Summer Vacation Begins!

Today is officially the first day of summer vacation. This is very exciting since I am so incredibly sick of driving in circles all day!! Now I only have to drive to Tae Kwon Do twice a week and it is mid morning, much nicer then rushing home, trying to get dinner cooked, homework done, baths and bedtime. But summer vacation is also slightly terrifying as any mother knows. Some days there will be endless whining of " mom I'm bored", with me replying "would you like me to find something for you to do?" Yes now I will have time to clean my house since I will be home for more then a two hour stretch of time, but there will also be people living in it all day so it is kind of a catch 22 :) So the other night we had the "family meeting" to lay out the summer rules.

1. Just because you don't have school does not mean that you will not have a bedtime.
2. The TV and Xbox will only be touched by kids who have behaved themselves and taken care of any chores they are supposed to.
3. You can play outside and get as dirty as you would like, but you may not even touch your school clothes drawers unlessed mom has told you to.
4. All children under the age of 4 will have nap time, or at least quiet time everyday for at least an hour. Kids over the age of 4 have to go outside or be quiet.
5. I will feed you three times a day, and you may have a snack, but you will not snack all day long.

Yep, I am pretty sure the kids are ready to go back to school already! Today they spent the day playing school, Gabriel is pretty sure Sophia is no where near smart enough to go to Kindergarten and Sophie is pretty sure Mary doesn't listen well enough to be in pre school!

May Madness!

May has been a very, very busy month for us! Stephen's dad was here to visit for a week, we made a trip to Worland for Stephen's cousins HS graduation, Sara's Second Birthday, a trip to Lander for one of my very best friends wedding ( Our first trip with absolutely no kids in years!), Gabriel's Kindergarten graduation, and a couple of brandings! This week we still have Sophia's Pre School Graduation, Track Day and Mary getting screened yet again for Pre School next year. We also have one more wedding to attend at the beginning of June and our niece Hadleigh's dedication too! We are all very ready for school to get out this Friday and go to a much more relaxed schedule and get some much needed R&R before we all go insane! So just thought I would share a few pic's of all our various activities this month, more to come after this week is complete!


Sara very excited about her new vacuum for her birthday! I can't believe my baby is two...a little sunburned from branding all day!

Gabriel practicing to be a "rodeo star" at branding.
The girls, hanging out in the truck at branding, well out of the way and the best view!

Stephen's whole family in Worland.
My kids and Hadleigh getting ready to go to Gabriel's graduation!



Gabriel and his best friend Jerry. It is very hard to get a nice smile out of 6 year old boys!
Me at Sink's Canyon in Lander WY before the wedding we were going to.
My very good looking husband!