A quick Hello.

Hello bloggie friends.  I am here, I just don;t have time to drop a story...but I will share some tidbits of my last few weeks.

My niece is doing well, she is currently 2lbs 11 ounces....coming along great.

All my shopping is done for Christmas, and all is wrapped, and cookies are prepared....not baked, but ready to heat and eat which is as good as done if you ask me!

Work is busy for me.  I am working a lot of late and it keeps me hopping.  I just wish it was a bit busier at the store, but we are plugging along and keeping our spirits up.  People love to shop in fun places and we make it so.

I must say one last thing...something I thought I would never say....Wal-mart really impressed me this weekend.  I ordered a Wii for X-mas (after discovering that it was NOT even possible to get one in stores unless I was willing to hang out in the cold in line with people in the hopes of being one of the lucky ones to be there when they arrived on a given day at certain stores)...anyway....I happened to be looking for the elusive "gift for myself" one day...just on the off chance they would be in stock.....and there they were!  So, order I did (with reluctance) last Thursday evening with the promise of a Christmas delivery.  Not caring if it arrived on Christmas, I ordered anyway.  It arrived in the AM on Saturday.  Holy Moley....I  think it arrived in less than 30 hours from the time I ordered it.....awesome!  Props to the WallyWorld.

Ok, so hopefully I can keep up here, but no promises, I have a ton of family coming in to visit in the next few days and I am gonna be a busy bee.  

Hope all your Christmas wishes come true and your stockings are full of chocolate.....lol.....or margaritas...whatever works for you....hehehe

PAZZLES PROJECTS

This project is from October.  We were asked to work with a CD from the PAZZLES library.  So we just needed to create a card and envelope.  Easy Peazy

Front of the envie

Inside of the card

Front panel of the card.  Scenic Route papers and Heidi Swapp stamp.

I added the suspended flower to the file from the CD.  I love doing these and with the PAZZLES it is super easy.

I loaded these in order, but apparently they rearranged themselves....whatever. 

So, my December project is finished and I will be emailing it soon....love the new system.  So, you might see my November project by early January...if I remember to load it anyway.

MONSTER TRUCKS

I am NOT a huge fan of Monster Trucks, but FREE tickets to the show.... minus the dollars spent on food, gas and parking....it was a good time.  This is "Escalade" during the "race" portion of the show.
Peter and I enjoying a little of the show.  A little margarita goes a long way.
"Grave Digger"...during the "FREESTYLE" part of the show....just before crashing to the ground and breaking a wheel off and running into "Escalade".

Grace Digger was parked just in front of our seats (and down 20 rows).  During the Pre-Show parade the driver crashed the truck onto its side and into "Batman".  Grave Digger's pit team spent the entire race getting the truck ready for the Freestyle show.

Those are my big exciting days.  

Painting and Remodeling

What started as a simple paint job ended with a wall being pulled out of the old bathroom.  How did that happen?

On Thanksgiving morning I got out my paint can to finish a job I started almost 7 years ago.  I painted to as far as a person can see in our house without heading up the stairs... literally half way up the staircase......(side story: since we had to replace our microwave and remove the old one, I painted the small area I couldn't reach when it was installed)....so with that being finished and the can in hand, I finished the remaining walls going up the stairs and to the bedrooms. I had wanted to paint our old bathroom for years, but, with our plan to actually remodel it, I had waited.  But, I am sick of the paint in there and decided a $20 paint job for a few months (more likely YEARS) would be OK.  When I headed to Menards for my paint (which was on sale for only $8 with rebate by the way...yay) I mentioned it would be nice to tear out the old shower so we can see what we will actually need to do to finish it...for good!  The last time we ordered stuff before ripping things out we ended up ripping out more than we thought and our cabinets were too short.  NOT THIS TIME!  So, I have a half tore up bathroom, but I am OK with that.  At least it looks like we are trying to do something in there....lol.

OK, so other than that, life has been busy.  I worked most of the Thanksgiving weekend.  It was fun, but tiring.  We had a early Black Friday morning sale and it was a little crazy.  The day went pretty fast though.

So, off I go to see what Menards has for cabinets....cheap.....ya right.

Happy Thanksgiving

I'm here

Whew, it's been a while.

So, what have I been up to.....lots.  Mostly work right now.  We are in the middle of a computer meltdown at the store...not a good thing going into the holiday season, but if all goes well we will be using new computers by Friday.....let's hope anyway.  I just changed the computer for one of our PAZZLES, a nice upgrade from the ancient one we had all the info on.  I can actually see the screen now.....lol.....you have to see this old computer to know what I am talking about. I will be able to show the next PAZZLE project soon, the latest project was "sent" last week.  I love the way they are doing the program this year.  It is so much easier!

I haven't even had time to check my pals blogs or upload photos or anything.  And here I thought that having the kids out of sports for the next few months would make my life easier...ha!  It doesn't help to have Christmas shopping in the way of the few days off that I actually have.

I should probably mention that I am an Aunt again.  My niece arrived last night unexpectedly ...and almost 3 months early.  She is doing well so far, so if you have prayers to share...share them with my Brother and his wife and family.

Check back again soon....or not. :)

Weird veggies

This must have been the season for strange veggies in our garden. Today...yes today...we finally got our potatoes out of the ground. Considering the ground has been frozen for several days now.....I am surprised that we only lost 2 potatoes.

And with the cold, our barn kitties have been hanging out in a "lump" in the shed.  We couldn't find one kitty yesterday and it's because he is under this pile of cats, there are 6 in this pile.  Silly kitties.  I don't know why they aren't in the little house we have for them....they seem like this old floor pillow that sits on top of the hay pile instead.

State finals

They came, they ran, they did a great job.

The team came out with a 7th place title.  Since they went into the competition with a 14th place ranking over their heads, they did a super job.  Nick came in 85th out of a field of 150 of the top runners in the state in level D3.  He still finished 3rd for his team, just like he usually did, but the competition was very tough...all I can say is WOW, that was the FASTEST race I have EVER seen.

The whole thing was just crazy!  I have NEVER seen so many people in one place watching people run around.  I wish I had the camera on for some of it, you would not believe it.

Now I can resume my normal life again........ha ha

Front page SPORTS

So yesterday the boys had a photo session with the reporter from our local paper and this is the resulting photo.  I was standing just to the right of the shot and my car is just inches outside the frame of the photo.  She wanted the shot to look like they were running in the country, not in front of the school.  She did a good job.

Here is the newspaper story too.

They leave tomorrow on a bus for State after a pep rally. 

Oh, my kid is the one on the far left, front row in the bright red shoes!

Going to STATE

The boys team is heading to STATE Cross Country finals in WI Rapids.  N finished 15th with a time of 18:01.  The Webster boys were super fast but our boys did an excellent job keeping up with them.  The boys finished 2nd as a team which gives them the right to compete at State.  Did I mention that the BOYS team has NEVER gone to state in the history of the school??

That's it for my update....so much to do, so little time....

Last game

Q (#58) had his last game of the season...another loss, but with that another lesson.....can't win them all right?  He made it through without breaking anything unlike many of his teammates.  During the last practice three kids were hurt and unable to play in the last game.  One broken foot, an injured knee and a gash to a hand.....they play harder during practice apparently!!

Congrats to the TEAM

PAZZLES projects

This one is using some My Minds Eye papers....love the double sided paper for cards. 

The inside of that card..love the stars.  I actually cut Chipboard with the PAZZLEs and used it to give the hollow star on the front a little more strength.
More MME paper to work with.  I don't even remember the theme for this project because it was so long ago.
Details of the pop-up leaves.  Love those little leaves I created.  The tree still needs work I think.

I think I have more projects that need to be posted, but I will have to dig through my photo archives to find them.  My current project is fun...can't tell yet, but I am having a hard time deciding which theme to go with.....details later....much later....lol

Conference Meet

Look who made the ALL CONFERENCE team.....yup....and as a Freshman no less.

Plus the team took their first ever...in 32 years of Cross Country at the school....Conference Title.  A happy team indeed.

Another bad photo..he is sucking his lip in this one... one more chance at a good one next weekend.....then maybe State....crossing fingers.

its fall

My pretty tree out in the front yard.

Most of the leaves are already blown away with all the wind we had the other day, but it is still beautiful out there.

Football night.  Q (also known as #58) had a hard game Tuesday night.  They had their first loss.  We have to lose a few to learn right?  They didn't think so!  It was good for them and hopefully will make them work a little harder for the next, and last, game.  Weather was on our side.  Nice and chilly but dry.  It started raining on the drive home, so we escaped that one.
Cross Country too. Finally a good pose...but a blurry shot...i just can't WIN!  But N can.  Well, he got 7th place and the Team took a 1st again, so they are on track for State.  N's goal from the beginning of the season was to break into the 17's by this meet and he got a 17:38.  Last week he had been running 18:00 and 18:01....major change!  This was a flat course (so the kids said) and it was an "easy" run...easy for them to say....lol

Ok, as usual, that is all I am doing besides some crafting.  I have updated the crafty blog with a few new goodies.

In the paper

A copy of the ARTICLE from the LEADER TELEGRAM from OCTOBER 8, 2008
I linked this article a few days ago, but I wanted a copy here in the blog so I could have it later for some journaling. I bought the newspaper too. Can't have enough of that kind of stuff!

So here is the article as it appeared online a few days ago.

Inside Cross Country: Ramblers boys enjoying success

By Travis Mester
Leader-Telegram staff
It looks like the Eau Claire Regis boys cross country team has been taking notes.

Over the past four years it has been easy for this Ramblers bunch to be overshadowed by the Regis girls team, which placed seventh at the WIAA cross country state meet in 2006 and fourth a year ago.

But not this season, as the boys have put together their most successful campaign under coach John Snyder since 2003.

Led by seniors Brian Farley, Nick Johnson, Josh Kassing and David Connell, Regis won both the Warrior and Ladysmith Invitationals in the past month and looks primed for a tournament run in the near future.

Snyder is excited that his boys team is being able to find the same successes that the girls have had in the past.

"In cross country boys tend to get better as time goes on," Snyder said. "I think my four senior runners have matured very nicely and we've added some younger runners too."

Farley has led the Ramblers with a second-place individual finish at the Warrior Invite as well as a third-place finish at Ladysmith last week. A senior this season, he has returned stronger than ever from a knee injury that hindered him at the end of last year.

As for the younger Ramblers, freshman Nick Wagner and sophomore Kevin Mathiowetz have shown the most improvement.

Since the beginning of the year Wagner - the nephew of Joel Wagner, one of Snyder's previous athletes and the last Ramblers boys cross country conference champion 20 years ago - has improved his personal time by nearly a minute.

"(Nick) was so inexperienced because in eighth grade he was such a talent that he wasn't challenged," Snyder said. "But in high school he's learned early on that the competition is much better."

According to Snyder, the strength of this year's Regis team has been its balance and the fact that in an individual sport, like cross country, it has been able to work together to find success.

Regis has never won a conference title in boys cross country and Snyder says that ending that drought has become motivation for this year's squad.

"(Our boys) just haven't had this kind of success before," Snyder said. "We had a good feeling coming in to this season and we'd love to compete in the Cloverbelt and make it to state as a team."

Thursday in the swamp

So apparently all I post about these days is Football and Cross Country.

Well, that is all I do besides work!

Nick had a meet yesterday afternoon down at my old high school.  It was a pretty nice afternoon, a little chilly and windy but sunny.  Nick had a 6th place overall finish in this race and the team took another 1st place trophy home.

And, as you can see by the photo, I am still trying to get a good photo of him running.  This was probably the best place to do so, with the sun out and the runners spread out, but.....no.  I couldn't center it at all, and Peter is in the background of this one.  This is the final sprint to the finish line.

Tuesday Night Lights

And a rainy night ta' boot

My little guy (who isn't so little) is #58 and towards the top of the photo played in his 3rd official game for the season.  They won again against my alma mater.  A few of the kids on the other team are kids of people I went to school with, but with the weather being so yucky, I didn't get a chance to check out the other side.  We hunkered down under the rear door of my PT Cruiser with plenty of rice krispie bars and popcorn.  It was dry and we had the tunes going.  A PT Cruiser is a nice little party wagon when you need it. Flip the seats down and hook up the tailgate table....and you are set to enjoy the night....even if it is raining!  We had a few people stop by and ask if we had anything "good" in there....lol

And I usually don't have stuff to say about the other child...the running one...but he was mentioned in the paper, so I figured I had better link the online version to the blog.  I will probably copy it to another blog link so I can keep it, but for now it is available HERE.  It's kinda cool.  He gets mentioned in the paper each week under the "PREP" scores when he competes, so this is a little "extra" mention for the team.

So that is what I am up to right now.  I have one project that needs to go out, otherwise I am trying to keep up with the kids.

Running....it's all I do

I am here, I am just super busy right now.  I need to be in 10 places at once and can't keep all the balls juggling.  

So, back on Thursday, Mr N had his run up in Ladysmith.....far far away....and as usual, my "action" shots leave nothing to be desired.  You would think after 6 runs I would get ONE decent shot of the kid running.  Not to say this isn't a good shot, but I want to capture a different part of the run.  Granted, this particular spot was an uphill one with a turn just after this shot was taken, so his gait was different than the real "run it all out" to win run.  Oh, well.  6 more races to go.  Oh, he ended up with a 7th place finish in this one.  He finished 2nd for his team and the team won another 1st place trophy to add to the collection.  He even got to hold the trophy in the group photo this time.  Cool.  Oh, and before you wonder if he was running with aliens, I blurred the others faces (but I am sure you figured that out).

Mr Q didn't have a game this week because the other school didn't have enough kids for a 7th grade team.  So he had a mini-vacation from the game this week.

On to me.  Not much happening except work and running the kids around.  I have worked several days this week to keep up with all our events.  Today is the last one for a little while so I can relax a little...just a little.  We have to get ready for the next one.  Samples need to be made, classes organized, papers cut and whatnot.  And my DT work for PAZZLES should be arriving this week too.  No rest for the wicked.

OK, peeps.  Enough for today.  I have to make lunch and head to work.  At least Mr. Crockpot is busy cooking my supper for tonight, so all I have to do is walk in the door and eat after work tonight.  Potatoes, a whole chicken and carrots, it smells so good already!

I am in

I just got the email that I am on the Design Team for PAZZLES for the 08-09 session.

WooHoo for me. Should be fun

Now, a photo from last weeks little trip. In the town of WABASHA Minnesota they have something called SeptOberFest. It's a big weekend of music, art and fun.  The residents yards are decorated with these cool pumpkin sculptures and lots of other fall decorations. At the town hall they had three pumpkin people decorated to look like football players with jersey's and everything. I didn't get a picture of that but I did get a few from the streets were walked on when we went to the Eagle Center. This photo is the one in front of the center...and Eagle of course. They were pretty cool.

Our little trip

The two of us at the Lock & Dam at Alma

The Eagle Center in Wabasha, this is Harriet

Outside the Eagle Center, on the Mississippi.  A little barge going down river.

Our favorite ice cream and cheese place...and they have wine!

On the bluff above Alma.  We have never been up there.  This would be a gorgeous spot when the leaves are turning. We are well ahead of peak for that!

A really nice day to spend together.  We ate lunch in Lake City Minnesota at a restaurant on the shore of Lake Pepin (which is actually the Mississippi river) and we saw our little barge from Wabasha go by, a paddle wheeler launched from our dock spot and a catamaran was skimming around on the lake.  Just beautiful.  And the lunch was delicious.  We had the walleye basket.  yummy!

20 Years ago today

We became husband and wife. We are spending the afternoon together driving down to the Mississippi for the morning afternoon.  A little shopping, eating, cheese and wine tasting and a stop at the National Eagle Center in Wabasha Minnesota (home of the movie Grumpy Old Men).  MAybe I will have some nice photos of the two of us later today.
Nick was on the run last night.  It was a warm afternoon for a run in the park, but Nick did a good job keeping the pace and finished in 9th place.
Mr Nick with the TEAM 1st trophy.  We never get to see the trophy's after the meets because there are not enough displays for all of them!!  I think it would be fun to take a photo of the boys and all the trophy's around them.  They have acquired 5 already and they have 3 regular meets to go for sectionals and state.  Go team GO.

And The Mighty Quin was busy with football. Peter went to that game and I was at the Cross Country race.  Can't be at two places at once!

Quin did a great job and they won their game.

My poison ivy is doing better.  The blisters are starting to subside and the pain is now just the EXTREME itchiness of the skin recovering.  I think it was worse than the initial poison absorption!  I need a calgon bath!

Homecoming

Nick had his first "date" Saturday night.  He invited a girl to the Homecoming dance.  It was actually a group of kids that went together, the guys were friends and the girls were friends.  They had a good time at the dance but had to wait forever for their food at dinner. They had reservations at 6:45 and were seated immediately but didn't leave the restaurant until almost 9pm!  There were 8 kids and 5 ordered the Fettucini Alfredo and the other three ordered burgers. One of the boys ordered something they didn't have but the waitress didn't come and tell him until 10 minutes after the order was placed.  Then she didn't bring a menu with her so he could pick something else out.  Then the waitress wasn't bringing them drink refills and asking how they were doing at all.  Nick was annoyed about that.  He told me he only left a $2 tip because of the bad waitress.  His bill was $25 so he still left a pretty good tip for such bad service.  I think the waitress figured they were not going to tip very well because it was a group of 14-15 year olds...but she was WRONG.  Nick knew what she should have gotten had the service been good.

My wrists are still killing me so that is all for now. I took a photo of my left wrist, but it is too grizzly to post.  Hubby and the kids all think it looks too nasty.

Poison Ivy and Rice

Not a good combination....lol

I was snuggling with my kitties the other day, after they had been lost it the woods for a day...and what do I end up with....poison ivy on my hands, wrist, chin, part of my ear, and a little spot on my shoulder (where my T-shirt didn't cover!).  I washed off, but apparently not enough.  The stuff on my wrist is killing me! The nerves in my wrist are tingling constantly!!  Oh, well.  Two weeks and it will all be gone.....

And rice.....is $3 for 12 lbs a good price?  I think so.  I was at Sam's Club and was wondering around the aisles and came across a big bag of Uncle Ben's uncooked long grain white rice for $2.81.  I not a big eater of the long cooking rice, but that deal was too good to pass up.  I am going to be making some spanish rice and rice pudding soon. I throw it into the crock pot and have it cook up with the chicken and soups.  I also found a 9 pack of the Kraft Instant Mac & Cheese cups for $2.81..again, good deal, can't pass up (Quin's favorite).  Off to work I go I go.

That's it for today....boring I know.

WARNING... Obscene photo

I picked this little tomato from the garden yesterday.... well, it's not so little either, it's bigger than a softball and probably weights over a pound.  But, when I picked it off the vine and went to place it in my basket I noticed this little protrusion.... kinda funny... had to share. I will be so sad when the frost comes and takes my little vine of fresh tomatoes away.

Does anyone like soybeans?  I know the people have been cooking/drying/roasting them  and eating them for a long time, but...being a potato chip, pretzel and peanut kinda girl, I have avoided these little morsels.  Why ruin a good thing?  So with my more "healthy" eating habits of late, I have been venturing into the wide world of "other foods".  Oh, don't worry, I am still a card carrying member of the chocolate chip cookie club (my bag of Girl Scout Thin Mints are open in front of me as I type) but, I tried something different...something my family refuses to do...and found I truly liked the little soybeans.  I guess they are probably a little healthier than a potato chip (um, probably a LOT!) and I have now tried the WASABI beans (not going to try again), Honey Roasted Beans (YUMMY ) and the plain salted and roasted ones (again, YUM).  They taste just like peanuts to me.....family is not so sure....and Quin tried one when I told him it was a peanut....he liked it until I told him otherwise....KIDS!

Other than my new love for different foods I have been busy crafting.  Mostly stuff I cannot share, but four days of busy crafting anyway.  Feels good to get something done and meet ALL MY DEADLINES!  I put in my application for the PAZZLES Design Team again.  They are doing the team a little different this year, so we will see in a few weeks if I get picked again. 

That's all for now.

Fly Boys

This was the view from our seats in the corporate chalets at the Air show.  Nice view huh?
We walked through the FedEx plane on the grounds.  Hey, Tom Hanks sat in one, why not us, right?  LOL
The guys on the ladder into the hold.
Fat Albert on the approach to the fly-by over the crowd.
And one picture of a Blue Angel formation.

The clouds stayed in the area for the whole show, but we were able to see the Angels fly.  They moved up their fly time because they had cancelled the show from the day before.  About an hour after the Angels finished their show the sky opened up and it poured again for about 45 minutes.  We stuck it out because we had a roof, food, beer and drinks in the chalet....yay for the chalet!  Still, it was quite chilly, so we left a little before the end of the show. 

Racing

Stanley Meet SHS

Thursday Sept. 11

Temp: 68 degrees and humid

Course: grass, knolls, blacktop and gravel

Time: 18:43

Distance: 3.1 miles

Individual Place: 16th

Team Finish: 2nd

Fall Creek Meet FCHS

Saturday Sept. 13

Temp: 60 degrees and rainy

Course: Grass, a BIG hill, trees and blacktop.

Time: 18:59

Distance 3.1 miles...uphill for over 1 mile!!

Individual Place: 6th

Team Place: 2nd

I still haven't gotten a decent photo of him running. I apparently can get other peoples kids no problem.  I had a hard time taking photos at the run this morning because of the rain.  My poor cameras were covered in rain drops.  I did get a nice photo of all the boys with the trophy this time. I just pushed my way to the front and made the kids stand there while I took the picture.  Pays to be an aggressive mom....lol.....and that is SO not me!

So in other news for the day, we have eaten out for every single meal today...and I am SO FULL!  Breakfast at Perkins at 8:30, lunch at Quizno's at 12:30 and dinner with my parents at Texas Roadhouse at 4:30.....yikes...I never eat that much in one day.  All of the meals were quite tasty though.

Tomorrow we have the air show but it looks like we will have the same yucky weather as today.  I just heard on the news that todays air show had been cancelled, so we will see how tomorrow goes.  The Blue Angels do not fly if the cloud deck isn't high enough and in lightening (which is not the problem in this case).  We are going to the show regardless, so I will have pix of airplanes tomorrow....will I get them uploaded....maybe.....hehehe

Equal Time

Quin had a scrimmage last night against a local school.  So, in fairness, I must do a post with his sports too...even though Nick will have more meets then the Mighty Quin. ...I must keep it equal..

Quin is the one with the hands out pushing in the center of the photo, 

in green and NOT laying on the ground.

And here he is almost running off the screen of my camera as I tried to get some shot....but, there he is.  He ended up getting #58 again this season, so that means he is #58 for 3 years....and I think he is pushing for that next year too...we shall see.  They do get first pick next year....he got lucky this year and traded a kid for the number he wanted.

This makes it difficult for me because if I have a pile of photos, I can't go by his number to remember which year it is!!

So, my entire day was spent away from home, but I got my workout in and a good breakfast at Panera.  Who knew they served breakfast?  I had an egg souffle that was quite tasty and pretty filling even though it looked very little on my giant serving tray.  The best part is the fact that they serve CAFFEINE FREE Diet Pepsi!!  Nobody serves caffeine free anything in a diet, so this is super cool!! I prefer Caffeine Free Diet Coke, but this is a nice change from having to drink water or regular Diet Coke..can you say jittery.

We have an Air show this weekend and we have tickets to the chalets....woohoo, aren't we cool?  Two of the The Blue Angels have arrived and are practicing over our house.  The others will arrive on Thursday. 

ScrapPink

At the end of September we are having a ScrapPink event at the store I work for.  I found some pink t-shirts at Wal-mart for $3 a few weeks ago and decided we should wear these on that day.  Well, just a pink shirt isn't enough for me!  We need to advertise leading up to the day, so with my PAZZLES, a little vinyl and my T!M HOLTZ color wash, I made the team some shirts.  I think they turned out pretty good!  The color wash is "Red Pepper", but I like it!

Nothing much else is happening in my world.  I am doing some layouts for the retreat house which is having a grand opening on Thursday and Saturday. Patti called me up and asked if I would be interested in having my pages on display in the workroom at the retreat house and I said "sure!"  And as if I didn't have enough to do with making samples (card and layout), page kits, card kits at the store, I have my PAZZLES project due, the tryout for the team projects are due and now this little side project......can you say crafting frenzy.  It seems like it is easier to crank out a bunch of things when you are on a roll and under a deadline....which is right where I am at!!  Add to all of that the sports schedules for the kids.

I am off to take a nap...after folding some laundry, making another page, finishing that album, creating a class.....

Running

First race of the season (why can't I capture him in a better pose? ever!)

13 schools (did I mention I drove 80 miles ONE way to see this race)

134 runners (holey moley!)

Varsity Squad

Freshman

26th place overall

3.1 miles

19:29

big rain storm coming
1st place for the team.....priceless...

Ok, there were 9 guys total running for our school, but the top 7 scored and Nick and three other guys finished top 30 which brought the team score to 74.....and that was all it took to win one for the team (I say that as if it was easy to run around in the 90 degree super humid weather!!). I am not showing the other members to protect the innocent...I just got lucky Nick was standing next to coach and the trophy....

and did I mention his name was in the paper too...gotta save that one!

Hangin' in there

One of the little kittens hanging off the edge of the outdoor table.  I was trying to capture him jumping but he slipped back when I clicked.  It's kinda funny the way he is hanging there.  

So, the weekend is REALLY REALLY nice.  The temps are in the 80's and very low humidity....just awesome!  We got a little yard work done so far , had a little BBQ, got the big screen tent put up (and even used it!!) and we will bale hay later this afternoon...ok, not so happy about that part...but summer is definitely ending.  I am going to enjoy this last weekend of "doing nothing" because for the next 2 months it is going to be run run run.  Our weekends will mostly be free this year for the first time in almost 4 years.  Both boys Games/Meets are on weekdays instead of all on weekends...yippee.  Only 3 meets actually take place on a Saturday and they are early in the day, 10am.  Plus the last two meets are for State semi's and finals...so they don't go if they don't do well.....hopefulyl they will...Nick is pretty excited to so to state as a Freshman....we shall see.  Football should be fun too, the boys got a LOT bigger over the summer!!

Goodness

Not wholesome goodness...just goodness.  This is my stash from the chocolate buy at the "Cow Pie" store.  One bag is missing because Quin grabbed it as soon as he saw what was inside...a giant peanut butter cup.  So we have the Cow Chips, Packer Puddle (the white lump), and the Irish Creme and Peanut butter squares.  Oh, so good. this stash will last me probably a whole month if I eat one piece a day....or less if my kids find it!
See how big that "Puddle" is. White chocolate, caramel and cashews.....need I say more?
And this is Corn Saute.  Fresh sweet corn, fresh green peppers and cilantro from my window sill garden....sauteed in butter and sprinkled with cumin and salt and pepper.

Remove the fresh corn from the ear, chop green pepper into very small pieces (corn kernel size) and saute in the butter with the cumin, salt and pepper....toss the chopped cilantro into the pan and saute for a few seconds more.  Serve as a side dish or just eat (which is what I did).

So, besides eating and hiding my goodies, I have been running my kids around like a crazy mom.  At least I have maintained my weight loss all summer.  My weight fluctuates 2-3 pounds depending on when I weigh in...so I really am sticking right where I left off....but with school starting in a few days I can hit the treadmill again with regularity and drop those last 15. No gain, even with a little chocolate intake!!