May...and it's still May :)

It's still May for a couple of more days and I'm posting May pictures :) I'm thinking there should be a prize involved here somewhere...I won't hold my breath waiting! I'm just proud of myself for keeping up with my pictures and actually getting around to posting.

May has been a good month for yard work. Tom and I have done a lot. I wish I would've taken before and after pictures of the yard. We moved into this house almost 14 years ago. The ground is very hard clay. Nothing grows easily. We've pulled a lot of old bushes and junk over the years and my flowerbeds are filled with roots. It's not very conducive to beautiful flowers and wonderful gardens! Our grass, too, has been pretty much non existent for about 4 years. The boys are too big for the yard and have torn up the grass. We've tried to reseed several times without success. Last Fall, we got some grass to grow before the cold weather. This Spring, May (!), we worked extra  hard and the yard looks wonderful. We have actual, factual green, thick, wonderful grass in the front yard :) The back yard is right behind the front. We weren't as diligent in the back, but it's coming along nicely, too. I'll try to get a picture of the front yard soon. (I didn't take before or after pictures!) So, the grass was Tom's job. I think Daniel helped him a bunch, too. I'm not sure if the other boys did or not. My job was to pull weeds, clean out flowerbeds, rearrange the rocks that line everything in our yard, and mulch. It was a huge job and took a lot of time. I'm not quite done, but almost. I need to finish around the garage and one side of the house. It looks sooo much better. We're both quite pleased with the end results. Now, we just need to keep the kids off the grass and out of my flowers!!

Tom is still out of a job, but not discouraged. We're still happy to have him home with us :) We still need much prayer and direction.

Here are the May pictures!

Daniel on his laptop...probably Words with Friends :)

Nathan on his laptop--last picture of him as 15

Nathan's 16th birthday! My attempt at the Hunger Games symbol

                                             

                                      

Pictures of Nathan on his birthday--May 2

                                      

                                     

The kids found a frog and put it in a bucket--YUCK!

Peeking at the frog

Grandpa Koski and Haven celebrating their birthdays
Haven turned 2 on the 12th and Grandpa turned??? on the 14th

Nathan and Daniel playing soccer

My flowers

My flowers

                                   

Kids in the sprinkler...with neighbor, Cooper

Sarah, Rachel, Ethan

Rachel

Cooper and Ethan

Rachel

Rabid skunk in our backyard...it was captured later that day

Ethan and Haven on Grandpa Horning horse :)

Haven is telling Grandpa to get up!!

Haven's new doll and matching shirts

                          

                                   Haven vs  fudgesicle--Haven lost :)

Haven's new dress

Look at those mischievous eyes ;)

The sign on the girls' clubhouse: No boys alowed none ok
good stay out boys (Rachel wrote it)

The clubhouse

Sarah and Haven in the clubhouse

Sarah, Haven, and Rachel

Super Duper Room Cleaning Day--it looks so much better now :)

Girls were cleaning some, too--more to come later

Sarah and Rachel playing soccer
Ethan is the referee

Daniel trimming

Ethan mowing--don't worry, it wasn't on!

He looks so big :(

Rachel taught Ethan to ride a bike
(He calls it his two-wheeler, not a bike!)

He's a pro now--he rides everywhere and is so proud of himself!!

Cute faces of Haven

Love that face

Haven snuggled right up to Dad and 'helped' him :)

Ethan and Haven playing guns

Hands up :)
If I can figure out how to put on a video, I'll add the one of these two playing
guns. It's so cute. Haven falls down dead at the end quite dramatically!!

Well, that's it for now. Hope you enjoy the rest of May...it's been a beautiful month. I'm looking forward to Summer break from school (if the kids ever finish, that is!).