Oregon

This weekend I am in Oregon with the two girls house/cat sitting for mother in law who is Portland visiting her sick brother. We are in Wallowa, my husbands home town. Yesterday we packed a lunch and went to the Lake for the afternoon. Its really beautiful there and the weather is just perfect here at the moment. We had such a nice afternoon that we are about to go a do the same thing again today. My mother in law has a really lovely old house that my husband grew up in. Its really special to him. We would love to live back here but work keeps us where we are for now. Anyway, here are some pictures.

Yes, thats it on my banner too. That picture was taken after winter, hence the snow capped mountains. We drove around the park which is gorgeous and saw these guys at the RV park. Imagine heading out in the morning and finding them at the bottom of the stairs

Every morning we get to watch the squirrels at the feeder in the big tree in the front yard. Then when we went out for walk this morning we disturbed about 1000 crickets as we walked across the lawn. We just don't see this stuff much back home. All the wildlife meant there is lots of crashing around and footsteps outside at night which is not a good thing when you've been reading this

Yes, I'm an idiot. Bringing a really scary ghost story to a weekend away in a big old creaky house with just two little girls to protect me was not a good idea. But, what can I say, I love good ghost story.

Tomorrow we head home and if I'm really brave I'll stop and take a picture of the huge canyon we drive past on the way out of town.

I take it back

No weight loss will be happening this weekend as a package of chocolate and magazines arrived today from my sister in Australia. I will be be busy stuffing my face and reading gossip for the rest of the weekend. Bliss!

A Plan

This week I started a big weight loss plan. Well, not so big just cutting back on the crappy food and doing a bit of exercise. 10 year old has been doing crossing guard duty at school and arrives at school earlier and leaves later than 8 year old so I have been walking her to and from school each day. Just adding this tiny bit of exercise has made a difference to how I feel. Its a really good incentive to work a bit harder and do a bit more. I'll keep you posted on my progress. I hope to go to Australia at the start of next year so I really want to get in shape before taking another long flight. I really can't face being squished in a plane seat for 16 hours not to mention the running around airports while I'm this out of shape (nice way of saying fat).

I now have a new fence around the backyard. It was put up in a day and half. Good work boys. The weather has been really warm and sunny but the tree is showing signs of Autumn. Its leaves are turning golden and falling off. Here we can see the fence, the evidence of sunny weather (see Simon soaking it up) and the fallen leaves.

He lay out there for ages and I didn't have to watch him because he is now secure behind the fence!

Decorating

I love decorating for Autumn and then Halloween. Today I bought this cute candle from Bath and Body Works. Pumpkin Spice scent of course. I still have the container from last years Bath and Body Works Pumpkin candle which sits by my kitchen window year round. So I get a candle and a nice long lasting decoration.


I still haven't done much decorating. Just this on this on the door

and my dining table centre piece. Hmm that's a bit blurry. Oh well, you get the idea. That will stay until I change it for Christmas.

Anyway, my back fence has been started. Hopefully in a few days I'll have a picture of it finished. So far we just have a few posts which isn't very interesting to see. At least progress is being made and for that I'm grateful!

September begins.

Well, its been an interesting week. School started obviously. We decided to put off starting homeschooling the girls for a while. The reasons are varied but mostly I am just not in a place where I am not willing do that right now. I won't elaborate but we'll see how I feel after winter break. The girls have really settled into the new school year and are enjoying their classes and new teachers so I'm happy with that decision. Our 12 year has started Middle School football this year and he's really having a great time and is excited about it. Its nice to have them interested in activities outside of the house and away from the computer/video games. Now, just to get 17year old out of the house.....

We are starting to see the first signs of Autumn. We have chilly nights with that lovely crisp smell of winter/cooler weather and wood smoke in the air. People in the neighbourhood are starting to decorate their porches with Fall decorations. I have started this in the house and will slowly do more over the next month. I've also stocked up on Pumpkin Spice scented candles which are a must for me in the Autumn/Winter months. I love them. The kids are talking almost daily about Halloween which is getting a tad wearing and we have 7 weeks still to go. Can you here me groan? I love this time of year though. From now until Christmas I'm happy, happy. Today I found myself thinking about starting a planner for all the activities. It made me think of my Mum who used to have notebooks and notebooks of Christmas ideas and plans. My sisters and I are list makers too. Not on the scale she was though. After she died we held onto them for a long time because they were important to her.

Today I spent doing some gardening and pottering about the house. Brian went out and got supplies to make a fence around our backyard. I can't wait until its up and our garden is private and Simon can't run off. He doesn't wander as a rule but if he hears people screaming and laughing he'll try to run around the front and see them. He's really friendly and wants to play but it worries us he'll take off and run on the road or get lost. Anyway, we are trying to get all the garden stuff done before the cold,wet weather and short days are upon us. Then we can snuggle up, nice and warm in the house for the next few months.