Free Range Family

Sorry its taken me so long to post, I have had to do soooooooooooo much catch up this past week. Apparently four people being out of town for four days equals a week's worth of extra work. I had to do several loads of laundry, catch up on missed work, make sure the kids are bathed and brushed consistently (we aren't so strict on hygiene while we camp, gross I know but we are outdoorsy people) , subbed for several people at work and Benton is here with us too. I am also preparing for next week's Cheer and Dance Camp, Alan's last week of preschool camp, Theatre Camp and getting ready for school to start! Insert stressed scream HERE!  Our trip was well worth it though! Day One: Driving from Billings to Bozeman Day one was actually quite short for us, we didn't start traveling until after eight o'clock at night. I had to teach my Tumble 2 class before we could leave, then we had to pack the car/load the kids in the car and get gas. By the time we left Billings,...

WE ARE BACK!!!!   That was definitely one wild trip! The land was stunning, the lake was huge, the wedding was lovely, the bride was gorgeous, the reception was fun, camping was awesome, swimming in the lake was a blast for the kids, and the drive… Oh the drive!!!!! It was horribly long but with some beautiful Montana scenery and too much construction! :P All in all, it was a crazy but good family vacation! All of us are exhausted from traveling but happy we went. I am pretty sure the kids loved every second of it! Especially when we stayed in a hotel room, not once because of the car but TWICE! Yes I bet that was their favorite part, which makes the fact that I had to pay for two nights totally worth it. :) Now, we are totally beat from the trip but I just couldn't leave you all in the dark. So I will definitely post about our trip more tomorrow but for now, here is a sneak peak photo from our trip! This photo was taken at the wedding, by the wonderful photographer Jenna Cochra...

Its been crazy week for us here at the Andersen clan! I have a lot going on with my hip hop and gymnastics classes this week, plus we are leaving tonight for Aunt Natalie and Uncle Jake's wedding weekend family vacation! Yay! This is the first time we will be going on a family vacation since before Anna was born. We are not going to Canyon Ferry like we traditionally do for our vacations, but we are headed up to Flathead Lake, some 10-12 hours away from here. Due to my class scheduling, we will be doing the trip in two sections: tonight we will drive from here to the Helena area, before grabbing a hotel for the night. Then tomorrow, we will drive the last few hours to Flathead Lake. The wedding is on Saturday but Friday evening will be spent decorating and setting up the reception area and with Miss Natalie's Bacherlorette party! Sunday will be a family vacation day for us. We do not have anything specific planned, just fun touristy stuff. I want to go to the lake at some poi...

I have quite a few book reviews to catch up on, this summer I have been reading about two books a week. Its been crazy, but I love that I can get back into the old things I used to love doing. I have always enjoyed getting lost in a book, so happy I can do that again now! Truth be told, it has been driving my hubby and family crazy though. Every chance I get, my nose is in a book lol! It has been a great source of stress relief for me, which is good. But here is my first of many  book reviews for this month lol. Enjoy! Life in Motion by Misty Copeland Life in Motion is a non-fictional autobiography by Misty Copeland, the first African-American female to perform as a American Ballet Company soloist in twenty years. She didn't come from a typical upbringing that a ballet dancer would have either, she and her siblings lived in a poverty stricken area with their mother. They experienced hunger, gang violence, domestic abuse, and homelessness as children. Misty also has anxie...

Disclaimer: Be prepared for a photo dump and a quiet week around the blog, this weekend is Aunt Natalie and Uncle Jake's wedding day. We are preparing for the big trip all week long! I don't have too much time to sit on the computer, but I really wanted to get a post or two in before leaving. I will have so much MORE to write about when I get back lol, including a book review or two! So tune in next week as well, but enjoy the photos (and hopefully the video, if I can get it to load) from this post! And check out Dirty Dash when it comes to your town! Someone's all ready for our family vacation! So I have never done the Dirty Dash before, only Color me Rad. However, they are both put on by the same group of people and that group has been urging me to come volunteer at their other gig for some time now. Finally, this year I decided to help out. It was an absolute blast! I loved every second of it, its always good for the soul to get down and dirty and do some hard w...

I know, I like never write on the weekends! What has gotten into me??????? Well, for those of you who know me personally know that I only don't write most weekends, because that is my family time. It is the time where all four members of our family are available, so we spend as much time as possible together, doing fun things. I am usually too busy to post during the weekend, I just recap everything from the weekend that following Monday. In fact, the year I started this blog, that was one of my personal rules: No posting on weekends.  But today, I woke up early before the children and I thought I would go online for a bit. Started checking my FB and then my blog and I decided, hey why not post today? If I have something to write, why shouldn't I write? So here I am, typing up a post for today. It will mostly be filled with random thoughts and musings from the weekend. I still want to save my Dirty Dash post for Monday. :) But I have like a billion and two little things I ...

So yesterday was my birthday. Isn't that so cool, that my mom had her first child the day before her birthday? Yeah we always thought so too lol. :P My friend and I at Relay this year, sorry I took no photos of my face on my actual bday lol I didn't do too much crazy things for my birthday, in fact when I told my friends at work my plans, they all teased me and said I sounded like their parents lol. I guess most people don't think 25 year olds want to take their kids to a water park and then go out to dinner with their husband for their birthday, partying and bar-crawling was the typical idea they had. But I am no typical lady. :) I had a good birthday too! I was able to see all of my favorite students at school, they sang to me twice there. I took my kids and my brother to an awesome place (even though we missed my bestie and her kiddos because we were too slow, boo), and then I got to spend some quality time with the man of my life. It was a perfect birthday, even ...

Today is my amazing mother's birthday. At the Reef recently with Grandma Melanie, Aunt April and Aunt Natalie She is such a cool person, seriously! I swear that I'm not biased either, even though she is my mother, I can bet that most people feel the exact same way that I do about her! She is just that awesome! :) My mom… what can I say? She gave birth to me 25 years ago, raised me and my siblings, has worked her butt off for 25 years teaching. She is one of the nicest people you could ever meet, loves everyone and everything, and gives selflessly to those who need it. She is always their for her three grandchildren (all three of whom are pictured above with her), they all love her like none other. We are so lucky to have her in our lives! Happy birthday Mom, I hope its amazing! Grandma and Alan, March 2012     Grandma and Baby Anna, July 2012 I am not sure what we have planned for my mom today, but we got her a birthday card and the kids plan on making her a pi...

Yay! We finally got through the big birthday parties that Natalie and I have been planning, in detail, since probably March lol. Phew in my opinion it was quite worth it though, both kids had a wonderful time! Plus, Natalie and I were able to be apart of both parties! :D We did it! Lol, I just want to take the time now to thank everyone who helped us make these parties soooo awesome! Thanks to Aunt Natalie and Uncle Jake for helping me plan the parties and helped with Anna's birthday cake. Thanks to my parents for supplying the chairs and tables and for helping us with transportation. Thanks to Aunt April for helping supervise the crazy kiddos and to Uncle Kalvin for entertainment. Thanks to my friends from work for helping with the bubbles and the kiddos too. :) And a HUGE thanks to everyone who came out to celebrate! Honestly, Anna's party wouldn't have been as special without all of you guys! We love you all! Thanks again! :D We started our day at Benton's birthday...

I figured after yesterday's post that today I would post about our summertime happenings so far. Because we have been BUSY!!!! Lol, so I will share each big event with you all. So far this summer we have: Alan's T-Ball Game We were asked by my boss to join in on the last T-Ball game of the season. They were short one player and Alan was the man to help out! :) Alan was a bit upset at first that he didn't come prepared with a mitt like the other children, but after a friend lent him one, he was all better. He was pretty good at being an Outfielder, he loved running after the ball and throwing it to the next kid. He just forgot to always stay in his area lol. Alan also did a good job batting but struggled with the concept of running from one base to the next lol. Kids… :) He still did a wonderful job trying though! Go Team Orange!!!! The Renaissance Faire Aunt April and I took the kids to the Renaissance Faire at Zoo Montana for the first time ever. Th...