Getting Closer

Some housekeeping is in order ...

First, school has begun. In fact we're now in our second month of it and second grade is going smoothly. N is very excited about going and isn't moody or putting up a fight. Holding steady at 4 teeth gone and two doing the wiggle dance. He's grew at least 4 inches over the summer. None of his pants fit from last year (above the ankle now), same with the long sleeve shirts (about 3 inches above the wrist).

G thinks it isn't fair that she cannot go, even though she has a Hello Kitty backpack and notebooks and markers and pencils. She cannot wait! We'll see how that goes in a couple years when it's really time for her. Who am I kidding, she's probably going to love it. Curly Girl has also shot up 4 or so inches. She too will get a complete new wardrobe for fall/winter.

I have Chaired the yearbook committee for the PTA and within the second week was threatened by a parent that this year better not be a book about my kids and their friends. I have started to run and gave that up. I'm not a runner. So cycling it is. Now I've got to get a bike, I've picked one out and am saving to make that purchase.

Big D is now spending part of his workweek looking for work and developing his homemaking skills. He has gotten his Missouri Hunter Safety License and is now an official hunter. Bought a gun and hunting clothes (I don't know the 'official' term for the clothing hunters wear) and shotgun shells. Now itching to go 'population control' with Big B.

That's it for now, check back soon for more Summers family fun!!

How do you like it?

So?

How do you like it?

Please, tell me. One of the features I need to look at are the comments. So? Please send in a comment. I do like hearing from visitors. Then I know someone is really reading (at least  looking at 1BK). I won't comment back if you don't want me to. I promise. Really.

I still need have a couple items to fix, like the header and photo size. For some reason I cannot get my head around those. Any suggestions are welcome. Really.

what i've learned while learning to jog, part four

so ... i've wrote this three times and this is what i've got ...

what i've learned is that i'm not a runner. i don't like to run, it's uncomfortable to run and i'm not any good at it. even after some practice - not good. so i'm gonna go to plan b ... i'm going to take up cycling. more to come on that.

here we are at tattoo tuesday and another look at big d's half sleeve. so if you're squeamish about needles, then ... don't look at the below pictures. because they contain images of big d with jessie going at it with a needle! arggg!

original artwork for big d's arm

if you don't like needles you can check out the stuff on jessie's walls. it'll be over soon! it only hurts for a minute. hee hee hee, not really it hurts the entire time, but it's a good hurt! it's fun to feel.

a little free hand

aahh, going at it

really getting in there (digging in)

all i can do is smile. i'm a bit sadistic, i enjoy it and i really enjoy it when it's someone else. (my turn is coming i won't be smiling then)

randomness from the heat

what i've learned while learning to run, part three ...

taking time off isn't a good idea. remember running is a mental thing? well, when you take time off you're breaking the pattern. remember i'm trying to establish a habit here? no going so well when i take a week (or two) off of establishing this habit of running. i've ran for two weeks and i've taken two weeks off - what am i thinking? not much evidently! i never said this was going to be easy. and i certainly never said i was going to be good at it. what i thought was i couldn't just wait around for something to happen. if i don't get to making things happen then stuff doesn't happen! so, i'm starting over and going to make things happen. good luck to me.
i'm soooo gonna need it.

little drummer girl ...

me thinks she's take'n after big d!

i have to share with you a conversation g and i had last night as she was finishing her power shower hour.

g is out of the shower and drying off, she asks me to smell her hair.

me: your hair smells like coconuts, i want to eat you up
g: no mommy! i have blood and bones in me. that would taste really bad.
me: uhhmm (long pause) o.k.
g: smell my pits!!
me: ahh (a longer pause. i'm not sure it that's a good idea. and where did she come up with that?)
g: mommy. smell. my. pits.
me: i lean in and i take a long deep whiff
g: they smell like strawberries!!
me: ok
g: daddy's pits smell like cookies.
    and n's pits smell like apple juice.
    and your pits smell like strawberries too!
me: yeah! i have strawberry smell'n pits! and daddy has cookie pits - that's funny!

she's now giggling and not so mad that i got her out of her power shower hour. so she's moving on.

later, while she was having strawberries before bed, i asked her if she told daddy about his pits. she said no and that they now smell nasty. but hers still like strawberries. g says that her mema told her that she's going to turn into a strawberry because she eats so many of them. maybe g thinks the change is starting.

this my friends is a glimpse into the strawberry scented world of a 3.5 yr old curly girl.

a couple weeks ago the family celebrated gpa m's 85th birthday. what a feat! 85 years of life spent farming and with family. i can only imagine the events he's lived through and places he has seen. cheers to you, gpa m, for several more years!

a scene from set-up

my brother and his wife

here we have n (lower left corner), w (on top) then toothless n and curly girl g

next up is e and a blurry uncle big j

this one seems to have a taste for the sweeter things in life ... strawberries

this is for aunt e ... uncle s, cousin s and aunt e (missing cousin's s and s)

this is the aunt's and uncle ... aunt e, (my) mom, uncle bj and aunt g with gpa m chill'n in the chair

second generation, the grandchildren (minus 3) i'm not going to name everyone just know we're all family

this, my friends, is the third generation ... the great-grandchildren!

we spent time in the club house at Gen. John J Pershing State Park here in Missouri. who by the way is also a family member. if you are interested in war hero's and there lives, you must visit his boyhood home in Laclede Missouri and check out the state park named in his honor. good times.

while celebrating 85 years i got to spend time with my cousins, this too was a welcome time for me. i haven't really got to sit down and talk for a long time. we got re-acquainted with conversations of our own children and our grow'n up(s). it was a very nice time. i got to share the recipe for Dusty Miller's and excite a few cousins at the same time. one cousin has even taken to the blog-a-sphere for herself ... midwestmeanderings-tonia i'm excited for her and interested in what she has to say. please stop by and check her out.

what i've learned while learning to jog, part two

i raise my shoulders while running. what does this mean? to me it means i need to relax and lower my shoulders - get them out of my ears.

i also have considerable 'torque'. meaning my shoulders and hips twist. this means that as i run i swing and cross my hands/arms in front of me causing my shoulders and upper body to twist. how do i remedy this? by not crossing my body with my arms! instead of crossing in front of myself i drop my shoulders and swing my arms (bent at the elbow) at my sides. i haven't figured out if i should be elbow out or closer to the body. i'm guessing it's whatever is comfortable. for me that would be in the closer position.

lastly, that getting your foot to land gently (quietly) on the ground is work. i really have to think this one with every step i take. i'm not a pretty runner i twist, my shoulders are in my ears, i have trouble breathing from the diaphragm and i land a foot as it does - loudly. a couple weeks ago i read something while researching the minimal running movement that you want to place your foot down without sound. no plodding! no sharp movements, gentle flowing movements. so i started concentrating on this and it's amazing how much faster i'm moving. i seem to glide. how less ache my knees feel. how pretty i feel like i look. not sure about that really. i run in the morning (it's dark) and no one is watching me (at least i don't think so).

so there you have it. what i've learned.