The other day Nabby came up with this invention.

Nabby: “It’s a weapon necklace.”
Me: “Oh.”
Nabby: ” When they put it on it hurts and kills them!”
Me: “Wow, I don’t think I’d want to put it on.”
Nabby: “It only hurts bad guys Mom, when they put it on. Good guys can wear it and it doesn’t hurt them. Bad guys steal it and then DIE.”

Very tricky. Treasure that protects itself.

So, I’m expecting a baby in April. It’s very exciting, especially for Nabby. The other day she made this baby sized version of the “weapon necklace” and asked me to keep it safe in my room till the baby arrived. Let’s hope the baby is a “good guy”.

A few moments later she came back with a second baby necklace.

Nabby: “This is if you have two babies mom. One girl baby and one boy baby.”

Very thoughtful of her! She’s been busy making lots of things lately with Oliver. We put together new robots. Hers has a crystal studded tummy and key nose. Oliver’s rolls, instead of walking with feet, and features a key and keyhole (on it’s chest) to start it up.

They’re off to Kindergarten and preschool. Oliver has already drawn five pictures, made two collages, two number charts, gone to the library, the music room, the art room, played in the gym, and eaten “Bosco sticks” at lunch. I have mixed feelings about the required all day kindergarten in AA. It’s emotionally exhausting for him. He’s been picking fights with Nabby and refusing to do anything we ask. I think he really needs a de-stressor like exercise. Hopefully the crabbiness will dissipate as he adjusts. I’ve read it might take a couple months. Maybe he needs 14 hours of sleep. Anyway, it’s all part of the game I guess and I’m confident he’ll be fine at some point. His teacher is top notch and very caring and that makes it easier.
Nabby’s at preschool with all her best friends from church and play groups. She’s learned 4 songs, hunted for bugs outside singing “the ants go marching” (she still loves holding worms), played store, learned how to write an A, cut shapes with scissors, and played a game she loves involving a train.
Both kids say they like going. Nabby claims she just talks with her friends the whole time. If I ask her about more specifics she remembers the other stuff. Oliver said one day while picking him up that he wished everyday was a school day. Everyday, all day, is a school day for him so I’m not sure what that means. He must just really love it!

One of the things I miss about Memorial Day at my parents’ house is going to visit cemeteries. I like visiting the graves of my ancestors and hearing their stories. But beyond that, I am fascinated by cemeteries. I even made Kay visit an old cemetery in Park City on our honeymoon (much to her dismay, and I doubt I will ever live it down . . . ) This year I decided to take the kids to a cemetery even though we don’t have any ancestors buried here. Ann Arbor has a beautiful, old cemetery next to the Arboretum. It was so peaceful and beautiful to walk around and look at the old tombstones. It was also a great time to teach the kids about death, the resurrection, and respect for sacred places.

After we spent some time in the cemetery, we went to visit the Arb. The peonies were in full bloom and it was gorgeous! Even though it was a hot day, we enjoyed hiking through the Arb. We are blessed to live so close to such beautiful places.

Oliver had an awesome 5th birthday! He was the “child of the week” at preschool, so he got to make and wear this awesome hat.

When he got home from preschool, we had hotdogs and cake for lunch. Oliver requested an Azboo cake (“Azboo” is his name for his green, stuffed elephants). He loved the cake and it tasted delicious.

After cake, we headed to Chuck E Cheese’s. Since it was a weekday afternoon, we had the place to ourselves (literally). The kids loved all of the video games.

I snuck in a game or two as well.

While we were there, Chuck E. came out and invited the kids to come dance with him. Abby wasn’t too sure, but Oliver joined right in. It was worth it, too, because Chuck E. gave him a ton of free tickets.

Though they liked the games, the kids’ favorite part was redeeming tickets for prizes. Abby picked out a small sticky frog and Oliver picked out a squishy tentacle ball, a skull and cross bone pirate ring, and some candy (which he shared with Abby without any prompting from parents).

After we got home, we opened presents. Oliver got Star Wars Legos from Grandma Kotter, a stomp rocket from Grandma James, some Star Wars figurines from Great-Grandma Fielding, and a light-up green light saber and two transformers (Bumblebee and Sky Shadow) from us. What a fun birthday!

My kids are really cute. Just look at them. After Easter we celebrated Mother’s day with shrimp, sweet potato swirls (B.H.&G. new cookbook), and Jason teaching my primary class so I could have the day off. CTR 6 already felt like a day off from my last calling, so it was like a double day off. My class didn’t miss me at all because he’s amazing and funny and made paper mustaches for all of them and brought dress up clothes so they could role play stories. Three kids asked me the following week where he was and when he was coming back. I’ve been wondering the same thing ever since this phd program started. Well, not so much since the qualifiers. Nabby and Oliver played with the props from Jason’s lesson after church.

My friend Liz Hansen offered to take these photos for us last fall in exchange for a tiny bit of graphic design work. How lucky am I? She’s fantastic and so much fun! We were at Buhr park.