terrific!

We ended the month with a trip to the zoo (Como) with Aunty Shandai and Uncle Ravyn. Sometimes a place takes on a whole new experience just by adding some amazing company. So sit back and enjoy the inevitable photo overflow!!!! Happy May!!! (belatedly!)

We picked a busy day and had to park away and take the shuttle which the kids LOVED

Sea Lion

this little guy was all over the place within arm’s reach!

Bonsai!!!

You can find the rest of the month’s images (many from the zoo) HERE. Can’t resist sharing these!!!

And of course we spent a lot of time with the Schwartz family! Even met the neighbour’s baby.  Now that we have snow it is fun to look back at all this green warm sunshine!

Don’t forget Home Depot with Daddy and Baba!

And our time with Kites and the Wind (resources HERE).

And tons more but instead… a few more pics and then bop up to that link at the zoo section and see the overflow! Bask in the warm images with our cold winter just beginning!

Trinity’s birthday party (note Novak boys)

Two new blue bracelets!

Feeding the Starving Children with Scouts

Easter shoes thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Mike!