photo dump - rich stuff.

i don't know if you have noticed on my blog, but i have an 8K coming up next weekend. i am certainly ill-prepared for this but i'm gonna do it anyway. the other day i did 5.15 miles on the treadmill to see how bad it would be and it was honestly ok - but doing it on the road is going to be harder. anywho...next saturday at midnight amy and i will be running that race. gulp!

also, baby boy apple is scheduled to arrive in mid-august!!! lottie sue and i will be hopping on a plane to chicago so we can be there to welcome him to the family! i am WAY excited.

my old stomping ground

lottie is very excited to get on a plane again, and she is WAY excited to see harlan and meet baby boy. it's gonna be a great trip!

also, a mention about pool toys. IF you have a pool or frequent one you MUST buy a toypedo.


there was one in our pool at the beach and it was by far the #1 pool toy. i am ordering the red, black and white one. TRUST ME. it's the best pool toy that ever existed.

ooookkkkaaayyy...this post is really just a bunch of photos that are random and have been on the camera the past month. this is no method to the madness of this post, just a lot of stuff thrown in together.

here we have "the mustache" rehearsing his lines for our deaton the odds video.

i love fake mustaches so much, they are too much fun

see? instant fun

these were taken in the middle of june, the apples came down for a weekend. here we have harlan and lottie sue enjoying pool time in the backyard. grandmother gave us this pool and it's pretty big. lottie sue received a slide for her birthday, put the two together and it equals hours of entertainment.

up the slide, down the slide and repeat Xs 100

that was a busy weekend, kitty kat was in town and we got to see her and jj!!! i was so happy! here we have kitty kat with jj and rowdy hanging out with morning coffee.

kitty kat and family - i miss you so very much (sniff sniff)

then that friday night we attended an engagement party for shawn and marty, the future mr. and mrs. mason. look! here i am with lindsay!

my wonderful montana friend

marty and matt (with one of his goofy smiles, hahahaha)

mrs. mason and lindsay

me, katie, shawn and lindsay

katie was pregnant at the party but not anymore, little hudson was born a few weeks ago. he is doing very well!

mommy and aunt to be

let's see...this photo is of lottie sue and rowdy up at the lake one morning.

breakfast time

lottie and bb get a closer look at each other with binoculars

one saturday morning a few weeks ago my cousin melinda and family were driving through on their way to chicago. we met up at the cracker barrel, it was so great to see them! lottie sue loved seeing claire and jane!

melinda and jane (holding a planking rowdy)

lottie sue and claire (aka, "my best friend cousin") play with bubbles

rocking chair time

rowdy and melinda

and now a few more random photos...after a GNO at tabby's one night i had the pleasure of meeting up with two of my favorite new yorkers - meghan and michael!

whee!

after dinner one night we took the kiddos out for ice cream. lottie sue made a MESS but was still super cute.

nom nom nom nom

we also spent the day at the lake with the smiths recently. since there is a pool we hardly swim in the lake anymore. we used to float around in the lake ALL the time before the pool and it was so much fun.

a smooch for megan

not sure if you can see it very well, but there was a group of geese that got a little too close for comfort.

meeeeegannnnn...we gonna get you.....

since the monday after the 4th of july was a work holiday, we went over to kingston to spend the afternoon with matt's parents.

rowdyman with one of the dolls grandma made

lottie sue and her "peoples"

our buddy

here are a few shots from the hipstamatic...

rowdy and cj, the morning we left for the beach

happy boy

princess lottie

and now a few items of interest for you...

• i love this blog - letters of note. it's a blog of correspondence deserving of a wider audience. i like this one today.
• random: jeff probst married jenna fischer and hubby.
• READ THIS TOMORROW and not right now!!! as variety notes, the new york times delivered a spoiler-filled story about mad men on monday. jerks! i haven't read this though...
• npr has a list of laugh-out-loud summer books - hahahahahaha!
• npr also has a summer-tv guide for you - lots of good programs on right now for your viewing pleasure.
• here's an article with elisabeth moss, a la peggy olson.
• an interesting article on living rooms from the times.

alrighty, i'm signing off now. enjoy your sunday!

check ya later!

chicken little is soooooo cute & croissants

Kat sent these photos out the other day of Chicken Little - how cute is he?!?!?! I can't wait to meet him, he'll be here in December!

oh boy!

I love Fall! I love Fall! The weather is so perfect right now and we have Thanksgiving around the corner followed by Christmas. I love this time of year! Look at what Lottie Sue drew (or I guess fingerprinted for you) for your enjoyment...

one day this will be worth millions

And I took this photo of Lottie Sue this morning, our artist chewing on a lint remover.

it looks like she's dressed for a flood

Changing the subject: Perfect for those warm holiday mornings, I give you the best croissants in the world by Williams Sonoma. I think Becce saw them on Oprah (the favorite things episode) a few years ago and she turned us on to them. They are not cheap, but are so very worth it. I suggest the mini croissants, buy a few lovely jams and good butter and you have a little piece of heaven. We have them on Christmas mornings and it's such a delight.

A few other notes of interest...

• Here's a Q&A with the curator of the punk-rock auction at Christie's.
• Here's an interview with Paul Rudd - he's one of my favorites...
• Lost returns on January 21st! I know that's a long time away but still...
• I HATE the Saved by Zero commercials. It seems like I'm not the only one. And it's not just that I hate the song, it's that it is on about 1,000 times a day on every channel. I can't escape it. Ugh.
  

I'm currently scanning in old photos from my grandparents, these are of my cousins Melinda and Michael. They look the same! Michael has a little girl Campbell (and a boy Russell) that looks just like him. EXACTLY! I'm posting a photo of her as well so you can see how much they look alike.

a cutie pie melinda rockin the pigtails

here is michael as a little boy...

and this is campbell (last christmas) - it's so neat how much they look alike

I also found this gem of Michelle and Matt from the 80s. Lookin GOOD!

they both look the same today

This photo is Tyler and Witne (my cousins as well), I'm not sure when this was taken but it's not that old. Isn't our family full of handsome people?

smiles and a bear hug, good stuff

This is the only photo I have of the game on Saturday. My battery was dead, I thought it was charged but no.

even though we lost, us girls looked cute at least

OK, I hope this is the beginning of a great week for everyone. Peace.

20 minutes faster, greetings from south africa & other items

OK, Melinda (my cousin) completed yet another triathlon last weekend. She shaved 20 minutes from the triathlon she did around the same time last year. 20 minutes! That goes to show was determination and commitment can do. Congrats Melinda!

20 minutes gone

My friend Endi is in South Africa, she's there through the International Senior Lawyer’s Project and will be teaching corporate law. She has a blog going on it and has photos up. Be sure to check it out, she is super busy but she's going to try to take tons of photos. I'm posting a few but you can go to her site to read about what she's doing and to see more photos.

endi kicking it in south africa

Could it be true? I read the other day that there might be a Veronica Mars movie, and while I would prefer the show to come back I will take what I can get. I miss V and Logan...

nancy drew has nothing on veronica

I just finished Special Topics in Calamity Physics enjoyed it very much. It is at times a little bit showy, and it took me a few chapters to get in to it - but once I was hooked I was HOOKED. One night I stayed up until 2am reading it and I never do that, I like my sleep. If anyone wants to borrow it let me know and I'll pass it along. The author created a pretty neat website to compliment the book as well.

a+ on the bookcover, thumbs up on the book

And don't fret, I have Lottie Sue info coming at you soon. She started Mother's Day Out this week and it went very well. She was happy both days with no crying or fussing, and her teachers said she got most excited over her string cheese snack each day. Today I went to pick her up and she was playing with a doll, it was super cute. She did a few crafts this week and I'll share those with you as well.

Everyone have a great weekend, over and out.

page 65 & we are bona fide FARMERS

OK, this will be the last time I talk about the chair. The issue of Natural Home that features our chair is on the newsstand right now. The article is titled "Reduce, Reuse, Rethink" and our chair is one a few projects featured. I ran out and bought every copy at our local Barnes & Noble. Our photos are in the photo gallery link online (before and after) but not in the body of the text. Go there if you are interested but you've seen them before on our blog so it won't be that exciting. With today being Earth Day and all, I'm feeling somewhat smart with this little project.

page 65

And in bigger news, let me show you our garden. We are now officially farmers! Matt did such an awesome job, it went in on Sunday and Lottie Sue and I have watered it for two straight days. All of the plants are so small and cute, it's going to fun watching them grow into mature adults. Again, feeling smart on Earth Day.

Here is the back of the car with some of the plants

And here is Lottie Sue in back of the car, she was very interested in the flowers

Let the work begin...

Matt worked his behind off - Best Husband Award!

And here is a shot of the finished product...

We are growing tomatoes (three different types), red peppers, cucumbers, onions, banana peppers, jalapeño peppers and squash

We also have a ton of herbs we're growing separately (chives, cilantro, oregano, thyme, mint, basil, lavender and a few others). We'll use them up no doubt, we're big fans of basil and cilantro.

Oh yeah, Lottie Sue watched/supervised Matt do the work. Here are a few shots.

You guessed it, playing peek-a-boo - as usual

She loves being outside

And here are a few random photos. Lottie Sue and I went to the park one lovely afternoon. I put her in the swing and it took her a while to warm up to it.

The obvious caption: Just a swangin'

And here are two photos of Lottie Sue in her stroller, chillin.

Green is my colour

And let me share a photo of my cousin Melinda here with her two girls, Claire and Jane. They live in South Carolina and both girls just had birthdays. Jane (on the left) just turned 10 and Claire turned 6 - um, how can this happen? Jane has been growing her hair out for Locks of Love and just had 13 inches cut off. Way to go Jane - what a great thing to do! And I hear she's sporting a very cute bob, Melinda is going to send photos and I'll post. Melinda is in training for her second triathlon - yes, you heard me right. She's a machine! Good luck!

Jane, Melinda and Claire after a snow this year

OK, signing off for now. Posting more soon!