May

May was suppose to be awesome. It was suppose to be the perfect way to say goodbye to teaching, equipped with great weather, exciting kid events, and the anticipation of a long summer of relaxing at the pool and enjoying life. Obviously that wasn't the case. Losing Chad was heart breaking. It has certainly put a dark cloud over our world, and has coated every event with a layer of sadness. But life keeps going. We have two kids, and a jam packed schedule that always makes May a great bridge to June, because we are so tired from the month long race that we embrace summer with all we have. So we keep going. But we miss him. And we missed his "big reveal" Memorial Day weekend. And I keep thinking I see him everywhere, so I know he's with us in spirit. So Chad, here's to hangin with Jesus. Please tell Him thank you for everything. We miss you man!

So May continued, and I have desperately clung to every ounce of joy that my heart could soak up. I realize how short life is and how nothing really matters but Love. LOVE. So I want to give it. And I want to take it. So what did we do in May?

We taught Jack how to ride a bike.

....and he finally got it.

We enjoyed field days at school.....

(i love this picture....this is so Kaitlin)

an

and chillin at home...table style. Cuz why not?

We attended the kids Award's Days. Jack's class gave out one award per student, and the kids voted. Jack got the Sunshine Award. :) The look on his face is priceless. He loves his teacher, and he had a such great year. He made straight A's all year, and that includes BEHAVIOR!!!! Now if this isn't an answer to prayer, I don't know what is. Amazing how God can transform lives if we just ask. I am so proud of my little Red, and thankful to God.

Kaitlin's school offers awards in every academic and special area, and in usual Kaitlin style, she scooped um up like sand in a shovel.......and she had an audience, and we were beaming! What did she get?

Honor Roll

The Science Award

Outstanding Musician

Most Likely to Be Famous

Most Talented

Best Singer

Reflections State Runner Up (3rd Place- Music Composition)

Reflections County Winner (1st place- MC)

The Canton Optimist Club Honor

Citizenship Award

Leadership and Responsibility Award

I'm not kidding.....

And here I am.......surrounded by greatness.

The highlight of our Month was Relay for Life. Kaitlin had an opportunity to sing for a half hour at the Cherokee Relay, and she took it! She sang 5 songs.....2 covers and 3 of her own songs. She was so nervous, but she did AwEsOmE! She had a few friends come and support her, which made her night. Good friends are the ones who support you, the ones who are FOR you.....but I know that's hard to come by. I've always told Kaitlin that the only way to have that is to BE that. And that she is.

Jack had a ball running around with his posse, the P boys, who sadly moved to North Carolina last week. That was hard. We miss them badly!

Almost the grandparents came to cheer her on....thank you for that! Nana was on vacation and had to miss it, but she was there in spirit.

The girls made these shirts...I thought they were cute.

And that was the end of our May-hem. And so it was time to say goodbye......

goodbye to the famous 23.....my last class for many years. I will never forget this class as long as I live!

Goodbye to 5:30 a.m mornings, and way too much homework.

Goodbye to the cluttered chaos that becomes my house after just a few short weeks of school.

and Hello SUMMA!!!!!!!!

And even though we missed Chad and his big reveal, we did have a fun memorial day with friends.

I love this shot.....he is so cute in that hat!

Kaitlin sang a few songs for our guests. She has become a regular performer for almost all gatherings in the Stark Kitchen. Apparently she inspired others to break out some show tunes. This is Eric's boss.

This is Hayes. He is breathtaking isn't he?

This is Hayes' mom. She is not quite sure what Eric is doing.....maybe he thinks he is a baby whisperer? Do you see how uncomfortable her smile is? This picture speaks for itself. Need I say more?

We have joint custody of Carsyn this summer. Her brothers are in the major leauges so she spends a lot of time at our house. She LOVES the Stark kitchen. And we love her. She is a destructive little bugar. She like to paint things, color on things, break things, and hide things. Thing 1 and Thing 2......

These two are touble. They can trash the whole house in an hour, and they both melt down when asked to clean up. But they have fun, and summer is all about fun.

I love taking the kids night swimming. The pool is empty. The water is warm. And the sound of the water fall is so relaxing. Kaitlin and I have had some good talks poolside.

And so the kitchen concerts continue......

I am really concerned about Carsyn and Jack. They are so shy and unsure of themselves......

I mean really.

concerned....

Eric and I got a new duvet cover for our bed last month, and Bella doesn;'t like it. It's a down comforter, so I think she gets too hot. She has decided to start sleeping in Kaitlin's room. I was thrilled at first, but I kinda miss her snuggling with us. She uses her teeth to cover herself in blankets. Rotten I tell you! And here is a sneak peak at Kaitlin's new comforter. We re-decorated her room, and I love it. We still have some work to do, but I will post pics when it's all done.

This is a Kendoma. They come from Japan, and they have invaded our country. Every boy in our county has one, and they are awesome. I like that that they require hand eye coordination, they get the kids off the video games and moving, and they aren' easy to play with. There are all kinds of tricks to master so it doesn't get boring. Jack has 2 of them....going on 3. This one he painted himself....can you tell?

I thought I would end this post with this picture. Bella is in love with our neighbor's dog Hershey, so she often runs off and jumps into their back yard and gets stuck there. They play and have fun together, and the owners expect to find Bella there at least twice a week. She gets out because we don't have a fence, and we let her out to pee without a leash sometimes, and every now and then she darts off for Hershey's house. This particular time she decided to mud wrestle with Hershey. She wasn't gone 5 minutes and this is how we found her. It took an hour to clean her off because she is afraid of water, so we couldn't get out the hose and spray her down. I had to fill a bucket with water and wash her with wash cloths while holding her down. I was covered in mud when it was all said and done. Thanks B.