Pictures for our Missionary

The Ants Go Marching...

We live on an ant hill. There's no denying it. We have been doing everything imaginable to convince them to build their empire elsewhere. Several days ago the little man and I had a some fun with our tiny friends. They had invaded the snack cupboard...not a good place to find ants! So we decided to try a little experiment. Since we're now dealing with food, and the place I put my food I didn't feel like I could go for the chemical bug killers, or even conventional cleaners. Fortunately I had my oils on hand. So we took a little coconut oil and added a little blend called Purify. I put a couple drops of lemon oil in the mixture too. Then I took the oils and drew a circle around a few ants...they wouldn't leave the circle...a good sign. We created mazes and watched the ants walk between our invisible walls. We played with those dear little creatures until we were done, then wipped down the cupboard with the oils. They haven't been back.

Playing Cars With a Smile

I must have been very preoccupied. Okay, I'll stop pretending not to know...I was very preoccupied! And the little man kinda knew I needed a little parental coaching at the time. He was playing with his cars, setting up road blocks, racing his cars, etc. He kept asking me to help him with one thing or another, which I did. Then he said, "Mom, I want you to say, 'On your mark, get set, go! then look at my car, and smile. ' ". I had to laugh. Of course! There's plenty of places to put my mind, but there's nothing quite as fun as playing cars with my little man...with a smile...of course.

Happy Halloween!

A picture from our favorite missionary!

BOO

...a...uh....a boy with a stick and goofy socks and a hat, a witch, Barbie girl, a princess, and a scary ghost!



Tiwa's friend came down from Sacramento and spent the weekend with us.

My "Punkins"

Pumpkin carving


My Little Man was showing me the face he wanted me to carve on his pumpkin.

This is a very happy Little Man smiling like his newly carved pumpkin.

Happy decided to bake...We had pumpkin chile, pumpkin bread, and pumpkin cookies.







...and of course she had her pumpkin to carve.

Don't Forget Your Shoes

This afternoon I was sitting on the couch playing with my little man, and the next thing I knew I was deep in my own sleeping world. I had a dream. I drempt I was standing up at a church after a wedding. I had my dress on, but no shoes. That was fine with me...afterall...I was comfortable! Then as people were filing out, I got real dizzy and passed out. I fell forward over the pew in front of us, then onto the floor. In my dream I was completely unconscious, however, I was very aware of everything that was going on around me. People started gathering around me to help me, and I was just embarrassed because I didn't have any shoes on. (Who cares that I had a dress on...and I had tumbles twice to get to the floor!) Finally someone put a damp cloth on my face, and I came to...and I woke up. I learned a lesson...not that I've ever struggled with this issue...but certainly it reinforced something for me...next time I go to a wedding I'll double check to make sure I wear my shoes.

Football vs. Piano

You are my witness...

Pictures for Nate...

It looks like we're going in reverse order...
Yesterday was Tiwa's birthday. Last night some of the girls friends showed up...they played games...it was a lot of fun.




The little man's Birthday... Sean got him a dinosaur collection...



Our little cheerleaders and football player..








Happy's 16th Birthday!




Danielle's wedding

Happy Fall

A Herd of Henrys

Every morning our little man likes to find snails in our yard. He has fun playing with them...carrying them from one location to another. He calls them his pets. This morning he found a few snails, and with just a little coaxing and a big smile got me to help him transport the critters to a little park next to our house. Then we sat and watched his little snails play at the park doing what snails do best...move slowly and leave a trail of slime.
Here we have the little man posing with 2 of his friends... (both of them were named "Henry".)
...He was having way too much fun to stop at 2, and we ended up with a whole ....um....flock?...herd?... I'm not sure...what do you call a group of snails?

This picture made me laugh...this is Elder Somebody, and our ambitious, courageous, valiant, daring...and quite funny Elder Lane.

Yesterday...

Yesterday Wendy and I went bike riding. I had the time of my life! I felt like a young school girl who just got out of school early to go play... It's been way too long since I've done something like that. Initially as we drove away I felt a twinge of guilt, but as we cycled down the coast that twinge quickly went away. There's nothing quite like biking on the beach on a beautiful fourth of July.

Map My Run

"Happy" is in cross country. That's nice, because I get good pointers from her...not that I've needed them lately. One thing she told me about is a web site called MapMyRun. You can go online and put in the path you want to run...or walk...and it will tell you how far it is, etc. So, if you're interested in finding yourself a path, you can consult with this website and come up with your own running path.

As for me....I haven't run in a while. My hip has been healing, and I am just now able to sleep at night without my hip waking me up. I don't want to repeat that. I am not giving up all together, however I will be going about this a little differently. My plan is to do some weight lifting, and start out with walking. As I get stronger, and I loose a little weight, I'll start running. We'll see how this goes. Wish me luck.

A Bump in the Road

Monday night after the children were all tucked away in their beds, and Hubby was working away on his stationary bike, I went down to the beach with the intention of running 3 miles. After about 1/2 mile my hip started giving me fits, and I ended my "workout" leisurely walking down by the moonlit water...which...I have to say had it's own benefits! My hip started hurting a couple of weeks ago. Last week I stayed off of it in an effort to let it heal. So monday night I was feeling much better, but after running it started to talk to me again... I believe I've hit a bump in the road...or maybe even a wall. Anyone have a jack hammer?

Bandits

I didn't get drawn in the St. George Marathon lotto. That's okay. I'm still going to train, and we'll find another marathon...or not. My knees and hip are yelling at me to slow down...and so I will. Congrats to Susan, Christy, and Kathy!!!! I will be there to watch them cross the finish line...and who knows...if I'm ready........I've heard bandits show up to these things and run too...not that it's the plan...I'm just saying...

I Did It!!!!

This morning I woke up with a very sore body. I had my rest day yesterday, and I really wanted to challenge myself today...Saturdays my "big run" day. So, although it was a chore just to get out of bed, I decided I had to keep going. And so I did. Hubby told me about shuffling last night. He use to run 50 milers with heavy packs on his back...Marine stuff. He told me they would shuffle which is taking a real slow easy jog using as little energy as possible. I decided to give this a try. I shuffled. It wasn't about speed, it was about being able to maintain a jog for at least a half hour. Since I will be doing a 3 mile run for my first conditioning run, I have driven through my neighborhood, and found a good 3 mile course. My goal was to be able to keep it up for a half hour. When a half hour was up, I was fine!!!! I couldn't believe it! I continued on my course in a shuffle, and completed the whole thing! It took an hour, and I went 3 miles. I was dripping in "glow" (boys sweat--girls glow), but I DID IT!