I have been asked to take some pictures of our newly constructed basement and thought that I better do it now, while everything is in it’s place. I took the camera with me while I cleaned and then wouldn’t let the kids come in the room until I had cleaned it adn then documented that I did in fact do something today.

Our new playroom

My storage room

The boys’ room

The main floor

Bonus room

Girls room

I was tempted to take pictures of my linen closet and my laundry area but that isn’t going to be interesting to anyone but me. I just wish I could have stayed on top of things better so I wouldn’t have to invest an entire day to cleaning but on the bright side it’s done now!

Well, now my kids can do the same thing because we finally moved our piano from the unfinished basement to the family room upstairs. I couldn’t believe what was involved for the poor guys that moved it. It was a LOT of work!

It’s already been a blessing because the kids and I each play the piano every day! It’s a blessing that keeps on giving.

I was terrified of canning. I would go out of my way to have something else to do when the ward would do some canning or if a friend invited me to join her. I thought it would be too difficult and not worth all the effort involved. I was also sure it would supremely expensive.

My garden this year produced so many beets that I had no other option but to throw fresh beets into the trash if I didn’t can them. I bit the bullet, bought a canner and some jars and called my sister Amber. Using Skype she was able to walk me through it and I loved it!

That was less than a week ago and I have now canned 8 qt beets, 8 qt applesauce, and several different types of jam including Christmas Spiced Cherry, Cinnamon Peach, Raspberry Peach, Vanilla Spiced Peach and Peach Ginger.

I’m super excited about giving away jam for Christmas gifts this year but there’s a part of me that’s nervous that the gifts won’t be as warmly received as they were loving created. We’ll just have to see. In the meantime my kids are eating their weight in jam!

I thought that I would show you some pictures of our month before we get too far into June.

To make it easier to be outside we have bought bikes for anyone who needed one. This is a picture of my new bike with our old bike trailer on it. Laurelyn loves riding around with me which makes it a whole lot easier to jump on it and go!  There’s a ton of hills around our house so hopefully I’ll be able to take advantage of the terrain and shed some pounds this summer.

The kids and I jumped on our bikes and made a caravan down to the park. Once we were there Jason decided to try riding my big bike. It reminded me of that old line from Black Sheep, “Fat guy in a little coat…”

Jason surprises me all the time with how athletic he is. He’s able to do anything that he wants when it comes to physical stuff. I love that boy!

Speaking of boys that I love…

David climbed into bed with me this morning and snuggled me into wakefulness. What a perfect way to start the day! He’s such a sweet and tender boy as long as he gets some time to run off all his excess energy!

The last couple of days he’s been burning off energy by helping some landscapers build a patio in our backyard. BEfore they started it looked like this.

My kids wait anxiously for this truck to show up in the driveway so they can run outside and ‘help‘. At first I told David that he couldn’t dig with the guys but the landscapers said they didn’t mind the help. They talked with him and laughed their heads off when David started bossing them around. They were digging the dirt down to a flat level all around and filling a wheelbarrow with the dirt that they would then run up the hill and load into their truck to haul away. David kept telling the guys that they were taking to long to bring the wheelbarrow back! They thought that was hysterical until one guy got complimented on how fast he was and for some reason after that they were all vying for a 4 year olds approval. I think David is my new backyard foreman!

Before I bombard you with pictures of Laurelyn’s birthday I wanted to show you our science experiment. It isn’t something that grew in our fridge although they did live in our kitchen for a short time.

BUTTERFLIES!

We raised caterpillars into butterflies! We impatiently watched as caterpillars turned into chrysalis and chrysalis emerged into a butterfly! It’s such an amazing transition! This weekend we released the butterflies and took pictures as they used their wings for their first long flight.

Speaking of beautiful butterflies…my baby butterfly had a birthday yesterday. We had all of her favorite things! Decorations, pinata, candy, cake and her friends. She didn’t even notice that I told all of her friends not to bring gifts. Laurelyn likes a party and she kept talking all night about how fun her party was and who was there. A girl after my own heart!

That was our month of May. Wild, busy and a ton of fun! I can’t wait to see what June has in store for us!

We woke up last Saturday to see this on our sidewalk. It took a moment for me to realize what it meant but eventually I figured it out. Do you know what it is?

Here’s a closeup to make it easier.

That’s right!

It’s GRASS!!!

MY GRASS!!!

A group of guys showed up, pulled their shirts off and laid sod in my backyard. I couldn’t have been happier. I spent the next two days standing outside watering my lawn by hand. I didn’t realize what a huge yard I have until I was out there watering every square inch by hand!

I wish I could write how I felt when I saw this. I’ve always loved the color of green. The trees when winter finally goes away. The cut grass that sticks to my kids’ sweaters, evidence that spring has come.  Although my backyard isn’t a beautiful shade of green everywhere it still made me misty eyed every time I looked out the windows. I took the opportunity to breath in the smell of grass while I was dutifully watering.

When I was younger I loved the sight of a cute guy, a fast car or beautiful outfit through shop glass windows. Now I love the sight of green grass and my children playing. I don’t miss a thing. Who knew that getting a lawn could make me feel like a true blue grown-up?