We have purchased some fruit by the case. We enjoy it fresh and I preserve some for the winter. Some days when there is lots to do and life is busy, I wonder Is it worth it? Then I sit down with a fresh plum and remember why I am doing this. I am doing this for our health. So we can enjoy our favorite fruits through the year when otherwise our choices are small.

We recycle but do not have curbside pick up nor a depot close enough to walk to. Therefore, I was just stacking the boxes together for recycling. I had not yet broken them down, thinking I might use some to hold items the girls have outgrown. Kathryn had other ideas.

Apparently a box makes a better place to read than the chair it is in front of. The boxes have also been used as kayaks which were rowed from one side of the living room to the other. They have been turned on their side to hold paper as an easel and for teaching teddy bears and Webkinz math. It is very important that all stuffed friends know their numbers and letters.

I think I'll wait a bit longer before recycling these boxes. It is so much fun to watch the imagination flourish that it is worth having the boxes in the house. Thankfully with everything the girls have outgrown this year, they have not outgrown their imagination.

I asked this question last night. I did not give Bruce any context though so he could not answer. I have thought about this question off and on all day today. How many times do we wait until after we are committed to a task to ask if it is worth it to ourselves or our family. Do we take the time to count the cost before rushing into something? Do we weigh the risks and benefits?

Last night I was tired and had a number of tasks that were unfinished. I wondered was it worth it to stay up and finish them or should I just go to bed and work at them this morning when I was relaxed and refreshed? Would I have a restful sleep knowing I had a stack of unfinished work? Was it realistic to think I could finish it that night? The questions would not come except that one "Is it worth it?" Since I could not explain myself I figured I was likely too tired to be of much use and I took myself to bed. I had a reasonable sleep though not great. This morning I was able to attack some of the tasks. Others I could leave because they were not worth the effort at this time. They can still be done tomorrow or even Saturday without too many negative consequences. Will they be worth it then, maybe. The cost will not be as high if I do not have to juggle as many tasks.

As I thought about this question more today, I realize that often I ask it when I am tired or overwhelmed. That suggests that I am not really concerned with counting the cost of the decision as I am tired and want an excuse not to finish my work. There are many times though that I should ask the question and don't. Is it worth it to eat that ice cream cone when I am trying to shed some pounds? Is it worth it to read a book, to clean up a room, to weed the garden? Sometimes the answers to the question should be yes. A little bit of time and effort now saves a lot of time and effort later. Sometimes it should be no since the cost is too high. Sometimes the cost is high but the benefits are worth it. I think asking the question at the right times will help put things into perspective.

The question should be then, how do we measure the cost? That is often a difficult question.

While Bruce and Kathryn had a Sunday afternoon nap, I scrapped and Victoria read. I had some pages I wanted to do and needed to do. The ideas needed to be tried and adjusted. The stories needed to be written. Once I started, the ideas kept coming. A few hours later, when the rest of the family awoke, I had completed four pages.I was in a good mood. It feels so good to accomplish the task you set out to do and more.

This is the page I set out to complete. I have a number of kits by Glenda Ketcham and love how they look. I usually mix and match them though. This time I just used the Summer Gold kit. I like the colors and textures of the kit and immediately thought of garden photos to use it with. It wasn't until I had some of the design figured out that I remembered this photo from our vacation. I am glad Bruce took this photo. I am close to the front of the line of people. The two girls are with me but are dwarfed by the plants. This small section of prairie garden gave us a glimpse into what it would have been like when the first settlers arrived.

Once I had completed that page, I turned my thoughts to August's challenges at Digitals. I had not yet completed some of my favorite challenges. I had either been uninspired or busy. Why does August always seem to fly by at such an incredible speed. It seems like by the time I have a chance to breathe it is over. I mean aren't summer vacations supposed to be restful and relaxing? Sunday afternoon, was restful and relaxing. The house was still quiet so I started on another page.

The haircut was created using a minikit by Sarah Meyer for the Designer Elements challenge. When I saw the two frames, I knew I wanted to use them both. I expect I will use that flower frame on another page or two because I do like mixing and matching elements from multiple kits. I decided this would work well to tell the story of Kathryn's haircut with before and after photos. She is not sure she likes the page because I did not use pink for everything. I don't like pink so I would rather work with blue and yellow.

Saturday we went to our local zoo to see the baby Bengal Tigers before they leave. We do not have room for four tigers here so the two cubs are going to Ontario this week. It was a great day to wander around the zoo and a treat to see these rare animals. They are in danger of extinction and conservation groups and zoos are working together to educate people and try to save them.

The last page I did was for the Scripture Challenge at Digitals. Glenda Ketcham provided the word art. While the August word art was beautifully done, I struggled all month with how to use it on a page. Finally, it came together for me. I love this high dynamic range (HDR) of the cathedral photos Bruce took on our trip.

I took a break for vacation. Then I dealt with a sick hubby. Bruce ended up with a lung infection causing the exhaustion and fever. He is almost back to his normal self now. Last week was spent getting all the details ready for back to school and enjoying the last days I had the girls home.

Now that the girls are back to routine, it is time for me to get back into routine. Except every time I take a break, I struggle to start again. I get overwhelmed by the number of photos I have. I get stuck on ideas. Sometimes the ideas all jumble together and it is hard to concentrate on just one at a time. Sometime the ideas seem to dry up and blow away like a tumbleweed. I am slowly learning ways to unblock my creativity. I hope to record the things I try and the things that work so I have a reference for the future. This means I have done a lot of journaling this week. Some of it may end up on pages in an inspiration book. Some may stay in the journal. Some may (and already has) show up on this blog.

To kick start my creative process, I selected two stories I wanted to tell from our vacation. They both happen to be from our day at the zoo. We had a full, fun day that day and came home with many photos and stories.

The Monkey House was a must see stop on our tour. We knew before we went that we wanted to see the monkeys. I let the pictures tell much of the story and added journaling, in the form of a piece of notepaper, to fill in the details.

Feeding Time was an unexpected bonus for the day. We were close to the pelicans when the scheduled feed was going to happen. We decided to check it out and see what we would learn. The zookeepers told us about why these pelicans are at the zoo. They were all injured in the wild and rehabilitated. They are unable to return to the wild because of their injuries so they have become part of the education program at the zoo. After the zookeepers made sure that each of the pelicans had received some fish, they let some of the children feed a fish to the birds. Kathryn enthusiastically participated. Then all the children fed corn to the ducks and geese swimming nearby.

I don't watch much TV. However, I know that many of the back to school advertisements have parents celebrating and children dreading this time of year. That stereotype really frustrates me. I liked school, for the most part. I had some teachers that I didn't like. I had some assignments that I dreaded. Overall though, I would have to say, I liked school.

Today, my girls went back to school. Victoria was excited and looking forward to it. She likes to learn. She likes routine. School offers both. She picked her back to school outfit based on what was missing from her drawer (athletic pants) and a top that will go with many things. This is fairly typical of who she is. She like to think things through and often makes practical choices.

Kathryn has been telling us that she didn't want to go to school because it is boring. Yes grade one and two are boring. How can that be? Well she has been learning things from her sister which means that she already knows some of the math they are teaching and is reading beyond grade level. But there are other things she has not had a chance to learn. Hopefully, these other areas mean that school is not as boring as she thinks it might be. She was excited this morning but tried not to show it. Her outfit, well it is pink of course.

As for me, I like having the girls around. The house is strangely quiet today. Maybe that is why I choose to hang out with about 70 grade four and five studen/p>

Normally this is something we hear from kids. "But Mom, I don't want to go to bed." "But Dad, I don't want to eat fish." How often though do we as adults say this? Probably not often out loud but maybe more times than we would care to admit in that running commentary in our minds. Maybe it goes something like this: "But I don't want to clean the bathroom, I cleaned it last week." or "I don't want to mow the lawn. Do you realize it is 30 degrees outside? I would rather sit and eat an ice cream cone."

This past year, I was supposed to be losing weight. Why, by the way, do we call it losing weight? It is not like we want to find it again. Something I have never heard is "Oh, by the way, I lost 5 pounds, if you find it could you return it to me." Yeah right. Well this past year instead of dropping weight from my frame, I found someone else's 5 pounds. I'd be happy to return it though I doubt anyone will claim it.

Anyway, last year my blood pressure was up a bit and so was my weight. Actually my weight has slowly been climbing for a few years. Looking back I can see many instances where my choices show that I was caught in the "I don't want to" mindset. The biggest things was I didn't want to admit that I was slowly finding the weight that I had work hard to get rid of. Within the first two years after having Kathryn, I lost a number of pounds. I was somewhat careful what I ate and used a lot of energy chasing after healthy, energetic toddlers. Now I have found the entire 20 pounds. I feel heavy, fatigued and discouraged. But...

But this year, well okay I do not know what will happen for sure this year. This week, I have been learning about blood pressure and weight. I have been making some changes to how I eat. This year I am going to get rid of those extra pounds. This past spring, I started. We bought a treadmill and I have been walking regularly. I have an appointment with the treadmill every morning. Well no, actually I have an appointment with the treadmill most mornings. Some morning I walk outside instead. It is more interesting to walk by the river than to look at the same grey wall all the time. This morning I walked the girls to school and back for registration. It is about a 3 kilometer round trip.

The weight is slowly being discarded, tossed aside, maybe even trampled under foot? This is a good thing because I have a date with a sphygmomanometer and my doctor's scale in 6 months.

I was having trouble setting goals. This one was set for me. My internal voice is being reminded to say "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can." At this point, I am still at the I hope I can stage but I really need to succeed on this and expect that complete failure will only happen if I stop trying because each small change should improve my health.

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.....

It's a perfectly blustery day outside. The plants drink the moisture added to the soil a refreshing change from the hot sun of yesterday afternoon. For those of us hanging out inside, the cool day is a welcome relief from the heat and humidity. The nights are cooling off as is normal for late August. It reminds the trees and people that the hot summer days are drawing to a close. A new school year brings a new season hot on its heels.

My days are spent preserving the abundance of summer for the cold dark days of winter. As we watch the season fade over the next month, we will enjoy the bounty our garden has to offer. Already the peas and raspberries are done. The tomatoes yield just enough to savor each day, though the branches on most of the plants are heavy with fruit. Sauces and salsas, which await their maturity, will take the taste into winter. They will remind us of this years garden and bring anticipation of next years.

We watch the weather for frost warnings, knowing they will come but wishing they wouldn't. And yet, I won't harvest my first carrot until after that day we awake to a crisp morning following a frost. The carrots are so much sweeter when they have been touched by frost and there are so many other choices that are at their best now.

My garden is small. A corner of our yard. Each year it grows taking over more of the lawn. There are things I can not grow because of size and climate. For these I venture out to the farmer's market and stores. They are filled with all kinds of goodness. Peaches, plums and apricots are found in abundance at the store. These tender fruits are favorites of ours that we can not grow. Cherries, blueberries and strawberries have been savored.

Now that it seems illness and fever have been kicked out of the house, I can return to my regular activities. Due to Bruce spiking a fever of 103 degrees, I spent my anniversary at the doctors office. The fever lasted 5 days and we don't know what caused it but today he seems better. He was actually able to sleep last night.

Wednesday August 13:
We awoke to a beautiful sunny day. After some visiting, we headed out to the Assinaboine Park Zoo. We walked and walked and walked. We saw tigers and camels and bears. The zoo is one of the top in polar bear rehabilitation and study. They have a polar bear at the zoo that is thought to be the oldest one alive. She is 41 years old. Unfortunately, she has developed some age related diseases and probably won't see her next birthday. This made Victoria very sad.


Also at the zoo, is a tribute to a special animal. The girls and I really wanted to find this statue. Back during WW1, a soldier bought the bear from a hunter. He took him with him to London, left him with the zoo while his unit was in France, then gave him to the zoo after the war. The bear was named Winnipeg after the soldiers hometown. This bear was visited by A.A. Milne and his little boy Christopher. From there Winnipeg the bear became Winnie the Pooh, beloved friend of Christopher Robin and many other children.


Thursday August 14:
After our day of walking, we were tired. We wanted a shorter day with less to do and see. We visited more in the morning before heading off to the Forks. The Forks is an area that has been built up over years, decades and even some could say centuries at the junction of the Red River and the Assinaboine River. It was an important meeting point even before Winnipeg was a city. It has been a gathering point and a place of trade.

At the Forks, we decided to take a guided tour that details the history of the site. It was an interesting tour to take and learned more about the historical significance of the area than had we just explored on our own. Victoria helped demonstrate at one point in the tour. She was a fur trader with the Assinaboine people. I was another volunteer, my task was to travel between the Hudson Bay company post on the Hudson Bay and the native groups who trapped the animals. I had trade goods that I would swap with the people for their furs.


Kathryn was just hot and tired and had had enough. The rest of us felt similarly by the end of the afternoon. That evening Kathryn surprised us by telling Uncle David some of what she had learned on the tour. I thought she hadn't been paying attention. But she had.

We walked around a bit on our own before leaving the area. There is some really interesting art in the area and fun little shops.

Today is our anniversary. Thirteen years ago we were getting ready for a morning ceremony in front of family and friends. It was a sunny day with only a few clouds in the sky. There was some wind, actually by the time the ceremony was over there was quite a bit of wind. My dress kept blowing in the wind, to the point that Amee hid behind me to hold it down for some of the photos.

Today Bruce is in bed with a fever and a cough. Victoria is reading and Kathryn is still sleeping. We had planned that the girls would have a sleep over at their grandmas tonight. Bruce and I were going to go mini golfing and have an evening to our self. It looks like that will be postponed.

Bruce is usually behind the camera, but this past week Victoria and Kathryn each took a turn with the camera. That means I have a new picture of Bruce and I.

Happy anniversary Bruce!

August found our family on the road once again. Our annual vacation for the last three years has been mid to late August. I am not sure this is good timing. Our garden was just starting to produce some of our favorites like tomatoes. Those who looked after our house got to enjoy them. Thanks Mom and Amee! At least they were enjoyed, tomatoes for Dad, peas for Mom and raspberries for Amee. It worked quite well.

This year we ventured east to Winnipeg, Manitoba. We stayed with one of Bruce's Uncles and Aunt's. It was great to be able to visit with and get to know Uncle Ron and Aunt Trudy better. We also spent an evening at Uncle David and Aunt Barb's. They were all so happy to meet our girls again. (The girls are intrigued that Bruce has an uncle David and so do they.) Lots of good visiting made us very happy that we chose Winnipeg as this years destination.

The first day, Tuesday, it was a dreary, rainy day. We chose an indoor attraction to visit, the Mint. The Canadian mint is celebrating 100 years this year. The Winnipeg branch, which opened in 1976, makes all our circulation coins. They also produce coins for many other countries. The tour gives a behind the scenes glimpse into the making of money and medallions from creating the mold to packaging the finished product. On this day they were producing Canadian dimes on one line and foreign currency on another line. I did not write down which country and now there is much debate among the four of us which country it was. I know they talked about Bahamas and Papua New Guinea. Bruce thinks it was a middle east country. Oh well. The newest presses, which form one production line, can press 800 coins a minute. That's Impressive!

There is also an interactive display at the mint where the girls tested their metal and found out how much they would be worth (by weight) if they were different metals. They were very pleased to be worth more than a million dollars in gold and platinum. We lifted a 28 pound gold bar valued at at least $250, 000. We also compared the weight of a gold bar to that of a similar sized piece of wood and iron.


After we finished at the mint, we decided to drive around St. Boniface. There is an old cathedral there that we thought would be interesting to see. St. Boniface was originally a French settlement and still has many French influences. The cathedral was destroyed by fire many years ago but the original stone exterior was saved and incorporated into the rebuilt cathedral. It is interesting to see the blending of old and new.



In the cemetery, just outside the cathedral, Louis Riel is buried. Louis Riel features prominently in the history of Saskatchewan and Manitoba. There is some discussion and debate about whether he is a hero because he advocated for the disadvantaged or is a traitor because of his role in the rebellion and conflict between the native and Metis people on one side and the European settlers on the other side. He was eventually tried in Regina and hung as a traitor for leasing the uprising known as the Riel Rebellion. Before that though, he helped to formulate the Manitoba Act, which created the province of Manitoba and provided some protection for the French and Metis culture. Traitor or hero? That is still debated today.