More May Matters

For the past number of years, we have celebrated the May holiday Monday, by meeting at a member of the congregations home and spending an evening together enjoying the communion of the saints in a more casual setting. We have supper together, followed by sparklers and fireworks, and of course a whole lot of playing by old and young alike. Though the temperatures were cool, (although warmer than during the day), we dressed for the occasion and it turned out to be quite a nice night, though the fire helped! It was a wonderful time to grow closer as a church, and the kids all had a GREAT time!

Kevin and Kade with their sparklersRichard, MaryBeth and Summer watching the fireworks.
Kylie awakened from her nap by the noise
And Landon - who really watched and took it all in!

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We also received a wonderful gift in the past week, which Jonathan keeps telling me is one of our best investments yet. A very generous uncle and aunt whose children no longer jump on the trampoline regulary, gave it to us. The kids LOVE it and spend a lot of time out there.

Below are some pictures of yard work - the boys helping out by driving the lawn mower ahead while Jonathan unloaded mulch for under our hedge. This will make lawn mowing and weed whacking much easier for me, and I think it looks great too!

I'm sure Jonathan will love it that I've included this one, but he's the one who posed!:)

The picture below is out our front window and has a dual purpose. You can see the mulch job completed and you can see my little visitor. I was working away in the boys room and kepts hearing noises (but no one else was home). I finally had to investigate, and here is the culprit. Time to get the screen door back on. We tend to have an open door policy from the first time it opens in the morning till dark.

And Kylie is now walking! She made it before the 13month mark, and is oficially our slowest walker! But she has been ready for a long time, but just too chicken. So I tend to think she'll pick it up quick.

And some more Kylie.

Kylie and Jonathan

And this week marked the beginning of another soccer season - Kevin's 3rd and Kade's first. The excitement has been mounting for weeks, and we were all so glad when the evening finally came. It was kind of a get to know your team, practice, mini-game kind of night. Should be an interesting year. Both boys play the same night, but on different teams, so there will be some juggling going on. Should be fun!

May Moos

On Saturday, we greeted our "pet" of the year - this time a bull calf. For those who may not be familiar with our "farm", we have in the past had goats (two or three years), a jersey calf (now in the freezer), a dog (who ran away), a cat (who has also seemed to have disappeared for good), and I think that's all. The calf is in a pen and we do not forsee any disappearances. The kids are excited about him for now and excited about their "chores". We'll see how long that lasts.

And some more of Kylie! She matched so nicely with the flowers :D

April Awakenings

As I observe the many signs of the arrival of spring, I can't help but think of Psalm 150.

"Praise the LORD! Praise God in His sanctuary; Praise Him in His mighty firmament!

Praise Him for His mighty acts; Praise Him according to His excellent greatness! . . .

Let everything that has breath praise the LORD! Praise the LORD!"

And of course you can't forget these very special ones - which of course when given to you in a bouquet by your children, must be given a vase, and put on display!

These next few pictures were taken on a walk to the woods behind our property. I observed the boys very very intently studying something. I soon came to the conclusion that it probably wasn't a flower, and went to investigate.

Definitely something that might catch the eye of a boy(or two)! As we headed home, I noticed Kade falling further and further behind, and repeatedly hiking up his pants, which I didn't recall being loose on the waist in the first place. As he got closer, the reason became obvious!
Some of his treasures - that he insisted being photographed.

Already a Year! Happy Birthday Kylie!

Sunday, May 4th marked our little girl's first birthday. As we all say so often, "My how the time does fly." I agree wholeheartedly - more and more every day. So, there is just a tinge of sadness as we mark our children's birthday - because life does move so fast and maybe because we take this precious time of their lives for granted. I love the baby stage and it seems to be long gone for Kylie as we watch newer and younger members join our family and church. But as each stage ends, and new ones begin, I have to say that she is at a very easy and fun stage right now - so now I just need to concentrate on savouring and really enjoying this time of her life - because next time I stop and ponder it all she'll probably be two!
Kylie - if she looks like she just woke up, it's because she did. This girl is such a good sleeper. Most mornings she does not wake up till 9:30 or 10am unless we have to go somewhere which means I have to wake her up. This makes homeschooling Kevin somewhat easier. When she does wake up, she often just plays in her crib, or lays cozily. This morning I went in to get her at 11:55am if you can believe it. (I couldn't, so I had to peek a few times) And in case you are wondering, she is usually in bed by 7:30pm (but last night was about 10ish:)
She actually opened her presents - somewhat anyway. I don't think the boys were all that interested on their first birthdays. They make up for it now - or maybe that's how Kylie's presents got opened - I did see about six hands in the vicinity!

The sparkler was a bit heavy duty and was blowing the sparks a little too close I think!

Helping herself to one of the gummi-worms before we rescued the cake from her.And some of Kylie's fellow celebrators - Summer,

And Landon.

Yummy! She really enjoyed the cake and making a mess - she went straight in the tub afterwards. After supper we went for a walk in the woods to see the trilliums which are in full force right now.
We also found a family of baby raccoons in an old tree. They are quite cute, although there was some discussion about how kind we should be to them, as kindness may not be shown in a years time. Kindess did prevail - for now anyway.