May Stuff

 A couple of things I want to remember but don't have pictures of:

-Our water heater randomly stopped working. Not all at once--there just slowly stopped being hot water. Jon checked and the pilot light was out. Easy fix! Until it turned off again. And again. We finally had to call someone to look at it. Turns out it needed a whole new ignition system (which of course they had to order, so we had to wait longer). By the time it showed up we had been about a week without hot water, which is really exciting for things like doing dishes. I am now extra grateful for magical hot water!

-The kids are all finally big enough to ride their bikes all the way to the dollar store and back. It's about 5 miles round trip and there are some decent hills. I'm super impressed that Elise can do it on her little 16 inch bike! Sometimes I'll put Elijah in the bike trailer and ride with them, but a few times I've put him in the jogging stroller and just ran with the kids. That's actually a better speed for keeping alongside Aaron and Elise. Plus it's a great workout and I feel justified buying myself a cold Dr. Pepper when I get to the store (which my kids all help me drink on the run back). 

Happy Birthdays to Us

My birthday was a little crazy since it was the same day we did the open house and the Holocaust Museum. But eventually we made it home to enjoy my Walmart cheesecake! 

Elijah was pretty sure it was his birthday and this cake was all for him:

Life is pretty good when you're three and there's cake around.

Jon has been trying to eat less sugar recently, which is a noble goal that I support (even if I'm not quite as committed to it as he is). But when I asked what cake or other treat he wanted for his birthday, I was annoyed when he said "fruit salad." For Pete's sake: it's your BIRTHDAY. You can have something sugary on your birthday. But he held to it! So fruit salad it was:

Singing to Jonny:

And you know what? It really was delicious.

Sorry for being obnoxious, Jonny Blood.

Jon turned 40 this year, which feels really weird. I remember my mom's 40th birthday party! But it doesn't bother him, and I'm not dreading it either. Life is good and I'm looking forward to the years ahead. 

It's Always Fun When Grandma(s) Come

My mom is always so busy with her job and her other job as a temple worker that we were thrilled when she was able to come stay with us for a week or so! We timed it so that her trip would coordinate with the DC Temple open house. She was born in DC while her parents were living here, so it's a special place for her. 

Outside the temple with Grandma Cathy

We went over Memorial Day weekend, which is crazy town. But it also meant that Grandma Sara was able to come with us as well! 

Outside the temple with Grandma Sara

The lines were long (I think it may have been the busiest day they had), but they moved quickly. I still didn't like how rushed it felt, but I'm glad I had the chance to go twice. Not sure how much the kids got out of it, but sometimes I think just the effort of going helps them realize how important it is. 

Grandma Cathy and some little Bloods.

Pretty sure there's a Timmy back there holding Elijah.

I don't think he's clinging to Grandma's back like a monkey. 

Since we studied modern history this year in school, I knew I wanted to take Seth to the Holocaust Museum in DC. I got to go in 8th grade and I remember it as one of the most vivid experiences I had that entire trip (and we saw a lot). I also felt like 8th grade was about the right age for it to not be overwhelming, but also not so calloused that it didn't hit hard.  

Seth was not thrilled. "Great. First I get to be bored (open house), then depressed (Holocaust Museum)." We also had some stress since we had timed tickets and traffic was a mess. But we made it just in time! 

I was worried because we were in there with a huge group of high school kids who were kind of dorking around. But within five minutes of entering the exhibit, they all got very somber. It's just not the kind of place where you can be silly. 

When we exited, Seth and I found a place to just sit and be still while we waited for the grandmas to finish. Everyone who exited was quiet. I asked him if he understood now why I wanted him to come, and he said yes. So I think it was a successful visit! 

We did a bit of sight-seeing on our way back to the car (much to Seth's dismay). Grandma Cathy had him pose next to this Forest Service sign in honor of Bryan Bosworth:

Another happy pose by the Washington Monument:

Grandma Sara had to head back home to teach school, but we got to keep Grandma Cathy for a week! Unfortunately, Catherine tested positive for Covid the day after she arrived, so most of our plans were shot down. Instead we spent a lot of time chasing Elijah around the neighborhood while he mowed. Mom has a bunch of other pictures of our activities (like Kilgore Falls), but I didn't get any. It was a very quiet visit, but Mom said that's exactly what she needed. She spent a lot of time working on family history, which is awesome. We're so glad she made it out here!

Patapsco Camping

Since our family had the insane idea to try to camp across the United States during our drive out west this summer, we figured we should have a trial run before we went. We got a hitch and a rack for the van, which Elijah knew exactly what to do with: 

Lawnmower? Check.

Tent and sleeping bags? Unnecessary. 

After our last camping trip with Knoxes, we learned two things. First is that camping in the rain is zero fun, especially when your tent starts leaking in the night. The second is that one night is just not enough when you have to be out of your site by 11 am. So this time we opted for two nights, and the weather looked beautifully rain-free!

We camped at Patapsco State Park, which was just a beautiful place. Our campsite had tons of shade, plus lots of distance between us and any neighbors (probably because we accidentally reserved an RV spot). We weren't sure how all seven of us would fit into the 8 person tent, but we made it work without too much squishing. 

Our only issue was the cool camping sound machine I bought to give us some white noise. It worked beautifully...until around 2 am, when it died. I think I had the volume up too high and just blew through the battery. So everyone was up at 2 am while I quickly downloaded a white noise app on my phone to get us through the rest of the night.

Turns out the rest of the night ended at 6 am. I grabbed the people in my tent who were awake and snuck out to the little arena area next to our site. Of course, the second we opened our door there was a Paul Knox waiting for us (Paul is always an early riser). I kept everyone entertained for a couple of hours until the others rolled out of bed. Then it was off to enjoy the scenery!

We found water and rocks.

My kids will never move again.

Paul and Catherine

Melissa, Craig, Seth & Gabe

Little Elijah frog

Eventually we convinced the kids to leave the water and continue our hike along the train tracks. Some of us were very, very worried that a train would come out of nowhere and kill us all (mostly Aaron). 

Thankfully we all survived!

I'm honestly not sure what is happening here.

But here's Gabe, who has apparently lost his shirt during our hike

We also found a really cool area with a swinging bridge and the ruins of an old mill. Seth loved making the bridge sway. Mostly because it terrified Catherine:

Catherine and the ruins:

None of us were actually brave/stupid enough to cross this little arch

(there was quite a drop underneath it):

Next stop: a waterfall! 

Aaron and the falls:

This was actually a perfect hike for that day. It was unseasonably hot that weekend (in the 90s in May!), so we appreciated the water and the shade. My favorite part was watching Gabe literally climb up the waterfall. 

Aaron is still completely obsessed with fire.

Even when it's 90 degrees outside. 

The second night went much, much better, despite being ridiculously hot. I think we are now prepared for our journey across the country! Knock on wood...

The Bigger Boys

Aaron has a very brave co-op teacher who decided to teach his class cake decorating. I got to help, which was fun (but also insane). For one of their projects they got to use fondant to make minion cupcakes

Aaron's minions:

He was surprisingly invested in making the Minions look accurate.

What would an Aaron post be without Aaron art?

The pupil-less eyes.

The soulless smile.

And is that a tattoo? Or a really weird shirt that covers one arm entirely?

And then there's Seth:

Since our stake is in the DC Temple District, they asked for volunteers to help serve during the open house. But the shifts were at weird times and SEVEN HOURS LONG, which made it complicated for those of us with small children. But when someone asked for youth volunteers and offered to drive, I convinced Seth to go. We may have had to bribe him with extra screen time, but he went! I did feel bad when I found out the youth don't rotate through stations like the adults: he was literally putting shoe coverings on people for seven hours. But he survived! And that's Seth's glorious contribution to the DC Temple open house!

May the Fourth?

How to tell if the Force is strong in your family:

Step 1: forget it's May 4th

Step 2: randomly wear your Star Wars shirt anyway:

Step 3: realize that your husband has also forgotten it's May 4th,

yet also randomly chosen to wear a Star Wars shirt.

In fact, it's the exact shirt you're wearing:

We must be some kind of Force prodigies!

Also, not from May 4th, but when one of your most favorite YW has a birthday (and she LOOOVES Star Wars, you dress up as Vader and show up at her house. You also bring Baby Yoda, who refuses to wear his Yoda hat or any other type of clothing. 

Was I grinning like a fool behind that mask?

You bet.

Little Stinky

Elijah is at the point in his life where naps only happen in the car or the stroller. Rarely, so rarely, do they happen on the couch. Which is why this one had to be documented. And yes, his preferred sleeping position is in the middle of a nest of blankets (and a towel in this case). 

May was the month when I realized Elijah was actively trying to get me reported to CPS. He figured out how to open all the doors and would just leave whenever he wanted to. I found him in Mr. Chris's tree after one escape attempt (see above). Second attempt was trying to get into Mr. Chris's backyard. Maybe I should ask Chris if he's interested in adoption...

What inspired all this interest in the great outdoors? One word: lawnmowers. For some reason, lawnmowers became his greatest passion. And, since it was spring, the noise of lawnmowers was fairly constant. Guess who would make a break for it every time he heard one anywhere in the neighborhood? I was also glad that I hadn't actually given away Seth's old toy lawn mower that no one played with anymore. It became EVERYTHING to Elijah. He mowed at 7 am. He mowed in the horrible heat of 2 pm. He mowed at night when it was clearly bedtime. Nothing would stop the mowing, especially not a serious lack of clothing:

Stinky's Lawn Care Service:

Very dedicated to the art of mowing. 

Not so dedicated to the idea of clothing.

And yes, this happened much more often than I want to admit.

But really, the lawnmower love and the Houdini escape tricks were very stressful. Many times a day I would yell, "Has anyone seen Elijah?" If the answer was no, I was off on yet another brisk walk through the neighborhood to find my son and his lawnmower. We finally bought a latch to keep the sliding door locked and slightly unscrewed a bolt on the front door so he couldn't flip the lock (made it really fun when people knocked on the door and we had to screw the bolt back in before we could open it). But if we ever forgot to lock the doors, he was gone.

The worst incident happened on a day when I was visiting with my awesome friend Adrian, who I haven't seen in over a decade. Her new job has her coming to APG occasionally and we of course had to have her over for dinner! We were enjoying a nice chat on the back porch when I saw someone I didn't recognize bringing Elijah into the backyard, from the direction of the main road behind our house. I made Jon deal with it since I was talking to Adrian and had already hunted Elijah down several times that day. 

Turns out, it was actually my friend Katri. She was driving along the road when she noticed a toddler with a toy mower 'mowing' very near the road. This is no neighborhood road--it's 45 mph and no one is looking for kids along the way. But thankfully Katri was. She pulled over, then realized that she recognized this kid! At which point she walked him into our backyard and into Jon's arms. 

It took a while to sink in, but I realized how close we came to potentially losing him. I can't imagine how I would have felt if he'd wandered into traffic. I wrote Katri a very emotional note thanking her for saving his life. 

I did try to be more diligent, but there were at least two other occasions when he was brought home by various neighbors after having escaped. I'm so grateful for kind people who are willing to help rescue lost toddlers and not be too harsh on frazzled mothers. 

Elijah, all ready for church!

I guess he was worried about serious flooding that day?

For a few weeks, leaf blowers were right up there with lawn mowers.

Which means that of course Grandma Cathy had to buy him his own!

Pantless Elijah vs. Mow Mow

Which mower will dominate?

When you have to do Walmart runs with Mom, you get donuts.

You get one donut for each hand, in fact. 

A couple other Elijah stories:

-Our county offered a free preschool program for mixed ability children. They had a meeting where the kids could see the classroom and meet some of the other kids and teachers. It was kind of a trial run to see how things went. Parents went to a meeting in the room next door while the kids played and had a small lesson. Guess what I heard during the entire meeting? "Moooooooooooommmmmmmmm!!!!!!!! 

Moooooooooommmmmmmmmmmmyyyyyyyyyy!!!! Moooooooooooommmmmmmmmmm!!"  A week or two later I got an email saying he "wasn't quite ready" for their program. So yes, my kid failed preschool tryouts. 

-Nursery is not much better. He's fine if Jon or I stay in with him, but when we try to leave he just screams. So that's super fun.

-Elijah spends a lot of his time playing with construction vehicles and his lawn mower. And of course you can't play trucks/mowers without making truck/mower noises. And yes, they are each distinct. And yes, he must turn the key on the toy mower before the noises start. This is serious stuff.  One day he was getting very upset. When I tried to question him, all I got was "My mouth not working!" I started looking for something stuck in his teeth or a sore in his mouth. Nothing. Eventually I realized he was upset because his mouth was too dry and he couldn't make the correct raspberry noises for his trucks. This has since become a frequent problem that is usually (but not always) solved with a drink of water. 

Stinky, you are exhausting and you are going to probably kill me with anxiety, but I sure love you!

The Ladies

These are from earlier this year (April, maybe?). Our neighbors, Chris and Caroline, were mulching their yard. The kids all ADORE Mr. Chris, so anytime he's outside, they're coming to visit. So he put them to work!

Bennett, Juliana and Elise hauling mulch around

A very special type of mulch

Our friend Bente has been inviting the kids over to her house on Sunday afternoons for some fun activities. Elise and Aaron love it. Catherine tolerates it. Or refuses to go (which is disappointing since the entire reason for the activity is for Catherine and Talia to spend time together, but that's Catherine for you!). One week they made these cute temples out of graham crackers and marshmallows:

Elise, Rachel, Catherine, Talia, Aaron

One of my YW was performing in Little Mermaid Jr. and begged me to come watch. I'm not the biggest fan of amateur musicals, but I love Anna, so I decided Elise and I would go. There ended up being a bunch of kids in the cast that I knew, so that was really fun. But the best part was seeing how excited Elise was. I'm not at all surprised that this girl would love musicals!

Selfie before the show!

Also, school spring pictures showed up.

Catherine was pretty proud of these:

Elise's never made it home from school.

Which is fine since I never keep them anyway.

Catherine's most favorite tree is the big sycamore in our front yard. She loves to climb it (and to sit up there and watch unsuspecting neighbors as they walk under her). It used to be pretty easy to get up, but because the branches sag as they get longer, we've had to remove many of the lowest branches. So now Catherine is the only one who can scale the trunk. 

Aaron and Elise (and Bennett, the neighbor) all really wanted to climb up with her. Catherine rigged up a system of ropes to help them be able to get up. Elise mastered it fairly quickly, to her delight (and Catherine's):

Aaron did not master it quickly. And if there's one thing that Aaron cannot tolerate, it's being beaten at something by Elise. There were many, many afternoons where he'd come in crying in rage after repeatedly failing to make it up the tree. But eventually he succeeded and was greatly praised by everyone. 

Bennett never did make it up. Short leg problems. 

And then the sad news. A couple of us (including me) got some kind of cold. Nothing crazy, just felt blah. Mine had me in bed for one entire Sunday. But I tested twice: not Covid. 

The next week Catherine had a fever one day. She can't return to school until she shows a negative Covid test, so we took one. And...Covid. How hers was Covid but mine wasn't? Makes no sense. 

Super disappointed girl

Getting Covid is bad enough, but what broke both of our hearts was that her big 5th band concert was that week. She had been working so hard and was so excited. Plus Grandma Cathy would be there to watch! But Covid means no concert. Her teacher was heartbroken as well. She adores Catherine. Just another thing Covid has stolen from us.

Thankfully Catherine had a very mild case and recovered quickly. I was worried she'd be really upset the night of the concert, but she seemed totally fine. And she got to spend a week at home while Grandma was here, so that wasn't too bad!