Goodbyes, Projects, Graduations & Armpit Hair

My parents left yesterday morning and, yes, I miss them already. Saying goodbye was kind of hard. The below pictures are of a trip to the park with Grandpa, who is kind of a big kid himself.

Isaac is now fearless and climbs to the top of EVERYTHING.

























Before my parents left, Dad helped me (ie. did all the hard work & let me do the fun painting part) with the below project. If you can't tell, it's an art board to hang the kids' projects from, without having to use an ugly old cork board, or have tape all over the place. It's a great replacement for the ugly school-room posters I'd had up, which were mainly there to cover up holes in the wall....even though I pretended that they were there for educational purposes. Now, thanks to my Daddy, I have a dining room/school room wall that I LOVE!!!! 

Earlier in the week, the younger boys graduated from Pioneer Club. Micah had to miss it because he was recovering from a teeny tiny little surgery, which he would be very embarrassed about, if I elaborated much beyond that. It was a no big deal thing & he's doing great. Jarod helps teach at Pioneer Club & he also had to miss the graduation ceremony to do school work. It's the last week of school and, since we do charter school curriculum at home, there are state requirements which we are desperately trying to meet by next Friday. That's a bit stressful, but it's almost over. Next weekend, we go camping! First trip of the season & I can't wait!!!

An extremely important highlight/milestone of the week.....Jarod discovered an armpit hair & wanted it documented. So here it is....not that it's actually visible. But, the "man hormones", as we fondly call them around here, have definitely hit boy #2. If the invisible armpit hair doesn't prove it to ya, then the stench and mood swings will. Awwww....isn't it so cute how proud he is?

Mother's Day

Mother's Day was terrific. I woke up and found little homemade cards & gifts, from the boys, waiting for me on the kitchen counter. My good-lovin' man brought me flowers & a card with the sweetest words inside. I was able to guilt all the boys into posing with me for a Mother's Day picture. It was wonderful that I could spend Mother's Day with my own Mama this year. We all went to church together, to Costco for lunch and a little shopping, and then home for a peaceful afternoon full of sunshine. The boys played in the back yard in our state-of-the-art swimming pool. Seth even played outside with his little brothers. It does my heart good on the rare occasions that he does this. Now that he's almost (gulp) sixteen, it's a rarity.....which is natural, I know. But I just love it when I hear the laughter and yells of ALL of my boys, coming from the back yard. Seth even built his brothers a sturdy tree-swing, which he was very proud of. Justin made some delicious, homemade fried chicken and biscuits for dinner. The little boys said, "Happy Mother's Day, Mommy" about two-hundred times apiece, throughout the day, and gave me bazillions of hugs & kisses. I enjoyed time with my parents. It was truly a perfect day.