A bike ride ~

Daddy helping Alex learn how to ride Levi's tricycle:

Alex's intensity of learning how to ride Levi's tricycle:

Wahoo! Alex on his own!!!

Well, not really...but he sure is trying! What an adventurous boy.

Garden Update ~

Back in June I posted about Duncan's "mini-garden".

I wanted to post a quick pictorial update of the garden today:

The lettuce is doing okay, not great though.
The turnips (which I don't know why we planted them since none of us will eat them) are doing great!

The cucumbers are growing, just not very well:

















The pepper plants are doing well...the broccoli is not.

I will have to get a picture of my mom's garden. It is growing lush and green. She has my zucchini plants, which are doing GREAT!

Well, this year is the "experiment" year. And the summer isn't over yet, so we shall see.

A Gator Ride ~

Levi has been riding on the Gator and the Tractor and the Backhoe with Grandpa for several years now. A simple Gator ride with Mom is just not fun for him anymore.

Well, little Mr. Alex was all too excited to take one with his mommy:

Don't worry, we were parked when I took the picture & I was safely holding onto him while I was driving very slowly around the farm.

I try not to take it personally when Levi doesn't want to be with me...Grandpa and Grandma are more fun.

I just make him follow the rules & behave & eat dinner with the family.

Alex will soon enough be the same way, so I will take his sweet enjoyment of new things while I can.

In the 80s ~

Temperature, not the decade.

I LOVE it when it is warm and sunny...anything over 80 is good for me.

Sunday gave us another fantastic day. We had a ton of fun doing this...

And Alex had fun doing this:

We then ended the day doing this:

I'll take a few more days like this one.

A Birthday Party ~

My cousin Sally's son had his 6th birthday this weekend. They kids got to run around and play in the FANTASTIC warm weather.

Sally picked up a pool with a built in slide, which the boys loved:

They also go to play on the plane:

We had a wonderful BBQ & yummy carrot cake.
Happy 6th B-Day, Wyatt!

Trouble Maker in the Making ~

I'm pretty sure that these pictures tell the tale!

He is going to be trouble, I just know it:

The intense look of determination:

The look of anger when the coffee pot go pushed away...so close!

Good think he's cute!

Mail Call ~

My Sister-in-Law is AWESOME (well both my SIL's are awesome).
This post is specifically about Aubree.

She has patiently listened to me complain about hair bands slipping out of my hair while working out.
She too has the same problem.

So in the mail last night I was so excited to see a note from Aubree and this:

It's called a Sweaty Band, and can be purchased here.

I can't wait to try it out on my next run!

Thanks Sis! I love it!

Twilight Saga: Eclipse

This weekend sure was a busy one for the Tellers Household.
Saturday was a blur of activity - the race, lakefair, family visiting, soccer tourney, and a long awaited movie night with Tara and Sally.

What did we go see????

I had mixed feelings about going to see the 3rd installment of the Twilight movies. (Note, I have read all the books, so I do know what happens).
The 1st movie I saw before I read the books, it was a good movie, a bit frustrating, but good.
The 2nd movie I saw after I had read all the books - I still don't know about this movie. I had higher expectations I think. The people were very pasty (almost sickly looking), the hair was horrid, and honestly I don't think I could take anymore whining and brooding...ugh!

So, I was a little nervous about the 3rd movie. I have been told that it was more action filled, the cast looked better, and there was less moping about. So off I go to the movies.

Oh my goodness - the 3rd movie was WAY better than the 2nd. I don't want to ruin it for anyone, but the cast looked much and there was way more action.

I don't know about you but I would much rather go for this guy:

Instead of the cold, pasty white vampire!
Anyway, the movie was really good & it was nice to get a night out!

Coconut Banana Muffins ~

I love trying out new recipes - finding ones that I will continue to make for my family over and over again. I have yet to find a really good recipe for those poor bananas that we just don't get around to eating. So I googled "Banana Coconut Muffins" - I had coconut left over from the Rocky Road Fudge Browning (yum!) experiment.
I found this recipe:

COCONUT-BANANA MUFFINS

1 2/3 c. flour
1/4 c. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. nuts (optional)
1 1/3 c. (3 1/2 oz.) coconut
1/2 c. raisins (optional)
2 sm. bananas, chopped (1 1/3 c.)

1 egg
1/2 c. milk
1/4 c. brown sugar
5 tbsp. butter
1/4 tsp. cinnamon

Mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt; stir in coconut and (nuts and raisins). Mix in bananas.
Beat egg, milk, brown sugar, butter, and cinnamon in a separate bowl, then add to the flour mixture. Bake at 375 degrees approximately 25 minutes. Yield: 12 muffins.

They are so good!
I love how you can go from this:

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
To this:

Baking is such a wonderful thing!

Lakefair 8K 2010 ~

Every year my city has a little fair: Lakefair

In years past I have enjoyed Lakefair for it's food (really bad for you food)...mmmm elephant ear. We usually go one day during the week for lunch, then once on the weekend with the whole family.

Lakefair also is the time for our annual photo button, a tradition my husband and I (without thinking about it) started our 1st year of dating. This year we will get our 14th button. Here are the buttons from the last 3 years:

Lakefair also brings the soccer tournaments that bring our friends back into town, the volleyball tournaments that are hilarious to watch, the beer garden (which we will not be partaking in this year), the parade, and the fireworks....oh and the rides!

This year I am very proud to say that Lakefair this year marks a new tradition...the 8K!

I woke up at 5:30 and got ready for the race. As you can see, even with the early hour, I was really excited!

Now the last 8K was my 1st race and I ended in 46.24

I was determined to beat my time. I have been training all summer & working at speed and distance both.

My loving husband and Alex were there to see me finish...look I am actually smiling this time:

I must be doing something right, because I felt great coming into the finish line and finishing 43.44!!!

I had shaved 2.8 minutes off my last 8K time.

I can't wait until next year (and for the next race).

Just another day ~

I start my day out at around 5:30-5:45 each morning. I get up and shower, then get dressed. Then I wake up the beasts! From the moment they open their eyes, they are up for playing and rough housing. We don't have much time before we have to leave the house & head off to daycare, school, and work.

This morning the boys entertained themselves by flopping toys around the the gate and the banister of the stairs. Alex was squealing with joy! Levi was making his puppy play hide and seek:

After a very loooooonnnnnnnnggggggggg day at work I picked Levi up from school & dropped him off at Duncan's work. I then headed to the Y to work out.

When I got home the boys were still going strong, hubby had made dinner, and the toy room was a mess. The boys tend to leave toys all around the house. Alex leaves them flung randomly across the room. Levi tends to line everything up nicely (like they have been 'parked' in the barn). This toy has been nicely tucked in the corner of the upstairs loft area for a few weeks now:

His nicely aligned toys don't bother me as much as the pile Alex leaves behind!

Anyway - after bath, teeth brushing, an argument about book time, and finally two boys tucked nicely into bed, I finally get to crawl into bed and enjoy this:

  

Oh happy evening snack AND finally some reading time!

Good evening all, and a very good night.

Busy, Busy, Busy

Be warned that the following post will be at text post.
We have been really busy enjoying each other and the weather. The camera, bless it's little picture taking heart, sat on the counter for the whole glorious week.
We spent the last week enjoying the (finally) warm and sunny weather. Evan a few 90 degree days.

LOVE IT!!!

I can't tell you how happy I am to have the sunshine and warmth. To sit outside and bask in the nicety of summer. FINALLY!

So between basking in the sun, mowing the lawn, barbecuing, playing with the kiddos, and prepping for the Lakefair 8K, the week has flown by! Oh, and my lovely spouse was out of town for 3 of the days. Being a semi-single parent is not fun!

I also got to watch Up in the Air with George Clooney - a very good movie by the way. And I am currently sitting on my bed watching Leap Year with Amy Adams.

What a very good week...here is the hope and wish for another good week, and a good race on Saturday.

Space Saver ~

I should be the walking infomercial for the Space Saver Bag.
My family knows that I am CRAZY for this fabulous contraption.

I used the long weekend to do a little cleaning around the house.

With Alex's help:

We went from this:

 

To this:

With the help of this:

I just love it when I can clean up the clutter!

A long weekend ~

Happy Fourth Everyone ~
Our weather has been touchy this summer, one day it is nice the next it is not! What is up with that?
I have been saying that it is because I used all the good weather last summer when I was on maternity leave!!!
Anyway - on Friday we celebrated my mom's 58th birthday! Go Mom!
We had a BBQ at my Aunt's house, here is where I realized that we were surrounded by little ones! When the Sapp clan breeds, we sure do a good job of it.
There were my boys (2), Sally's son, my brother's girls (2), and Casey (Sally's brother)'s son. The little one's are starting to out number the adults! It's amazing how quickly a family expands.

Here I am with Alex and my niece Gavraila (9 weeks) and Gavvy's Sister Yael (17 months), Tyler (4 months), Wyatt (almost 6!), and Levi (5.5):

We had a great time on Friday, and we were looking forward to good weather on Saturday for more playing and the ever present lawn mowing.

Saturday delivered decent weather...I went to the gym (Levi took my picture!):

After the gym and a few errands, I came home & mowed the lawn, had a picnic, and played with the boys. Alex got to play in the sand box for the first time:

At the of the day I sat out on the back porch with my book and a Miller 64. Soaked up the last bit of sun and listened to the quiet.

Today (Sunday) is cold and gray...ick. At least it's not raining yet!!!

I hope you all have a safe & happy 4th!

New Favorite Author ~

Diana Gabaldon.
Sally turned me onto this new amazing series, "The Outlander" series. So far there are 7 books in the series. (I'm reading her website & fan sites, there is discussion of an 8th book).
These books are fantastic. Romance, history, science fiction all wrapped up in one novel.
I absolutely can not put them down.
Diana Gabaldon's Website

Here is the first book:

Thank you Sally for turning me onto a fabulous author!