Have you subscribed in a feed reader or by Email? Don't forget to follow me on Twitter! And, you can "Like" me on my Facebook Fan Page! Might as well subscribe to my newsletter, too!

It’s another “nutshell” post from me, because as much as I would LOVE to blog every day about every little thing, I’m just too much of a rambler. It would take me forever. So, here ya go, mom:

•Mother’s Day. Oh, my heavens! The boys gave me $21 Dutch Bucks to purchase many Annihilators. My in-laws gave me $20 more! My father-in-law said, “We were going to get you Starbucks, but then we thought, “No, this is Kelleigh.” Good thinking, John! I was in coffee heaven. Add that to the handmade gifts, pretty flowers, hanging basket, and relaxed time around here, and it was a blessed day. We hosted Mother’s Day at our house this year, just so I could relax a little and not worry about the kids running off. We went down to the park to play and attempt to crawdad fish (they weren’t biting), and I got the best pictures!! I totally have to take Jessica Sprague’s photo editing class before I post here, though. Well, maybe just a sneaky-peaky:

I thought this one seemed appropriate.

•I got to go on a field trip with Grant to see “If You Give a Pig a Pancake”. It was SO funny and so well-done! We went to the Elsinore Theatre, which is just gorgeous, and I made sure Grant soaked it all in. He loved having me there with him, and I am so thankful that I get to be a SAHM so I can do things like this with him!

•Grant had his Kindergarten graduation (since his super-preggo teacher wanted to make sure she would be there). Oh. How. Cute. Look:

Maybe we’ll see a reenactment of that picture in about 12 years!

•Our small group had a potluck picnic and we had such a great time! The kids ran around the whole time and immediately went to sleep when we got home. It is so cool to have “couples” friends!

•At church, we have been watching The Truth Project videos. They are so awesome!! Its crazy to realize how much our culture has watered down and wiped out the truth. Sometimes it happens so slowly that we don’t even realize how much impact a single event has had on our entire moral mindset. Every time we watch a new video, Mitch and I just have to sit there in the quiet for a few minutes just letting it soak in. And then, the talking begins. We’ve had some great talks about being intentional with our parenting and making sure our kids hear the truth from our mouths and see it in our lives.

•Since Grant’s birthday is in July, they celebrated his “summer birthday” at school in May. Our whole family came to the party. Cole passed out suckers while Grant passed out party favors. I’m so glad I forked over the $8 for special treats that we picked up at The Dollar Store! It was really fun. The kids went around and told Grant what they liked about him. He was adorable standing there with a cute grin on his face.

•I started “potty-training” Cole on Wednesday, May 20, kinda. Actually, we came home from morning errands and I put underwear and plastic pants on Cole, just for fun. He didn’t really react to the whole thing. Up to that point, he had never, ever put anything in the toilet except a fart. That day was no different. On Thursday, we had Ladies Bible Study in the morning, so I waited and put him in underpants with plastic pants after we got home. I sort of figured that if he didn’t respond to this that we would wait a month or so and try again. However, while we were at the public library he went potty in the toilet for the first time. Yay! He had another successful episode later in the day. That night, he fell asleep before we could change him into a diaper, so we just put him to bed in his underpants. He was dry through the night. The next day, he insisted that I take the plastic pants off of him. I can honestly say that my child potty-trained in about 5 days. He had a couple of poopy accidents in there, but once he figured out how to put his poop in the toilet, he has been great! He’s dry through the night (no pull-ups) and self-sufficient in the bathroom (although we like to double check the wipes and remind him to wash his hands). He usually just “goes” without even telling us. So, basically, what I’m telling you is that I am now one of those mommies that you love to hate. Last month I loved to hate mommies like me, too, so I don’t blame you. Maybe this was God’s way of rewarding me for the agony of trying to train Grant before he was ready all those years ago. Thank you, Lord!

•Memorial Day weekend:

Eeek! Saturday was so much fun! First, we worked around the yard. I put in my vegetable garden: 4 pepper plants (3 bell and 1 jalapeno), 2 tomato, LOTS of green beans (remember those glass rods? They are now serving as green bean supports!), 1 zucchini, 1 artichoke, mini pumpkins, dill, basil, and cilantro. Add that to the stuff I already had growing in the herb garden: chives, oregano, thyme, mint, parsley. I still have to put seeds in for cucumbers, carrots and spinach. Maybe we should do that today!

While I was doing that, Mitch made the backyard look like a park. I LOVE my backyard!! Gorgeous! Last year we planted a butterfly garden, and this year it is gorgeous! Everything is purple right now, but the orange should be coming soon. I love being out there while the boys play!

After a while, we went to my favorite vintage furniture store where I picked up my new desk. I just LOVE it! Yeah, I totally need a laptop to make this desk really work, but it is such a fun desk that I had to get it. My friend Sarah has a motto that she keeps at the bottom of all her emails: “Buy what you love so you don’t have so much crud.” I took that as permission. Thanks Sarah!
There are all kinds of cubbies in there behind the computer. Of course, I can’t get to them very conveniently, thus the need for a new laptop. I’m just so addicted to my huge screen though! I will never toss my Mac baby!

And, in case you think I forgot, I AM actually painting my garage sale finds. Here is some proof. That is the little 10¢ lantern and the photo frame (used to be brass) turned tray. Mitch has forbidden me to go to any more garage sales until I take care of my new furniture. Expect more pics soon!

That evening, we discovered baseball. We took a bucket of wiffle balls down to the batting cage at the middle school and hit balls. It is SO much fun to hit balls with our boys. Grant has a hard time keeping his eye on the ball (a little distracted!), but when he focuses he absolutely drills it. The intensity on his face is so cute! Cole actually LOOKS like a baseball player. He’s a lefty (we think), and he holds the bat perfectly with his cute little hiney sticking out just so. He needs some of Grant’s intensity to rub off on him, but he loves it when I get behind him to help him make contact with the ball. Seriously adorable. We’ve made many trips down to the batting cage since then and it is always rewarding. Plus, I totally loved surprising my husband by making serious contact with every ball that came near my strike zone . . . and even some that didn’t.

On Monday we went for a hike at the coast. I wish I could remember what trail it was. Maybe Cape Lookout? It was a fairly easy hike and the boys did great. GORGEOUS views and I got some great pics. I’ve been playing around with the fully manual setting on my camera and I totally messed it up. I need to figure out how to put it back to normal. However, I did get these (unedited!):

My goodness, my boys are stunning!

This is turning into the LONGEST post and I’m getting so tired. However, I will continue for the sake of my audience.

•For Grant’s end of the year family field trip we went to The Enchanted Forest. I haven’t even had a chance to look at the pictures yet, so I won’t post any, but I just have to say that it was SO much fun and so age appropriate for our boys. Mitch took the day off from work and came with us. It was definitely a memory and not one we will soon forget!
•That night, Grant was feeling brave, so he pulled out his first tooth! He really wanted to lose it before the end of the school year. SO cute!
•Friday was Grant’s last day of kindergarten. It is crazy to think that I now have a first grader!! It wasn’t long ago that I was agonizing about moving him up into kindergarten, and now he’ll be moving on to full-day school! Yes, time really does go quickly. He is so excited to be in first grade. We drove by his new school last night and Mitch pointed out a couple of fun things (covered gym, office, etc). We plan to visit sometime this week.
•So, we picked Grant up from school on Friday and took off for our first family camping trip. It was SO much fun! I didn’t take any pictures, if you can imagine that, but we did make a lot of memories. We ended up at Fisherman’s Bend (thank you Facebook friends for the recommendation). I’ll definitely take pics next time, I promise!

And. That’s it. WHEW!

Today is the first of June! Yay! I would like to attempt a “photo-a-day” this summer (June 1 - August 31). If any of you would like to join me, that would be awesome! I need the support. Link me up to your photos!!