love my new book

We tried something new this week... the Public Library in Piedmont! With gas prices looking "cheap" at $3.79 our most important summer plan was to conserving gasoline. We are limiting our trips into Rapid City to two days a week, usually Tuesdays and Thursdays. It's been going fine, and the kids have actually found more things at home to be occupied with (adding one small investment on mom's part -- a baby pool for $15)... and neighborhood friends have helped a little too.

Anyway -- the point being... we've been looking for things that are very local (Piedmont, Stagebarn Neighborhood, Summerset, etc.) to entertain us on occasion... and the Library turned out to be a big HIT! They have story time on Thursdays at 10a.m.

I even found a book to read for myself... "French Women Don't Get Fat" It might sound like a diet plan, like the other hundred-and-one diet books out there... but really this has been a great summer read for me. The author grew up in France, moved to the USA, gained 25 pounds... then went back to traditional French principles to get back to her "normal" weight... All while enjoying the high culinary standards of her home culture.

The thing I love most about the book so far is re-training myself to enjoy REAL foods (not processed junk) with full flavor -- sometime meaning full-fat -- but to keep them in moderation. An inch-by-inch piece of very good chocolate is better than a whole box of cheap chocolate.

I've known these principles most of my life... but frankly sometimes I just get too lazy to keep up with them... and kids tend to be a good excuse to "dumb down" the food quality.

This week we made our first trip to the Farmer's Market -- and supper was 95% what we bought from the stands... all locally grown... all organic or nearly.... and all FRESH!! We made BLTs tonight with the most incredible tomato I have ever tasted!! I don't usually like tomatoes plain... but this one was WOW!! (I can highly recommend an heirloom variety for anyone out there shopping!!)

Tomorrow we are having fresh raspberries with yogurt and pancakes!! Can't wait!
smiles
N

Thor is 8!!

Yesterday was Thor's 8th Birthday! We are planning a big family "shin-dig" for all the Moeller-Morrison-Montiel summer birthdays (later in August)... but we wanted to do something on Thor's REAL birthday... especially with one of his good friends from school.

We met Devin and his mom at the Elks Theater for the afternoon matinee. The boys saw "Over the Hedge" while munching on their Jungle Paks (popcorn, small orange pop and small Mike & Ike candy). We came home for an afternoon of playing outside/inside, then a supper of mom's homemade pizza and veggies.

I was quite happy to have my son tell me that he wanted MY pizza, made just by me, since I'm the best pizza baker in the whole world!! After that, who could deny? Even though it was 90 degrees outside!!

Anyway -- we also had an ice cream cake for dessert -- which everyone enjoyed very much. I made it from a 2 pints of Ben and Jerry's: cookie dough and Phish Food (Thor's 2 favorites). Whipped cream for frosting, and we were all set to go!

Next was the most important element... opening gifts. Dirk and I had already given
him part of his gift early -- a Thor (BMX)backpack for school. He did get to open an RC (radio controlled) car from us, and a "finger skate board" (Lightning McQueen) from Anika. His friend Devin gave him $20 to spend at Target!!


What birthday would be complete without a customized card from Grandpa Alan? This one was of Thor on his dirtbike, inside showing him mowing the grass (a new chore this summer) and taking out the garbage... Grandpa letting Thor know he is growing up with all the new responsibilties!

After the fun and games were all done, Thor and I loaded up to take Devin back home. On the way we just HAD to stop by Target (for baby diapers)... and just HAPPENED to hit the toy aisle along the way.... He finally got the Nerf Recon (dart gun) he's been drooling over for about 2 months!! (maybe longer??)

Today we are quite happy and content to be home, playing with all the new toys... maybe showing off to the neighborhood friends just a little?? Anyway, Mom is getting plenty of "work" done (as you can tell by the blog being updated!!).


Couldn't resist this cute shot of Liv enjoying the birthday cake!

Camping at Roubaix Lake

We had a WONDERFUL weekend up at Roubaix Lake! Beautiful weekend... not too hot, maybe just a little bit cool? We made "blind" reservations at the campground... which turned out perfectly... the exact spot we thought would be a great site! (we had a chance to run through the campground a few weeks earlier but couldn't remember the numbers of the sites).

This was an experimental trip in a lot of ways... our first time out just OUR family, our first time out with the new camper without any "hookups" (water, electricty), a new unfamiliar campground, new ATV trails! Everything turned out better than what we could have planned if we tried!

Saturday morning the kids woke up extra early... so we decided to take advantage of the situation and headed out for the trails ASAP. I packed a lunch so we could eat on the trail... we ended up putting on nearly 20 miles! Liv LOVES rides (even long ones I guess!) on the ATV's -- and ended up napping for more than an hour on our 3 hour trip!

This weekend we are looking forward to taking in a little bit of Hills Alive -- specifically Toby Mac on Saturday night... After that, we're hoping to get one more camping adventure in July... and hopefully 2-3 more before the end of the summer season is over...

smiles to you all