Summer Schedule

So... I made a summer schedule and so far I have stuck to it and the kids and I have been having so much fun!! There are still some fights between the kids but I have yet to hear "I am bored." I am sure that will come but until then this is what we are sticking to.

Monday- Movie Day
There is an amazing program here that you can go to 10 movies for $7.50 per kid!! I know, amazing right:)

Tuesday- Library Day
Story time and getting new book is one of my kiddos favorite things to do!

Wednesday- Baking Day
Baking and making treats with the kids is fun and we get to learn a little math while we are at it.

Thursday- Pool Day
We don't have the luxury of a neighborhood pool anymore so we will be City Pooling it this summer. There are tons here so we will try out different ones until we find a favorite.

Friday- Field Trip Day
Anything from a museum, Science Zone, Parks, etc... we will be checking it out. The good thing about being in a new place is... everything is new to us.

I have had the kids do one to two crafts/ projects a day. So far we have painted with water colors, painted rocks, made paper air planes, and colored. I am sure these will be repeated many times but the kids love it.

We have "toes up time" which is quiet time. This is when the baby takes a nap and my older kiddos have to relax. This is the only time during the day that the kids can do something quiet ( with their toes off the floor) read, play quietly, or watch a show on Netflix. I hate TV!! But down time for all of us is needed:)

So far this is our 1st week, since we were in Boise the 1st official week of summer. I figure, to keep us all sane and enjoying each other this summer we need to have a plan.

Happy Summer!!! We are excited to play and explore WY 2012.
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Lots of chatcing up to do.

I have lots of blog catch up to play but I feel like if I don't blog about this feeling now I will forget and not have it to look back upon when I personally need it.


Personal Moment... now not so personal.

I woke up today not feeling that great. Went to the gym... felt worse (tummy bug? fever? anxiety?)... napped.. woke up feeling VERY ANXIOUS! Jed leaves to go get Cooper from school ... feel even more anxious... what the heck is this all about??? so frustrating.
** as this is going on Porter and Clara napping and then eating lunch (thanks to Jed). Keep this in mind Clara can get down from her chair all by herself, Porter cant.
I come up to my room to call Jed to tell me not to be anxious anymore and I am just sick and will be just fine. I hang up feeling a little better but not much. I pick up an Ensign (church magazine for anyone that may read this and not be LDS) I start thumbing through hoping to read something that will make me feel a little better. No specific inspiration sticks out so I start reading the visiting teaching message. It was great. Talked about how important our role is in families and communities. Started to feel better then....
You know the kid that cant get down from his chair by himself... loud crash... silence.... scream..... yep, mother of the year let her baby fall off his chair because I was having "a moment." I ran downstairs and grabbed him up and as I was holding him I started crying. Really... yes really I thought.
Then I realized with a prayer in my heart .... *hard to put into words, I will do my best* I am very important to my babies and they are thee MOST important possessions that I have and that I am a mother and a good one. Not perfect by any means but I will fall flat on my face... cry bc I am tired... laugh when things are too serious for me to handle..
BUT if I pray when I feel weak and unprepared to be the mother and wife I need to be or read scriptures to get inspiration it makes me feel better.
** Lesson of the day.... When things are at their daily worst ... say a little prayer.... it makes me feel better. I am grateful to have a Heavenly Father that loves me at my worst and best and shows me when I need it most.

Bipolar Weather

Yesterday we were outside until 7pm in jeans and t-shirts enjoying a nice evening playing tag, swinging, and riding the power wheels.

We wake up this morning to 1 inch of snow and it is still snowing at 1:30pm!!!

I over heard some people talking this morning while at the gym and this is NORMAL!!! WTH??? One old guy said its either windy or snowing... GGGRRREEEAAATTTT.....

Training Day

Went to the gym this morning and met with my trainer for the 1st time. I have to say that I am super excited to get my body in the shape that I know I can be in. 3 kids in less 6 years can take a toll on the good ol' body. We are officially done having babies and I am 29. I will not go into my 30's feeling bad about my body... it is going to be hard enough turning 30!!! I have no excuse to not get my butt in shape:)

The weigh in and measuring was a little rough... mentally. I was NOT excited to see the truth about my size but I know I will be excited to have those number go down.

Time to get this party started!!!

KISS IT

I have to keep telling myself to KISS IT!!

KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID!!!

And this is when it comes to anything in my life lately... I am really good a complicating, well everything. I am really good at complicating marriage, raising my kiddos, and keeping a clean house. I have great intentions of making things less stressful for myself. I have made list after list, schedule after schedule and they all seem great in theory but when I am trying to follow that schedule I never make it and get even more frustrated with myself.

So this week my goal is to KISS it:)

Time to be less stressed and enjoy my kiddos and time here in Casper.

History....

So, we are outside playing in our backyard (it was 80+ degrees out yesterday:)) Our little old neighbors were out fixing the the fence and started talking to us about our house. I am SOOOO NOT IMPRESSED!! I am having a hard time liking this house anyway. The housing market here is AWFUL!!!! Next you will see the good and the bad about this house.

Good
we have a place to live
keeps the wind out
tire swing
space
backyard
garden

Bad
This house will not pass an inspection ...of any kind
A murderer once lived here after he got out of jail
A murder happened next door
Once a drug house
We are paying lots more then people before us

There is more but that was the scary stuff... Honestly, our house really isn't that bad and it is starting to feel like home. We moved into this house just to get to Casper and are looking for something else but there are not a lot of choices here. Not sure how I feel about knowing the history of this house. Creepy!!

It has begun!!!!

We are finally at the age that we get to have Saturdays filled with watching our kiddos playing sports!! I have honestly been looking forward to YBall since I found out we were pregnant almost 7 years ago:) I have some of my favorite memories playing Yball!! I just know my kids will too.
Favorite Memory 1-
My mom, Sonjia Yates,  and 2nd mom, Donnie Holden,  made sure our whole YBall team had matching spandex shorts ... Purple ones... to go perfectly  with our Pink team shirts. PS... we were the only team that matched :)
Favorite Memory 2-
Having Papa Dave (my dad) and Papa Korry ( 2nd dad) coach us... Korry had SOOOO much hair:) They made sure we knew kinda what we were doing and most of all made sure we had FUN!!!
Favorite Memory 3-
The game I knew I was toooo aggressive to play YBall anymore:) Me playing defense... got in a fight over the ball and elbowed the other girl in the stomach... poor girl:( I was just tooo serious about the game, that, and I stopped growing... being 5'1" and playing bball just don't mesh so well:)
Enough about me.... I am just a super proud mama and am really looking forward to the next 15+ years of busy sports Saturdays and all that goes with that!!!
Cooper did great today and we are all so proud of him!! He didn't take a shot but did assist with a great full court play and then he had to pass the ball in a couple times. It was super cute. He is sooo awkward and goofy and JUST LIKE JED at that age!!:) He is just too darn cute for words!!

Tagged

Thank you Lauren Davis for tagging me in a.... Tag... is that what they are called?

1. What is your favorite food? Anything Mexican... I love it all!!! As Jed would say its because I am a Mexican and then proceed to speak fake Spanish to me.
2. What’s a song that best describes you? Not sure on this one... just depends on the day... It can be country (hillbilly bone)... Ghetto rap ( anything) ... Love song ( I melt )... Blessed (I am a child of God). Music calms my soul, makes me happy, fills a void. I could not live without it.
3. What is one of your favorite quotes? "Keep you head, standards and heels high" 
4. What’s your favorite childhood memory? Water skiing and snowball fights at my aunt and uncles cabin in Cascade, ID. I love it out there!! and Camping in Hells Canyon most every Memorial Weekend.
5. If you could choose anyone to hang out with for a day, who would it be, why? Anyone.... my husband... because we don't get much time together to just hang out!!!
6. Whats your favorite hobby? decorating .... shopping... reading... crafting...cooking... just depends on my mood:)
7. Whats a goal, big or small of yours? I have lots and as a matter of fact that is what my next blog post is about. Be a happy mother and wife... read more...  Get back to pre pregnancy weight... etc...
8. Have you ever had something happen to you that you thought was bad, but ended up being really good? Meeting my now in-laws... Not a good start but now I would be lost without them ... they are all amazing in their own ways and I am happy to have them in my life now and through all eternity:)
9. Whats the first memory you ever had? I have no idea!!!!
10. What makes you feel your very best? when my kiddos say they love me and that i am the best mom ever:) and of course a hot new pair of shoes:)  
11. What is your pet peeve? Hearing people chewing... especially cereal. Anyone drinking from the milk carton ... sharing dairy products... sooo GROSS!!!  
12. What is something your afraid of? Scary Movies... I wont watch anything that has ghosts, demons, zombies... etc.  

Bad Morning / Beautiful Afternoon

Today started as a no good, very bad day. Of course we all woke up late to get Cooper to school. Got there took the keys out of the ignition ran Cooper in to class. Came back out and attempted to start the car... NO GO... again.... Nope ... again... NO WAY... again... again... again... GIVE UP ALREADY... again.... no love from the good ol barbie car (Malibu). What the heck do I do??? I call the only person I feel semi-comfortable calling. I figure after one play date and numerous chats waiting for the bell to ring to get the kids from school ... we are BFF's. right?? :) So the desperate call to Jamie Garris... "hey lady, what are you doing? I need a HUGE favor... car broke down at the school ... can you take me and my little ones home, if you are dropping off your kiddos this morning?" Of course the nice girl she is she was more then willing to taxi us home:) FFFFFEEEEEWWWWW.... Thanks Jamie!!!
I was waiting for Jed to get home from work so he can take me back to the school to see what the deal is with the car.... He gets home... I tell him what happened. We went to the school expecting the worst and he starts the STUPID car like nothing was wrong. I am sooo annoyed and happy all at the same time!! Are you kidding me???? 
We get home and I am still happy and annoyed about the car, but the sun is shining and the wind is not blowing so I got to sit and enjoy the beautiful weather from my porch. Got to paint Clara and Lulu's nails bright pink and then play out back on the tire swing and the little Jeep. Porter drove all by himself for the 1st time and it was sooo cute!! We enjoyed our little afternoon at home and all was much better... especially my mood!!! Thank goodness... when mama ain't happy ... nobody happy.
Moral of the day... Even bad starts to your day can turn out to be amazing with hot pink nail polish and some sun shine:)

Winter, Winter Go AWAY!!!

So, the last few weeks the weather here in cowboy country has been BEAUTIFUL!! The kiddos and I have been enjoying lunch on the porch and swinging on the tire swing. Wind and all. I have even had grass growing sporadically through the mud in our front and back yard. I was thinking "YAY....No more snow." So not the case. As I type there is at least an inch of snow on the ground and it is still falling!! As pretty and peaceful as it is I want some HEAT!!

Side note.... Jed has been working lots and lots and I have no idea how to get pictures from my phone to the computer. Ridiculous I know. He is going to teach me and then there will be pics added to these posts:)

Here we go ... again!

As many of you know, we have moved to Caspar, WY.
 Here is the back story....
It all started because we had been looking for a better paying job since Jed had graduated with his BA from Northwest Nazarene University in October 2011 (can I get a Whoot, Whoot). We could not find anything in the Boise area, thank you crappy economy. Anyway, Jeds brother Brett was and still is working in the oil fields in WY and was talking to Jed about it and it sounded to good to be true. Jed applied with the same company Brett works for and long story short, didn't get the job because they were brothers. So, Jed applied with as many companies as he could and received many call backs. Two companies offered him positions and we choose to move to Wyoming instead of North Dakota ... thank goodness.
Jed moved to Casper on January 3, 2012 and we followed February 2, 2012. Side note... a month is a LONG time being a single mom, packing and moving out of our house in Star, ID. Thank you for all those that helped so much ... you know who you are... I could not have done it without you!!! We are truly blessed to have such amazing family and friends in Idaho!!!
We are now here and almost settled in ... my next couple posts will be about what we have been doing since we have gotten here and then the good, the bad, the unspeakable, and so on from here on out. I plan to make this blog as honest as possible... I hope you enjoy... but most importantly I want to have a record of our experiences here in Wyoming.... THE COWBOY STATE.