May Highlights

Here are a few of the highlights from our month of May.
Avery just looking cute and growing up way too quickly!!! (May 2)

Rylee is the funniest girl! She is such a mommy and here she is with all her babies and stuffed animals tucking them all in. She is the reason my house is never clean! She can't just get out one thing - She has to get out ALL this stuff! (May 6)

My cute soccer girl at her last game. I'm not sure that soccer is really her thing, but she had a lot of fun playing for her first time. (May 6)

These weird birds were out in the field behind our house one day. You can't really tell from the picture, but they were HUGE! Logan called them dinosaur birds! (May 11)

Darren got some tickets for a Real Game for a friend for his birthday, but because of the Jazz playoffs, they changed the time of the game, and his friend couldn't go, so we all ended up going instead. It wasn't the #1 way I would have picked to spend Mother's Day weekend, but we had a good time. Real beat the Philadelphia Union 3-0. (May 8)

The girls - Rylee LOVED these funny clapper sticks they passed out. She kept losing them because of the wind and had to chase them down over and over!

The kids cheering for Real - Avery loves to clap!

I was spoiled by my fabulous husband and kids for Mother's Day. I had to get up kind of early to be ready for church, but I knew Logan had plans for breakfast in bed, so I took a quick shower and then got back in bed to wait for them to finish. They were SO excited to bring me my special breakfast! I am so blessed!!! I love being a mom! (May 9)

Logan made me this cute flower at preschool and he was sick the day he was supposed to bring it home. He was so stressed about missing school and not getting my flower! Luckily, he has an awesome teacher who brought it to our house so he could give it to me. He was so proud of his creation and a little plant. He also made me a little note in Primary that said "Thank you for helping me clean my room. Love, Logan" I love this boy!!! He is SO sweet and so full of life!

I love this baby girl, too! She is getting so big so fast! She is the sweetest and easiest baby ever and she has been such a joy in our house!

Rylee made me this cute little flower pot with suckers at nursery. They did a special little treat in the nursery and had all the moms come in and join them for a little ice cream. Ry was so cute in there and it was so fun to have that time with her. I loved it! I love my little princess! She is SO full of personality and makes every day interesting at our house!

Logan finished up his soccer season, too. He did a great job and improved a lot and loved playing with all his friends and having Dad for a coach. (May 15)

We spent a lot of May out working in the yard. The kids loved playing outside any chance they could. They love running in the field behind our house and chasing butterflies! Don't we live in a beautiful place? I love it! (May 17)

Ry likes to hide in the field so we can't see her and then jump out!

I love it when they play togetherLogan - I don't know why but his eyes are closed in almost every picture I take of him these days
Rylee picking up sticks - She is my outdoor girl and loves to be outside! She will dig in the mud and dirt with the best of them.

Avery had her first big girl bath, and the kids LOVED having her in there! Now we can say "Rub-A-Dub, dub, 3 kids in the tub!" because they can all take a bath together! Avery loved being in with the kids, too. She had so much fun! (May 22)

Ry started potty training. (May 25)This is her with her first BIG potty treat and some of her Swedish fish. I made a Princess chart and each time she went, she put a sticker on it and got 3 Swedish Fish (5 for poop). At the end of each row of the chart, she could pick a bigger prize, like this book. She did great for a few days, and then she didn't really seem to care anymore. We have been doing it on and off for awhile, but it doesn't seem to be really clicking and Rylee doesn't really seem to care. I keep waiting for her to really get it or trying to find something that would really motivate her, but so far, nothing has really worked. Maybe when Logan starts school and we get into a routine, she will do better.... I don't know! Suggestions are appreciated....

Avery turned EIGHT months old!!! (May 25)

For Memorial Day weekend, my family came up on Saturday and hung out for a little bit and we visited my Grandpa's grave. It was a chilly day, but it was good to spend time with the fam and remember my Grandpa. This is the traditional picture at the cemetery. (May 29)

They look a little cold! Isn't it May???

With my Grandma. I never had a chance to meet my Grandpa Boman - he passed away when my dad was only 5 years old. The trips to the cemetery each year are kind of the only connection I have with him, so I like going each year. We didn't get a chance to visit my other Grandpa's grave this year, and I was a little sad about that. I thought about him a lot in the month of May, since it is Memorial Day, but also the month he passed away and the month of his birthday. I miss him! I have thought about him a lot lately - How I wish that Logan could have gone fishing with him. I would have LOVED for Logan to have his first fishing trip with my grandpa. How I know my grandpa would have LOVED Logan and his funny personality and would have gotten a kick out of the funny things he says and would love to tease him, especially about his "girlfriends". How my sweet Ry and my grandpa shared such a special bond from the time she was born. I wish she could have known him longer. I know he would love her little spitfire personality! I wish he could have met Avery! He loved babies and had such a way with them. Even Rylee who would never go to anyone, would go to my Grandpa. He was kind of a "baby whisperer" and Rylee would always seem to fall asleep in his arms. I miss his funny jokes and visiting his house and seeing all the amazing things he would create from wood. I know he would have loved to give Rylee some gummy worms and then tell her she couldn't share them with Logan - they were only hers and then watch Logan's face. I know he would have laughed while Logan got upset and Rylee kept the worms to herself and would have loved watching them sort that one out. He always loved to tease! I am so happy that we don't have to see him in pain. It was hard watching him that last year or so. I just wish we hadn't been so far away for so long and that my kids would have known him better.

After visiting the cemetery, we made a stop at Casper's for Ice Cream! Yummy!!!

Rylee always gets PINK ice cream!

Avery and Aunt Vanessa

While we were at the cemetery, Daddy stayed home and FINISHED the playground that took up most of our month of May! YEAH!!! We were SO excited!

The first trip down the slide!!!

Ry's turn - This was a BIG deal after how many hours it took to assemble. We have the BEST daddy!!!

Avery loves swinging

Logan started a soccer camp on Memorial Day. It was a British Soccer Camp and he had so much fun going and especially LOVED his coaches from England. It was a good experience for him. (May 31)

The girls on Memorial Day

Ry with a pouty face

After Logan finished his soccer camp, we made the drive down to hang out with Darren's family for the rest of Memorial Day. It was finally a nice day, after kind of a cold and rainy May, and the kids got to swim! They had lots of fun playing in the pool and seeing their cousins. Avery doesn't like the water unless it is warm (just like her mommy) so she hung out poolside looking cute.

Rylee swimming with Madi - Rylee wasn't too sure about the pool last year, but this year, we can't get her out! She loves it!

Avery loves that tongue!

Rylee - My Water baby

Logan is usually loving the pool, but I think he got a little cold and then he just wanted to be wrapped up in his towel. He looks so sweet cuddled up with his thumb. Once he was dry, he was off playing basketball and soccer with the big boys. He can't stay still for long so I have to capture him when I can!

Dino Museum

May 27 - In May, we decided to take the kids to the Dino Museum at Thanksgiving Point as a fun surprise. We had been spending so much time working in the yard that we felt it was time to do something fun as a family. So, one day after Darren got home from one of his early days at work, we loaded all the kids in the car and started driving, but didn't tell them where we were going. They love surprises and had a hard time figuring out what we were doing, especially when we drove by both Grandma's houses. Rylee fell asleep and this is how she looked at the end of our drive, just before we got there. She was a little out of it when we arrived. We got down there a little after four and had a few hours to visit the musuem before it closed.
Logan's most recent obsession is dinosaurs and it is just about all he talks about. He loves the Dinosaur Train show on PBS and knows more dinosaur facts than just about anyone I know and he is constantly correcting me about how to pronounce all the different kinds and loves to tell people about how he is going to be a paleontologist when he grows up. (He also told my friend that he only wants to be a paleontologist, not a dad because all dads do is work...) Logan was SO excited and surprised when we pulled up to the museum, but he was a little nervous about the HUGE dinosaur on the outside of the museum. We had to talk him into taking a picture there.

All 3 Kids ready to go into the museum

My cute girls

Logan was in heaven when he got inside. Look at this cute excited face! I was able to use lots of these pictures for his dinosaur birthday invitations, so this trip was perfect!

The girls and Triceratops

Still excited! I love this face!!! And even better than just dinosaurs, he now has a map AND dinosaurs! I don't think life could get much better for this boy!

Avery hanging out in the stroller. Since she spent most of our trip there in the stroller, there aren't too many pictures of her, so I had to include one.

Logan and Ry hiding out in a cave

Logan the raptor!

Avery in the stroller again

One of the kids' favorite things was playing in this water area where they could build the sand up and make dams and stuff. They also had little plastic dinos they could bury. They had so much fun! Rylee was way into it and loved burying the dinosaurs in the sand. She was getting so irritated at the boy next to her who kept messing up her careful sand piles and giving him some funny dirty looks.

Can you tell how much fun he is having?

Ry is not afraid to get dirty - She digs right in!

Logan with 2 T-Rex in the background. T-Rex is his FAVORITE dino!

Cute kids

Avery and a little dino her size

This picture didn't really turn out, but it makes me laugh anyway - This is their scared face from the T-Rex!

The girls

Ry's scared face in front of the Megalodon. Can you tell this girl is a ham???

Ry and the Megalodon - This picture cracks me up! Logan was SO funny about this one. He wouldn't walk into the room this was in - He was terrified! However, this was the only way to get out of the museum. He kept getting close, but then he would run away. Darren finally had to pick him up and carry him and Logan was crying. Kind of sad, but a little funny, too.

At the end of the museum, they got to dig for dino bones! They LOVED that!

Ry was very focused on digging for bones and really got into it.

Logan doing some digging of his own

Daddy and Avery waiting for us to be done digging

Daddy and Logan

Love the scared faces!!!

We spent about 2 hours at the museum, and then we were ready for some dinner. We called Darren's brother, Matt, and his family who live near there and they were able to meet up with us and go to dinner at Texas Roadhouse - Yum!. We don't get to see them that often, except at big family functions, so it was really fun to go to dinner with just their family and hang out. Their girls were so cute with our kids and we had a lot of fun!