Where do I begin?

Oh goodness; what a week we've had! We've been so busy, I don't know which way is up anymore. Why is it that school teachers have to throw in every crazy activity/project/party at the end of the school year? I try to keep on top of it all, but I'm afraid I'm failing this year. With animal dioramas and Cinco de Mayo celebrations and zoo field trips and fitness fairs and fox trots...like I said, I don't know which way is up.

I never did post anything about Easter. The kids woke up to their Easter loot. We also enjoyed the usual family celebrations. We spent Saturday at Shelley's celebrating Easter and April birthdays. The kids hunted eggs and ate candy to their hearts' content. We had the annual "adults-only" money egg hunt, where FINALLY, the Radmalls were beaten! The Sampsons won the big loot this year, and I won't lie; it was a nice change. :0)



On Sunday we went to Brian's parents for the annual Smith family egg-hunt and April birthday celebration. Fun was had by all! After 2 days of running around and eating nothing but absolute crap, the kids were sort of exhausted. Because both Ella and Ava have birthdays at the end of April, it makes for a crazy month.

May has been every bit as crazy thus far with too many school functions and projects to name. Last weekend Brian won a "fantastic" (the quote marks in this case indicate sarcasm) prize from his work. I'll preface this story with a little background. So, every month Brian's work has what they call a "National Call Night." The employees have to stay at work until 8:00 PM, contacting clients and making sales. Anyway, the company gives away a prize each month on this night. In the past, the prizes have been things such as IPads, big-screen TVs etc. So, this month, they decided to give away a limousine ride to the Bees game and tickets to the game. When Brian told me the prize the day before, I said, "Watch. This will be the time you win the prize." Sure enough, Brian texted me the next day to inform me of his winning. Brian is assuming the prize was meant to include Jazz play-off tickets, but seeing as how our lovely Jazz failed miserably this year, the Bees tickets and limo ride had to suffice.

Well, the night of the game, we come to find out as the vehicle pulls up (30 minutes late), that it is not a limo, but a Cadillac Escalade. Brian's company had called a car service that doesn't even provide limousines. So, we ended up squishing our four oldest kids, myself, and Brian into the Escalade (with Brian in the front seat, shooting the bull with the driver), and we made our way to the Bees game. It was a fairly hysterical experience; something that would only happen to us. The kids were slightly disappointed to take an SUV ride, as they were expecting their first limo ride. So lame.

We did enjoy the game and had tickets right behind home plate, and although the kids were tired and restless, we made the best of the experience.

Ava was scared of the bee, so she's not in this picture.

The following day, we went to the Thanksgiving Point Gardens Tulip Festival with Brian's parents, sister Leslie and our niece Carlee. That was a nice little getaway. I have never seen the Gardens as crowded as it was, seeing as how it was the day before Mother's Day. The tulips were gorgeous though, and we enjoyed ourselves, despite almost being run over several times by stupid golf carts. I HATE those golf carts.


The weekend celebrating ended on Mother's Day. The day was pretty nice. We woke up, went to church, and then Brian entertained the kids while I took a much-needed Mother's Day nap. We then went over to my Mom's house and had dinner (which was served by the men...an Ellison family tradition), and my Mom, sister Shelley and I chatted it up in the living room while the men supervised and fed the children. I had a fantastic Mother's Day and absolutely LOVED everything my husband and kids did for me. My kids' cards, notes and little projects were especially adorable. I LOVE being a Mom; best job ever!

With 20 days left in May, I'm a little overwhelmed. I'm feeling like I'll never accomplish everything I have to accomplish before the end of the school year, but I guess it's best to take it one day at a time. I do plan for June to be a super relaxing, low-key month. We'll see how that plays out, but hopefully I'll have a lot of time to enjoy this little munchkin. She's just so stinkin' cute, I can't stand it!