Time Flies When You're Having Fun!

It's May and I 'm having a hard time believing it! The weather is just now warming up -- finally--and so I guess my spring fever hasn't set in yet! Only 19 more days of school --augghh--and I have SO much to do in that time! Don't get me wrong, I'm ready for a summer vacation, but I have a lot of reading testing and "report carding" (new verb I made up!) to do. It's going to be busy, but the kids are getting wound up and are ready for a break. This will be a month of earning my pay! :-)

The Shanks family is doing well. I have a bit of a cold, but that's just due to the many temperature changes and a busy life. My voice is going again and it really makes you appreciate having a voice on the good days. I really take it for granted until I lose it. It's hard to get after kids without a voice!! Hopefully it will get better soon!

Yesterday we enjoyed our beautiful weather and had a BBQ at the park with a family who lives a couple of doors down with us. We had a good time and even ended up roasting marshmallows and making S'mores. Emily and Ella go to join us while Steve and Kim ran away to get in a movie. The kids had so much fun playing on the playground equipment that I was glad we had decided to have it at the park. Our backyard just isn't that fun. The kids also got some baseball in and had fun flying a kite. I was so glad the weather cooperated -- we were ready for some warm weather again!

We took Bella (our new dog) with us. She does really well with us, but she's not always very happy about "strangers." Dave has really been trying to take her on walks everyday and get her used to the neighborhood, etc. Well, she did do well until Scottie decided to untie her and take her around the park. A lady came by and she was carrying a dog and had another tagging along, but it was not on a leash. Bella made a run for the dog and Scottie was not strong enough to hold onto her. It was one of those pictures that you see in the cartoons like Marmaduke and Scottie hanging on to her leash and flying along behind. Luckily Dave ran up to help, but I'm sure the little dog was pretty shaken up. It wasn't hurt, but I'm sure it scared him. We felt really badly, but it was a good lesson for Scottie. He thought he was strong enough to handle her. Now he knows that he really does need Dave or me to go with him! We're planning on having Bella's former trainer come over and give us some tips. He owned her for about 9 months before the Skellys. It will be nice to fine tune some of the things she's gotten a little more laid back about. Scottie was able to teach her to give him "five" the other day. It's so cute to see her put her paw up and hit his hand to get a treat. We're working on rolling over now. She's done it for me, but it still needs some work!!

Well, it looks like the dog "trumped" Scottie. Uh, oh -- that's not a good sign! Now for Scottie's news. Scottie has another loose tooth. He's excited to lose another one, but it sure is bugging him now. He also showed how tough he is in his school class. Mind you, Scottie is the 2nd oldest in the class, but he is the smallest. That makes him one of the slower ones in the races. So, his confidence was boosted in P.E. the other day. The kids were doing pull-ups for Presidential Fitness. Mrs. Taylor was running it while I was timing kids on the shuttle run. Anyway, I went back and looked at her list and saw that most of the kids had gotten 1 pull-up or none at all. I went down the list and the only differing number was Scottie. He had done 4 pull-ups! Yeahoo! He may be small, but he's buff!! Oh, you may not notice it by the size of his muscles, but just watch him shimmy his way up a door frame and you'll see how tough he is! I was proud of him and glad he got his moment to shine!

Mason is happy or sad. There's not much in between. He's amazing me with his ability to think and problem solve. He'll come up with answers or ideas that I would have never expected. I guess I need to remember he's four now and he's not little anymore! He gave a talk in church today. They just called last night to ask him, but he was very willing. They were worried that none of the Sunbeams would want to get up and talk, but when they came to Mason's name, they knew he would. They tell me how fun he is to watch in Primary. He sure comes back with a full report on what they've done each week. That's very much the opposite of Scottie. He usually just answers that he doesn't know what they learned or did that week! Anyway, Mason spoke about families in the scriptures and he did a cute job. I don't think everyone understood every word he said, but he sure had good inflection! He was so fun to listen to and I was proud of him. I was up there helping him and whispering the words, but Dave said he was very cute and he was proud to be his dad! He wished he could have taken a picture, but it wasn't possible. I took my 9/10 year olds from my Primary class, and they got a kick out of him. They enjoyed getting out of class for a few minutes too!

Tanna made it through sacrament meeting for the second week in a row! YEAHOO!!! That's a huge celebration at our house, because she's in a tough stage. She's awfully cute and awfully grumpy!!! She's tough and she won't be pushed around. She was meant to be the youngest with two big brothers. She is a lot of fun though and is really talking. I am amazed at the things she can come tell me. She's a smart one and that makes her a handful! She's always into something and is hard to keep up with. She just pushed out the screen on the screen door yesterday. That has only happened once before -- when Scottie was little. In fact, she reminds me a lot of Scottie, except sometimes I think she's even busier. I don't remember Scottie as being quite as destructive, but I think I didn't have as many of the mess making things that we have now (marker, crayons, chalk, etc.). They're left out now because of big brothers, and that makes life much easier for her! (And messier for the rest of us!) If any of you plan a surprise visit, just know that our carpet is a mess! I'm not cleaning it until I'm out of school and home to supervise her full-time!! Our carpet cleaner will have his work cut out for him this time!!

Well, all in all we're doing great! Dave worked hard on the yard yesterday and has been a huge help keeping up with the laundry and house. He's ready for me to come home and for him to get out again. Kids are a full-time job and he's ready for a change! They do have a good relationship though and that's something that we're very happy about. Dave has a neat opportunity now and he does appreciate that. But, he is getting antsy! :-)

Well, I'm off to get some beauty rest! Ha!

Jill