The strangest thing

Ronni just came running into the living room and kind of stumbled because she has dress up shoes on. I literally just said these words to my daughter, " it's kind of hard to walk in high heels isn't it, Ron?" And as matter of factly she said back, "Yeah, it is"... For some reason I didn't think we would ever have a conversation like this, looks like my little girls is growing up...

Works for Me

If anyone has ever wanted a pretty good resource for parenting, here is the best one I have found. It is called, Rasing Godly Tomatoes, and it is basically a book online. It is pretty straight forward and easy to read. Here is the hyperlink, I would encourage you to check it out. It has everything from Potty training to sitting still in church to sibling rivalry. There are somethings I actually do disagree with, but it is the closest thing I have found to be, in my opinion, a good parenting style- online. It may not work for everyone, but it works for me!Here is the book, it is by L. Elizabeth Krueger. I have never bought a parenting book before, and to be honest have never really read one either, I am seriously considering purchasing this book, if that tells you how good I think it might be!

Giant Heads

So a few weeks ago Ronni asked me out of the blue, "Mom can we go and see the giant heads?" Giant heads, what the heck is she talking about? But the kids didn't drop it, finally this past weekend, they showed a placemat I had purchased that has all the presidents on there and a picture of said giant heads. Sure enough our kids just requested we go and visit Mount Rushmore! So now, Tim and I are planning our first whole family vacation! The kids are super excited to know that sometime after peyton turns four and Ronni is almost six we are going to get to go. So excited in fact, every morning since Peyton has asked us if he is four. We are gearing up to start homeschooling and I am pretty sure I have found a year long topic in which to study! Thanks, kids, get ready to learn about the giant heads.

"Wow"

"That was just about all they could say, Wow". This tagline from one of my favorite children's books, Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse, by Kevin Henkes and it pretty much sums up my July.

We spent most of July working on art projects. The kids went to their grand parents house for a week and my cousin Jeanna from Nevada came for a week as well as my cousin Ivy. We had Tricia camp, and it was a blast! I made a mosaic and a cool bracelet and we did a murder mystery dinner party. I was Wilma Winterflood and I was posh (that is a fancy word for fancy). I excelled in all the social graces as well as tapestry. (I will add some pictures in here at some point.) Getting ready for this special event was such a wonderful time, I did most of my cousins makeup and hair, it was a neat bonding experience.

We had a week at home, in which I started a new semi-full time job, doing daycare out of my home for a few weeks. Then more family came into town, my cousin Tiffani and my aunt Polly. We had pool party after pool party and did another fancy art project. I never knew myself to be

such an artist! It was certainly fun dabbing into the world of creativity for a few weeks.

Then this past weekend we headed south to visit my brother for his birthday. It was sort of like FuToN weekend only there were more girls and for a few hours there was no one was playing a video game. I don't know how the XBOX handled being neglected for 2 whole hours, but it (they-

afterall there were 3 XBOX's set up!) worked just fine after the majority of the guests went home. After a fun party we headed back home for another pool party! This one included two of my great aunts and a bunch of extended family. It was a wonderful time.

Then on monday we said goodbye to aunt Polly and now we look forward to a quiet August! Yeah right! It has been crazy busy, but a great time. I enjoy having such a large family, there is never a dull moment! Through it all the kids and Tim have been great, I am feeling very blessed to have such great kids and a wonderful husband.