Letters to Grandma: May

May has always been my favorite month. Unfortunately, lately it has been so blessed busy that I rarely take time to smell the roses, or lilacs as the case may be.

This year, Joey and Stacy ushered in the month with their wedding. Then, we were blessed to have their daughter for a week while they went on their honeymoon. Annika loved, loved, loved having a "little sister" around the house. She did Halle's hair, dressed her up, had tea parties, played in the sandbox and generally enjoyed someone besides her tortuous brothers.

Meanwhile, Michaela left for a month long trip to Germany to help Margaret. I didn't quite realize how her absence would make the month slightly more chaotic.

There was Mother's Day and Annika's birthday. Next was my birthday, a couple godchildren's birthdays, Mom's birthday and Katherine's birthday. Sprinkled in between everything we've tried to complete our school work, pour concrete at our house, take a little roadie to visit a friend, have friends over and compete on a track team.

Did I mention eat meals, pray together, and function as a normal family?

Last night following our final track practice, we did stop to smell the lilacs (and pick them.) Turns out some people are really unhappy about the alley side of their lilacs being trimmed. Ugh. It was a rather embarrassing moment. As I related the story of being caught to Shannon, he couldn't believe we were out of the car picking them. Mind you, this is the guy who will present me with huge bouquets of lilacs throughout the month. His response, "Man, that wasn't smart. I only take about four per alley. And, it's like robbin' a bank. Get in, get out, and certainly don't hang around out of the car!"

Starting Annika young betting on the Kentucky Derby ~

She won $100!