Flesh of my Flesh

While packing what I hoped would be one gigantic suitcase for our family of six for a nine day trip to Texas

- I'm like the world's best packer -

I asked Kody what he would like to bring along. He abrubtly left my room ran to his and came barreling back with none other than a jean baby quilt I made him at birth that he sleeps with and a huge

- by huge I mean more than three times his size -

teddy bear Grandma gave him that he sleeps with. He threw both items in the bag, closed the lid, and tried to zip it shut.

A boy after my own heart I laughed at his picks and recalled telling Travis before we were married that marrying me would be easy for him because my material needs for a lifetime were very low maintenance
-inclusive of a King size bed and Down Comforter-.

Everything can be accomplished with a good night's sleep and no one knows that better than Kody and me.

So Much

(So the baking began Saturday evening.) (Sunday Travis shoveled our driveway and thought piling it neatly around the mailbox would be funny. It is to me, but that's why I married him. It's over five feet tall there. Love you Mrs. Postlady.) (Sunday night we delivered cookies to our visiting/home teachees. This was a neighbor of someone we visit. Seriously a whole 'nother level. I love it. fab-tack-u-lous.) (People who know me well know I love puzzles. I'm a big fat nerd, but I love them. I started this baby over a week ago. 1000 pieces of pure pink. Took me forever and my eyes are mangled, but I needed to get it done to get to the serious baking.) (Serious baking commenced today. Just under 20 dozen cookies. All before 12:30. That doesn't include the chocolate cookies, fudge, or other goodies from Saturday. Now I just have puppy chow, one more batch of fudge and I am done. - Minus the actual Christmas day cooking/baking.)

Merry Christmas everyone. Hope you are feeling the holiday cheer and enjoying it.

Gingerbread Housemaking

Tidbits

Thank you Treila, my mother in law,

for the best Christmas gift of serving dishes.

It's exactly what I wanted.

Yeah I picked them out with the money she sent

because lugging these babies to and from Texas would be a pain.

I love the snow. Sigh.

I hope it snows several

feet this winter.

I hate Isaac's.

With all the free coupons

we seem to get for this place I keep revisiting it

despite never having an experience I'm happy with.

This food might look good,

but it never tastes good.

Church Christmas Program cancelled

because of snow. I don't know that I mind that much

even though I am the choir director and singing in two other groups.

Does that make me a bad person?

Neighborhood sledding so fun.

Despite being a country girl there are perks

to subdivision living.

Oh, and if you are totally clueless this area

is being pounded with snow right NOW.

It's Free For A Reason

Some people may argue that things that are free are for very good reason. Not being a participator in this particular thinking - I have gotten numerous awesome free deals including my fifty Christmas cards this year - I am a huge fan of freecycle. If you don't know it - well do your own research. This weeks find a bag of boys clothing 3-6T. Sweet clothes for all three boys in one bag.

(a peak view of my favorite find)

(full effect)

Oh yeah this is a nigh on to powder blue, seventies style, jean like leisure suit. This baby was free for a reason. It was destined to end up in my home on this child. Never was there a little boy with a better personality to don this apparel.

Holiday Wisdom

Today I had a visit with the Lady Dr. Another year come and gone and in the interest of no more children I have to do a quick stop in with her for a physical and pap smear to get more of my contraceptive medicine of choice. With that all set and taken care of she looks at me and says "Can we talk about your weight?"

"Sure" although there is a part of me cringing inside. She says when you first came here a year and a half ago you weighed four pounds less. My goodness who knew four pounds would initiate a conversation of this proportion. She says four pounds isn't a lot but if you start gaining it here and there it starts to add up. Well obviously. And what she says is nothing I don't already know and think.

But then she drives her point sufficiently home by adding and a year and a half ago when you weighed four pounds less you had a new baby, 6 months. Alright mental picture is sufficiently clear - I'm pudgy the whale. She asks, "Have you lost any of the baby weight?" Well no not really, but the truth is yes I mean at one point, nine months prego, I was tipping the scales at twelve pounds heavier than I am now. But after the initial 8 pounds of baby and a couple of accompanying fluid I guess the answer is indeed no I have not. Crap! How'd I miss that.

And she proceeds to question me about my eating habits, exercising routine, and lifestyle. In the end she finishes up with a healthy summary of the situation. Stop eating late in the evenings, take a couple extra laps on your stairs each time you scale them during the day, and park at the back end of parking lots, and open door manually instead of going through the automated ones.

Man she just dumped on my holiday happiness. I love Christmas, the family, the friends, and most importantly the eating. Already I am worried does this mean I should start watching what I eat starting today, the week before Christmas. Because that is where we are at, one week till Christmas. And this is when the wisdom hit me. Perhaps next year I will be going to the Lady Dr. one week after Christmas instead of one week before. So that when she wants to talk about weight loss strategies I'm totally on board. Because truth be told after finishing at the doctor's office I go to take Travis back to the office - he was watching the boys in the waiting room - and he is telling me about this huge cookie tray some subcontractor had brought in.

It was huge and yummy. And I had a chocolate cookie, a chocolate chip cookie, and four chocolate covered pretzels- yeah the first one was so good I stole the rest of those babies. It is at this point that I may have sputtered to Travis over my cookie filled mouth "Screw the Dr." But in the interest of watching calories a nasty piece of chocolate candy that I didn't like I hoisted onto Travis instead of finishing.

It's all about the baby steps right???

P.S. This is largely satirical. I am not really looking for the "you look great, Mary" or similar sentiments. I am holding to the holiday wisdom from here on out though. Seriously Dr. visit after the holidays.

Priorities People

While helping in Wyatt's Kindergarten class yesterday I was helping the kids with their journaling where they are asked to draw a picture and then write two sentences about it phonetically spelling out the words as best they can.

Problem: The misspelling of the word "we" where both sounds are phonetically audible.

Common spelling: Wii

Seriously people if your kids think that this is the spelling of one of the most common pronouns turn off the video games and try a little academic lesson in your home instead.