Random Photos from May

Mmmmm, Doesn't that look yummy?! We had a fun little celebration on Cinco De Mayo. We figured that Cinco De Mayo in America means: eat Mexican style food with a bunch of friends, and that is just what we did and it was oh so fun and delicious! Since there isn't any good Mexican restaurants here in Lynchburg, this was a heavenly pot luck and certainly hit the spot.
Here is an after the meal picture since we were too involved in indulging ourselves in food and good company, I didn't think to take pictures until the fun was just about over.

Look at these three cuties, all about the same age. Can't wait till they are all older enough to run around together, it will be so fun!

RJ is a wiz at math. He LOVES it! He is always asking us to give him an equation. His favorite equations are basic multiplication such as multiplying by 10's. One day Jared got tired of rattling off equations ever second so he gave RJ a page full of addition and mutlpilaction problems and then some pennys to help him count. RJ was in math heaven and wouldn't do anything until his page was complete.

RJ's school had field day this month. It was a HOT day! I helped out at one of the stations in the morning and got my first sunburn of the year, yikes. Luckily it wasn't too bad. In the afternoon the kindergartners had their races. RJ ran on a relay team. His race was last and he was so anxious to run.

RJ and Charlie getting ready from their race.

RJ's team got confused on the directions and took 3rd place, but RJ didn't care, he still got a ribbon, which he thought was so cool.

I have been trying to get some good pictures of Zachery and he never wants to cooperate with me. I should really just find some time to take him to JC Penny's for portraits. Savannah on the other hand will always pose if the camera is pointed her way.

Another highlight of May is RJ's new adventure. We finally broke down and signed him up for Karate classes. Yikes! That's a budget breaker, but he LOVES it!

Zachery thinks he is such a big boy. He loves doing whatever his older siblings do. One of his favorite routines of the day is brushing his teeth. He was so excited when RJ and Savannah left the bathroom and he could climb on the stool himself, just like a big boy.

We have been blessed to live in an area where there is a lot of animal life. We get deer in our yard quite regular, which can be a pain on the landscaping, but we haven't experienced a problem yet, knock on wood. The kids love seeing the animals in the yard. We also get a rabbit or too hopping around. I have seen a ground hog, there is a gopher hole in the back that our neighbors despise because their garden is close by and the creature seems to think he can get a free lunch. They have our permission to smoke the creature out of the yard since I know we won't appreciate having him as a close neighbor once we put in our garden. We had boxer turtles hiding about as well and all kinds of birds and nests all over the place. The home owners before us left behind this bird house which has been taken over by a small mama bird who laid four or five eggs. The eggs have hatched and we hear all kinds of babies chirping in the morning and afternoon. That mama bird flies back and forth feeding her baby's all day long! I am looking forward to seeing baby birds learning to fly since this the bird house sits right outside my kitchen window, I am hoping I won't miss it when the day comes.

Here is another nest that sits in the Wisteria above our porch.

Savannah has been loving her bike. She asks just about every day to ride it. This is her on teh Blackwater Creek trail near the house.

And the highlight of our month:
The tooth fairy FINALLY visited or house.

RJ has waited and waited for his first loose tooth. Once one became loose he spent days wiggling it. Once it was holding on by just a string he allowed me to yank the thing out. He was on cloud nine the rest of the day and even into the next when he discovered the tooth fairies gift.

And that is May, with the exception of a field trip that I will post later.

Mother's Day

I didn't take any photos on Mother's Day, now I am slightly regretting it, but just slightly because I did enjoyed the lazy, relaxful day which I had. It was a wonderful Mother's Day! Jared and the kids treated me well. I was of course able to sleep in as long as I wanted (I LOVE sleeping in, I have never been a morning person), but I still got up around 7:30. RJ had created a treasure hunt throughout the house for me and at the end I found a pot of pink flowers that Savannah picked out. She has since picked as many pink flowers out of that pot as I have allowed and we have many mini flower banquets all around the house. Jared made us a scrumptious waffle breakfast topped with strawberries, strawberry syrup, and powder sugar, Mmmmmm, so good! Watching him cook, must have made me tired again, because after I put Zachery down for his morning nap, I crawled back in bed myself and enjoyed a morning nap myself. In the mean time Jared and the "kids" cleaned up the house. I was very impressed once I woke up for the second time that morning. We then got ready for church (this year our church service is in the afternoon).
At Church the primary sang to the Mothers, I think this was the first time Savannah went up and sang. Both kids did a wonderful job and of course were so cute! Apparently, it is a tradition in this ward to feed the mothers a special lunch/dinner during the third hour of church. The husbands prepared a dish (Jared made a delicious green salad that everyone raved about), and they took over the primary and nursery classes so all the women and young women in the ward could enjoy a special message and one anothers company over a nice peaceful meal. The men will be repaid on Father's Day with he same treatment.
At home, Jared and the kids had a quick and easy dinner while I relaxed on the couch enjoying a Pinna-Colda (virgin of course) reading the Ensign. We then called our mothers and grandmothers followed by an even more scrumptious dessert. Jared prepared a pastry filled with strawberries, custard, and whip cream. I love having a husband who is a good cook and enjoys it.
Once the kids went to bed Jared realaized the house was a mess again (welcome to my world) and spent the evening cleaning it again so it would be ready for Monday. I didn't lift a finger all day, it was great! I was very pampered and rested for the upcoming week. I sure wish Mother's Day would come around more often!
Thanks Jared for a wonderful day! I am so blessed to have an amazing husband and three adorable children!

The National Zoo

Saturday Morning after the husbands came back from a session in the temple, we checked out of the hotel and took the metro to the National Zoo. Once we got off the metro, Jared and Chris to the kids up this massive escalator while Lauren and myself took the babies on the tiny elevator.

Zachery slept on the metro and through the first half of our zoo experience.

RJ of course HAD to have a map of the zoo and HAD to follow it. We couldn't go anywhere until he found it on the map and told us exactly which way to go. It got old fast!
Savannah and Ethan taking a turn with the map once RJ finally gave up on it.

Savannah loved posing with all the statues. At every one she saw she asked me to take a picture of her. This was the best one out of a few dozen. She never once looked into the camera and there were always other kids climbing on them too. I few times I just pretended to take her picture, shhh, don't tell.

At lunch time, all RJ wanted was popcorn. After we got him to eat a corn dog we humored him with popcorn, but I made him stand in the long line with me and had him order and pay for it himself.

I just love this grin.

Savannah mooing like the Cows.

The National zoo is pretty nice. It is free which is awesome. It was sprinkling when we were there, but not too bad. I didn't get to many pictures of animals, but I was super surprised when this photo came out un-blurred because the Lion was so far away. The lion is actually yawning in this photo, but it looks pretty cool.

Mini Photo Shoot

We went to DC on April 23 and 24. I and a friend did a session at the Temple Friday night while the husbands tucked the kids into bed at a near by hotel. However, when I got to the hotel room at 10pm only Jared and Zachery were sound asleep. Both RJ and Savannah were giggling and jumping on one of the beds.
Saturday morning the husbands did a session at the temple while we wives entertained the kiddos. After breakfast, I was running out of things to do the my three munchkins, so we had a mini photo shoot in the hotel room.

Random Photos from April

We love to Dress Up!
I love to crawl into boxes and drawers, the smaller the better, I love the challenge:

Picnics and play-dates are the always fun!

(Savannah and one of her best-est girlfriends, Sadie)