WIDOCV (part 7...I think)

I got this idea from Miss Kati and decided to try it. It was easy and fun, and the kids always love crafting. In case you need clarification, these are homemade ornaments. I did a few (the stocking, tree and round ornament) and Claire did quite a few. Cohen did all the brown ones. What on earth made me give him the brown paint, I will never know.....but everyone needs Christmas poo hanging on the tree.

By the way, he had PB&J for lunch!

My sweet girl. (I love Cohen in the background working so hard!) Oh Dana, You can't tell but Claire is wearing the Strawberry Shortcake shirt that our moms got us for Christmas one year. Funny, I just remembered that the shirt says "Sweet Girl!"

Cookies with Nanny and Grandma (and Papa too!)

Three years ago we started this tradition. Our first year we captured the "Christmas toot" video and you can hear Coco in the background making new baby noises. Our second year, Coco was a big helper. This year Miss Livi joined the ranks. She feasted on pretzels and a few M&M's and had a great time!

Cookie dough and Cousins.

Testing the pretzels.

Love this.

Rudolph cookies before they were baked.

Loving instructions from Grandma Connie.

The finished product.

This picture is blurry but as you can see, my mom got a better one! I just couldn't resist putting this up because....seriously? Could he be any sweeter?

I'm a little buzzed.

Because I used some of my Christmas gift cards and money to buy myself this.

I'm the only one who drinks coffee in my house so this thing is AWESOME! It also makes tea and hot chocolate which is great too. No mess, super easy, really fast and did I mention NO MESS?!?

flabbalicious.

I just heard something on the Oprah show and had to rush over here and blog. Why? Because I am going public in order to keep myself accountable. I am in terrible shape. My body is screaming at me right now. My back hurts so badly everyday. I can very easily chalk it up to my 40 pound 2 year old, but the fact is....my core is incredibly weak. I was once an athlete in tip top shape. I remember going to a camp one summer when they tested our body fat percentage. (Really tested it with electrodes and everything.) 6 percent. That was the amount of fat I had on my body. NO, that is not my goal but I would be willing to bet that you could multiply that number by 7 or 8 and you would get my current body fat percentage. (honestly, I know I am not considered overweight but I do know that I have little to no muscle tone.) This is not acceptable. It has absolutely nothing to do with my weight. Well, it does have a little to do with that but most importantly....I am abusing my body! This body is the only one I have. This body is the one that God gave me. He entrusted me with it and I am NOT taking care of it in a way that would make Him happy. I watched this lady talk about why she put her weight back on after losing 50 pounds and I can say the exact same thing.

It has been a rough couple of years. I've battled depression, lost family members and friends and I am currently watching one of my best friends fight stage 4 colon cancer. But guess what? During all of this, my legs take me where I need to go. My arms allowed me to hug the ones I hold most dear when I needed comfort. My heart continues to beat and is filled with love for those people as well as my savior Jesus Christ. My body continues to be so good to me despite the fact that I fill it full of fat, calories and junk. It keeps working day after day while I refuse to exercise. However, at the age of 28, it is starting to give me little signs that I need to be doing something a little different. So I'm putting myself out here. I'm getting a plan in place as I type. Watch me go.