Wordless Wednesday-Fall Clean up

Our weekend without the kids

This weekend we went to a Bed and Breakfast in Duluth with some friends. The boys were busy in their own right. They had birthday parties to attend, fun functions at church and they hung out with grandma and grandpa. We went with our friends Mariela and Rodrigo from Argentina, they have never been up there. We didn't get up north until late Friday evening, so we just got some food and hung out. The B&B was the best. They thought of every last detail and we loved staying there. We had to rent the smallest room because I lost to Mariela on heads or tails when booking, but it was still a great place. On Sat. morning they brought breakfast to our room (a requirement I have for B&Bs, I'm not getting all dressed to go eat breakfast with strangers). It was wonderful, eggs, muffins and fruit. I had to take a picture because the fruit was so cute. They even made little hearts out of the watermelon. It was delicious.On Sat. afternoon we went to the Split Rock Lighthouse and then to Gooseberry Falls. It was cold at the lighthouse, but it was nice walking around the falls. We just spent the day walking and talking and not worrying about kids. That afternoon we went to lunch and that was quiet also. At night we went to see the bridge and walk around downtown Duluth. It sounds really boring when you read it, but just know we had a great time.

Sunday breakfast was wonderful also, but then we had to pack up to leave. I 100% recommend the B&B we stayed at for anyone going to Duluth!

We picked up the boys, it was good to see them. Came home and did dishes, made dinner and did laundry. Pretty exciting way to end a weekend, huh?

I give up

In an effort to be cheap and in denial of winter coming, we have put off turning our heat on in the house. Well today may be the day that I give in. Ryan said I would be the first to break because everyone else in the house is so hotblooded. Here are my three justifications as to why any sensible person would want to turn it on:

#1 From the news website:Current Forecast
6 PM
Rain
44 °F

#2 The boys have some ice cream bowls that turn blue when they have ice cream in them. The one on the left is how they are supposed to look empty (I had to put it under hot water for a few minutes to get it to its natural state). The one on the right is how they both looked in my clean dishes rack from sitting on the counter all day.

This is the thermostat in our house right now. It is 60 degrees in the day, can you imagine the night time temp. Yeah, I think I'm going to turn it on now.

I guess the cold weather is on its way, I can't stop it by not turning on the heat!

My favorite church sermon

Caution contains religion and politics:

I'm not one to talk about my views very often in the area of religion and politics. I think this is due to the fact that I believe more in "doing" than just talking. I avoid the topics because I don't want to offend anyone because everyone has different views and I am no better than anyone else. However, I wonder if people that really know me understand my views at all. I heard the most wonderful sermon the other day at church and I just have to share it. It is so similar to my views that I felt I could have written it myself. So I thought I would share it with anyone that wants to listen. I'm not trying to change anyone's views or convert anyone. I just want you to not judge, but just listen and get to know me and what I believe in better.

So if you have 20 minutes of free time to listen, you are welcome to a glimpse of my views. The sermon is based on Matthew 22:15-22 Click here and then click on the sermon "God or Caesar-Who to obey?"

Yes to the greyhound, but later

I know the voting period isn't over, but I just wanted you to know that we are going to get the second dog. We are going to wait a bit longer than my original Christmas present idea though. Instead for Christmas, I booked a trip to Orlando yesterday! Yay it will be warm there. We are going to go in Jan after all of the hoopla. When we have gone to Orlando in the past we have always stayed at a Disney resort and just went to their parks. This time we are staying with my dad and step mom (newly retired) and we want to check out some other places. So my questions to you are...1)recommendations for things to do (or avoid) in Orlando and 2) a way to get by on a small budget. We are still planning on going to Disney World for a day or two, I can't go that far and not go there. I think I could live there ;)

Don't you wonder how I make it through a day when I have to ask my blog friends all of these questions about how to live my life?

Do we need another dog?

I am in love with Greyhounds and I've been wanting to adopt one for a while. We always thought it would be our next dog after Daisy left us. Well yesterday while shopping at the dollar store I saw a van parked next to us that had 3 greyhounds in it. They went into the pet store, so Lance and I went in to see if they were doing an adoption day. They were doing a meet and greet for this organization, it helps retired race dogs find homes. After talking to representatives for a while, I thought that now is the perfect time to get another dog. We have been reading through the literature and everything sounds perfect. We are thinking of starting the process in the next couple of months to make our new dog a family birthday present. If you know anything about retired racing greyhounds please share. I also included a new poll to get your opinions.

The little things they do

In Lance news...Last night Lance was moved up in his city orchestra to 1st violin. He auditioned a while back and he was happy with playing 2nd, but very excited about being moved up. The bad part is the songs are harder now (who would have thought?) His next goal will be to move up to the better orchestra.

Last night was Liam's last soccer game of the season. (The pictures were taken on Sat. because I am a fair weather fan, I only go in fair weather, haha. No, really I had to take Lance to orchestra. I just didn't want to fool you into thinking we have good weather here, full disclosure) He really improved this season. All of the boys did actually. They used to just run in a clump, but now they understand positions and they really try to score goals.

Okay, they are still near each other more than they should be, but spread out a little bit more. Liam is the one doing the Karate action in the middle (I don't know why, must be the way he runs faster)The back of Liam looking for the ball. At least he is looking in the right direction (Look at the kid in the background looking the wrong way). The funniest part of their games is when a kid would just take off with the ball and everyone has to scream..."go the other way!" Fun games:)All the kids got a little medal for playing this season. He is trying to show you that the picture changes on the medal, why can't you see that?