Goodbye April

For the most part Mapleton is pretty flat. It's all farmland or former farmland so it's nice for walking. But if I choose a route closer to the mountain, I of course come across some more hilly terrain. I climbed up a newly constructed road at the base of the mountain and wound up to this view. I was impressed. 

I'm sure by next year it will be full of new homes so I won't be able to enjoy the view without peeking through houses but for now I 

Sarah ran for student council again this year and she made it! She has had so much fun serving this year and wanted to do it again. She wants to apply for student body president which means an interview with the principle or something then he chooses. 

For Earth Day we spent the morning cleaning up a neighbor's backyard along with other people from our ward. See this huge limb? There was another branch almost as big broken and lying on the roof. So some men armed with chainsaws took care of that. There was lots of limb cutting and hauling off. We filled a trailer 3 times and the truck bed like twice. I spent most of the time raking and sweeping the patio and when the kids showed up, they wanted a turn on the now cleared roof.

I feel like all I've done all month is trim trees and haul branches. The day before this we hauled all our fruit tree trimmings to the dumpsters the city provided. Add in our day of helping prune at Justin's grandma's and yup: branches, branches brances.

I spied this artwork in the hall across from his classroom. What is it with this kid and chicken nuggets? Tuesday was my last day helping in James's class and I am so sad about it. Am I always going to be sad at each of his milestones because they mark the end of an era?

My mom is forever unearthing treasures in her house. Just when I think she's gone through everything she pulls out a bag of cassette tapes. The red and yellow Little Critter tape was my sister's and came with a book. I listened to it all the time as a kid. We have a copy of that book and I even hear the tape narration when I read it aloud to my kids. Anyway, I adopted it and played it for James in the car and he was blown away. All my kids were so intrigued by how a tape works. I felt old and cool at the same time.

I mapped my lawn mowing with my walking app to see how far I walk. Not sure about that crazy big loop at the bottom as I did not mow my neighbor's yard, promise. I thought it looked pretty funny.

Yesterday my sister brought over a bike for James to have since her boys don't need it anymore. It had an extra set of pegs so Henry put them on the back of his bike and took his sisters for a ride. Erica wouldn't get on without a helmet.

And that's how we wrap up the month! May is a fun and busy month. I am helping six 8-year-old girls make mother's day presents, chaperoning a field trip to our local art museum, getting our back patio replaced. And of course Mother's day, Henry's birthday, kindergarten graduation, last day of school, our 17th wedding anniversary and somehow makeover the shed and plant a garden.

Here's a few pictures of our lovely flowers and blossoms. Everyday is greener and fuller.