Summer of Reading

I found this bookshelf on my sister-in-laws blog and I thought that would be fun to keep track of the books I've read. I love reading!!! I don't know how I managed, but I've read a total of 13 books so far this summer. The Harry Potter ones I read with my kids. I'm obsessed with the Twilight series, and anxiously waiting for book 4 and the movie!! And then obviously anything "Love and Logic". I can't get enough of these Love and Logic books. They are so fun to read and there are so many ideas to use immediately on your children that work. Steve and I have to try so hard not to laugh when we use their sayings and they work.
For example... my child did something that should have a consequence and instead of freaking out like I normally would, I simply said, "Oooh, I'm going to have to do something about that, but not now, I'm going to have to think about it for a while. Try not to worry about it, I'll let you know soon." And she says back to me, "But mom, I WILL worry about it! Tell me!!!" I say, "Not now :)" And I buy myself some calm down time and think of a logical consequence that is usually house work, and you get the point. This method of parenting has helped me enjoy being a mom again, I'm not freaking out anymore, AND I'm getting a whole lot of housework done! :)

Homestead Fun

My kids all time favorite place to go... the Whiting Homestead, where a kid can be a kid. Growing up, we spent a lot of time there. Some of my best memories were made there. Now my kids enjoy it, maybe more fully than I did. They seem to specialize in wild life, I stop at the water snakes...

Here's my girls- day 1- how can you tell??? They're CLEAN.

They love to hike the mountain.

Even "H" hiked it all by herself this year. I couldn't believe it. She made it all the way, and any time Steve or I would say hold my hand, she would say "No no, I can do this". She had so much determination, it was pretty cool to see.

Here she is at the top, clearly proud of herself.
Even Jasmine loves it. She can always find someone to play fetch with her. She loved playing fetch in the lake.Steve's family came up for a little reunion and we hiked the mountain again and picked wild flowers on the way back. The girls had fun making their own bouquets. That's one of my favorite memories as a child... picking flowers for my mom.

Here's some of Steve's family after our hike...which was super fun...Vikki and I ran down the mountain like we were crazy. We had to stop a couple times because we were laughing so hard.

Here's little man, being like his big man and catching weird things.

Frog...

Crawdad...
Like father, like son... they would catch them with their bare hands!

Horny Toad!!! One of the cousins even caught a water snake and they played with it all day. What fun!

Here's what they do when it's raining outside.

(There is no TV- it's awesome!)

Picking "Sugar Flowers" with "Sugar Daddy" :)One week is never enough...I guess we'll have to go back up there. Darn.

Pictures from 4th of July

4th of July started with fishing in the canal bright and early. "T" begs about every day for Steve to take him fishing.
Isn't this the cutest little dress??? She was so proud of it.
We sweat it out in Mesa at MCC football field. This was the first time the kids have been this close to the fireworks. "T" and "H" thought they were going to land on us. Check out little man's guns! I'll be feeding him a bit more protein. :)