Your mowing is like a cow grazing

This weekend I thought I'd enjoy the beautiful day, hang out with Penny and do yard work. Sometimes I shouldn't try to multi-task. Don't I look nice and happy in the picture above? Well, 30 mins later...okay, maybe 25 mins top...every muscle in my back and arms was aching. If you've never pushed one of these old fashioned man powered lawn mowers, you'd be amazed how tiring it can be. Yet, I thought 20 extra lbs wouldn't be a problem. Here's the other issue. A little twig can stop the blades of these things. Normally I would bend down and pull it out, but that obviously wasn't an option. So instead I just kept walking and moving the mower side to side till whatever was stuck came loose, which meant I was missing huge bits of long grass. After 25 mins Penny and I went inside and left Chris looking befuddled as he tried to figure out how exactly there were large patches of unmowed areas all over the yard.

About an hour later Chris came inside really sweaty and not in the best mood. Since I had been shaking the mower while walking, most of the cut grass was landing in the uncut areas so it was even harder to push it through those areas. As he opened his mouth I said, "I know, I know. I just created more work for you. If I don't do it right then I shouldn't do it at all" (Mom--you can call Chris and commiserate over my "helpfulness") He looked at me and said "well, I'm glad we both had this argument in our heads already. I'm just amazed how you can mow a lawn like a cow eats!"

It will probably be a few years before I live this one down...

Farenheit 451 at the Strands

Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating on the 451 thing, but I've been very proud of Penelope's interest in books. By interest I mean she looks through them and doesn't chew them or rip them. Even her day care teachers commented how much she likes books and doesn't destroy them. Until now...

The book "Dog" has been one of her favorites since she could turn pages. It is one of those touch and feel books, plus has some pop up features. She didn't notice the pop up, moving dogs for months.

Here she is about to read "Dog" for the 50th time that night

Uh oh! Do you see below? There is a dog missing a head! I didn't get to her quick enough and she pulled off the "shake shake shake" head in a flash. It is pretty disturbing now. Hmmm....

She thought she'd lick it and stick it back into place
Ah well, I'm glad she had fun. I guess I might as well let her figure out how to tear up the rest of the dogs heads to add to her collection.

Aunt Jan's photos

For my non-facebook people here's a peek at some of my Aunt Jan's pictures. And a LINK to see even more. Later this week I'll post some from Laura's camera. So many great pictures!

10 favorite pics from the North Shore

Here are 10 pics from our trip. My aunt Jan sent me about 200 other ones that are all my favorites...I'll upload some of those when I get a chance.

Back from vacation

We spent a whole week at the North Shore (northern part of Minnesota along Lake Superior) with my parents, sister, Aunt Jo, Uncle Rick and Aunt Jan. We had a great time. It is a beautiful place to visit. The weather was just perfect for hiking, kayaking and reading on the deck or just looking out onto the lake. Of course, Penelope was the biggest attraction of the vacation. In just one week she now holds her arms up when you say so big, claps a hand to her forehead if you say Oh, my!, sometimes does high fives and waves. Plus, she has added "Uh oh" to her vocabulary. I didn't take many pictures because my dad and aunt Jan were taking hundreds. I'll get some to put into my shutterfly album and put a link on here.