MAY.

Guess I don’t need to say all the cliche things – so let’s just jump right in!

We started May off with some pretty significant health trials – for Kayla’s crew and our crew here too.

OH. MY. HEART.

SO much to be thankful for as we go through this – and we are still going through this.

As I type this, Chad is recovering on the couch downstairs.

He spent yesterday morning in the E.R. because of how sick he was with this vomiting flu.

Here are a few photos of what illness looks like in our little nest!

Do you all have a bright green puke bowl too?

Good grief, these are hard on my Mama’s heart.

There are lots of ways not to lose your mind when your home is filled with illness.

Pay attention!

Baking is one of them.

I made this cookie skillet for the healthy ones one day last week and they ate it for their afternoon snack!

Just a disclaimer here – I do not eat things like this because of my no grains/no sugar life.

I did make this for myself though!

It has three ingredients – bananas, peanut butter, and cocoa!

Even bananas seem to sugary for me most days, but I was trying to remain sane here, remember?

You can also rearrange the furniture to keep sane.

If you have a strong enough kiddo who is not one of the sick ones, that is!

So far we have left it that way!

Time will tell!

Ruby loves this new arrangement, of course!

My hubby brought this home for me one evening during the first round of illness.

Isn’t that sweet!?

I only drank a bit of it and saved the rest for the next day!

The Saturday before last, which happened to be APRIL 27TH, looked like this out of our windows.

I don’t know what it felt like, because I personally never went out there or even opened the door!

I took that beautiful snow storm as a GREAT opportunity to spring clean all day long!

I had some helpers!

But I needed their muscles for many things on my list!

Blake and I tackled the mess in the storage room and filled the van with a load for Good Will.

Don’t you love those horse heads hanging off the shelf there?

And Sadie looking up at me wondering if I am going to make her move?

We scrubbed the basement from top to bottom that day, and then I asked everyone to move out.

Just kidding!!

It looked great, but the only photo I took was this one!

That Sunday morning we stayed home from church to keep our germs with us here.

Worship at home is lovely.

In between the two rounds of illness, we had some normal days!

Normal days mean school, chores, and making food to feed everyone!

We have even had a few teases of spring!

Sunny and beautiful, but not very often!

We take FULL advantage of it when it’s nice.

Bible time and school on the deck, of course!

School has slowed to our more gentle “summer” schedule, which for the three youngest means Bible time, Math, and lots and lots of reading with narrations and illustrations.

And then lots of free time to explore their own creative desires!

Tate and Eliza finished their first grade workbooks, so I ordered their second grade ones.

These two LOVE workbooks!

I still make a ton of food around these parts!

I love to do it, and they love to eat it!!

My Saturday kitchen helpers are younger than they have been in recent years past, but they love to help and I love the help!

I have a goal of finding new recipes this summer.

I worked on that last week while the littles were sick.

Obviously I am focusing on the most important food choices!

Busted!

I made that caramel sauce you can see on the computer screen in this photo, and it is GOOD.

This past weekend was GORGEOUS!!

Can you hear the sing songy voice I am saying that word in?

We were outside endlessly!

We even had our first meal on the deck!

I took this photo on Sunday morning because it showed how much fun we had had on Saturday night!

Our nest had been FULL of good friends!

Addie Mae is working full-time now, so guess who is the grocery crew?

At least my hubby helps me, and buys the coffee first!

SO….which one of us do you think RUNS through the store and sticks to the LIST?

And which one of us stops to look at EVERYTHING, and takes WAY too long?

You guys are such good guessers!

I am glad he does that though, because he found these!

They. Are. So. Perfect!

Yummy, bendable, not dry, do not expire for a year, don’t need a fridge EVER, don’t need steamed to roll them…did I say yummy??

My hubby went back and bought ten more packs!

He knew I would tell everyone I know about them and then they would be gone!

So if you can’t find them, I have some for you!

Addie sent me some photos off her phone recently.

This is what happens to your hair when your Mama is in Florida and your big sister is in charge!

Addie sent me this photo on text while we were in Florida and they had no power because of the ice storm.

Ruby was warming Eliza’s toes because the house was getting cold!

Here’s one from Easter.

It still takes my breath away to see our littles growing up best friends with Kay’s littles.

That is just seriously good stuff!

Addie was also looking back at old photos and sent me these!

I think we had stolen her phone that day and were leaving her a surprise??

Crack me up.

I found out about my Mother’s Day gift already.

They always ask me what I want for Mother’s Day and I always say the same thing every year.

Everyone together, the pool set up, and CHEESECAKE – emphasis on cheesecake!

This year Blake was offered some beautiful free ash wood and decided to have a new island counter made out of it!

A friend from church is making it!!

Usually I find out about surprises before they happen because I am a terrible person that way, ha!

Drives my husband crazy.

This time I really had no clue!

They were sneaky!

But they decided to tell me because they wanted my opinion on it.

I am SO excited to see it finished and on the island!!

The wood is beautiful!!

Well, as I type this the house is shaking from the howling wind, the windows are bouncing the pouring rain off of them, and I hear the furnace running.

Sigh.

Hey May!

You do not feel like May!

I still sat on the couch this morning with my Bible and a cup of coffee and whispered a HUGE thank you to Jesus.

He gave me this day.

He gave US this day!

He put breath into my lungs.

He put breath in to OUR lungs!

Praise be to God!

If you haven’t stopped and asked yourself if you TRULY believe that God is always good and always chooses what is BEST for you – I challenge you to do so.

I did that this past week.

And I believe it.

He is always good.

He always chooses best for me.

I believe it with the depth of my being.

Do YOU?

HAPPY MAY, FRIENDS!!