May in the time of Covid

 May in Utah is really glorious. Not too hot (usually) and things are starting to grow. It's warm enough around Mother's Day to plant a veggie garden. And, we decided, it was time to finally finish the back of our steeply graded backyard bed, so we could mulch without fear of erosion. We took this opportunity of being home every day and weekend to flatten the curve. We built a small retaining wall and pulled the dirt forward, pulling out rocks and weeds.

May is a great time for forced child labor.

Some people had great attitudes.

We pay in Wendy's. And Oreos.

May the 4th, we celebrated with Tyler's special pancakes.

And (BB)8 pretzels.

And we watched Star Wars. Because we're nerds like that.

We ran (for the first time since our half in October) for Ahmaud.Arbery.

We put in edging around our front planter beds.

These were perfect days to ride bikes.

My family showered me with love for Mother's Day.

They regaled me with Mother's Day songs during family church.

Tyler cooked some of my favorite foods.

Sheridan made me a delicious brownie merengue with blackberry cream, pistachios, and hazelnuts. It was so delicious!

And I made everyone take a family walk. 

We took lots of walks in May.

Walks are really good when tempers are raging.

Walks are good for the soul.

Research has found that the Japanese practice of "forest bathing" lowers blood pressure, decreases mental distress, and has other long-term positive effects on both physical and mental health.

We were feeling that as we spent time on our river trail.

And it was so nice to watch everything getting greener and greener.

Hooray for forest bathing!

Snuggling is also good for the soul. Experts recommend at least 8 eight second hugs daily.

Sheridan hosted ballroom dance lessons in May. These guys learned cha cha!

Most days, our living room looked something like this. A bin of toys dragged out, and most of the kids playing together.

We baked mini pavlovas with leftover blackberry cream and kiwi drizzle. It was delicious.

In the middle of the month, we circled back to our backyard and had 10 yards of mulch dropped off. 

The kids were thrilled.

It looked so beautiful when we'd finally gotten it all spread out!

Then it was time to pick up all the stuff that had been left at school when Covid shut it down unexpectedly.

It was a really weird way to end the school year.

And for Henry, it was the way his elementary school time ended. 

To celebrate, Sheridan made this cute cake.

Spoiler! It was a piñata cake!

And we ate yummy grilled food.

There were some tender moment with Jack and Eliza. They really adore one another.

This month, we also shuffled kids around in bedrooms. We split up Amelia and Sheridan (because there was SO MUCH FIGHTING!) and put Cole and Micah in with Amelia.

Actually, Micah's little bed was moved into the closet, as we ascertained whether or not he could handle being in with these kiddos (he was sharing with Jack, who went to bed late enough that they didn't keep each other awake).

Henry moved in with Jack.

We moved Eliza out of the closet and she and Sheridan moved into Cole and Henry's old room.

I have always loved rearranging rooms. It's a problem.

For Mother's Day, I got a date with Sheridan! We picked up lunch and ate at a park.

May was a great time for bubbles...

And for playing with the water table...

And for setting up the pool! First swim of the summer!

We planted some bushes and trees in our back bed! I love planting things!

I also planted our veggie garden. We haven't had a lot of success in previous years, but we learned how to lay drip lines so fingers crossed.

April and Tyler and Easter, oh my!

 April showers bring...Tyler's birthday!

You should know that Daddy is pretty much the favorite. The littles love to be in his arms.

Or on his back.

Because, you know, Daddy sandwich.

We got to spoil Tyler, but only a little because he usually asks for gifts that end up being things he can use with little people. Like the tee for T-ball (Tyler doesn't actually need it for himself, ya know). 

Tyler has more often than not asked for chocolate mousse pie with strawberries. This year we made it on a brownie bottom rather than on an oreo crust. It was delicious. 5 stars, would recommend.

But even better than the dessert was the past year with Tyler. A million stars, would highly recommend. He is kind and thoughtful. When Tyler sees something that needs to be done, he does it. He puts the kids to bed almost every night and gets up with them in the morning. He works hard and loves to help and serve others. Tyler loves God. He apologizes quickly and loves freely. 

We are so blessed to have him.

General Conference for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the first weekend in April and in October. For that Saturday and Sunday, we have the chance to hear from the prophet and apostles, and learn how we can better follow Jesus Christ. It's always an uplifting weekend, with lots of feasting on the word and on delicious food. And we often do a puzzle to keep our hands busy and our minds engaged.

And then it was Spring Break!

We were so ready for the break from distance learning.

For his birthday, Amelia gave her dad a date! They went up to the mountains and played in the snow and built a snowman family.

They tried to hike, but it was still too snowy.

Sheridan also gave Tyler a date! They got Arby's and took a small hike to Bridal Veil Falls. 

It was beautiful weather!

And very good company.

Wanna guess what Jack gave Tyler for his birthday?

If you guessed a hike, you'd be correct!

They went up Slate Canyon and enjoyed the gorgeous, steep scenery.

And just because, look at them in 2006 vs. 2020. Just a little change!

Gah! He's so big! And an excellent big brother, too. 

We love celebrating Easter each spring. We do all the typical fun stuff like dyeing eggs and baskets, but I love reflecting on Jesus as my Savior. It is a season of deep gratitude, that He both lived and died for us. In this time of Covid, it felt even more poignant.

We love dyeing eggs. It's not really something I did growing up (and I totally get why not), but it's magical for these kiddos. Take that white egg and turn it vibrant?

Yes, please! Oddly, we end up with a lot of dyed eggs. 

They love baskets of goodies and hunting for the eggs they dyed. 

With the pandemic, everything has felt so tumultuous. Easter was a great reminder that He's got us. That He knows we can do hard, hard things. That we don't have to do the hard things alone, like He did. What a blessing it is to know that He wants to help us find peace in this life and joy with Him in the life to come.

And with everything going on, it's good to laugh together.

It was different not going up to Tyler's sister's for Easter dinner. But it was good to celebrate Jesus as a family.

Especially with this cute bunny carrot cake.

April was a good time for delicious treats. 

Sheridan had been dying to make a Victoria sponge all by herself, so she did. 

She also decided she really REALLY wanted to make cake pops.

Let's just say, they were trickier than she thought.

So we made the best of what we got.

Behold, the Corona-Pop!

Maybe it's in bad taste? 

But they tasted good! It really was a perfect treat for this crazy time!

(Just because)

Being home so much left lots of time for playing. Everyone got into Mega Blocks for a week or so. Why not?

We taught the bigger kids to play Phase 10. 

We forced everyone to play Charades.

They eventually got into it.

And, of course, we took more walks on the River Trail. Look at it starting to green up!

April was another strange month. But there was still a lot of good!

Catch ya next month, cool cats!