Moms On The Run

I just registered for the St. Luke's Women's Fitness and Wellness Celebration 5K. It's held on September 20th. I'm the captain of the "Moms On The Run" team. =0) I've never ran in an official race before, but I'm going to run in the timed wave so we'll see how I do. I have 6 weeks to get myself up and ready. Whew, wish me luck!

Like My Background?... I LOVE IT!

I'm very excited about this background.. it's actually cute! I've been trying for a while to either format my own layout or find one that wouldn't lose all of my links, pictures, etc. Tadah!!! Here it is. I think it satisfies my cutesy side and is still masculine enough for daddy and the boys. Wahoo!

I apologize for being so behind on our blog. We lost our camera for over a month-- that was the main culprit. And most of my computer time is specnt on balancing the checkbook and being the accountant (yikes!) for Bug Boyz. Thank heavens for QuikBooks, but it's still time consuming and stressful. ~Anyways... I'm going to try to get back into the rhythm of blogging frequently. 

Second Wind~

BUG BOYZ: 

Our company has been doing well. It has been a lot of WORK: lots of homework (researching the market, our competitors, the pesticides, etc), footwork (door to door sales), backwork(servicing homes and running the office), brainwork (I leave as much of that to Casey as I can.. I feel like my head is about to short circuit sometimes), re-work (adjusting our service and practices to be more market and time friendly) and latework (long, late hours). It's paying off, though. It's gratifying to get checks in the mail with our company's name on the "pay to the order of" line! We've had to work harder and longer hours than we ever did with summer sales but we get a year round return and that's entirely worth it. My boys have been real troopers through all of this. Kade's a big outdoors fan and I've really made an effort to get out on walks and go tot he "park" (a big grassy area across from our house), but some days we're trapped inside due to the Bug Boyz Office to-do list.  Those days seem extra long because the boys  don't get worn out from running and playing as much. That makes it harder around bedtime. On those days, he's helped Ethan be entertained, too. Kade is such a good boy!

--Today has been one of those accounting days. Over the past few hours, Kade  has been peeking into the office every ten minutes or so to check up on me and say, "hi." Earlier, He was watching me reconcile our records and noticed that I was making circles by the entries I needed to check on. He surprised me when he called out "circles!" and pointed to my paper. We pulled out some paper for him and he made circles a the desk beside me. I thought that was so cute! ~~Right now, Kade's asleep under my office chair! He's my little buddy. :)

Baumgartner's Campground:

Casey and I decided before the summer started that we'd need a break 2/3 of the way through the sales season. We were right! We spent four days camping in Sawtooth National Forest in Idaho. It was only 2 1/4 hour drive for us to get there, and it was a blast! Casey's family traditionally come here every summer. It's a great camp site for families-- the river and hot springs are hot ticket items. Kade liked swimming in the river and was actually the first one in! (he certainly didn't get that bravery from me!)You should be shocked to know that I did jump in and swim the river with Casey, Hodaka and Emily... fully submersed and all! It was cold, but a ton of fun! Our boys did great. Kade was in outdoor heaven and Ethan liked playing in the pak-n-play with his younger cousin, Olivia. Casey enjoyed fishing the river in the early morning ours, and I enjoyed sleeping in with the boys. Perhaps the only downside to our vacation was waking up the first morning to our air mattress half deflated. We didn't sleep very well the next night. Our bodies were so sore from the rocky earth. Luckily, Angie was able to lend us one of their mattresses the last night since they had to go home a night early. THANK YOU!!! Another one of their mattresses died like ours, but it made a great raft on the river! Emily and I enjoyed chicken fighting in the middle of the swimming hole, and our husbands delighted in rocking us off! Casey and Hodaka even took the raft upstream  and rode it over two rapids! Casey got knocked off the second round, but was able to get back on and float the river down to our campsite. --It was so great to be business free for a weekend!

Friday morning, the entire family took a hike together. Half way through, Kade decided to be the leader and  skirted past everyone to the lead right behind Grammi. :)

This is my favorite picture from the weekend! --Kade playing in the "jungle" grass. You wouldn't believe how dirty this kid gets when he's camping!

 

These four hung out together the entire time! (left to right: Kade 2 1/2, Elli 4 1/2, Kenidi 3 1/2, and Elise 4 1/2)

The last morning, while we were packing up, Ethan played in a box because the pak-n-play was already put away.

If Casey and I ever had a cabin, this would be it!

ETHAN:

Ethan's growing up into a cute little man! He's almost 10 months old now.

Ethan loves dinner time!

The other day, I found Ethan under the table in our living room... I think someone is almost ready to crawl!

Yep... so very close!

TURTLE... TURTLE!!

Two weeks ago, I saw this turtle strolling down our street. So, we adopted it. It's name is Zatarra (for any Count of Monte Cristo fans... "it means driftwood.") He's a yellow bellied slider. It amazes me at what kinds of pets we have had. Piranhas, now a turtle.... What's next?! :)