Tra-la, It's May, the Busy Month of May!

Oh my!  On Wednesday we turned our calendar to May and it finally really hit me: May is CRAZY BUSY.  May has always been a bit of a busy month with birthdays and my Open House, but this year is especially action packed.  Part of the reason is that my school year start date had moved up and my students get out on June 4th, so many of the events and responsibilities that used to hit in June are just being added to May (like report cards and all the grading that is involved with those!  Yikes!!!).  Ashlynn's last day is June 6th, so it seems many of her school's June events did the same.  So, I think I'm going to take you, my blog reader, along this crazy ride.  (Lucky you!)

On May 1st I wrapped up my room mom responsibilities of coordinating testing snacks for Ashlynn's class.  I also talked to her class about teacher appreciation week activities that I'm organizing.  If you are ever a room mom, know that it is important to not just communicate with the parents, but that it also really helps to get the kids in on the plans so they are excited and can remind their parents.

On May 2nd I worked.  My lunch colleagues and I are in charge of this year's Volunteer Tea, which we decided to make a Volunteer Breakfast this year.  I multi-tasked through the teaching day as I finished up the centerpieces I was in charge of (well, that and the coffee.  Thanks Dave!).  After school we set up the auditorium and then I rushed home because Ashlynn had her first post-broken wrist gymnastics class.  Fortunately, the class went really well and she had a great time (we were hoping it would be a positive transition back to gymnastics).

On Friday the 3rd we hosted the Volunteer Breakfast.  It was already going to be Hawaiian Day at school, as one of our spirit days, so we went with the Hawaiian theme.  Each volunteer was greeted with a lei as they arrived.  At the end the staff sang a really sweet thank-you song that my teaching partner Tracey had written to the tune of the "Hukilau".  I think it was a success!

The school day was quite busy with my little Hawaiian dressed kiddos.  Oh spirit days, you are fun but exhausting!  I arrive home after nearly 12 hours of being away (left at 6:30ish and arrived home at 6:15ish).  We opted for dinner out, so we had an early Cinco de Mayo dinner at our favorite, Casa del Rey.

Saturday was really busy, but most of it was our own choosing (and it was fun stuff!).

I had seen that the Arboretum was putting on Wild West Days this weekend and mentioned it to the kids, knowing they would probably be interested.  Ashlynn nearly jumped out of her seat and almost immediately dresses up in her pioneer outfit.  Carter got on his cowboy boots, and the kids and I headed over to the Arboretum on a sunny and warm day.

In addition to the Wild West event, the Arboretum also had old outdoor organs and music machines on display throughout the gardens.  They were really cool!

 It wouldn't be a visit to the Arboretum without a few peacock encounters!

They had many fun displays and activities as part of the Wild West event.  We were pressed for time, because we were going to a birthday party at noon, but we made the best of it!

 I'm so glad Ashlynn loves this stuff because I do too and it's fun to have someone to share my enthusiasm.

There was panning for gold.  They even had some "peacock gold" to find, which was gold nuggets with blues and greens.  Fun!

There were roping opportunities.  The guy who worked with my city slicker kids was great, especially since they did not seem to posses any natural talent for roping cattle.

People loved that the kids were dressed up and so many asked about Ashlynn's costume.  We have certainly gotten our money out of that dress!

 Carter's response to my complaints about him never looking at the camera when I want to take his photo:

The kids made tussy mussies.  I had heard the term used for the little bouquets that little girls carry in weddings, but it turns out that they are little collections of herbs that people would carry to cover up the stink of their bodies, before the days of deodorant.

The coach barn was finally open after many months of renovation.  There were real horses in one of the stalls.

 It was fun to watch the stage coach race along the road.

After our Wild West time, we headed home, Ashlynn got changed and we headed over to our friends' son, Grant's 3rd birthday party.

It was kind of trippy because our kids were the "old kids" at the party.  When did that happen?

We came home and I worked on the Teacher Appreciation Week door poster for Ashlynn's teacher.  This year they've asked the room parents to only do a poster board size, which is a good thing because I can put it together ahead of time and just attach it to the door on Mother's Day, unlike last year when my friend Gretchen and I had to do the whole door at the school on Mother's Day afternoon.

Because we had a late lunch and cake in the middle of the afternoon, we weren't very hungry at dinnertime.  We decided to treat the kids to "no dinner, just dessert," so we skipped dinner and just went to Baskin-Robbins.  We took our treats over to library park and ate them by the fountain.

Across the park we noticed that the bubble guy was doing his thing, so after finishing, we headed over to watch and then make bubbles in the twilight. 

 It was Eric's first time and he enjoyed it!

 It got dark, so it was time to go home. 

  We sure live in a great town!

On Sunday the kids started the day their usual way with lots of playing.  Ashlynn was very sweet and played airplanes with Carter. 

In the morning we went to church, but rather than go to the service, Eric and I went to Carter's class as a parents visit day (we were the ONLY ones who stayed with the class!).   After the kids had their music and movement class, we headed home for a quick lunch and then off to Julianna's birthday party at a gymnastics place.  Both kids were invited so we all went to the party.

 

 

It was really fun to see Ashlynn do some of the activities she usually does at her gymnastics class but we don't usually have a good view of. 

 Group jump!  Yay!

Ashlynn and Julianna, friends since they were babies:

  Well, May is certainly off to a busy start!