Miscellaneous May

Bruised Boy

Time for the random pictures post ... Miscellaneous May stuff. Keaton had to show off his bruised and banged up leg. I guess it's pretty par for the course with a house full of boys.

Cutting Crusts

While we're concentrating on Keaton ... shall I admit to cutting off the crusts of his sandwiches? And not only do I cut off the crusts, but I actually cut them into cute little dino shapes with a cutter made just for such a purpose. When Keaton takes cold lunch, a PB&Honey Dino Sandwich is always in there. Many days he has one for breakfast too. 

Memorial Memories

Gray went with his mom down to Granny Goose's Grave.

Cute picture of these two!

Sibling Sandwich

We also went up to Maga's for a family party (Adrian's birthday) and I caught this on camera. Gray and Clay catching Ana in a loving hug. 

Bird Babies

And while on the topic of loving families ... starlings have once again nested in the cinder block pillar in the backyard. I've posted about this a few times in the past. They are very noisy little birds. This year more than most, I noticed the fledglings make it up the pillar and come out, waiting for their parents to return with yummy bugs. 

I tried collecting on my "Frustration Free WakeUps" coupon from Callahan ... the mornings were often better, but still not completely frustration free. School finally ended though, so now the kid can sleep in.

... and that's May.

Eating Out

We don't eat out a lot, but we went out twice over Memorial Day weekend. Only Grayson had been to The Cheesecake Factory, and he wanted to introduce the rest of to the restaurant.  So we packed up and managed to get in without much of a wait (mid-day on a Saturday). There was a wide variety of food for dinner, and of course, cheesecake for dessert. 

 On Memorial Day morning,

 Gray suggested we go to Virg's ... 

the favorite breakfast spot. 

Love Gray and Landon in the corners of these food photos!

Big Pancakes = Full Tummies!

Cooper's Court

Cooper has always been a basketball fan ... ok, this last year he REFUSED to play Junior Jazz, but he's outside almost daily with his little hoop and ball. We used to keep the hoop over by the edge of the garage, closer to the front door ... but not lately. It had been in that spot for years, I'm not sure why it moved. I guess Cooper just wanted more space, and designated court markings. He painstakingly drew a complete half court, and he has to redo it often, as the chalk washes away with the rain. He used his jobchart reward points to buy himself some new chalk, and also a new ball. He has his eye on a new hoop too ... although he says he doesn't really want it to replace this old one, he wants it in ADDITION to it, to create a FULL  court there on the driveway. Daddy would LOVE that (we already have two full size hoops and two soccer goals cluttering up the front yard). 

Yes ... the hoop is positioned directly in front of the garage, and that is a problem when it comes to pulling the car in and out. We do need to shift it over several times every day. 

Chore Chart Take Two

We'd tried several different chore charts in the past with mixed reviews. They always seem to start off strong, then lose effectiveness as the novelty wears off. That was true of the computerized "My Job Chart" I introduced a few years ago. It really did work for a while ... although I did have to double check little Colton, he tended to get a little excited checking things off and would suddenly have 100 points accumulated. We had discontinued the job chart, but not the jobs (to the kids chagrin). Recently, the boys wanted CREDIT for doing things, and asked the job chart to be reinstated. So I did.  It's really just the little boys who are interested. They like to earn points toward small prizes and it is a good reminder of the things they need to get done each day.

Topaz Mountain

I think the scouts go to Topaz Mountain every year. Four Blackham boys went this year ... Gray, Callahan, Keaton and Colton (he was just along for the ride, the kid likes camping). Unfortunately, it was a RAINY night, and unfortunately, neither Grayson nor I had double checked Colton's bag when he SAID he had packed a jacket.

Luckily it was nice the next day ... (back at home, we were hit with rains on and off all through the morning). The boys collected rocks and even found a horny toad. 

I have the boys write in their journals each week ... 

this was Colton's entry:

"I went to camp it took 3 hours to get to the campsite we went hunting for rocks but they were special rocks they are called tapas they are crystals I don't think they are volable you could find clear ones and some in rocks."

Derby Workshop

 While Pinewood derbies can be run at any time during the year, April and May tend to be "derby season."  Grayson has been very busy with multiple derbies each week. I addition to those, as the derby for OUR ward was coming up, he also hosted a Derby Workshop in our garage (as he has done for years now). He provides the tools, and the expertise, to help anyone along. 

Saturday morning Gray got everything set up. 

Tables and Tools. Primer and Paint. 

Step-by-Step instructions ... see them taped to the freezer.

 Cut out the car body

Drill holes and add weight.

Bondo to cover and keep it in.

Sand Smooth.

Ironically, OUR scout (Cooper) has not been wanting to go to scouts lately. I thought for sure he'd still want to participate in the derby. He did NOT. He did not even want to discuss building a car. We decided not to push him.  So when derby time came ... there wasn't a Blackham boy in the race :(

The EVIL Elm

I love my lilac bush, and my little sideyard flowerbed. I can see it as I look out the kitchen window. I do NOT love the HUGE Chinese Elm tree that you can see there in the background. The tree itself is in the neighbor's yard. The seeds however, do not stay in the neighbor's yard. 

 They gather all over ...

 Pile up in the flower bed ...

They are all over the grass ...

Sometimes it looks like it is snowing.

They end up in the house too. Yuck!

In fact ... one of those little seeds turned into a tree. I didn't notice it for a long time, as it blended in with the lilac bush. It wasn't until it grew taller than the lilac, and was poking up a foot or so over it that I even noticed (you can see it in the top picture if you look). Landon did go ahead and chop down that tree for me (it wasn't the first time he's chopped down a tree for me, I posted about the old peach tree here). Heaven knows I don't want another evil elm tree spreading it's seeds!

Return of the Jedi

... it all started with Origami Yoda. That's a book I picked up for Keaton to read. He read it, he folded the Yoda, and the Darth Vader, and even the Fortune Wookie (you can see the post about Origami Keaton here). We ended up buying all four books in the Origami Yoda series. But it didn't end there. Star Wars made a complete comeback at the Blackham house, all thanks to Keaton ... and Origami Yoda.

First Keaton pulled out all the DVDs, and watched all six movies. The other boys watched them too. Then Keaton pulled out the old lightsabers, and  lightsaber wars were happening daily. Unsatisfied with the saber situation, he used his hard earned money to buy more, including the cool double sided Darth Maul saber. We had trouble finding a "green" one, but then found one at a yard sale. Keaton has also brought out all the Star Wars games (on the PSP, Wii and we even got a new one for the Kinect). It really is the return of the Jedi!

Let there be Light(sabers) ...

Phone Home

For months now, our old kitchen phone has been on the fritz. The display is for the callerID and the answering machine (showing the time and date of the call) and lately, it hadn't shown much! Sometimes it would just seem possessed, scrolling through or flashing random numbers. If we unplugged it, it would seem to reset ... for a minute or so anyway. I'm not one for change ... but it was time.

Now I know - many people don't even have a home phone in this day and age. Grayson was all for dropping it completely, but I still like having the basic landline and a number of cordless phones around the house. This old phone was actually an answering machine too, and  I even wanted that again (yes, we do have voice mail as part of our phone service, but I like the basic answering machine more). 

So ... we're all set up again. 

I wondered how long it would take 

for the kids to notice the change (it didn't take long). 

So call us maybe *Ü*

Mother's Day

For Mother's Day I got the traditional breakfast in bed treatment, and the custom cards from the kids. I was especially grateful for the coupon from Callahan for "frustration free" wake ups, which will be a change from the usual ten minute tug of war with the blankets we have every morning. There was a new chaise, some chocolates, flowers, and a big tub of licorice (which was gone by the end of the day ... I shared! It wasn't ALL me!). 

All my boys!

After church we went up to Maga's to wish her a happy mother's day, then we hit my mom's on the way home (Scott's family was there at the same time, so it was good to see them too). I'm very grateful for my mom and my MIL, and of course my wonderful boys!