May Days

3 months after the event but better late than never! Plus it's always fun to look back at a fun event in pictures.

Did you hear me talk about May Days last Spring?  What in the world was I talking about right?  Well...Mike's mom side of the family decided to have a get-to-gather last May so we called it May Days.  We all had so much fun, we decided to make it an annual event.  Below are some pictures of us enjoying the 1st annual May Day event held at the Cabin in Nashville, AR May 3, 2014.

We stopped by MiMi and PawPaw's house in Delight the Friday before the get-to-gather. Of course the boys had to get in some time playing on the tractors

The boys got a ride from PawPaw on the tractor.  They went all around the land even around the garden

Alex got to practice turning on the generator

For lunch we made a fire and roasted hotdogs!

Alex loves to ride the bad boy with his PawPaw

Hot dogs and fritos by the campfire

Early Saturday morning we headed to the Cabin for MAY DAYS!!!! Alex road with MiMi

We had an Easter Egg hunt when we arrived.  Max was super excited that the eggs had surprises in them!! Chocolate, gum, sweet tarts, jelly beans, and money!

Mike's mom aka MiMi with her mom (Mama Tina) and her 3 sisters

The boys playing on the bridge

Pretty sure Max's favorite part of the whole day was whenever he got to take a ride in the Range rover.  He even got to ride in the front!  spoiled happy boy

A picture of the group sitting around visiting in front of the cabin.  We had fried fish, hushpuppies, and fries for lunch with tons of sides and desserts.  It was all delicious

Alex pretending to drive the range rover

Time for kites, and not just any kites....fancy kites.

Alex and MiMi watched everyone attempt to fly the kites in the fields.

There wasn't a lot of wind.  Tons of effort, not a lot of success, haha

Great picture of MiMi and the boys

I love that there is a pond behind the cabin, because it reminds me of the Van Es Farm.  My Grandparents used to own a farm with a pond as well.  As a kid I have countless memories of the pond at my grandparents house.  We would go to fish all of the time or even just go play in the creek by the pond - one time we even tried to put a blow up boat in it, haha. 

Alex had to see the fish up close

Max and Alex were the only kids there, but they did a great job visiting with everyone and playing with all of the toys and participating in the activities

Mama Tina took them for ride on the tractor!  The boys always get excited about a good ride on the tractor

Cute picture of the boys and Mike

Since we didn't have a lot of success with flying the kites, we decided to try to fly them out of the Range Rover.  It worked perfect!  We had 7 or 8 people riding in the Range Rover while Mike flew the kite out the back.  It was fun to see how high the kites got, and again - the boys loved it

Mike's cousin, Clay, decided to skip out on walking to get his diploma for his college graduation (I know, Crazy right?!)  so.....they threw a surprise graduation for him at the Cabin on May Days.  It was sweet they put it together for him.

All in All I think May Days was a SUCCESS!  Which is why we decided to make it an annual event.

Fun to get to spend time as a family and just be together, visit, and catch up.

Next year we'll have one more family member to join us...Mike's cousin Hannah is due this fall with a baby girl, Sierra Brooke.  We're sure looking forward to meeting her.

Back to School Frame

I wanted to share a fun idea I worked on today for Max.

I wanted to make a frame for him to hold on the First day of school.  I wanted to make it so that I could see his outfit but also have some fun details about him.  What grade, his name, teacher, etc.  

I found this frame in a dumpster across the street - remember we live in a new construction neighborhood so our dumpsters are just wood and construction left overs :)  but you could use an old frame you have in your house or even get one at Hobby Lobby 50 percent off.  I spray painted mine black.

I got construction paper - Red, brown, and green and made 3 apples.  I painted the letters on with white paint
I found a free printable (Thank you for printing Aunt Kelley) just by searching internet images.  There are so many to choose from.  The printable says First Day of Kindergarten 2014-2015.
For whatever event we use the frame for whether it be First day of school, last day of school, Halloween, etc, etc,  I can just print a new printable and put it in place of the old one.
I found a burlap flower in the craft closet to add to the frame in the upper right hand corner
I found his name at Hobby Lobby.  The letters are around $1.29-$1.79 each, I can't remember BUT they are 30 percent off.  I barely put them on so I can interchange that with Alex if I need to when Alex starts school.
Finally I found a little clipboard $4.99 at Hobby Lobby but I of course used a 40 percent off coupon to buy it.  The little clipboard has fun facts about the picture, so in this case, about Max and his first day of Kindergarten.  It just clips on and off real easy so I will be able to update that as needed.

Me and Max decided to test out the final product.  I will get a picture of him on his first day of Kindergarten on Monday!!!  Of course I will get better lighting etc so hopefully it all shows up better :)

up close of the clipboard

I look forward to using it for Max's first day of Kindergarten and many fun events to come!

I'm a stay at home mom....

I love staying home with my boys.
It's not always easy - I definitely have my about to pull out my hair moments....

There are days I find Alex in the corner of the office with scissors and a cut up slinky or cut up packets of ketchup
There are some days I find them climbing fences

There are days Max asks me 100 times to watch a movie when it's a beautiful day outside

There are days I attempt to go to Walmart to grab a few essentials and end up leaving the cart to chase after my two kids who thought it would be a good time to play chase
or times I have to shop like this...

There are days Max will spill an entire bowl of milk and cereal on the floor I just mopped

There are days when Max and Alex thinks a good idea to paint the office carpet yellow, or try to peel away our textured paint.
There are days you never know where you'r going to find them next...

There are days ...

There are days...

There are days...

BUT

There are many days when we get to sleep in and snuggle as long as we want

There are many days we get to cook breakfast together and watch cartoons in our pj's

There are days I get to see their face light up when I tell them we are going to a park to play

There are days when they scream with excitement because I took them to Chuckee Cheese as a surprise

There are days when I surprise them with a trip to the Water park

There are days we just make our water parks in the back yard

There are days we just play in the rain

There are days I get to teach them chores like tending to the garden, taking out the trash, watering the plants, paying bills, and getting the mail

There are days we take naps together

 There are days when it rains and we spend hours in the toy room making up new games and exploring new toys

There are days when we get to surprise Mike and have dinner all cooked and prepared when he walks

 through the door

There are days

There are days

There are days....

through it all....

They have become my best friends, my pals, my buddies

Because I am home, we get more quality time together as a family

Less stress and more organized

Max is going to Kindergarten in a week which got me thinking about all of this. I am beyond thankful for all the time I have gotten to spend with him since I quit my job when he was only two and a half.  I am so thankful as scary as that was, that we took the leap of faith and jump into the unknown :)  I wouldn't have it any other way.

Next week starts a new routine as stay home mom with one kid in school and the other not.  Wish us luck.  I'm sure it will take some time to get used to - but I am excited. wish us luck!!!

Found this on pinterest....made me laugh