May Days, boys, and more

May. Such a soft sounding name for a month.

I love May here in southern California. We have no gnats, no swarms of black flies.

It's a nice in-between-time: The mundane of academics is letting up, and the busyness of summer hasn't begun. For us school is nearly complete and there's lots of time for extras like field trips, sports, and science experiments. We're wrapping up course work for the year, completing the last few pages of review, or starting next year's work because the law requires a just a few more weeks. We'll go to the zoo, we'll visit museums, and maybe catch bullfrogs at the lake and count that as an educational experience. And we'll listen to audiobooks in the car because that counts as school too, you know.

The kids are all playing soccer this month with their PE class, all favoring that over volleyball and track from the previous months. Olivia has been riding horses again, and her lesson time provides the boys with regular tree climbing/bug catching/jumping off play structure time. We started swim lessons last night, and we're signed up to run a road race later this month. We're not usually involved in so many sports at one time, but for a month like May it's so much fun.

Jon snapped this one before our run one evening...

Of course we still have guitar lessons and tutoring to round things off. We've worked hard all year, catching up from lost time during our move and transition, and pushing ahead. I can't say I mind May at all.

As I wonder what the summer will be like, I hope for another move. Well, no. Moving itself is detestable to me, but we need to get out of this house. We've been actively looking, the market is slow, and my expectations have changed drastically. Ha! We've been looking at some real eye-sores lately. We are leaning towards older homes that have more land and better use of space in comparison to newer homes, and since the price of a dump-y house is lower we could go in and re-do the bathrooms and kitchen, floors and trim,  etc.

Overall, I can see how the Lord has changed what I am looking for in a house. It seems that I've desired our own home for so long: A place where we could settle, decorate, and fill with stories and memories. I've envisioned such a place many times... pretty and just right. Then reality comes. Such a house-- pretty and just right-- cannot be found in our budget!

But I'm OK with that. The years of waiting for the right time to buy has allowed different desires to take root in my heart. Honestly it would still be nice to find pretty and just right, but I don't want a house to be my focus anymore. I want a functional home that can be used for the glory of God, a place where people are more important than things, and where the love of God reigns. Given a choice between pretty and just right vs. purposeful, I choose the latter. It's not that you can't have both, but I think a choice of priority must be made.

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Boys. Here are some recents of Jacob. Do you know I kinda cried a little after his ultrasound, when I found out I was having a third boy? I'm sad to admit it! But by then I knew enough about boys to make me fear having a third. Michael, who was merely three, would come to me rubbing "lotion" all over his hands and arms. This so called lotion was smashed snail slime, and he sincerely thought he was doing a good thing in moisturizing himself for me. Do you know that stuff stinks up close? Do you know it doesn't easily wash off with soap and water? Oh, and did you know that snail slime stings like mad when it gets smeared in eyes?!

Anyway, just an example of boy-ness. There's lots of it going on around here all the time, but now I know how cute it can be as well. Ever wake up to a handsomely tanned 5 year old puckering up for a kiss, and dressed only in undies and his father's aviator glasses? It's a nice way to start the day!

Andrew has an obsession with paper airplanes. We've got books on paper airplanes, we've watched youtube videos on making the best variations, and he has a drawerful of his favorites. I've had to limit the amount of printer paper he uses, but all extra sheets of paper that come through our door or into our mailbox get converted into a sleek gliding flyer.

He'll try anything, always hoping for an improvement. Here he taped together several sheets, only to learn that the paper was too thin. He likes to make miniature planes with square bits of notepad paper. Some of them look like rockets, others look like beetles. I should take some pictures of those, too!

And finally,

**Thank you to everyone who took the time to write me a note of encouragement following my last post, either here on my blog or by email. I am touched by all your kind words, and humbled that the Lord would use me in some small way to encourage others. Thank you.


~Katherine