Well, summer vacation has arrived. There is relief from waking up early and getting dressed before 7. No need to make breakfast and lunch simultaneously in a 15 minute period. (Unless I forget the lunch part until 1 minute before we have to run out the door! Then I could win the fastest lunch making contest with the most amount of swearwords uttered in a 1 minute period while shoving lunch boxes and bags into the arms of my turtle-like children who see no urgency of the situation.) I don't have to stress about leaving at 7:32 instead of 7:28 because leaving 4 minutes later means I still arrive on time but avoid a traffic backup.  I don't have to make sure homework is done, projects underway and tests studied for. Ahhhh. 

Now, I will just enjoy summer lazy.... for the next couple of days. 

Then comes, summer reality! 

Summer Rules!!

Sleep in as late as possible. If the clock says 7, go back to sleep! We're Team Housey so every day, we must: 

Make our beds and make sure the floor is picked up.

Brush our teeth (summer mouth not allowed).

Dress by 10. Neighbor kids start-a-knockin' and we don't want them to know we wear super hero undies.

School practice (math facts, spanish, etc) before any video games or play.

No more than 1 hour of video games a day. Sorry. I suffer too because you are more contained and quiet playing but I know it is not good for you and I want the best for you.

DEAR time once a day or more for EVERYONE! Drop Everything And Read

If you aren't OUTSIDE playing with your friends and family, you can help with chores. 

Pool everyday if possible.

Movies on rainy days. 

Walk the dogs. 

Each day, one person picks a dinner and helps prepare it. 

Those not making dinner set the table. 

No leaving any dishes in the sink and empty dishwasher when full.

You can stay up late if you are having fun playing outside and you sleep in the next day. 


This may seem like a lot but kids need structure and need to know what is expected of them. They need some organization and need to know the value of time.  If they want a sane mom who takes them to do fun things, then I need help. We are a team and work together. They know that if they don't help then I have to do it all by myself. While having a fun summer, they can still learn, help and be productive.  

Time for fun in the sun! Have a great summer!

Hi! I am trying to decide if I want to start over here with my blog or continue on amberhousey.blogspot.com. I am not sure how to transfer over my blog following from there to here. I have placed a feed reader to the right for my "On the Flip Side" blog. Check it out.

My kids are on summer vacation, so it has been difficult to find time to sit down to update my blog. I love having my kids home and I love when it's time for them to go back to school. It's the flip side to summer vacation. Fun and craziness. I love not having to race out of bed and out of the house in the morning. I love hanging with the kids. I love seeing the kids having fun in the neighborhood. I love casual breakfasts. I love mommy school. Now, the flip side. It is going to be hard waking up early again in the fall. I can't go work out at the gym when they are home. The house is a mess. Food disappears. I become a short order cook and I can't just run to the store without "buy me this, buy me that, mom, moooom, maaaa." This leads me to Target! My Target.

My Target experience is my life therapy. Let me explain. It's a place where I can buy a lot for less ($100 minimum), wander aimlessly without getting lost and run into people I know who can relate and look as bad as I do. With kids? I get nagged, I'm the no-man, the bad guy. I spend more and at the speed of light to get the hell out of there and hope nobody sees me yelling at my kids or worse, sees me running away from them. I am kidding...for the most part. I love my kids and they are really good but they know how to wear me down. Wimp. 

Summer... it's a love/ hate relationship.