Get rid of catalogs!

So, a friend wrote an article in the local newspaper about going green, and one of the things she told about was a service called Catalog Choice. Way cool! You go there and enter the names of the catalogs you no longer want to receive and they will stop sending them to you! Talk about managing your mailbox trash. I promptly sat down and did that. Not exactly what I was planning to do today on my day without the kids, but who said anything about managing my time!

It is a great website. I know you can recycle your magazines, but how many of us do? And isn't it better to not receive them in the first place? It is for me. I don't like getting them because I start to

1. look through them, which is time wasting,
2. wanting things from them, which is money wasting, and
   
3. covet things I can't afford, which is attitude wasting.
4. Besides, I can go online and buy anything I need without a catalog reminding me, right?
   

Whew! Catching up is tough! 5K

Whew, this catching up business it tough especially when you're a child magnet every time you sit down at the computer! Once the rains stopped in May (I never thought I'd make such a statement...sounds like we're in monsoon land. On the contrary...!) we got going on projects. I guess we were feeling like we needed some improvements around here, so we...

• painted the downstairs guest room, then made it Jonathan's room!
• pulled the crib down and moved Annisia to the twin bed in her own room too!
  
• craft paper sanded all the interior logs in the addition, then washed with Murphy's oil soap, followed by wiping with furniture polish
• washed and polished kitchen and great room logs also
  
• removed sod from under a pine tree, laid weed barrier, moved a bunch of rocks to that spot and planted some hardy perennials
• planted a garden
• planted 2 aspens by the kids' sandbox
• sanded and recoated the south deck
• dug up sod, laid weed barrier and made a rock border/walkway on 1/2 the north side of the addition
  
• sanded and refinished the deck table and 4 chairs, glider and coffee table on the deck
• painted the kitchen
  
• sanded Bella's dog house, then put 2 coats of finish on it and painted the roof (now it's the same colors as our house!)
  
• sanded the log wall in the laundry room and painted 3 coats on finish on it
• painted the rest of the laundry room
• running training for a 5K, 3x wk for 12 wks, with cycling class at least 2x/wk all summer
  

My time...38:16, I think. The first 10K runner came in about 1 minute after me. A little humbling...

Couch to Klondike class, 5K training. Most of us aren't runners, just decided to do it. Some have kept running. I haven't...had really bad shin splints until I got new shoes and wrapped my shin, then got tight calves which still give me trouble, so I decided I ought to maybe just walk...oh, who knows, I just might run again. One of these days...

Michael took 2nd in his age group, mens 40-49. Yay! He got a cool medal. His time was 25:16.

This is Nicole (with hat) and Paula (dark hair), the two organizers of the Couch to Klondike class. Nicole took 1st and Paula 3rd in our age group. The cool thing was, after they crossed the finish line, they kept running until all of us were in. I was so grateful to see Paula running toward me right before I had the final hill to climb. Her "good job, Darla, you're almost there. Just up this hill and you did it!" made my day!

Camping

On the 1st of August, we went into the mountains to Circle Park. This is the first time we got the trailer up into the mts this summer because of all the projects we've been doing. We got up the next morning and had our customary Saturday morning breakfast of Daddy's french toast (yum!) then got ready to go out. There is a big rock right by where we camped and we like to climb it. Annisia went in the backpack and Jonathan scrambled up behind Daddy. He was amazing! (I think I said that last year too!)
There it is...the beautiful view of the Big Horns we love so much. Sorry, not a good pic of Michael, he must have been talking to Annisia. Jonathan, on the other hand, is loving every minute of this experience. Click on the pic to see his cute grin!The photo doesn't do this rock justice. The colors and striations (and whatever else you use to describe rocks) were really pretty to me. Jonathan climbed down into the little hollow for a pic.

Bella is a climber too! I tried to show the incline of this slab...look at the trees below to get an idea. Bella scrambled up this slab to get to us. This is where she went back down too. It was fascinating to watch her scramble her way down. She also found something "good" to roll in while we were up on the rock. *yuck!*

Back at the campsite, the kids got a ride in the hammock...whee! And then the sidewalk chalk came out and they colored some rocks.
That night we came home so we could go to meeting in the morning. The kids were exhausted! They fell asleep in Daddy's arms during story time. Awww!

Happy 8th Anniversary! (July 22nd)

Wow! We've made it 8 years! We took a weekend trip to Red Lodge, MT. Remember, we had Leilani staying with us and she graciously offered to watch the kids for us. We left Friday morning, July 25th, after breakfast. A friend, Sheri, came and got Annisia for the day and Jonathan spent the day with Aunty Leilani.

We checked into our lodging then went hiking. We chose the Lake Fork Trail along the lake fork of Rock Creek. It was a beautiful trail with lots of wildflowers blooming. They had a late spring like we did and everything was blooming late.

primroses

click on this pic to enlarge it and you'll see beautiful purple veins

Indian paintbrush

Michael, my prince.

My sweetie and I

Silver Falls

a very cool rock that caught my attention...looks like a lion's head, doesn't it? OK, so you need a little help with that one? On the right, where the rock meets the curved up branch is the lion's nose, and he's looking at the branch...see him?

Wait just a minute!

Now, wait just a minute! I am sitting here on this blustery, rainy day trying to update my blog as you have seen. So while pics are uploading, I swept the floor, got cooking things out for Jonathan so he could make french toast and coffee, put away the handfuls of Qtips Annisia managed to get out of the basket hanging from the ceiling when she got up from her nap (very quietly, I might add, the rascal!). Soon, they were both cooking. Annisia had a bowl with sippy cup parts that she was calling corn. She came running into the library and breathlessly said, "My corn is burning!" So I told her to go shut the burner off. Soon she was back with the same news. And I gave her the same advice. This went on for awhile.

Now they are both in the living room cooking. I heard Jonathan say, "My food is burning." (Instructs himself to "Take it off the burner.") "Now it's not burning." And Annisia is joining in with her own versions of burning food. I started to get a complex. Where are they getting all these burning food ideas? I am a relatively good cook; I don't serve burned food. Just because every third time I make hot cereal in the morning or tomato soup for lunch I get sidetracked and the milk/water boils over...what's your point? Huh? Huh?

Annisia turns 2! (July 23rd)

Here is the sweet pea just a half hour old. She was 7# 9.5oz and 20 1/4 inches long.

One day old...

2 days old with her very proud big brother...

1 year old

eating her first birthday cake.

and here she is with her 2nd b'day cake. A sunflower this year. She loved it.

Jonathan was so pleased to sit up on the table with her for her b'day pic. She thought it was a hoot! She's giggling at him. We went to meeting after this pic. That's why the kids are so dressy.

We went to Lake DeSmet for her party (a last minute change of plans. I had the house totally cleaned including all the windows and all the cotton from the cotton trees cleaned off the screens). But Uncle Jon & Aunt Marti and Uncle Mike & Aunt Ang have boats and it was supposed to be a great sunny day. We got there and had mostly clouds and a little rain for most of the day, but it did clear and we were pleased with the day as a whole.
Annisia really liked the beach and playing in the water. She is a trooper...didn't really mind if the water was chilly.

Kayla took the kids farther out on the tube. They like wearing their life jackets, which is nice...not a fight when they need to have them on. Kayla was on the swim team in high school, so she loves the water and had a great time playing with the kids.

Then it was time to blow out the candles! Uncle Jon lit them and coached Annisia. She did the typical 2 year old downward puff. So cute, isn't it?

Immediately after "Happy Birthday" was sung and the candles blown out, Annisia and Jonathan grabbed a cupcake and dug in!

Do you see the two half eaten cupcakes by Annisia? Well, Jonathan gobbled up his first and grabbed another. Annisia saw that, set down her half eaten first and grabbed her second. I was busy cutting and serving cake to the others, I hardly saw what was happening until they both chomped into #2! Oh well, with a day at the lake in the breeze, cool water, then warm sun, 2 cupcakes wasn't going to keep them up all night! Then I noticed Annisia was really only eating the frosting off the top! The rascal! Next thing you know, she had the candles off the cake and was dipping frosting and eating it...with the tiny ends of the candles that stick into the cake. Aunt Marti was quick to inform her she needed to use the big ends of the candles to dip up the whip cream frosting! Soon Jonathan was using the big 2 candle to dip lots of frosting!

Annisia and Kayla snuggling on the beach.

Michael's first attempt at wakeboarding...all together now..."Oow!"

Jonathan got to drive the boat back to the sandy beach. He loved it!

Annisia got a little pots and pans set and a basket of food. They both think it's great and we ate well for the next few days...hamburgers, hot dogs, watermelon, anything the kids could think of.

She got a really cool Mr. Potato Head too, and some clothes, and sandbox/beach toys. Everything she received was very cool.

Happy Birthday sweetie!

kids...

Here are some miscellaneous pics ...
Mr. Bright Eyes

Mr. Goofball! Told to get his PJs on, and he came out with them all upside down. Silly boy!

Annisia tags along with Daddy on his morning walk. She loves riding in the backpack. She's got a cheesy grin going...she knew I was taking a pic, the imp!

And here is Annisia singing again. This time it "The Itsy Bitsy Spider", so listen for the words. This was taken on July 8, 2008, so slightly before she turned 2.

Visits and More

We had some time with Kenna and Molly this summer. We fingerpainted our atrium doors with homemade finger paint. Kenna was in her element...she knows just what to do with finger paint! She learned that in pre-school. Jonathan wasn't quite sure what to do, but once I showed him, he went to town. They wiped the paint on...

took a snack and squirt break...

then got paint brushes and painted on the paint! Confusing? Well, it didn't work as great as the idea book suggested, but I think it's because I let the finger paint dry too much.

Kenna with her art project. She wanted to take it home when her mom and dad came to pick her up. Well, had it been a piece of paper, Kenna dear, you could have! But we kind of needed to keep our door!

Molly posing with her painting.

Annisia washing her door.

And Jonathan didn't understand what the big fuss was about. He was being a typical boy and started "finishing" the railing. Guess he likes it when we do house projects!

Then Aunty Leilani came for a visit. She was here a week and Jonathan kept her busy. Read her post about "Aunty Leilani, let's you and me go and..." We had some pretty hot days while she was here. We rigged up some shade so she could sit and watch the kids without frying. We never put the pool this close to the sandbox again. Jonathan decided it should be a lake and was dumping sand in by the bucketfuls! Argh!
She helped me paint my kitchen one day while the kids spent the day at Gramma and Papa's. It's a lovely shade of yellow. I really like it with my blue countertops and accessories. It was a big day with painting over the stenciling we did 6-7 years ago, then wiping the paint off before it was dry. It's now a great antiquey (is that a word?) look. Thanks, Leilani!



Then Chet came for a visit one day when we had the pool out. The kids decided ice cream sandwiches were more fun than the pool...

and the ladder was the best.

Come again!