We went up to Will Roger's State Historic Park yesterday morning and did some hiking. It's nice that we can get away from the city pretty easily here. Here is a picture of the family at Inspiration point. We had a nice view of the city and of the ocean and mountains, but it was really hazy so we weren't able to appreciate it much. Kisses, Kris

9 days with no Chocolate and I'm doing great! Only 355 days to go!

WE FINISHED THE HARRY POTTER ROOM! See pictures for evidence. We are very excited. I think Craig and I are more thrilled with it than the boys - of course.

Had Connor's 6th birthday party on Saturday and it was a big hit. We made all kinds of cool games for the kids to play. Craig painted a poster of an owl and we played "pin the message on the owl" and then we did a picture of a garden gnome and had a bean bag toss into it's mouth. They colored pictures from the stories and had a Herbology class in which they potted a plant. It was great!

Alas, that night, we lost Lily the rat, to a sudden and apparently severe illness. We noticed that she seemed ill around 3 pm, and by 11 pm, she was gone. Connor was devastated, and cried and cried. He even spent all of church at my side the next day, instead of going to Primary classes.

Frankly, that is why we got rats. They're a good starter pet. They dont' live forever, and it's not as devastating as having a dog die or something. And I rather that the kids' first experience with death is a pet rat than a dog or a family member.

At the temple of Apollo in Delphi is inscribed the ancient greek aphorism "know thyself". For many years I have altered this phrase for personal use to "NO thyself". Learning self control has been an ongoing goal of mine.

So Saturday, my son's 6th birthday became my last official day with Chocolate. I will abstain from chocolate for one year, until his 7th birthday. Today is day 2. Yesterday I withstood hot chocolate, a candy bar, and brownies. Today there is no chocolate in the house except for hot chocolate, and I've got cider to get me through the hot-drink craving.

*wish me a year of luck!*

I'm working on painting my dining set this week. We got it for free (Yay!) and it's nice but I really wanted black, to go with a quilt that I have hanging on my dining wall. Here are the chairs, before and after. I really like how they are turning out.