Mom's turn: On the road again...

We drove from Baton Rouge, LA to Crested Butte, CO in just two days for a wonderful family ski vacation and have had tons of giggles along the way! First of all – I’m privileged enough to have my own chauffeur!Okay…so it’s my DD and it didn’t last very long; the rest of the 1288 miles were driven by my other chauffeur – my HH. And what long drive would be complete without an audio car book from Cracker Barrel? For this one we chose John Grisham’s latest novel, The Appeal. Of course we had to have our morning Starbucks two mornings in a row…how could we wake up with a smile without that!

Karson & Christina enjoying their "white mocha frappaccinos"

And then there is the Braum’s ice-cream we stopped for in Texas…peppermint ice-cream Sunday with marshmallow topping, almonds and whip cream – oh how I miss Braum’s! Louisiana only has Baskin Robbins…and NO, ice-cream is not ice-cream.

We also enjoyed some very interesting sites along the way.

a beautiful mountain pass

We stopped at Capulin Volcano National Parkto hike down the cone of the volcano

Kyle, Kole, Christina, Karson, & Kristian - the CREW!

and throw snowballs at each other. Snow, snow, and more snow! We’ve been to Crested Butte five times and have never seen the amount of snow on the ground that is here this time.And a bunch of wildlife: antelope, Sandhil Crane, elk, and mountain goats,

look closely...there are several in the picture

and a miriad of hawks, prarrie dogs, and various mountain birds. We finally made it to the condo and the boys have no idea what to think of the snow. Off to bed so we can enjoy all tomorrow has to offer. We got here a day early and I can’t wait to put it to use exploring all of the shops in town.

Mom's turn: Just Whistle While You Work...

Okay - well this is Christina's TENTH soccer season, and even though I can't believe it's gone by so quickly, I love watching her grow into such a wonderful young lady! Last year she took the referee class and passed the test. So now when she's not playing a game, she's ref'ing one. We live for soccer over here, because in the South it's pretty much played year round!!!

click on the "play" button below to see her in action:

Samson looks forward to her working games, too - that's when he gets to take long walks all around the soccer complex! Tonight we were trying to avoid the "lakes" left by the previous night's deluge...well, I was trying to avoid them. Samson thinks he's part retriever so he actually aims straight for a puddle!!!!

My OTHER baby's idea of fun - click the "play" button to see:

Mom's turn: Little Leprechauns

Yesterday the babies got a new hair cut…just in time to be stylish for St. Patrick’s Day and our vacation! Lucky little fellows :-D

Fetishes...NOT what you're thinking.

My friend Brenna introduced me to Zuni fetishes. (stone animals orginally carved by Navajo Native Americans)
She has a collection of them. I loved them so much I decided to start my own collection!
I have been collecting them for about 3 ½ years now. My collection has now grown to 7.
The first one I got in Colorado is a dolphin; one side has a black opal in it. It is also still my favorite. I am hoping to get another one on our next Colorado vacation which is in less than a week!!

Hear are some of the animals I have and their meanings:

Bear- Bear is the guardian fetish of the West. Bear represents strength and self-knowledge. He is a spiritual guide and also carries within him supernatural powers. Bear is a powerful healing fetish. White bear is the most powerful medicine bear.

Beaver-Beaver is industrious and diligent. He represents achievement and hard work. Beaver promotes family unity.

Coyote-Coyote is the master trickster who often tricks himself. He represents humor and the ability to laugh at one's own mistakes.

Dolphin-Dolphin represents the spirit of trust and friendship. He is very loyal.

Horse -Horse represents partnerships and strength. He also represents power and expanding one's abilities. Horse has innate healing powers.



I also have an elephant, but it is not a true fetish. To be a true fetish it has to be a certain size and has to be a North American animal. I would really like a dragonfly! There are a lot of those that are really pretty!

Mom's turn: Running with the Kenyans

…okay, well maybe with them isn’t quite an accurate declaration. More like just in the same race as they are in would be a better statement!! The Kenyans usually run, uh WIN, the CCC; it’s used as an international qualifier for many other events. My family and I are running for our health – that’s a funny concept because since I’ve been running I’ve had more injuries trying to get “healthy” than when I was content to be a couch potato and sleep in on weekends!!

SOOOO – with all of my new found injuries, I have discovered quite a bit about the running mechanics of shoes.

More bars in more places...a new way to communicate

(Teeny's, mine, Travis')

It amazes me that the Kenyans can run barefoot through the desert and I have to log mileage on my shoes to be sure that I replace them in time and avoid more injuries!! For people who are prone to injuries it is recommended that you replace your shoes every 300 miles.

Nothing's better than the smell of new shoes!!!

(mine, Teeny's, Travis')

Also, you should alternate shoes on consecutive running days; in other words always have two pair by the treadmill.

the "alternate" pairs

(mine & Travis')

I put so much energy into the thought process of my training you would think I was a champion of some sort instead of the over one-hour 10k seeded runner that I am!!

the retired pairs, used only for walking or hiking (or in Teeny's case - thrown away all together so the smell would stop infiltrating the rest of the house!!!!)

Travis', Teeny's & , mine

For my foot and knee issues – the shoes that I need are the Asics GEL-Nimbus; they provide more cushion and enhance the foot’s natural gait, in turn helping my knee track better. Along with my fancy shoes I wear a knee brace while I run.

Teeny’s are the MIZUNO Wave Inspire to help control her over-pronation problems…which aggravates the shin muscle and makes her more likely to get shin splints and twist her ankles. Definitely NOT what we need since she has already suffered a broken ankle this soccer season! So along with her super shoes she wears an ankle brace while she runs.

Travis started with extra control shoes because he has flat feet and had issues with plantar fascitis, but after cortisone injections and foot binding he has improved and moved up to the MIZUNO Wave Inspire like Teeny. He doesn’t get to run with any funny looking stuff like me and Teeny…hmmm, somehow that doesn’t seem fair!

a shmorgesborg of foot oder

So, looking stylish with all of our nerdy running gear, we have a race tomorrow and the weather is supposed to be freezing and raining - oh boy!!!!!!!! Whose idea was this running stuff anyway?? I'm not even sure Travis will be able to run because he pulled his Achill's tendon on Wednesday's training run (nothing but ice for him). We are on the Tyler-Possa team with my friend and the race is the Komen's run for the Cure (to benefit cancer research); I believe in torturing myself for a purpose! It helps remind me that I'm strong and able bodied and that life is great in spite of all of my injuries! And with that in mind, hopefully I can make a difference for those who are not quite as fortunate.

Samson says, "where are mine...I'm ready to run!"

Mom's turn: He's at it again!

Hmmm…what is he up to now??? My HH decided he wanted to dig up the outside water line and replace the pipes because they are rusting. He figures now would be a better time than later after we lay the deck! I suppose he’s right…one more project; that’s exactly what we needed right now!

nothing like having a 20' trench in the middle of your yard - hope it doesn't rain!

When he laid the new pipes down he split the end so that they will feed both garden beds with one on a timer and the other split for a freestanding faucet. That will be nice with our vacationing schedule. He also added a faucet by the house and moved the cut-off valve that was buried up above ground so it’s actually functional now. Now when those rare Southern freezes happen we can cut the water off and have no fear of bursting pipes!
After several trips to Home Depot to get “just the right piece”…the finished project looks wonderful!We got FOUR faucets in practical places and a safer system instead of one in the middle of the yard…he’s such a great handy man! YEAH for a weekend project well done!!

WOW - no trench...didn't think that would happen that fast! and no more rusty pipes with potential leaks lingering in them to worry about!

Pippi impersonator

Mom wasn't mad because I used computer skills to color the photo too ^.~

Pippi Longstockings is a character made up by a Swedish lady named Astrid Lindgren! I thought this was really cool because I am 25% Swedish!

Pippi’s dad is a pirate so Pippi is always home alone with her monkey, Mr. Nelson, getting into trouble. Her red hair is bound into two braids so tight that they stick straight out of her head! “She is very unconventional, assertive, rich and extraordinarily strong, being able to lift her horse one-handed without difficulty.” She also frequently mouths off to adults especially stuck up and rude ones. Pippi claims her full name is Pilotta Delicatessa Windowshade Mackrelmint Efraim's Daughter. Pippi’s two best friends are Tommy and Annika. Tommy and Annika accompany Pippi on many adventures in all 10 books. Another thing about Pippi is her strength. Her strength has been described many ways some of these are:

• "The Strongest Girl in the World"
• "She is so strong you won't believe it!"
• In one of the books, she is described as having "The Strength Of Ten Policemen"
• On a VHS video cover she is described as "The Girl With The Strength Of Superman"
  

I decided to play Pippi the other day while I was suppose to be doing school. ^.^
Although I didn’t put my hair in braids I put them it in pigtails using pencils to hold them out straight. That's doing schoolwork...RIGHT?!?!?!?!

Mom's turn: The perfect tree...AGAIN?

One particularly lovely tradition that we started a few years ago is to recycle our Christmas tree into a yard ornament for the birds. My hubby digs a hole and gets it out for us and my DD and I make all sorts of bird treat ornaments for the tree.

Stringing the garland

a pinecone covered in peanut butter and then rolled in fruitflavored bird food

some leftover bird treats we had in the pantry

Can't forget the tree-topper...an apple core. Birds love fresh fruit

Then for the next several months we get to watch the different wild life visit the yard and try to get pictures. Hmmm…I can see we need to try harder!

who's the photographer anyway?!?!?!?!

HEY - maybe she could use lessons...what a great Mother's Day present *hint hint*

For some reason the birds aren't sticking around much this year. AH HA! I found the culprit...he lays on the porch and waits for them to land before chasing them out of his yard!

That's a very inocent look you have there, Samson!