Break

We've made it through another semester! Rich finished finals two weeks ago so this past week he had off. We did a few fun things with the kids, but mostly we just stayed home and enjoyed being together. It was really nice to not have to set the alarm clock all week, we just waited until the kids ran in our room and woke us up.

We started off the our break by going to the movies. We went and saw "Karate Kid" at the dollar theater. I even cried a little at the end, I thought it was really good. The kids enjoyed it too. They were doing kung-fu moves for the rest of the day. Sunday after church we headed up to Jemez Falls to go camping, it's about a two hour drive from our house. This place was so beautiful. I loved the tall trees and how secluded we were. Rich got really excited the first night we were there because he heard a elk. I've never seen him so excited about anything! The rest of the night I heard coyotes howling all night, so I didn't get much sleep. Someone had to stay awake to protect the family:) Rich was fast asleep. The next morning we went on a hike up to the Falls, it was really pretty. They have a few hot springs in the area that we wanted to see but Blake ended up getting sick so we had to leave early. During the middle of the week we stayed at home and Rich had a list of things that needed to be fixed around the house. On Friday night we went to a park and had a picnic dinner, that was fun. Saturday was probably my favorite day. It was perfect. Rich has a friend that works at a sports and wellness gym, and last month for our anniversary his friend gave him a complimentary 1 hour massage coupon for me. On Saturday I went and got the massage, it was heaven:) Then when I got home, Rich had organized my tupperware cabinet(it was a complete mess), scrubbed my kitchen floor, and did all of the laundry. I don't think I've ever loved him more then when I walked in the house and saw him cleaning:) Then later that night we ordered take-out from Chili's since it was our last weekend together before life got busy again. When the kids went to bed, we got out the "molten chocolate cake" that we ordered and ate it in bed while watching a movie. From the massage, to a clean house, to eating our favorite chocolate cake in bed, I don't know what could have made the day more perfect. It was a great way to end our week together.

Roasting hot dogs...

Rich trying to teach the kids how to skip a rock over the water

I feel like a mama kangaroo when we camp, this little girl is always attached to me.

Jemez Falls

hiking...

Blake was happy here, he got sick the next day.

Playing catch

The views...

Smores!!!

Camp Out!

I took the kids camping with my friend Alli last weekend. Her husband was going to be hunting all day and so she thought it would be fun for me and the kids to hang out with her. Initially I said no, because the thought of me taking all the kids without Rich terrified me a little. Rich wanted to come but he had finals to study for. So I finally decided to go, I had been dying to get out the house anyways. Not knowing if this campout would be a blast or a disaster we took our chances and went.

One of the nights we were there it rained really hard for a couple of hours, the kids thought it was really fun. We played Skipbo in the tent while the rain poured down.

Samantha and A.J

I love this picture, Samantha was so bright eyed the 1st morning we were there. So I started to take pictures of her. I love her expression, if I were to guess what she's thinking it would be this..."Mom, why are you taking pictures of me at 6:30 in the morning!" Or maybe she's thinking..."Mom you look terrible, you need some lipstick and a hairbrush!".

What I love about camping is that it's ok to leave your makeup and hair stuff at home. I love getting a break from the routine of fixing myself up everyday.

We went on a little hike in the afternoon and found a little stream. Blake completely drenched his last pair of pants, so the next day he was wearing his p.j's all day. I thought 4 pairs of pants would be plenty for him for two days, obviously not!

Brooklyn loves being outside. She loves to pick me bouquets of wildflowers and weeds.

Brooklyn and Addison

Weston and Addison planning their attack on the rest of us. There were MANY water gun fights.

Weston has been working on breaking in his glove for fall ball that starts up next month. He takes baseball very seriously.

This little girl can color for hours.

Somehow I forgot to take pictures of us eating and making smores, that's my favorite part of camping. I love eating good food and talking around the campfire. I've always felt like it's ok to eat junk food when your camping, it's the one time that you can really just eat what you want and not feel guilty about it. I remember as a kid we never had sugar cereals at home, or twinkies or soda pop. But when we went camping we got to eat everything that we normally didnt eat at home. I LOVED it!

We did miss Rich while we were gone. It's always better when he's around, but I'm glad we went. It's always nice to get out of the daily routine that we all do everyday. It can be very mundane doing the same thing day in and day out. Sometimes I feel like I get in robot mode and I'm just going through the motions of life. When I notice myself feeling that way I need to do something fun with my kids so I can remember that being a mom is suppose to be fun and not a chore.

We're home now and it feels good to be home. Normally I dread doing laundry but I was excited to see my laundry machines and know they were going to wash our filthy clothes and make them smell good again. I was even a little excited to put some make-up on and do my hair, it's nice to feel like a girl again. I'm glad I took Alli's invitation to go camping, I really didn't think I would have as much fun as I did. I thought it would be more work then fun, but it ended up being the complete opposite.