May 2019

May finally arrived and we were getting prepared to finish out the school year and start to think about summer.

The first day of May was actually Landon's field trip to the Louisville Zoo. I took the day off so that I could take him and be a chaperone to the other little kids. Here we are with my favorite animal, the elephant.

I also planted my garden after we got home from the zoo. The kids really enjoy helping me in the garden.

Brinley putting some cucumber seeds into the ground. She was really upset when I told her that I wasn't planting her favorite, carrots. They just take up too much room and we really don't get that great of a return from them. I decided this year to better utilize the space that I would limit the variety of plants and just do more of the stuff we like best. So, I only planted zucchini, tomatoes, cucumbers, and bell peppers. 

We were able to make it to see PJ Washington and get him to sign our basketball. He was a really nice young man and I thanked him for coming back another season. I wish that I had thought about getting mean mug pictures with him and the kids.

Baseball season was still in full swing and Brinley was even named player of the game. In this particular game she played at short stop and even a little at pitcher. She had a couple of good hits too. Proud of this little girl. At the beginning of the season she said every night that she wanted to quit and that she didn't want to go to any more games. However, at some point, she decided that she was having a good time and started to enjoy it more. 

The kids had some visitors to come watch them play. Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Andrea, and Olivia were all there to see Brinley get the game ball. 

Our little girl turned seven years old on May the 4th. She wanted blueberry pancakes for breakfast.

We started off the birthday with a trip to the Home Depot to build a picture frame. The kids were happy to bring Olivia along and show her how to build.

All the kiddos with their completed projects.

We had another baseball game on Brinley's birthday. She was happy to have all kinds of people come out to watch her play. 

McKinley and Taylor even stopped by to see the munchkins play.

We let Brinley pick where we had lunch and she said that she wanted to go to the place where they cook in front of you. She mainly wanted the person to throw a piece of food for her to catch in her mouth and to see the onion volcano. I was sure to ask the chef for both of her requests.

Brinley helped mommy make her birthday brownies. They were "unicorn" brownies according to Brinley.

Look at that precious toothless smile. I just love this little girl so much!

Brinley will always be a Star Wars baby because she was born on Star Wars day. May the 4th be with you!

Brinley decided this year that she wanted to have a birthday party. She decided on an arts and craft party with a bunch of her school friends.

Brinley and the crew of friends.

The kids all got to make their own miniature animal worlds and the big hit was the making of slime. I will still never understand why kids enjoy playing with the sticky, icky mixture. I know Jennifer really didn't enjoy cleaning it out of the carpet at the house a few days later.

She is getting so big!

We had a lot of fun at Create Art + Play Studio for Brinley's party. Would definitely recommend it.

May also brings Nurse's Day. Our clinic got all the nurses on staff a shirt and I couldn't be more thankful. A thank you truly goes a long way and helps give you a little boost to help you make it through some rough days. I am very appreciative and thankful every day that I get to work with children with cancer. 

These two crack me up. They have such different personalities and they show more and more each day, some times both good and bad. I am so lucky to have these three people in my life.

Roasting some marshmallows so that we can make some s'mores. 

The whole baseball team for picture day.

For mother's day we decided to clean the car because mommy always says that it is such a mess. The kids are always excited to help at the carwash.

The kid's picked out mommy some flowers too.

Landon had been talking about seeing the Pokemon movie with Uncle McKinley for months. Well, once it came out we had to go see it. We waited too long to buy tickets and all the seats beside one another were sold out. I asked someone to move down a seat so that the kids could squeeze in together by McKinley. I went and sat on the front row by myself and might have taken a little nap.

The kids all really enjoyed Detective Pikachu, including McKinley.

Landon hit a milestone at school. He was able to learn all 1,000 sight words that the teacher had given out to students during the kindergarten year. I am so proud of him. He has come so far in just a few years with a lot of speech therapy and a whole lot of patience.

I purposely took a day off from work so that I could volunteer at the school. I decided to stick around and have lunch with the kids. Being able to volunteer on a regular basis at the school has been one of my favorite things. I have helped, even if just slightly, many kids learn how to read and to sound out words. It was always amazing to me to see how far the kids would progress in just one school year. My current manager got approval for me to work just 4 days a week instead of 5, so I should be able to remain a consistent volunteer for years to come.

I also stayed to have lunch with this little girl too. It makes me happy knowing that they enjoy coming to a special table to sit with their old dad. That won't always be the case, so I will take advantage until then.

We had an injury on our baseball team and had to switch up the positions that everyone played. Brinley got picked to be our first baseman. There was definitely a learning curve, but she has adapted fairly well.

The last part of Jennifer's mother's day present was a swing for the backyard so that she could watch the kids run around.

After one of our ball games we made it to the last home game. It has been a sub par first season at the new stadium, but we can't wait for the years to come when the Wildcats get a little more experience, just like the Heflin kids baseball careers.

I took another day off from work so that I could spend the day with my beautiful wife. We decided to go hiking and went down to the red river gorge. Our first stop was somewhere I had never been that had been recommended by a friend, Grey's Arch. 

It was beautiful and not too bad of a hike. The return hike up the stairs was the worst part.

Next I took my wife up to one of my favorite hiking spots that I have done a couple of times, Cloud Spliter. Here Jennifer is climbing up the final ascent up the rope in the little crevice. Jennifer got really nervous climbing up this little part.

I also took her to the slot canyon and into the little cave. She was terrified and didn't want to do it, but I pushed her to her limits because I believe that she can do things even when she feels like she can't.

Apparently I pushed her a little too far and she cut herself on the rock. The other causality of the climb was that she hit her apple watch on the rock and cracked the screen to where it was unusable.

Through it all she still had a smile on her face. I told her that it was now officially the most expensive hike that I had ever been on.

View from the top of cloud spliter.

I have taken a picture of this tree each time that I have been to the top of cloud spliter. It reminds me every time about perseverance. 

Jennifer also got to experience her first Miquel's pizza. I couldn't talk her into any crazy toppings.

I am a huge proponent of blood donation and I wear this little pin on my badge at work. I officially eclipsed the 5 gallon mark, which means that I have donated 40 different times. Get out there and donate and help save a life!

I had to pick up a race packet in the Summit and I had to take the kids with me. They kept telling me they wanted to go to the ice cream place, so we made a stop at Steel City Pops.

Landon got the game ball and the kid was so happy! He absolutely loves anything that is considered a competition. 

I signed up for a 3 race summer series here in Lexington. The first race was a 4 miler out at Keeneland. I had to get MiMi to watch the kids for me because Jennifer wasn't off from work in time to come see me run. So, this was my first race that I ever attended without someone else either running with me or cheering me on. I even had to ask a stranger to take this picture for me. 

I saw this starting gate sitting out in the parking lot and thought it looked like a good picture. I had a very successful race since I hadn't been running very consistently because of a knee injury. I finished the race and my knee didn't cause me any problems so I was extremely happy. 

Another day, another baseball game. This one was actually cancelled because the other team didn't have enough players show up. They still wanted to have a scrimmage. In the game Landon got his first inside the park home run. I am so proud of how well these two have grown over the season.

We went down to visit Jennifer's sister. They had a rabbit that they found while out mowing. The mother had been accidentally killed by the mower. 

Nick and I always try to play a round of golf when we get together. We tried to sneak out of the house before anyone woke up since our tee time was at 8 am. Landon woke up on his own and said he wanted to go with us. This little guy made it all 18 holes with us and it was hot. Since it was the holiday weekend the course was extremely busy. Landon got to play less than half of the holes because we didn't want to make the people wait behind us. It goes to show you how much your kids want to be like you. Landon took my hat and even stuck a tee in his hat just like I do.

Landon finishing up a round of golf with me. I am so glad the little man came along with us.

The kids playing with their cousin Elam and his cousin Kai.

May also marked the end of the school year. Landon was so excited about his last day of Kindergarten that he wanted to wear a tie to graduation.

Brinley really enjoyed 1st grade and she learned and blossomed in all aspects of the classroom. We are extremely proud of her. She had a lot of fun in Ms. Dado's class. She loves to read and one of her favorite subjects is math.

Landon loved Kindergarten. Mrs. O'Brien has been a blessing to our family over the past two years. We were very thankful that both kids got to have her for Kindergarten. She allowed me to come in and help with the kids on a regular basis and I am so thankful for that. Landon is very good at reading and math as well. 

Waiting on the Kindergarten graduation to start. 

Landon and his classmates ready to sing for all of us. 

Landon with my family. 

Jennifer's family with the big graduate. 

This little guy received the role model award. This made my heart happy. I think that he is a pretty awesome young man myself.

May was a very exciting and fun month. We had a lot of stuff to keep us occupied with school finishing up. I am proud of how both kids have really enjoyed school this year. I hope that it continues for future years too. Now we are ready for summer! Thanks for reading and God bless!