This Summer

This Summer has been pretty crazy. I don't know what I was thinking when I signed my kids up for so much stuff. Every summer, I make all these plans of things I want to do while I am not working. Then summer comes and we want to do fun stuff not the projects and cleaning I have planned. Basically, this summer has been filled with me running my kids to baseball, tennis, basketball, dancing, basketball camps, tennis camps, art camps, cheer camps, singing, etc. I want my kids to develop talents, don't get me wrong. Sometimes I wonder if I am just developing my talent of being a taxi driver.

The one day we were home with absolutely nothing on the schedule, I tried having my kids deep clean their rooms. They fought the entire time, until I decided I should go get myself a part time job. I didn't end up doing that but I did lock myself in my room and tell them all to leave me alone. We are doing better now. I am just making them do a few jobs a day, in between the running around. They work better this way then with me telling them we are spending the entire day cleaning.

Another thing I am happy about is Tayler's Young Womens project. She is teaching Kenzie how to do laundry and fix dinner. I am totally loving this! I haven't had to help her much. Another thing we have worked out that was a problem last year is lunch. My kids like to go out to eat too much. Which is my fault because during the school year, we eat out way too much. This year Tayler and I have been buying lunch choices on the weekend. Then the kids choose what they want and fix their own lunch. So far, they have not asked to go out to eat. Nice...let's hope it keeps working.

Anyway, I love summer! I really do love spending more time with my kids and watching them participate in all their activities! Happy Summer!

Trying this a little different....

So I quit blogging because it was so dang overwhelming! I felt like I had to record everything going on and upload every picture I took. Then I would feel guilty for sitting in front of the computer so long. Well, since it is summer and I am home now, I am going to try blogging again with a different approach. I am going to choose my favorite pictures and just blog a little about them. I am not going to record everything we do or upload all my pictures. Hopefully, this will keep it simple and I can stay on top of things. Well, we shall see...

Last Sunday, we took a Sunday ride. Ryan and I love going on rides. Sometimes our kids do and sometimes they don't. When I wrecked our Tahoe a few years back, Ryan went and salvaged our DVD player. We took our new Tahoe (we have had it for a year now) over to Logan the other day and had the DVD player put in it. It was worth every penny! Our kids are so quiet watching a movie. So back to last Sunday... while our kids watched Diary of a Wimpy Kid, we drove up Weber Canyon. It was a beautiful drive and smelled like campfire. That was just perfect since it was the beginning weekend of SUMMER! While we were driving around the lake, Ryan and Kayden stopped at a ballpark so Kayden could hit some baseballs. The girls and I were in the car and I looked over and saw this perfect picture. So I snapped the picture... anyway, I just love to look at it he, he, he. It reminds me of playing at my Grandpa and Grandma Richards house when I was a little girl. They use to have old trucks and cars laying around the farm. Lisa and I would pretend to drive them. So in a way, this picture reminds me of summer days as a little girl...good memories...

Baseball...

Makayden loves baseball. This kid could play it everyday and be happy about it. In fact, he probably does. Makayden is a great pitcher. He throws fast and has a few tricks up his sleeve. Whenever he gets upset, he goes outside and pitches. I think it actually helps him relieve his frustrations. I love how hard he works at it. He is also a great little hitter. Last week in the Ogden League, he was the MVP. He hit a home run that night too. We recently went to a tournament in Idaho Falls. He hit two balls over the fence right in a row. When he got up the third time to bat the umpire told him they really needed to keep the balls, so to quit hitting them out of the park. He was just kidding. The last game he pitched in Idaho Falls, he only allowed one run, had one walk and struck a lot of boys out. He felt really good about that Ü

Embarrassing? No way!

After the Idaho Falls tournament, Makayden and Kenzie rode home with my mother and Jake. Ryan and I took Tayler up to Rexburg so she could see what it was like. She is going to be a Freshman this year...yep, can you believe that? She has started making some plans for college and had wondered about BYU Idaho. We stopped at the temple and then at the BYU Idaho sign. We are not embarrassing parents, I am pretty sure about that! We then took her to Texas Roadhouse to eat. I can't believe in just four years, she will be graduating and going to college! Wow! I will sure miss her. Last night I was sick and my blood sugar was a mess, it kept going high and low. Tayler actually stayed up with me to make sure I was ok until midnight. She went and got me Mt. Dew and crackers...she is a good, good girl. I love her very much!

Hugs 'n more Hugs!

Kenzie has always been my most cuddly child. She will give me more hugs a day then I could possibly imagine. She is the one who will always get out of the car and take a picture with me. A few weekends ago we went to Wendover and spent the night so we could check out the baseball fields for an upcoming tournament. We drove out to the Bonneville Salt Flats. They are pretty interesting, that is not water behind us, it is salt. Kenzie of course was all for a picture and not just any picture, a picture full of hugs. She has such a fun personality and surprises us all the time with dorky comments. Gotta love that Kenzie girl!