View from the Top

It's starting to feel like Fall.... at least in the evening and early morning. The sunflowers are seeing their last days; their heads taking their final rotations along with the sun. The birds have striped them from their seeds and many of the the petals have dropped.  The days are shorter. I'm enjoying my garden and harvesting while I can. These next couple of weeks are going to peel off the calender rapidly. I like to take pictures of my yard every year just to see how the trees have developed (and what I have changed landscape-wise) around my house. So, here is a view from the top........ of my roof  ;)

 

Those were taken last week when the daytime temperatures were still getting into the 90's..... since then we've had I think several inches of rain.
The other day I noticed a familiar, annoying sight. The leaves and some stems missing from many of my tomato plants. I looked around, knowing of course what to look for. I just didn't expect to find a tomato worm in this color:

Usually they are green....... at least that's what I was looking for! Although with this black color it made it easier to hunt down and destroy. lol

Ewwww, this is one creepy crawly I don't mind grabbing by the horn and flinging.......

I've had to deal with many annoying pests this year, including skunks, rabbits, gophers, and deer. But, who can blame them when there is a delicious vegetable garden so close by.
At least we haven't had raccoon! (yet)........

......and more Cuddles :)

This is an example of Diego and Zeek's almost daily interaction with one another. They had this ritual of playing, licking, scratching eachother's ears, and then cuddling...... so freakin' adorable! They really are great friends:

 

 

 

 

Can you feel the love tonight? 

 

 

Cuddles

The other day I walked into the living room to this:

 

I made me smile and then I ran to get my camera. I was lucky to catch their cuddle moment........ lol 

 

 

Then Diego got himself into the mix and they started to play.......


 

It's such a silly farm around here!



Return to Black Mountain

I light of Ava being in school I'm going to try and be more aggressive with getting into shape. Especially with cold weather coming around the corner. I haven't made time or maybe I've been lazy to take time to work out the last few months. That's going to change! I had this revelation when I stepped on the scale a couple of weeks ago. I felt like Garfield the cat (on the scale) looking down at the climbing numbers and wanted to shout "LIAR!"
I'm going to challenge myself and re-evaluate my wellness program. I would be more motivated if someone joined me. It's hard to get people's schedules in sync sometimes. It's hard too because usually I have to wing it on a day-by-day basis; especially when I'm busy with massage appointments. I had to remind myself that little steps add up. If I have a window of opportunity, I need to just do it! Haha. My wellness routine right now includes bike riding, walking, hiking, pilates, and yoga. Zeek also gives me an excuse to get out and move; he looks up at me with his stare ~ like he's asking "when are we going for a walk?"
Tuesday is the more consistant day. I take the preschoolers over to EskDale and then I can go for a walk with Zeek around the hills. Here are a few photos I took with my Itouch on Black Mountain.

Hiking up there again brought a flood of childhood memories. We spent so much time here when we were kids.................

 

Surely you can tell by now that I like to tweak my photos.........

 

A little bird was unaware of our presence and came in for a landing. Then it flew off quickly.

Wish me luck with taking the step to taking more steps! 
:)

Now, if only I could get a massage  ;)

Alexander Cal Lamb

The newest little Lamb has arrived! We are all ecstatic that Alex made his appearance into the world on the 4th! I can't wait to see and hold him! So precious!!!!!

Precious moment with Daddy

Alexander Cal Lamb

 

C.O.N.G.R.A.T.U.L.A.T.I.O.N.S
Aaron & Rachel and Family!

XOXO

Alpine Lakes Loop Trail

This is the time of year that we try and manage our time wisely. Since school has started we are kinda living for the weekends now. Soon, a couple of those weekends will be taken by firewood duty. I'm thinking we'll be doing that the beginning of October. So we have a couple of weekends to play :)
Last Saturday Ava and I joined Janille, and her kids ~along with Hector and Breanna on the Alpine Lakes Loop Trail. It's so much more fun to hike with a group of people. Having a conversation while hiking is a wonderful distraction from the pain of lactic acid pumping through your tissues..... lol
Hector and Alyshia were a positive distraction for Ava. After the first half hour she forgot about the "work" she was doing.

 

 

 

Stella Lake

After eating lunch by Stella Lake, we continued over to the next one: Teresa Lake:

 

Teresa Lake

That was a pretty fast 3 miles; especially with a 5 year old. Ava was piggy-backed by Hector once; but did most of the trail herself. Gotta get her conditioned for the wheel-a-thon on the 11th! Haha

I need to get back into shape myself! What the hell happened the last few months? lol
*sigh*

School Picture Day

School picture day seemed early this year. Most of the kids did really great for their professional photos. Then, there was Isaac. Tired, cranky, woke-up-on-the-wrong-side-of-the-bed Isaac. lol
Emma got him to smile once. But, apparently he decided that morning that he was not going to crack a smile at a camera.......
So, I guess I'll see what photos I paid for soon..... Haha. I'll try to remember to share them with you when they arrive via pony express. So, here is what I took of picture day 2012:

 

 

Nomi entertaining the kids :)

 

 

What a great looking crop of kids!