Free Stuff!

Ok, for those who don't read my other blog, go check it out! There are TONS of free giveaways in Blogland right now. I am giving away a ring sling or a pillowcase dress. There are over 500 things you can enter to win. So, go check it out!

Farewell

As many of you know, I am a Mormon, or a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Last night, our Prophet, Gordon B. Hinckley, died peacefully at his home. He was 97 years old. He has been the President of our Church since I was a senior in High School.

He was an amazing man and a true man of God. He will be surely missed. For more information on him and his life, visit here.

Oh Man.

I've been losing weight, I'm at 20 pounds down. I was really looking forward to being Miss Skinny pants this summer and making cute skirts for me. However, that isn't going to happen. Instead I am going to be Mrs. Big Belly :) Now I've got to find some cute Maternity skirt patterns!!!! :D:D:D

Pictures and Answers

Ok, I've found some pictures of the house. I'll have to get in there and take better pictures (when we have the inspection next week). But, until then, these will have to do.

Living Room

Dining Room (right behind living room)

Kitchen

Upstairs Bathroom

Downstairs Bathroom

I had one of the family room, but it is tiny, so you can't even see it. I will get pictures of the backyard, bedrooms, laundry room and family room soon, promise!

Ok, answers - Jen asked what the MLS is - well, since it's under contract, you can no longer look it up online, so sorry!

And, housewarming?? YES! We will have a party in April, so plan on it!!! As the earth is warming, so will our house :)

A House!!!

We are buying a house. It is a very cute house. It’s our first house. We are SO excited! We are under contract, so assuming everything goes swimmingly (which it should!), we will close on February 20 and take possession on the 23rd. It is a great birthday present for J and I as our birthdays are the 24th and 11th (respectively). I don’t have any great photos of the house, so you will just have to believe me. It is a 4 bedroom 2 bathroom home, 2080 square feet on a .22 acre lot. There are a lot of trees on the far end of the lot and S calls it his forest. There are new hardwood floors, tile, carpet and paint throughout. This is something that we will be able to be in for a long time. Oh, and it is around the corner from J’s office. He can (and will) walk to work daily! We are thrilled.

Merry Christmas!

I am sure I won't be around tomorrow to wish you all a Merry Christmas, so I'm doing it today. I hope your day is filled with love, joy and peace. Oh, and laughter, we can never have enough laughter.
Here is a little something to start the laughter.

And, some pictures from this month. We've loved it, the snow, the baking and S taking pictures :)

Tuckered out on Emma's birthday. He insisted on party hats. I love that boy.







Here is Miss A with her favorite way of nursing. Yes, she is nursing in that picture.




Here is a little bit of my Holiday Crafting. S and A are getting crowns for Christmas. We are also making S a sword and A a wand. But, neither are ready yet (come on, it's only 3:30 on Christmas eve, there is still time!). But, here are the crowns I made for them. I also made A a sweet little dress. I got that fabric this summer and have enough to make myself a skirt also. Love it!

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday Emma. Today you are 5. I just can't believe it. It seems like yesterday and a million years ago all rolled into one.
Today we will celebrate your life and miss you immensely.

Love,
Mama, Daddy, S and A.

Getting Ready

Tree up? Check.

Ornaments on? Check.

Gifts bought? Check.

Gingerbread house attempted? Check.

Treats for friends and neighbors done? Check.

So, that leaves...um, everything else! I still need to finish the making part of gifts. I am making a skirt, wand and crown for A and a lucky little girl who is the same age as Emma whose Mama can't afford to give her gifts this year. I also need to finish the crown I'm making for S.

This weekend I've been a busy bee. On Friday night, we decided to make a gingerbread house. I bought a kit at Michael's, and it looked pretty easy. That is until I tried to do it with a 3 year old and 18 month old. Then it just turned comical.

We bought our tree on Saturday, it is BEAUTIFUL, even if it does take up half of our living room :) The kids love it though. A kept saying, "Tree!" last night. I do love the smell of a fresh tree.

I also made marshmallows this year. Every year, we make treats to take to our friends and neighbors. So, on Saturday night, I made candy cane marshmallows. They turned out so fantastic that I decided to try my hand at chocolate marshmallows. Oh.my.gosh. They are HEAVENLY!

Really, these pictures don't do them justice. I've packaged them all up so that I don't eat any more of them!!! They are divine though, and super easy to make. I am going to find some vegan gelatin for the next ones though. They are super yummy.

My plans for this week are to make J a hat for Christmas. We found this one and he really likes it. So, I'll get going on that.

I've also decided that I am not making a Wallaby for A. She is going to get Swing Thing .

I've been a long time admirer of this pattern and have decided to finally make it! I think she will love it. I'll make it big enough so it should fit her next year too.

Other than that...I'm just going to veg this week. Emma's birthday is on Saturday. I can't believe my baby girl would be 5 this year. I've been teaching the 5 year old class at church this year and it has really been an experience to see what she would have been like. I miss her. I just miss her so much.

Good Gravy.

So many reasons not to take a 3 year old Christmas shopping. This week, we've heard these things said in our house by the boy.

"DAD! We got you some old man slippers!"

"Mom! We got you some new pajamas!"

Good thing he's cute.

Thanksgiving

Well, we went to Kansas City for Thanksgiving and had a fantastic time! I did really good for the first couple of days, eating only what I was supposed to. But then, Thanksgiving came, we had Prime Rib...I still drool thinking about it. Oh and we had pie. My sister-in-law, Karen, made a fantastic pecan pie...it was SO GOOD! I made Chocolate Pumpkin Pie from Vive Le Vegan. It had a cheesecake consistency, it was just fantastic!
Here are a few pictures of our trip. Mostly they are the day after Thanksgiving breakfast :)

In Memoriam

Today I found out that my dear friend, Kerri, lost her son, Orion on November 19. He was 10 days old and leaves a twin brother and his Mom and Dad. My heart is aching. I hurt for her. Please, hold them in your hearts whenever you think of them. This is such a terrible tragedy, I know all too well.

Baby Love

Can you feel it in the air? 3 new souls came into the world this week! First was my new niece, Carlie Emma. She was born on November 8, weighing in at 7 lbs. 3 oz. She is nursing like a champ and I can't wait to see her!!!!
Next up were the twin boys of one of my dear friends, Kerri. Golden and Orion were born on November 9th, weighing in at 5 lbs. 10 oz. and 6 lbs. 3 oz. I don't know which one weighed what. When Kerri called me last night, I suspect that they had just very recently been born. She had a beautiful natural birth and was wiped out ;)

They are both birthing goddesses and I am so proud of them both. Can you feel the love? Can you feel the baby love? Congratulations to both of my dear friends, I am so proud of both of you!

It's a Good Day

Today I have a new niece. I don't know her name yet, but do know she was born today around noon, cst. She weighed 7 lbs. 3 oz. and is 19.5 inches long. Mom and baby are doing great. I wish I were there with them. Welcome to the world new little one!

Oh yeah...

I was also in the paper on Monday, check it out here :)

Why I Do It

Have you ever seen 2 cuter kids? I think not. That top picture of A was a total fluke, I swear! She was playing outside, sat up, looked at me and smiled. I just happened to get the shot, I love it!
S is being Super Why for Halloween this year. That is him on his airplane flying, see the cape flying in the back? It's awesome!!! I wish I had the imagination of a 3 year old!!

So, I am changing my life, pretty drastically, but very much for the better. My sister-in-law, Stephanie, told me about a book, Eat to Live. At first I was really skeptical. I thought that it was just another weight loss scheme, something that never really works for me. Sure, it works in the short term but what happens when you go back to eating the way you always have? Well, with this, you don't. You completely change your life, your eating habits, and your health. You eat so that you can live longer and healthier. The weight loss part is just a nice benefit. In the last 6 weeks Stephanie has been vegan. She has lost 21 lbs. She feels better than she ever has. So, J and I are going to do this. We got the book this weekend and have been reading it. It really is interesting how closely it parallels the Word of Wisdom, something, that as an LDS culture, we adhere very closely to. The problem is that we usually just say no coffee, tea, alcohol, drugs or cigarettes. We so quickly forget the part about eating meat sparingly, in times of cold or famine. For a long time now, I've thought if I could just live the Word of Wisdom completely, I would be healthier and would lose weight. I just never knew how to do it. Now I do! I am really excited.

So, for the next 6 weeks I will be vegan (with the exception of Thanksgiving when I will have one piece of prime rib). I will also have very limited grains (1 C. a day) and no sweets (except for 1 piece of the vegan chocolate pumpkin pie I will be making).

J has a cold right now, usually he gets one in the fall and it lasts through spring allergy season. I think that by us changing the way we eat, he will be better very quickly. We have not eaten any meat this week although we will tonight. We are officially starting on Saturday. After the first 6 weeks, we will then go to the 90/10 lifestyle. 90% of the time we will eat vegan, and 10% we will be able to have dairy and meat. So, he doesn't have to give up his BBQ and I don't have to give up my ice cream :)

Honestly, just in doing this for a couple of days, I am already feeling better. And my kids love it! Well, S is having a harder time than A, but he is getting used to it. He even had, and enjoyed, a green smoothie this morning!

So, back to the title of this post, why I do it...for them. I do it all for my children. I want to instill in them good eating habits. I don't want them to have to change these habits when they are 30-somethings. I don't want them to struggle with their weight their entire lives like I have. I want so much more for them. I want them to be healthy, and I truly believe this is an excellent way to do it.

So...wish me luck. If you have any good vegan recipes you want to share also, please pass them along!!!