A Goebel Story: May

I wish I would have done a better job of keeping things posted for the month of May...but I didn't. So here's what we've been up to! We kicked May off with a sleepover at Todd & Julie's and a celebration of Grammy's birthday. The kids were wild, unleashed 200 glow sticks at once in the basement, stayed up later than they ever have before, and hopefully made memories that will last a lifetime. It was a good weekend with cousins.

The next weekend we celebrated Mother's Day. It was my perfect weekend. We relaxed at home, got the garden planted, the kids made me breakfast in bed, and we had a cookout at Mono & Papa's new house. It was nice to not be on the run for once!

We've been growing butterflies! We watched our caterpillars grow and turn into butterflies. Then it was fun to finally set them free. As each one flew away Ben would call out after it, "Good-bye butterfly, have a good life".

We officially kicked off the camping season. We had a great trip with friends over Memorial Day weekend. We had 7 families, which made for 14 adults and 17 kids. The kids had a ball riding their bikes all over the campground. They had quite a bit of freedom on their bikes, something my kids aren't quite used to! They were in and out of campers all weekend; giggling all the way. I know it is a trip they will remember forever. A few of the guys participated in a triathlon that weekend too. Drew's relay came in 2nd place! (Second out of 3 relay teams, if you really want to get technical. We prefer plain old 2nd place!)

We wrapped up another school year this month. I'm so, so thankful to have been given the gift of time. This month I used that time to attend several end of the year activities with Kate and Ben.

Ben had Dress Up Day at school. He ate tiny sandwiches and muffins, drank "tea" with his pinkie finger up, and learned the Waltz. He picked out his outfit for the day and looked so handsome! I was excited to take his picture, even though he wasn't. He said, "One picture, Mom! If it's bad, it's bad!". Lucky for me it was perfect! And double lucky for me because one of my friends is a teacher in his school and snapped a couple of pics of Ben doing the Waltz.

Ben had a reading night at his school. Drew and I went with him. We read books outside on a blanket, then did a light show in the gym with our flashlights, and ended the night with a pizza party...all in our pajamas. It was so special to spend the time alone with just Ben. He was eating up our attention. I need to make it a goal to spend more one on one time with each of my kiddos.

I chaperoned Kate's class field trip to the children's museum in Decatur. It is fun to get to know her classmates, and see how she interacts with all her friends. I'm so proud of the heart this girl has!

I also joined Ben's class for their end of the year park day. Luke came along with me and I think he thought he was part of Ben's class. Everything Ben's teacher told her class to do, Luke was right there too. I think he's ready for Pre-School next year!

Drew and I met Kate and her class at Weldon Springs for her end of the year class picnic. It was a fun way to end her school year and she sure was proud to have her Dad there. It was sweet.

Luke has been attending the library program in Maroa all year. Last Thursday was Super Hero Day! I think this was Luke's best day ever. He went dressed as Superman. His favorite part was the obstacle course where he got to "shoot" the "villain" with silly string at the end. This program has been the highlight of Luke's week all year. I'm sure going to miss it next year when he's in Pre-School on Thursday mornings.