Running without Pieces of Technology

This morning when I headed out for my 6-mile run, I realized my iPod was not charged.  My first thought was just to plug it in and wait until it got charged, but then the running purist voice in the back of my head said to go ahead without it.  When I run with my iPod, I tend to just be in a zone, but without the music blaring in my head, I actually had some clear thoughts and was more in tune to what was going on around me as I ran down the rural highway.  I saw a lone deer standing in the harvested corn field.  I saw a farm cat on the prowl.  Maybe I would have still noticed these things anyway, but it was just kind of good to feel more connected to the morning.    

Growing Boys

The boys in my house are growing like weeds!  We took Toby to the vet a couple of days ago and he is already 15 pounds.  

Ethan and Dylan seem to get taller by the day!  When I look at my friends' baby pictures, I can't believe these boys were once such tiny tots!

My Life in Pictures - Day 5 (Smell)

This is another photo from our June 2008 vacation to Kauai. Kauai in itself is a banquet for all the senses. This picture was taken at an outdoor restaurant that was converted from an old sugar plantation. It overlooks some beautiful fields and mountains and is surrounded with floral gardens. The people sitting at the table next to us gave each of the boys a fragrant flower lei - how nice of them! I am pretty sure the flowers were real plumerias. Whatever they were, they smelled so good!

This is when Dylan was two and still had his baby chubby cheeks!

My Life in Pictures - Day 4 (Taste)

Okay, this picture was actually taken by Goofy Hubby but I had to enter it because it is cool. The boys, Goofy Hubby, and I had taken a day hike up a hill called Sleeping Giant during our vacation to Kauai in June of 2008. It is named such because the hill looks like the profile of a giant man.

My little one, Dylan, would not hike very far (we knew that), but what we didn't expect was for him to only want to be carried by mommy. So yep, I hauled a 30 pound two-year-old up a 1,000 foot elevation climb for two miles and back down again. It was worth it though. When we got to the top, we could see all over the island and to the sea - it was beautiful.

In this picture, we are snacking on some trail mix and water. Let me tell you, trail mix and water have never tasted so good! You can't see it very well, but the bench under our butts says "Respect" - a gentle reminder to respect nature and pack out any garbage you take there.

My Life in Pictures - Day 3 (Touch)

I feel like I have written about Ethan more than Dylan, but I will even it up soon.  Ethan gets fixated on certain types of objects and has to collect them and take pictures of them everywhere he goes.  His longest obsession was with bugs and cicada shells, but he has been obsessed with nutcrackers, fishing bobbers, American presidents, garden gnomes, seashells, robots, and Buddhas.  On our vacation this summer, we had to take a picture of Buddhas at Disney World wherever we saw one.  This is Ethan rubbing Buddha's belly at one of our many Buddha sightings.

My Life in Pictures - Day 1 (Sight)

My friend Amber is hosting session three of My Life in Pictures, a photo contest.  I really wanted to do the first session and actually took pictures for the second session but didn't get them on a blog.  This session, I am determined to finish :)  This one is the five senses, the first day beginning with sight.  I chose this picture of my seven-year-old son Ethan.  He has been wearing glasses since he was three to correct a lazy eye.  He picked out this pair of glasses all by himself with no coaxing a couple of weeks ago and it really shows is unique style.  

The other angle of this photo is just something else that is cool about Ethan besides his glasses.  Ethan has true vision, not just to SEE things, but to NOTICE things.  He is always noticing some sort of tiny, camouflaged bug, lizard, or snail, even in places where there are a hundred things going on.  

Some Lovely November - Kayaking and Canoeing???

My parents are funny.  Since they have both retired and recently moved to a lake house, they are becoming funnier and more quirky.  They love buying toys and gadgets now.  Their most recent purchases were a kayak and a canoe.  We decided to take them out for a spin this past Sunday.  It was a beautiful day for it and nobody fell in the lake, so that is a good thing.  

Too Big for My Skin

I saw this on another blog and just had to post it here.  Such a wonderful message - I wish all women believed this about themselves.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSo2lL_WSgs