Any Suggestions?

It has been over a year since we said goodbye to our sweet Kasey girl. I am just now seriously considering making the big plunge into adopting a new puppy into our family. I have never been great at making decisions, especially big ones.

The question: What kind of puppy should we get? I would really like a Golden Retriever but the rest of my family doesn't want a really big dog. I want a dog that will run with me but we all have to make compromises, right? The poodle mixes are adorable but apparently very expensive - Kev doesn't necessarily want to spend a couple thousand on a dog. I'm not sure I do either.

I definitely either want a dog that can be inside or out, minimum shedding and barking, and a friendly, lovable dog. And of course a dog that won't dig, chew, or destroy my carpet- lol. Decisions....... decisions.....

Anyone have any suggestions?

After I figure this one out than we have to think of a name........

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH

It is a gloriously cool breezy Autumn day! Right now the temperature is a fabulous 55 degrees with a high today of 62!

Now that is more like it!

I hope it is a beautiful fall day where you live, too!

"This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118:24

Busy Days of Autumn

Is it really Autumn? I guess it is officially but we have only had a few days to tease us into thinking it is fall. I am patiently awaiting consistently cool breezes flowing through our hair. I know it is coming but it is so hard to be patient. I want to start wearing my hoodies, long sleeves, and jeans!!!!

I have been busy these days with working part-time, cheering my boys in football, and running.
The rest of my activities fill in the spaces: Beth Moore Bible Study on David ( really awesome), keeping L ( my 6th grader) on task with school and homework, watching all the new shows (thank goodness for DVR), keeping my house clean, and keeping my family alive (feeding them).

So, all of the above has taken me away from blogging - but I shall return periodically.

I so wanted to take a picture of this absolutely beautifully very large spider web in between two large trees in our backyard. I need to go take a photography class (and get a new digital camera) so I can share all these interesting occurances that take place in my back yard.

Anyway, let me know if the real Autumn comes your way. I would love to hear about it.

Speaking of birds.....ouch!

My son called me the night of the "bird convention" in our backyard. "Mom, there was a huge bang on the window and there is a bird laying on our steps to the back door. He is still alive. What should I do?" My advice was just to leave him alone and I would check on him when I got home. The bird we hope survived because when I got home he was gone and I didn't see him anywhere in the yard. He left behind seeds from our tree and several loose feathers. Later that evening I noticed a mark on our window. It is an exact outline of where the bird hit. You can see his wings, his sideways body, and an outline of his eyeball. Ouch! He hit really hard. I wish I could take a picture of the outline but it won't work with my digital camera. It is so funny how you can see exactly how that poor little birdy hit.

It reminded me of times when I have been walking fast on a mission or running and without any warning I hit a huge obstacle. One time I ran directly into a street sign pole. I was too busy talking and didn't see it in front of me. The other time I was running on the sidewalk and didn't notice that the sidewalk was out of line and I tripped and hit the ground full force. It is painful and extremely embarrassing.

If I figure out how to take a picture and post it for you , I will. It is such a good reminder for me to slow down and pay attention.

I think the convention is over!

A Bird Convention

I didn't get the memo that there is a bird convention going on in my backyard today. I could sit here for quite awhile watching them. I have seen black birds, humming birds, blue birds, cardinals, and various other colors of birds hanging out in my yard lately. I enjoy watching them but I suppose I should take some pictures or learn about the different kinds of birds. What if a very rare bird appears - I wouldn't have a clue. And then every once in a while one flies right into our windows - ouch - the loud thump makes me jump everytime.

They are so cute! I think it's time for me to get a pet.

Marathon Training

As of September 2nd I started training for the AT&T Marathon in February 2007. As of today I have started a training diary of the whole five month experience. I am anxious, a little scared, and excited about my new endeavor. I truly believe that anyone can accomplish their goals - nothing is impossible ( especially with Jesus Christ). I just hope my fourty- one year old body will cooperate with this new goal. I am just going to do my best!

The training group that I am in is awesome. Approximately 200-300 people of all shapes, sizes and ages. Some are training for the half marathon and others will walk the full marathon and the rest will run. The groups are based on how fast you comfortably run one mile. I am in the 9- 10:30 minute mile group. I ran with my group for the first time on Saturday and I felt very comfortable with the pace. I was about in the middle of the group. It should be very enjoyable and challenging.

No pain - No gain!

Too cute!

For those I love.......

Find Your Wings

by Mark Harris

(click above to listen to song)

It's only for a moment

that you are mine to hold

The plans that heaven has for you

will all too soon unfold

So many different prayers I'll pray

for all that you might do

But most of all I want to know

you're walking in the truth

And if I've never told you

I want you to know that

as I watch you grow

I pray that God will fill your heart with dreams

and that faith gives you the courage

to dare to do great things

I'm here for you whatever this life brings

so let my love give you roots

and help you find your wings

May passion be the wings that leads

you through your days

And may convictions keep you strong

guide you on your way

May there be many moments

that makes your life so sweet

Oh, but more than memories

I pray that God will fill your heart with dreams

and give you the courage

to dare to do great things

I'm here for you whatever this life brings

so let my love give you roots

and help you find your wings

It's not living if you don't reach for the sky

I'll have tears as you take off

But I'll cheer you as you fly

I pray that God will fill your heart with dreams

and give you the courage

to dare to do great things

I'm here for you whatever this life brings

so let my love give you roots

and help you find your wings.

An Angel to My Rescue!

On Friday I decided to take my mountain bike out to my favorite running spot. I was fighting the "not really sure what to do with myself lately" blues! I packed myself up and put my car keys and my ipod in my running pouch. I attached the pouch around my handle bars and took off on the winding trail. When I got to a bridge that attaches the trails I decided to stop and put on my ipod. I pulled it out of my pouch, strapped it on, and went on my merry way. As I was retracing my way on the path back to my van I noticed an elderly man coming towards me on his bike. He was holding his arm up and dangling some keys from his hand. I couldn't hear him because I was joyfully listening to John Mayer's Daughters song. After I passed him I stopped, took off my earphones ,and turned around. He had stopped as well and asked me if the keys he was holding were mine. I squinted to focus on them. Oh my goodness, they were my keys. I walked over and snatched them from him as I was thanking and blessing him.

What a very kind gesture. What an angel. The trail we were on spans approximately eight to ten miles. I am not really sure when my keys flew out of my pouch but I was so relieved the nice man took time out of his day to rescue me. So...... I was thinking..... I obviously need to pass it on or like the movie titled " Pay It Forward" starring Helen Hunt.

I hope you encounter an angel this week or, even better, have the opportunity to be one!

Laundry, anyone?

We never are lacking in laundry, are we? My older son K has this very annoying habit of leaving his wet towels on the floor after his shower, therefore he never reuses his towel.
How many times do I need to ask before he will break the habit?
The great thing right now is he takes his morning shower at school after football practice - it is really nice - and they do the laundry! I love it!

We went to K's highschool open house last night! Very impressive! It brought back fond memories of my highschool days. Although we didn't have things so great in our day. I am so excited for him - I pray the next four years are full of learning and great memories!

Laundry isn't so bad........ is it? Ugh!

Hope you have a bright,fresh, sparkling clean day!

No, today is not July 28th nor is it a Friday. I hope I didn't confuse you this morning or get your hopes up. It is in fact Monday!

Are you addicted to coffee? Basically coffee motivates me to get out of bed in the morning. I can't wait to have that first sip. I drink mine with fat free half and half. This month I am brewing Snickernut Cookie. It's okay. Definitely not my favorite flavors. I can't really taste the cinnamon. What is your favorite?

I drink about five cups each morning or three mugs full. I am wondering....... is all this coffee bad for me? I heard one study that some coffee is good for you, but five cups each day? What do you think? My coffee is the only caffeine I consume all day. I drink water the rest of the time.

Hope your coffee is steaming hot and delicious this wonderful Monday morning.

Have a great week! (School starts - yea!)

An Amazing City

Just returned from San Fran and Tahoe - Whoa - I am amazed at God's creation! I can't wait to go back!
Here we are on the "crooked street". The flowers are beautiful!

How many more days of summer?

Don't get me wrong - we have had an awesome summer! It has been crammed pack full of fun, adventure, sun, sand, water, friends ,laughter, and lots of excitement ........ i am exhausted!

Before I go any farther.... update....... Logan had a great time at camp. He loved it and wants to go back next year!

So.... Kevin and I have one more adventure and then I think I am ready for reality to kick in and to get back to a normal schedule. My workout schedule has gone to pot. My kids sleep schedule is to not sleep. I need some major "Me" time.

I am a little anxious about my children beginning middle school and high school but nonetheless... i am ready.....i think?

how many more days?

I miss him

My son L has been at Camp Peniel for five days. This is the first "real" camp he has been to where I haven't been able to talk to him on the phone or have any communication with him whatsoever.

What do I mean by "real"? You know, sleeping in a very primitive cabin, canoeing in the lake, riflery and horseback riding.

The camp takes pictures each day of the children doing various activities. Of all the 500 pictures taken this week he appears in 4 of them and they are all close-ups except for one of him swimming in the lake. It drives me crazy because I have no idea what he has done all week except swim in the lake!!! Ugh! And one of the pictures he has this really horrible look on his face! Why would anyone post that picture? We are supposed to see our children laughing and having fun at camp, right?

Kevin assures me that he is having the time of his life - not to worry.

Above is a picture of L & I on our family vacation at the beach! This is the kind of pictures I had hoped to see of him - my happy, comical, silly L!

Well, we pick him up tomorrow morning - I CAN"T WAIT!

Their Back

Our cute little deer family has been visiting quite a bit lately. Usually bright and early in the morning and sometimes at dusk they come to visit our neck of the woods. It is hard to get a picture because when I open the door of course their cute little ears perk up. As you can see in this picture they are very aware of me. I was only able to catch one of the babies here but there are two. The other night we actually had two different moms and three babies visiting. It is a special treat to my day........ i imagine after awhile it won't be that exciting to me... but I enjoy watching them now. Not sure if they can jump over our fence. I might not be as welcoming if they help themselves to breafast in our flower beds.

And the question that I still ask is.... where do deer live? I know in the woods, but where?

OUCH!

My husband and son were in an accident last Friday. An eighteen wheeler ran a red light outside of our subdivision. L and I happen to be right behind them and witnessed the whole thing. We actually saw the truck coming for them before they did. I was talking to my husband and I screamed when I saw it coming. Scary, huh?

God was protecting them because it hit in front as you can see and neither of them were injured.

Praise God!!!!!!

Extremly Eventful Weekend

My uneventful weekend changed drastically on Sunday. K had a 10:00 am game and a 4:00 pm game. His team ended up winning second place. K was disappointed. He is very competitive. I was very proud of him! He had an awesome month of baseball. Out of I think twenty five at bats he only got out two times and he had the most RBI's of his team. During his last game Kevin called to tell me that L's team won their third game of the day making them one of the top four teams out of 32 in the South State AAA USSSA Select Tournament. L's team has been together three years and this was by far the most successful tournament they have ever had. Because they won they would stay over into Monday to play in the final four.



I decided I needed to be there to see them play. A friend and I packed up and drove to Beaumont at 9:45 pm Sunday night and arrived in Beaumont at 3 am. The drive wasn't bad at all. After a few hours sleep we woke up, ate breakfast, and went to cheer on The Jammers in their first State Championship Game. Unfortunately they lost 8-4 to a Houston team but it was so worth the drive to be there! We drove home later.

We are so proud of The Jammers!

Uneventful Weekend

I shouldn't complain. I have been waiting patiently for one. And now that it is here..... ugh! I just can't stand to miss out on fun eventful weekends, but I am.

Kevin and L are away at our last baseball tournament of the season. K and I are home for his tournament. Unfortunately, we were awaken by a nice thunder storm with heavy rain this morning which would normally be wonderful except not on a baseball tournament weekend. We waited all day to find out that K's game was postponed until tomorrow. So basically we sat around the house all day. I did get alot accomplished but I felt like we were really missing out on the fun with Kevin and L.

We ended the day with a very nice shopping experience at Target. We lingered around the deoderant isle smelling Axe (that's good smelling stuff) . We had a nice conversation with the checkout boy about the fact that there must be subliminal messages unconsciously heard while shopping there to "buy, buy, buy". Am I the only one that spends way too much money in Target? We also visited Marble Slab and Hollywood Video. Came home, grilled chicken and in a few minutes I will be enjoying Tristan + Isolde and if I can stay awake Prime with Meryl Streep and Uma Thurman with a nice glass of Chardonnay. K decided after watching the soccer games recently he would rent a soccer video game- not sure how that is going.

The baby deer haven't come back for a visit yet.........I am waiting patiently.,,,, if they come to visit it would definitely be worth staying home this weekend. Of course, my quality time spent with my teenager is well worth it!

Hope you are having a wonderful weekend!

Fathers Day Weekend was Over the Fence!

Whew! Today is my first day of rest, well besides the fact that my house is somewhat unorganized and I have loads of laundry to finish and lots of other stuff to do.

One week ago I completed my fourth sprint triathlon. I was competing against myself again this year. I wanted to beat my time of 1 hour 44 minutes from last year. Drum roll.........................

My time this year was 1 hour and 38 minutes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My swim and bike were my best ever and I did better than last year on the run taking 6 big fat minutes off my time! Woo Hoo! I am very reluctant to post this picture (swim caps don't suit me well) but this is before the swim with my friend Mendy. This was her first triathlon and she definitely is a very tough cookie!

Anyway, back to this weekend. After a week at camp, I returned home on Friday to both boys baseball tournaments. K's ended up being cancelled because we had some really nice rain on Sat and Sun which was too much for the fields but L played. On Saturday I was late getting to his game. L's team was first to bat and he is the first batter. On a full count ( 3 balls and 2 strikes) he smacked one over the fence for his very first homerun!!! Another Woo Hoo! Of course I missed it because I was late which is quite a bummer, but very exciting none the less!

We finished off the weekend with an awesome steak and shrimp dinner grilled on our new Weber and a nice rest in Kevin's Fathers Day gift! Ahhhhhhhh!!!


Oh, I forgot..... as we were eating dinner we saw the absolutely cutest sight in our backyard. Two baby deer and their mom. The babies were playing in the greenbelt as their mom supervised. I didn't get my camera out in time, but I hope they come back for another visit.

The Lazy Days of Summer?

Hello Everyone - although I don't know who all is out there lately. I have been so swamped with end of school activities and training that I have neglected my blog. This week begins our summer which is so exciting to me although most of June will be unfortunately busy.

Our Memorial Weekend was quite nice. We finally broke down and purchased a pool table, which was unusually stressful for me, but I am good now. Of course, we have been pooling most of the time. I am raising young pool sharks.

We invited some friends over for dinner Sunday night. It was very nice, although I am still working on my hostessing skills. I tend to overdo when I entertain. I always prepare way too much food, which I guess is better than not enough. And I tend to fret too much about every little detail. I am trying to train myself to relax and enjoy, which I did most of the time. I think overall everyone had a good time and enjoyed themselves - I hope!!!!

This week, at least for a couple days, the boys and I will sleep late and be lazy. After that we will play baseball ( every weekend this month), celebrate K & L's birthdays, participate in VBS, attend baseball camp, K starts strength and conditioning camp which last for the first half of summer, Danskin is on the 11th, and on the 12th L & I leave for church camp in San Marcos for a week.

My definition of summer is sleeping in, laying around the pool drinking lemonade, and walking around barefoot in a tank top and shorts and doing absolutely nothing and having fun at the same time. Maybe in July?

What is your favorite thing about summer?

I am thankful God has given us so many wonderful opportunities this summer!
I hope yours is full of fun as well!