Do You Fold Your Underwear?

Last week, Keely at Mannland5 asked the question do you fold your underwear on her Getting To Know You blog hop.

I am an underwear folder. I always have been and likely always will be. Mine, Ian's, the children's. I like to see neatly folded stacks of clean underwear, even if they continue to live in the laundry basket.

I thought everyone did this.

Imagine my surprise after reading several blogs and discovering that this was not a common practice. Many people just shoved them into their drawers, not caring that they will be wearing wrinkly underwear.

Wrinkly. Underwear.

Shudder.

So I put up a poll for you all to vote as to whether or not you fold your underwear. And the results are in.

Do You Fold Your Underwear?
Always ~ 9 votes ~ 28%
Sometimes ~ 3 votes ~ 9 %
Rarely ~ 2 votes ~ 6%
Never ~ 18 votes ~ 56%
Total votes: 32

Interesting.

On to my next poll - Do You Wear Your Pjs In Public?

Sunday Funday ~ Jan 10

My body hurts so much this morning that no amount of whining or complaining could properly convey just how much pain I am in.

Either I am doing these exercises wrong and that's why everything hurts, or I'm doing them right and that's why everything hurts.

Neither here nor there: everything hurts.

Enough about that because today is Keely from Mannland5's Getting To Know You blog hop!

Today's questions are...

1. If you were stranded on a deserted island and could pick one person to be stranded with you, who would you pick? Family members not included.

I would pick a world famous survivalist so that I wouldn't die. He/she would prepare a shelter for me and make sure I didn't starve to death. He/she would also pack a gun in case there were any Others on the island that wanted to get me. He/she would also be a great conversationalist who appreciated my need for quiet mornings and periods of quiet time during the day.

2. Do you read celebrity gossip?

Yes I do. I probably should be embarrassed by that but I'm not. I think I know more about the lives of famous people than I do about my own neighbours. I don't know why I find it so addictive because 90% of celebrities annoy me. I read People and US Magazine online. I do not read Perez Hilton ever because he disgusts me in ways that would be inappropriate for me to say out loud.

3. Favorite show you're watching this season?

The Biggest Loser, hands down. Of course, that will may be bumped when the last season of Lost begins next month.

4. How tall are you?

5'9"

5. What was the last book you read?

It was The Christmas Dog which I read last month and reviewed here. I didn't like it that much. I've been asked to review a few more books this month so let's hope they're better!

6. Flats or heels?

I live in my sneakers and occasionally will wear flats if I'm going to church or out for dinner. I love wearing heels because I love to dress up and feel feminine, but being a stay at home mom, there aren't that many reasons to dress up.

7. If you had to choose one natural disaster to go through, what would you choose..Earthquake, Tornado, or Hurricane?

I would choose a hurricane. They can be predicted and I would have a chance to move to higher ground or just plain get out of the way.

8. Thong, panties, or (gasp) granny panties?

I'm just going to say it, I don't understand the purpose of a thong for daily wear. I get why they'd be appropriate in ... ahem...certain situations, but I can't imagine wearing them to garden or grocery shop. I like a little more fabric in my panties, thank you very much.

If you'd like to play along too, make sure you visit Keely's blog and link up!

Thanks Keely :-)

Oh I Forgot To Tell You Yesterday...

I weighed myself yesterday morning and so far I've lost 6.4 lbs.

I can't believe it :-)

Have a great day, friends.

5QF ~ January 8

Hip Hip Hooray!! It's Friday!

I love Fridays because that means Family Night. Pizza, a movie and togetherness.

I also love Fridays because.....

You know what's coming, don't ya?



Mama M's Five Question Friday!

And today's questions are...(drum roll please!)

1. What's your "comfort food"?

Talk about creepy. I was just talking about this with my mom today. It's definitely mashed potatoes and corn, smothered in gravy. Oh.Yum. Seriously, is there any bad feeling that a hot bowl of mashed potatoes, corn and gravy can't fix?

I submit that there is not.

2. Do you send Thank Yous (handwritten or email)?

It's always my preference to send a handwritten Thank You note whenever possible. I think it gives it a personal touch. I don't like sending emailed Thank Yous, nor do I like to receive one that way.

3. If you had to be trapped in a TV show for a month, which show would you choose?

Easy. I'd chose to be trapped in 90210 because I need to straighten out some of those kids. First of all, I'd let that Teddy character know that he isn't fooling anyone, trying to pretend he is a teenager. He's in his 30's in real life and I'm on to him. He's creeping me out.

I'd also tell Naomi to keep her clothes on and to quit sleeping with every guy she likes. She's sending a bad message to teenage girls everywhere, and Liam is hot so settle down and just chillax already. I'd tell Navid that he needs to move on from Adriana, and tell Debbie that Harry is going to fool around with Kelly, just wait for it. I'd tell Dixon that he isn't going to find anyone sweeter than Silver, even though she's a bit of a head-case and I'd tell Annie to smarten up and quit being annoying and talking so rudely to everyone or else I will wash her mouth out with soap.

Yeah, I watch 90210 every week. Don't hate. Don't judge. I bet you do too.

4. What is your favorite online recipe site?

I don't go online for recipes. I use my own and ones that I steal from family to pass off as my own.

5. If you had to choose: "Friends" or "Seinfeld"?

I've never been a Friends follower. I've enjoyed the occasional episode but a lot of the characters were annoying.

Now Seinfeld... It was such a laid back show filled with nothingness that made me laugh every time.

Want to play too? Answer the questions and link up to Mama M's blog to join in on the fun. No blog? No worries! Just leave your answers in the comments so I can read 'em.

Thanks again, Mama M!

I'm Sorry I Cheated On You Jillian

But I couldn't help it.

It's like this...

I went to my mom's today to visit so I wasn't able to get my workout in during the day. I figured I'd do it once Ian came home so he could keep the kids away while I made a sweaty fool of myself exercised. We had dinner, I cleaned up the kitchen and Ian put the children to bed.

He was playing Modern Warfare 2 on the living room TV, so I graciously offered to get my shred on downstairs in the playroom.

We couldn't find the remote to control the DVD. Ian looked everywhere but it couldn't be found. I didn't want to do it in the living room or bedroom because I didn't particularly relish the idea of my jumping resounding throughout the house. In my world, I am as light as a feather. I did not see the point of bringing reality into this.

Now we get to the how I cheated on Jillian part.

The playroom has a VCR and I just so happen to have a four pack of Billy Blanks' Tae Bo tapes. A long, long (long, long loooooong) time ago I tried the instructional video and hurt myself in the first six minutes and gave up forever.

How someone hurts themselves in an instructional video I have no idea.

I told Ian this, but he was all oh you can do the basic workout blah blah blah. So I said ok. After all, isn't Jillian the toughest cookie around? Billy should be a piece of cake.

The warm up itself was pretty intense. At one point my feet were as wide apart as they could go and I was supposed to hold on to my ankles. I did it, but before I knew what was happening I fell over onto my forehead.

I got up to do my lunge, jab, jab, lunge, jab, jab and my hair clip went flying.

I tried to keep up. I really, really did. I was coughing and choking and gasping for air as per my usual M.O. when the camera panned to a little girl that looked to be about eight.

Eight!

Little Miss did not appear to have any trouble whatsoever with the punching, jabbing and uppercutting. Neither did the 80 year old woman two rows away from her.

Oh yeah. I said 80. I'm being generous here.

I got all caught up on these two and couldn't get my rhythm going. Ok, who am I kidding. I have none.

Why is everyone in this video smiling?? I am not smiling.

So, I did my mock-skipping a la Jillian and the girls. Then I sat down. A moment later, Billy's face fills my TV screen...

"That's it! That's it! You're doing great!"

Why thank you, Billy. Sitting on the couch has always come easily to me.

After sucking back a ton of water, I got up to try again. Now he told me to hold up my right arm and bend it in front of my face, then rotate my left arm around it, all while keeping my right arm still.

I felt like a boxer already.

All was well and good until he said to rotate both arms in a circle.

"Faster! Faster!" he said.

So I went faster and I was all oh yeah I got this , and then I punched myself in the mouth.

In the spirit of self-preservation, I shut off the TV and came upstairs.

I never thought I'd say this, but I'm looking forward to some Jillian-time tomorrow.

Happy 500th Post To Me!

Isn't that exciting? 500 posts!

Sorry to say, I don't really have anything earth shattering to discuss on this most momentous occasion.

Well, I suppose I could tell you about the fight Sam and Julie had before breakfast this morning. I could hear them all the way upstairs with the bathroom door closed. Sam was mad at Julie because she wouldn't help him bring in our horse-dog from his walk this morning. Julie was mad that Sam was bossing her around and telling her to put his dirty shirt in the laundry room. It hurts my heart to hear how harshly they speak to one another.

Do your children fight a lot? Do you encourage them to work it out themselves or do you sit down with them to resolve it?

I could also tell you about how the horse-dog needs to clean out his innards four times between 7:45am - 8:30 am. He was jumping all over me while I was preparing Jordan's breakfast and when I went to answer the phone, he pooped on my carpet. I was talking to Ian and he got an ear shattering "NOOOOOOOOO WIIIILLLLLOOOOOWWWWW NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" in the ear.

Sorry babe.

Or I could tell you how exhausted I was this morning after laying awake until almost 3am, and that I dozed off in my favourite chair with the sun on my face. I dozed for ten minutes and it felt like 5 hours.

Oh I love me a nap like that.

Very 500th Post worthy stuff, huh?

I Am In Love With The Biggest Loser (small spoiler alert)

I've seen a couple of episodes of this show over the years, and almost always tuned into the finale to see the drastic weight losses, always with a jealous heart.

Tonight was the two hour season premiere. I set our PVR to tape it, figuring I would watch it tomorrow sometime. When I told the children it was going to be starting, they both got so excited and wanted to watch it together tonight. So, at 8:00pm sharp, Ian, the children and I settled in to watch.

Oh my heart.

The stories of the contestants. Their weights. Their comments... So many of them spoke the thoughts I have had my entire life.

I was crying two minutes into it.

Twenty minutes into it, Ian headed over to Chapters to buy me The Biggest Loser 30-Day Jumpstart DVD because I said I would like to try it. His support is unending. It blows my mind.

What a great show. I feel very motivated to keep going. One day at a time.

~*~ HERE COMES THE SMALL SPOILER ALERT!! ~*~

Sam made me laugh at one point during the show. We were all feeling so sad for the blue and yellow teams being sent home when all of a sudden we saw legs jumping out of the bushes that belonged to Bob and Jillian. At the commercial Sam said "I thought they were ninjas jumping out to kill them or something!"

Julie and I said at the same time: REALLY SAM!? REALLY???

I need to buy weights tomorrow. I've been using two cans of soup but I ate one of them today so now I'm out of luck.

I put off doing day 2 of the shred until just before the children were due home from school. It was sad, friends. My knees and shoulders are so sore from yesterday that I couldn't do much. I did what I could, rested when I needed to and tried more of the exercises.

Overall I feel my body loosening up a bit which is nice and I have more energy. I'm drinking a ton of water and I've cut out all snacking completely. My innards feel cleaner. Two days in, friends. Two days.

Julie tried the DVD when she came home from school (after playing outside for about an hour) and did the entire thing - advanced level - and I don't think she even broke a sweat. Jordan wanted to do what Julie was doing and I did take a couple of pics that I'll post sometime soon.

Tomorrow I'm going to visit my mom. I haven't seen her since Saturday and I'm missing her big time.

Did you watch The Biggest Loser tonight? What team are you pulling for? I'm Team Pink!

The Shred - Day One - I Think I'm Dying Already

Ok. I don't want to be overly dramatic or anything, but I truly think I'm dying.

This morning I was raring to go and excited to start Day One. (Liar liar pants on fire)



I had to call Ian at work to figure out how to switch the tv from cable to the dvd player. He wrote all sorts of instructions out for me the other day but I've lost the slip of paper.

Sadness.

I felt very athletic-like in my brand spankin' new sneakers. Like I could do anything that Jillian Michaels threw at me. That feeling didn't last long. I'm guessing about thirty seconds into things when reality came crashing in.

I followed the lower-impact lady, figuring I could take her no problem. I was wrong. So very, very wrong.

I'm going to be honest here. I didn't make it too far into the video before I had to stop. I was coughing and choking and gasping for air.

I watched the rest of the video so I would know what to expect for tomorrow. I have a feeling I'm not going to like Jillian's brand of surprises.

I have nightmares about doing this again and I haven't even gone to sleep yet.

I can hear/feel this weird rattling in my chest anytime I inhale and now I'm coughing like a fifty year smoker.

Maybe I dislodged my lung or something.

I'm sore.

I cried several times about this today as I struggled with feeling like a failure. But I try to remind myself that even though I didn't make it all the way through, I did more exercise today than I've done in a very long time. But tomorrow will be better. It has to be better. (Oh Lord! Please make tomorrow be better!)

Thank you to everyone who left me comments of support and encouragement today. I was so grateful for them and you lifted my spirits.

For those of you who are also working with Jackie from A Step At A Time, I'm hoping to make it to your blogs soon. I would come by tonight but I'm very sore and I'm going to soak in a hot bath. I think you guys can appreciate that!

Tomorrow will be better.

The Shred

Sweet mercy.

Today I'm starting Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred.



I'm starting this journey with a group of other bloggers, hosted by Jackie at A Step At A Time. She has already completed Level 1 of this program and her before and after pictures are amazing.

I don't want to talk too much about it right now because I don't have a great track record with these things, and I really, really, really don't want to fail at this.

But just so you know, I'm scared I will.

So, there it is. Wish me luck. I'm gonna need it.

Sunday Funday ~ Jan 3

I'm feeling exceptionally sleepy this morning and haven't been able to concentrate on the blog post I'm working on, so thank Heavens for Keely from Mannland5's Sunday Funday blog hop!



Each Sunday Miss Keely asks some getting to know you questions so that our readers and fellow bloggers can learn more about one another.

Today's questions are:

1. Where were you born?

Ontario, Canada

2. Toilet paper..do you crinkle/crumple or fold it?

I fold it, then fan it because I don't want anything getting on me, if you catch my drift.

That sounds like a bit of an over share there. Sorry.

3. What was the last movie you saw in the theater?

Paranormal Activity. It wasn't phenomenal but it had some good suspense and a fairly acceptable pop-out factor. Slow in places though.

4. What room to you spend the most time in besides your bedroom?

Our living room. We are always in here.

5. Would you be grossed out if you found out your husband/boyfriend/significant other hadn't brushed their teeth for 4 days and you had been snogging (kissing) them?

Ew. Um...yes.

6. Do you fold your underwear?

Yep. Each pair must be folded exactly the same, forming a neat stack. I do not like crinkly wrinkly underwear. It's just wrong. What if I got into a car accident and had to be taken to the hospital? With crinkly underwear? GASP!

7. What is one goal you would like to achieve this year?

I'd like to learn who I am and what I like to do. I find myself trying so many things in an effort to be like others, that now I'm not quite sure what it is that I like to do. That's kind of what the blog post I'm working on is about. More to come on that.

8. What is your favorite month/least favorite month?

I love January and September because they have such a new beginning feel to them. I'm not so much a "month" person as I am a "season" person. I love Fall the best, then Spring, then Summer. I don't like winter at all.

Want to play along too? Head on over to Mannland5 and give it a go.

What? You don't have a blog but still want to play? Then leave your answers in the comment section of this post! I'd love to read what you have to say.

Thanks Keely!

~*~ Happy Birthday Ian!! ~*~

Happy Birthday to you...
Happy Birthday to you...
Happy Birthday my dear Iannnnnnn...
Happy Birthday to you.....!

Babe, I hope this year is your year, and that its filled with joy, love, success and beautiful moments. I love you more than I could ever tell, and I feel so blessed to be your wife.

Love you forever,
Katie
xo xo xo xo xo xo xo

5QF ~ January 1

I'm back after my little mini-blog break!

Ian has been home with us this week and we've all enjoyed being lazy together. Sleeping in, naps in the afternoon, lounging around, just being together. The lead-up to Christmas was pretty hectic and we've all crashed a bit this week.

First day of a fresh new year. I wonder what this year will bring.

I know what today brings - Mama M's Five Question Friday!



And here we go with today's questions!

1. If you could bring one character to life from your favorite book, who would it be?

GASP!!

Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice, no question.

But the Matthew MacFayden version of Mr. Darcy because he was just perfectly perfect in the movie. So...dashing. (Oh yep, I said dashing)



Favourite line...You must know... surely, you must know it was all for you. You are too generous to trifle with me. I believe you spoke with my aunt last night, and it has taught me to hope as I'd scarcely allowed myself before. If your feelings are still what they were last April, tell me so at once. My affections and wishes have not changed, but one word from you will silence me forever. If, however, your feelings have changed, I will have to tell you: you have bewitched me, body and soul, and I love, I love, I love you. I never wish to be parted from you from this day on.

Did you just hear my sigh? Cuz I sighed big time. Love me some Mr. Darcy.

2. Where did you get your very first kiss?

I was 22 when I got my first kiss. I was incredibly shy and didn't date much at all in high school. I had started seeing someone who was 16 years older than me (what was I thinking) and we had been walking in the park. He leaned in my car window and kissed me. I didn't want to kiss him and he was very pushy and I was so cross with him that I didn't enjoy it.

Ugh. Thanks for dragging up that vile memory, Mama M.

3. How did you welcome in the New Year?

I hung out with the children watching Bolt and the second Night At The Museum while Ian was across the city doing a magic show. He was home by 11 pm and we just hung out until just before midnight when the cable kept going off. So we ended up missing the ball dropping and toasted each other with iced tea & 7UP in our best crystal glasses after the fact. The children crawled into bed and I went shortly afterwards.

4. What is your favorite Beatles song?

You know that one person in the whole world that wasn't a Beatles fan? Yeah, that was me. I had to google them to see what they sang and if I recognized any of their songs. Why couldn't this be an ABBA question?

Ok, so picking from the list I googled, I guess "I Want To Hold Your Hand" was ok.

Is it just me or does it feel a little awkward in here now that my extreme level of lameness is out there for you all to see?

5. Donuts: Overrated, underrated, or 'bout right?

I donut could never be overrated in my world. But I am very donut-picky. It has to be fresh and it has to be un-squished. I am not a fan of Krispy Kreme and I don't get why everyone went crazy when we got one here. The lineups were insane. For blocks. For months. With police present to control the chaos.

Yep, that's how we roll here in the Great White North - chaos at the Krispy Kreme.

That's it for this week! Make sure you head over to Mama M's blog to play along too :-)

Happy New Year!

Thank you so much for hanging out with me this past year. Your comments have lifted my spirits more than I could ever express here.

Happy New Year, dear friends. I wish you all abundant blessings for 2010.

Psst...

Christmas Recap

Hard to believe that Christmas is over with. I'm feeling a bit of the post Christmas blues, I think.

Christmas Eve we went to our church for the children's service which was set up as three live scenes leading up to the birth of Christ. Sam was going to be a shepherd and I was really looking forward to seeing him. He is very reserved and shy by nature, so the very fact that he was so excited to take part in the service blew me away. Ian was one of three guides that each led a group to each scene. Jordan lasted about thirty seconds before she freaked out and we had to leave so she wouldn't spoil the experience for everyone else. We ended up spending most of the service in the prayer room and I missed seeing Shepherd Sam.

Afterwards we went to my mother's for a delicious ham dinner. She gave each of the children new pjs and after Ian started a fire in the fireplace, we all gathered around to listen to Sam and Julie read T'was The Night Before Christmas. We headed home around 9:00.

Julie put out hot chocolate and sugar cookies for Santa, and left him a letter. We checked the Norad site to see where Santa was and hurriedly ran upstairs when I told them he was already in New Brunswick. Ian and I stayed up late to wrap the last few gifts for them.

Christmas morning came quickly. 6am in fact. Sam said he'd been awake since 5am! We all headed downstairs to see if Santa came. We couldn't wake Jordan so we opened our stockings while she slept. Finally she woke up and joined us. She caught on to the excitement of opening gifts in a hurry, let me tell you!

Julie was thrilled that Santa brought her the Hannah Montana PSP she asked for and Sam was over the moon with his Band Hero. I already blogged about MaryBeth, my new digital camera. Ian was looking forward to setting up his new surround sound system.

We headed over to my mom's for 9am, opened more gifts and then had a lovely breakfast. We came home just after lunch and I had a wonderful, leisurely nap until 4. At 5pm we were back at Mom's for a delicious turkey dinner. Mom baked a cake and Julie carried it out while we all say Happy Birthday to Jesus. So precious.

This morning was spent with Ian's parents. They arrived just after 10am and after opening gifts from them, we had a light lunch and they left just after 2pm. They head off to Myrtle Beach, SC tomorrow morning and won't be home until April 1st.

Ian and Julie braved the Boxing Day crowds while Sam, Jordan and I hung around the house. Sam is getting into blogging and asked me to help him set up his blog. Jordan kept herself busy by covering Willow with bandaids. That dog is so gentle, it amazes me.

We closed off our evening by gathering at the kitchen table for a light dinner and played a game together. So sweet.

Tomorrow will be a lazy day and we're all looking forward to that. Nowhere to go, no housework needs to be done. Just a slow day together.

I hope you all had a blessed Christmas!

Squeeeee!

Look at what Ian gave me for Christmas!!



Her name is MaryBeth and I love her.

She auto corrects red eye and wrinkles...and takes video...and other stuff I'm still learning about!!

Have I mentioned I love her?

Sigh.

Just relaxing after a very busy but blessed Christmas day. More in the days to come.

Merry Christmas

For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:6

Merry Christmas, friends. May the many blessings of love, peace and joy be with you this holiday season and always.

I'm Done! I'm Done!

All of my Christmas shopping is done!!!

Jordan and I headed out to yet another mall first thing this morning and I was able to finish up everything on my list.

Whew!

We had a quick lunch in the food court and you will never guess what we saw.

Birds.

Flying free in the food court!!

This mall doesn't have a pet store so you just know they are dirty outside birds.

That's got to be seven kinds of gross right there. I don't like birds. They are creepy. Jordan, however, was completely enchanted.

Today she did not throw her shoes. She did not shout her "a" word or "die".

Nope. Today she just touched everyone's bum as they walked past. By the time we left the mall she was squeezing.

Nice.

Oh! She has a new word. Mine. She says it so softly while holding something right to her chest. Mine.

Tomorrow I will be cleaning the house and baking. I love baking on Christmas Eve. The children will help me put together treat bags for our neighbours and then they will deliver them.

We'll head over to the church for 5:30 for the 6:00 children's service. Ian is taking part, as is Sam. He's a shepherd. Afterwards we're going to my mom's for dinner.

Must go, much wrapping to be done.

How about you? Are you ready for Christmas?

Catchin' Up

Can you believe that Christmas is only a few days away? I sure can't. There seems to be so much to do and I'm worried I won't get it all done. I'm frustrated with myself that with all the busyness of this time of year, I've taken my eyes and heart off the true Reason for this season: Jesus. I need to quiet my heart and refocus myself. And celebrate.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Thank you to all of you that shared your thoughts on my Would You Have Said Anything? post. I went back to that mall yesterday but didn't go to that store. I agreed with you all and I kept my trap shut.

Write this date down in your calendar, folks. It doesn't happen often.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Jordan is getting more and more verbal every day. In addition to saying "ass" she now shouts "die! die! die!". She gets this from Sam who shouts this at his Lego characters while playing on the xbox.

Last week I was at a different mall with Jordan, and after walking around for three hours we decided to head home. I was almost at the door when I realized that she had taken off one of her shoes and dropped it somewhere. We started backtracking to find it, and it was then that Jordan decided to shout her new word the entire way.

"DIE! DIE! DIE!"

I felt like an idiot. I didn't know how to make her stop. We walked for twenty minutes with her shouting before we found it. These were hardly expensive shoes...I paid $5 for them. So basically I walked for twenty minutes, totally embarrassed, for something that cost me $2.50. That's how cheap I am.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Sam had some friends over this past Saturday to hang out and play video games, so Julie and I headed out to see The Princess and the Frog for some girl time. It was a cute movie but I didn't think it was as good as the other Disney princess movies.

In case you were wondering, yes, I did doze off during it. I can't help it. That's what I do - I fall asleep during movies.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Speaking of Julie, she has been taking great delight in washing the dishes.



She did them again this morning after breakfast. My control issues are killing me. So is the amount of water and dish soap she is using.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Willow ripped a hole in my carpet.

!!!

Ian bought a runner to cover it up and to, hopefully, deter him from doing it anymore. Nope. He is going through that one too.

He has tons of toys and things to chew. What's up with this??

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

I've been practicing my sugar cookies some more and made these for the kids' friends in the neighbourhood...



I decorated these for my friend Jen's son who turned 1 the other day.



Jen knows that these will likely get eaten before they make it to her house, so hopefully she'll appreciate the thought ;-)

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Ian's company Christmas party was this past Sunday and it was at a really cool venue. They had bumper cars, laser tag, stock car racing, and wall-sized screens for Wii bowling and Guitar Hero. They served pancakes and fruit, not that the children were interested in eating.

Poor Jordan...she tripped and fell flat on her face and cut herself just under her bottom lip. Now she looks like she has a soul patch goin' on there.



Lovely, huh? Just in time for my inlaw's visit this weekend.

Remember this pic?



I laughed so hard when I read this sign and had to post it for all of you to see. WhirlyBall is played while driving bumper cars around. I don't think I could play because it involves doing two things at once and well, that just isn't my forte.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Alright friends. I have to get my clean on so my house is ready for Christmas. Good thing I have two kids I can put to work ;-)

A Giveaway!

Nope, not from me but hold tight...I'm working on a few things for the new year.

This giveaway is hosted by my beautiful friend Laura from Olivia Grace Creations.

And what is she giving away, you ask??

Look!!



Laura was so moved by this book that she wants to send a copy to one lucky reader. I've read this book and it had a huge impact on me. You will love it too, I promise you.

Redeeming Love is a retelling of the biblical love story of Gomer and Hosea in a tale set against the exciting backdrop of the California Gold Rush. The heroine, Angel, is a young woman who was sold into prostitution as a child. Michael Hosea is a godly man sent into Angel’s life to draw her into the Savior’s redeeming love.

Sigh.

I couldn't put this book down. It was a tangible, visible reminder of God's love for us, how it doesn't matter where we are, or what we've done, He loves us with an everlasting love. Who doesn't want and need to know that??

All you have to do to enter is head on over to her beautiful blog and leave her a comment telling her about the most amazing book you've read.

While you're there, make sure to look around her blog and check out the beautiful cards and crafts she creates. She's so talented.

Good luck!