may into june...seriously, where does the time go?

now i'm thinking i should maybe blog every day, even if all i do is look out the window. at least then i wouldn't get so far behind! i doubt that will happen. the daily blog or the day full of looking out the window.

greg made a little "permanent" kind of place for our firepit fun. we had lots of bricks left that he dug out when we moved here and had the pool filled in. he's given some away, used some for other things, and used some to make this. the grass will still be dead under the firepit, but we won't have to look at it, we'll only see pretty bricks.

max's spring soccer season wrapped up last saturday. i think i mentioned before that he had the same coach as last season - we were all hoping for kent and we got him...yay! - and max had a really great experience with him again. he's GREAT with the kids. he has no kids of his own but gives his time because he loves soccer and loves the kids. he's more patient with them than any parent i've ever seen. (well, except maybe for jan!) the team played so well this season, except for the one day that kent wasn't able to come. it really showed in their performance that they missed him and his leadership. they were pretty great this last game though, a good way to wrap it up. kent had medals for them this year and they all loved that. we were able to watch andrew's game too. max's age group starts to get a little serious about the whole thing, so andrew's age group's games are hilarious to watch. no stress! they still kind of run around in a pack hoping to get a foot on the ball, or just loving the running around. andrew got a trophy. i know he was thrilled to have his hands on it because he about when over the edge when he saw them sitting in the box. he squealed and fell to the ground, like on all that old video of girls when they saw the beatles for the first time.

greg had to leave the soccer field early to go pick up luke. he and blake were with the youth from church for "rent-a-youth" day. they were doing various odd jobs for folks at church to work for donations for their mission trip next year. (they're going to the dominican republic.) luke helped spread mulch (lots of mulch) on the playground at church for the preschool, and blake helped wash windows (lots of windows) at a home and a business, then helped do something else i can't remember at this point. luke was done early so he had to eat lunch at home. blake lucked into a KFC trip since his jobs took longer. they had a good time doing that. that bunch just likes to spend time together, no matter what they're doing.

blake got a grilling lesson. i really will never need to grill anything. eventually i'll have 4 men to grill for me.

ok, emmynonymous. no flowers this time, but check out these clouds! such a perfect little row of them. if my brothers are reading this i think they're laughing at me right about now. i can't help it. i'm a sky-watcher.

our boys are wrapping up this school year. max, still being in elementary, is having the easiest week ever. every morning when i wake him up he names the day by what fun thing they're doing. "this is scout camp day" - the wall readers (accelerated reader program...points for tests on books they read...different levels...wall reader is a big deal!) get to go to the boy scout camp and play all day. all the stuff he got to do at cub scout day camp last year except swim. they did archery, bb gun shooting, fishing..the woman who helped them with that told them if they caught a fish they should 1) kiss it..2) go home and kiss their mom..3) then say "guess what else i kissed today? of course max did this and just about couldn't stand how fun it was to gross me out. yesterday was "swimming party day". all the kids got to go to our neighborhood's pool for a little party. the skies threatened rain all morning and finally cut loose when it was max's time to be in the pool. that figures, right? they did get to swim a little and he had fun anyway. kids don't care how they get wet, as long as they're wet. today is "tcby day". he gets to go with his teacher and 2 other friends in his class to tcby as a reward for being the winning team for the "brain game" they've been competing in all year in his class. he may have been looking forward to this day the most. he adores his teacher (so do we) and he knows it's special to get to go with just her and do something fun. tomorrow is "thursday"!! i don't think they're doing much of anything. it's max's last day though because he goes to church camp on friday morning. he'll miss "field day" (lots of playing), footlong hotdogs and watermelon, but he's good with it. luke's week has been full of lots of nothing at school - not much work but definitely nothing fun enough to name a day for it. he's ready to be done. friday is 8th grade graduation and then we have 2 high school boys instead of 1. after that is the "bucs auction" and they get to spend all their pirate bucs on prizes. they have some good stuff and some junk. we'll see what he brings home this year! his last middle school activity will be monday when they make a trip to kings island. blake's last week? FINALS. what fun. think they're noticing that slow transition into the real world? i think they are..