The Ups and Downs...

So I am "training" for a 5K in October. I put training in quotes because what I am really doing is going out 3 or four mornings a week and staggering and gasping through a 13 minute mile, dragging along my DVT leg and wondering what in the world makes me think I can possibly run 3 whole miles in a row 2 and a half months from now. I don't know if that's really training. Some days i go out and my DVT leg feels no different from my other one. Then, on days like today, it feels like it weighs two hundred pounds and it's stiff and swollen feeling. I'm just praying that the race route is flat. It's the darn hills that do me in. But it has been my goal for some time now to just do a 5K. Positive peer pressure is working its magic. I have 3 friends who are training to run the marathon at the same event, a few training for the 1/2, and my husband is training for the 10K. I really feel like I need to achieve this. I've never been that great at setting a goal and working toward it, so I feel like this will be really good for me. So that's what keeps me going. I like how I feel (after the run is done!), and I like not giving up. It's a great way to start my days and so very good for my well-being. So, now the world knows, or at least my three readers know, so I am that much more accountable. Wish me luck!

Love this kid...

Jesse is sitting on my lap as I check email and facebook and stuff. He just told , "I'm on da coputer". But a few minutes ago I hugged him and I said, "I love you!' His response, "I love you. We love each other."

Cute.

Fun Giveaway!

The Farm Chicks are doing a fun giveaway over at their blog. Go check them out. I love their great ideas for shabby country decorating, entertaining, cooking, and fun. Even their blog colors and graphics are nostalgic and fun. Check 'em out and get addicted!

Park time with Aunt Chrissy...

...and silly time in the living room. Here Devon is attempting the signature Chrissy move- legs over the head.

The following pictures are from a couple evenings in parks. One night we got subs to eat at the park for dinner. The other night we went to Rumbleseats, a fun drive-in diner in Spring Green. They have a little playground outside as well as horseshoes and basketball. Yes it is July and we're wearing warm jackets, toques, and anything else warm we could our hands on.






Do you think he's a little nervous perchance?

Random Stuff

Renie with a cute beard and mustache:

The VERY late Father's Day blueberry pie I made for Lincoln:

Romper, bomper, stomper boo...

The next two pictures are grass burn on Jesse's back. The sand volleyball courts at Land's End are bordered on one side by a fabulously steep hill. The kids love to slide down the hill while we're playing volleyball. (It's really fantastic how they slide right down so fast just on their bottoms.) One evening Julia thought it would be fun to pull Jesse down the hill by his feet. They did have fun, but after several runs down the hill, the grass rubbed his back raw. Ouch!

Gymnastics Camp

Julia and Renie recently completed a week of gymnastics camp. The summer recreation programs are fantastic here. They offer so many activities from swim team to volleyball to tee- ball and gymnastics. It's only $10 for a camp, with a family maximum of $50 dollars. So even if all five of my kids each did two activities it would only cost us $50. This year I signed Devon up for tee ball and gymnastics, Renie for tee ball and gymnastics, Julia for gymnastics and dance, and Kennedy for softball, gymnastics, volleyball, and dance. All for $50. Of course, Kennedy will only end up doing Volleyball and dance because of her vacation to NY. Devon refused to go to gymnastics. Julia told him he had to do the splits and he was way too nervous about that to even go give the camp a try. But Renie and Julia loved it and did great.












On the last day of camp, they do kind of an open gym thing. Spectators can come down onto the floor and watch the kids up close. They can go around to whatever station they want to. Friends and family are invited to join in as well. Devon had a lot of fun trying out the equipment in the low-pressure situation. Maybe next year he will actually participate in the camp. Carson and Brandon, the two boys I babysit, got in on the action as well. And of course, Chrissy was not to be left out. She had fun walking the low balance beam.

Tee Ball

Devon started tee ball at the beginning of June. He went a couple times and then we left on vacation. We were gone for two weeks, then the next week was the 4th of July so there was no tee ball. So three weeks went by with no opportunity to play with the team. By the time he got to go back, he was suffering from severe anxiety about the whole thing. He didn't want to go because he said he didn't know how to run around the bases. We made him go but he refused to play. Lincoln finally got him out on the field but he wouldn't do anything. A ball literally rolled up and stopped against his foot and he wouldn't bend down and pick it up. So that week we practiced. We played tee ball for Family Home Evening on Monday. We reviewed how to run the bases, how to field the ball, what to do with the ball after you get it, how to hit the ball off the tee. And we bribed him with Wii privileges and the chance to open another of his Dad's Lord of the Rings action figures if he would play on Saturday. He played. AND he had fun.







I think he is sufficiently comfortable now to finish out the season without any problems. Of course, we only have two more games, but whatever.

Finally, it begins...

We've been eating lettuce since my return from NY, but today I picked the first handful of peas and a couple beans. Next week I will be in the bean business for sure. We also have lots of green tomatoes plumping up on the vine, and the green onions and dill are coming beautifully. The squash plant has a big beautiful blossom and the peppers are really holding their own. The carrots are lush and full, hopefully pushing their woody roots deep into the soil. Kennedy's cabbage is filling in nicely and spreading its huge leaves to the sun. Unfortunately, the cucumbers didn't come this year. I threw in another desperate late planting in hopes that maybe something will come. We'll see. The basil didn't take either. I replanted that in a container on the deck. If I am able to can a decent amount of beans and tomatoes I will consider the garden a success.

Chrissy's First Week Here...

through her camera lens:

Sitting next to s gross 2 year old for 18 hours on the trip to WI. (Not really 18, we switched the seating arrangement around at some point.)


Devon wanted a picture of Spiderman, so Chrissy drew him one.

Here are the boys with the picture.


New swimming goggles


Fourth of July. I also deleted about 5 hundred pictures of empty black sky from her trying to get a picture of fireworks.


There are more pictures I need to upload for her from week one.

Some of my favorite shots...