christytomlinson

The new year is almost here...

I can't believe 2007 is just a day or so away.. seriously.. where does the time go? I can't think about time or I get really freaked out. I always tell Ben that I can't wait for when our kids are all in their teens and tweens and how much fun we are going to have with the 8 of us doing family stuff together... but then I realize if they are all in their tweens... that means I am over 40!!! and that freaks me out a little.

Anyhow.. so here comes 2007.. and this year my drivers license finally expires. I swear that thing has nine lives. I got it almost 10 years ago and I have lost it more times than you can count. Just when I decide to go get a new one, I find it or someone sends it to me (I have lost it at hotels and airports before). We have moved twice since I got it too, and should have gotten a new one then as well, but didn't. I figure.. it's not broke.. why fix it! Except for that EVERYONE who sees my picture laughs at me.. it's not the best picture of me.. in-fact I don't think it really even looks like me.. I had a cold soar and so I tried to hide my chin and bottom lip with my turtleneck.. so it's pretty funny.

Well we had a fun holiday this week.After Christmas, We spent the week in Utah with my mom and some of my siblings. We had a blast. We went to Temple Square in Salt Lake and saw the lights and also saw the movie "Joseph" at the JS Memorial Building. It was amazing, touching, and a strength to my testimony. It was a great time. The lights are ALWAYS so beautiful at Temple Square too. My mom also offered to watch our kids one night so Ben and I could go out and have a night to ourselves. We had lunch with one of my good friend, Jamie and her husband, did some shopping and had dinner with my brother Cody and his wife Jayla. It was a nice treat.

Oh! Christmas morning.. well Santa must have come around 12:30.. because my kids were UP at 1:00 am. I swear I thought it couldn't get any worse than last year.. (they got up at 3:00). But it did. Parker didn't even GO TO BED... and Braden only slept for 2 hours (he went to bed at 9:30 and got up at 11:30 pm).. so I think after they heard Santa come, they came up stairs to go the "bathroom". Well then every half hour after that.. they would beg and plead to let them at least play with the toys Santa had left. See Santa takes down each child's stocking, and after it's filled with goodies and treats, he places it on the corner of a couch or on the floor. Then he puts each child's presents (he doesn't wrap his presents).. by each kid's stockings.. so in the morning , each of our kids has their own little pile Santa has made for them. The presents from Ben and I are wrapped under the tree. So anyway, they would ask.. every half hour to please let them play with the new Game Boy Advance Sp's (hand-held electronic game)that they Santa brought for each of them.  Of course we said no, because our rule was that they had to wait until 6:00 am to go into the living room where our tree is set up. Then Allie woke up around 3:00 and then Preston around 4:00.. so by 4:30, after hearing the pitter patter of little feet come into our room every 30 minutes and ask "PLEASE??????". We figured we might as well get up and start the party. I guess rules are meant to be broken! I was still pretty sick, so after presents and clean up, Ben and I went back to bed... we slept pretty much the entire day. It was fun though. Next year we are going to tell Santa to come like at 6:00 am... that way we can all sleep a little better and longer!! :). But I have to thank Santa for bringing each child their own Game Boy or V-Smile pocket (V-smiles are handhelds that take cartridges but are learning games that teach ABC's, mathematics etc.. GREAT toys for younger kids). I have to say that of all the presents Santa has ever brought, that was the "PERFECT" gift for our kids. Each one had their own, and their own new game, and they each found a spot in the house and seriously we didn't hear a WORD out of them all day. A few years before, Santa brought a Nintendo 64 (you know the old ones that takes cartridges).. I think he got it on ebay and it came with about 25 games.. anyhow.. he brought that and it wasn't the best idea. The kids played on it all day, but FOUGHT on it all day because they had to take turns, and they cried and fought every time they lost etc... in-fact we've to take it away countless times because they fight so much on it when they play each other. So this Christmas, I think Santa got smart. It might have cost him a little more money.. but WELL WORTH IT :).

Well you will be happy to know I have STUCK to my diet! YEAH!! I didn't exercise as much as I would have liked this last week, I got pretty sick with a fever and soar throat for about 5 days. But back to the gym on Monday! Ben bought me this great book! I can't remember the name of it, but I will post it later this week. IT ROCKS.. tons of great work out tips, recipes, eating tips.. you name it.. Its just a great book. I will have to post some tips from it later this week.

Well better head to bed. Church in the morning. Then next week is a busy week with work. I don't know if I mentioned this, but I was asked about a month ago to be the Educational Coordinator for Scrapbooks Etc, Better Homes and Gardens. Right now I am working on coordinating all the classes for the upcoming on-line Scrap-A-Fair that is being held on-line February28th- March 4th. There are some really great classes, teachers and not to mention shopping! Registration starts January 2nd. I am still doing editorial with the magazine, but this is something that I really enjoy doing. It's alot of what I did at Chatterbox, coordinating teaching events so it's been fun. I am so grateful for the opportunity.

Well really better go... my husband is waiting for me to snuggle with him.

Happy New Year to everyone. We didn't get to see Ben's family this Holiday Season.. so I want to send a special "love  you".. to all of them. We missed you this year! Hope to see you soon.

 

it's almost here...

My favorite day of the entire year..

Of course it's Christmas!!.. and you want to know why? The reason most kids think is because of the presents.. but not for me.. not now anyway.. (of course it used to be when I was younger).  But seriously.. it because it's like this happy fairy, takes over our home and the entire day is just filled with love, kindness, happiness, laughter.. all those good things. Everyone is happier. I always notice that the fighting (if any) is at a minimal, and usually the kids are more willing to share, willing to help out and are just happy during that entire day.   My husband is also home all day and usually in his PJ's. I LOVE that..  because it means that he is going to just veg, hang out and chill with me. He is such a busy body that even when he's not working he is working. He doesn't really watch TV except for late at night right before bed, and he isn't into sports, so he's never watching "the game" or stuff like that. His hobbies are his work, so it seems like he just never rests.  Christmas is my favorite time of year because we spend the entire day as a family.. playing the new board games Santa brought, trying out the new gadgets etc. Just love it.

I also love all of the traditions that this time of year brings. We started a new one this year and we have enjoyed it so much. Every year we do a secret Santa for someone in our community and our kids always enjoy helping us pick the family, buy the presents, and then watch from down the street while Ben and one of the kids secretly drops the sack off on the front door. It's a tradition that both Ben and I's family did growing up, and something we carried on. But this year, in November, I was giving a Family Home Evening lesson on Service, and we talked about how this Secret Santa thing was actually service and tried to have them remember how it feels when we give to others. We had seemed to be having a really hard time doing nice things for each other (meaning sibling to sibling) so I felt like they needed a lesson on how we feel when we do things nice for others in our family as well. (FHE what we Mormons call it, is a time we set each week, (our is on Monday nights) where we sit as a family, have a spiritual song, a scripture and a lesson and then have treats and an activity, which usually  means playing board games, or even sometimes going to the movies or bowling.. we do this each week to make sure we spend some good quality time as a family). So on this night, when talking about service, one of our kids suggested that we do other things for people this year, in addition to doing the secret Santa gifts. So we decided that as a family, we would come up with a list of 4-5 different services we could do for those in our neighborhood for our FHE activities each week through December.  Stuff that doesn't necessarily cost money.. but actual things we could do. Well after everyone gave their suggestions, the list ended up being alot longer 4-5.. it was much more like 12-15 so instead of cutting them back, we decided that our goal was get as many done by Christmas throughout the weeks and then carry some of them over into January and it has turned out to be one of the most fun and meaningful traditions we have done thus far. Each week our kids pull out the list and get so excited about which one we are going to do. Some are simple like taking donuts and hot chocolate to the widows in our neighborhood, or making coloring books and candy bags and taking them to the Care Facilities for Mentally Ill adults (they love stuff like that.. because they are just like kids).. But others were more involved like volunteering to babysit for parents who needed to spend time holiday shopping, or even just going out on a date. One service was even inviting all the kids in our neighborhood over, between the ages of 4-10 and making spin art and other art projects on a Saturday, so their parents could have a free day at home. I was just really impressed by the ideas that my kids came up with, without help from us too! We have had so much fun, that we have decided to make this not only a Holiday tradition but to do one service a month, as a family for our FHE activity. That's what I love about Christmas.. seriously.. it just brings out the best in everyone, heals hearts, brings people together.. makes people more willing to go the extra mile. THAT is why this Holiday is my favorite. Of course.. I love all the other traditions like making gingerbread houses, rein-acting the birth of Christ on Christmas Eve with our kids, having a huge Christmas breakfast with pancakes, eggs, blueberry muffins, waffles, hashbrowns, orange juice, grape juice... the list can go on.. (that's a tradition that my mom did with us each year.. and something that most of my siblings have carried on as well) and so many many more.. but the season of giving is my favorite part, more because it's the greatest feeling watching your kids find joy in serving others instead of serving themselves. It's too bad they don't enjoy doing stuff for each other as much others.. then our house would be alot more peaceful! But we are working on that :).

Oh! and update on my new year's resolution... I am 2 for 2 this week on Cardio and weights! YEAH!! and eating good. I already lost 2 pounds.. that's encouraging. And eating 6 times a day and watching what I eat and drinking lots of water.....

Thanks for all the WONDERFUL advice everyone posted.. holy cow.. tons of great ideas.. and good websites to look at! Here are a few incase you didn't read them

Kassie says: for a low calorie treat: make up some sugar free Cheesecake pudding, sprinkle some graham crackers on top and a little dab of lowfat whipcream.. it's a great treat and I looked into it.. only about 100 calories!

Teague had a TON of great tips for exercising.. you need to read her list of things to do.. seriously great too many to list.. but my favorite was that actually when you walk for 2 minutes then run for 2 minutes (and so on).. you burn more fat then if you ran the entire time.. GREAT TIP!

Carolyn showed me this great website; www.bodyforlife.com  It has some GREAT tips for exercise, eating habits and recipes! I remember melody did this once and said it really does work.

Eryn suggests getting some really good workout videos (for the days I can't make it to the gym) and suggested Denise Austin because she shows really great weights for sculpting your body.

and here are my two tips for the day: For everything you tend to grab as a snack that is bad.. think of a specific replacement for it. For example: For a cookie, because it's crunchy but also sweet and chocolaty: Buy those Chocolate Chip Teddy Grahams at the store. A serving is only 130 calories and have less fat because they are graham crackers. Snack-wells also make GREAT low-calorie/lowfat chocolate chip cookies.. YUM. If you like chips because of the salty crunch, try popcorn or even rice cakes that come in SO many flavors. But it has to be something that really does compare to that snack so when you do substitute it, you aren't wishing that you could eat the other thing. If you make a mental list for each item you tend to crave and replace it with something else.. you will be able to stick with it alot easier than just guessing as you go.

Second tip: if you find yourself overeating during meals or snacks.. eat a handful of Grape-nuts cereal and drink 8 ounces of water about 15-20 minutes before you eat and you will be less hungry because of the fiber and water in your stomach. Also fiber helps you loose weight and burn fat for lots of reasons, so eating grape-nuts and other high fiber snacks with meals helps you loose weight as well.

Thanks to everyone who left motivational comments and said they are going to join me! I can't wait to see everyone's progress. I should take a before and after picture.. just to remind myself what I am working towards! (not sure if I will share my before picture though! LOL)..

Well hope you all have a wonderful week, if I don't talk you before Christmas.. please have a VERY MERRY Christmas!!Love to you all...

New Years Resolutions!

Well guess what! I already started mine... New Years Resolutions, that is...

This year my goal is to get into shape and get back to my regular body weight. After most of my kids, I was able to loose the weight by purely dieting. It would take me 6-9 months.. but by eating 1500 calories or less, I could shed the pounds and be back to my size 7 within the year.

After my last baby however.. it just won't come off. I can diet all I want.. and I loose it.. but like 1 pound a month! LOL.. I don't have a hard time dieting either. I think counting calories is pretty easy and I have tried so many other diets.. like no carbs, low carbs, low fat.. etc.. but the only thing that ever worked for my body was low calorie. After Preston, who was my fourth child.. I had gained quite a bit of weight and had a stroke during my labor. When I found out I was pregnant with him, I had only had a baby (Allie).. 6 weeks before.. so you can imagine my surprise and the surprise my BODY had.. when I went full fledge into another pregnancy after just having a baby a month and half before. Being pregnant for 18 months was not good on my body.

So anyways, after Preston, I was the heaviest I had ever been and I had just had a stroke because of my weight. In High School I weighed around 110. I am short, 5'2" tall, so for me, that mean size 5's and 7's in jeans. After having Preston, and I mean 6 months after having Preston, I still weighed about 220 pounds and wore size 28 in womens pants and 4 XL in woman's shirts.  I was tired all the time and couldn't keep up with my busy life with 4 kids. So I decided I needed to really try and loose the weight. I would try and eat right and I just didn't loose the weight. I even exercised.. and nothing..  SO I went to the doctor. I found out that I had PCOS, PolyCystic Ovarian Disease (very common in women).. where my body was producing too much testosterone. Twice the normal amount. I makes you very tired and almost impossible to loose weight. You also either loose your hair or gain hair where you shouldn't (much like a man). So once I got on medication to keep that under control, my doctor said that it would allow my body to loose weight normally.. so if I ate right and exercised, I WOULD Loose weight. A few weeks after starting on that medicine, I started a 1200 calorie diet. In the first month I lost 25 pounds. That sounds like a ton, but when you are that heavy.. it hardly even showed.. but I kept going , that was in February and by Fall of that year, I was back in my size 7's and weighed 125 pounds. I had moved to a 1500 calorie diet about half way through and afterwords was able to maintain it by just eating normal. I hate to say this, but I didn't exercise at all either.. Just watched what I ate..

After my next child, Ethan. I had to start all over again, because I couldn't take the medicine while I was pregnant, so I gained additional weight on top of my pregnancy. I had about 80 pounds to loose. This time I was able to loose it in about 6 months (since I knew what i was doing this time around). Again.. just the low calorie diet, but no exercise.

But After this last baby.. Noah. I went back on my pills, and started my low calorie diet.. and just really nothing. It has been SO slow going. I mean I have lost about 35 pounds since I had him but he is almost 2!!  I am a size 12/14 right now.. and I guess that is nothing to complain about.. but I just want my regular body back (not even the super skinny one in high school, but the normal one you have.. after having babies).

So I have come to the conclusion that your body must change after 30. I had all my other kids before I was 30, but this one.. I was turning 31 the year I had him. I think my metabolism has changed and that this time around I REALLY have to exercise to get my body back in shape.

So.. (to make my long story come to an end..)

I have joined a GYM! My husband and I have been talking about it for months. There is one in Shelley and it's perfect for us. It's 24 hours and we can go anytime. In March, I am going to Brazil to teach and Ben is coming with me, so our goal is to have "better Looking" bodies by the time we leave. I realize to have the perfect body in 3 months may not happen, but I have 20 pounds to loose in order to be down to my pre-pregnancy weight. If I can loose 12-15 by then I will be happy.

I have been REALLY watching what I eat and it's not easy when people drop by holiday goodies etc. But it's going good. I bought a ton of fresh veggies and fruit and fibers and cut everything up so when ever i feel like snacking, I just pull it out and eat, instead of reaching for the cookies or crackers or box of cold cereal. I have to admit, when I lost the weight  before, my diet consisted of mostly cold cereal (not the healthy kind either but stuff like waffle crisp, Reese's puffs and lucky charms mixed with cinnamon toast crunch). While it has a ton of sugar in it, it is VERY low in calorie.. and eating it for breakfast, lunch and sometimes dinner, really keeps your count down and for me, it filled me up! (though I have heard that carbs make you hungrier.. .. never noticed that).

BUT!!! since THIS time, I am actually working out and doing cardio PLUS weights.. my sister said I really needed to eat healthy so that my body could sustain the workouts I will be putting it through.

Okay so Friday night we went and workout for the first time. We were there for an hour and half. I started with weights and here is what I did.

Squats, Curls (arms and legs), Rowing, Abs, Bench Press and Overhead Press. I also did some back extension thing that is supposed to help my back get stronger, since I have a terrible back. Well, the trainer happened to be there that night and even though I wasn't taking private lessons, he gave me a few tips. A few TOO many tips.. I think I WAY overdid it on the squats because by Saturday night, I couldn't even WALK. seriously.. you think I am joking, but when I tried to walk, my legs would buckle.. so I would have to walk very slowly and hold onto the walls! and getting out of chair or into a chair was a joke! by Sunday morning it was even worse.  BUT i am going back today for more.

My goal is to go 5 days a week for cardio and do weights 3 days a week. They have a personal trainer just for women that gives you good weights to do for weight loss and sculpting, but we could barley afford the gym pass and that was extra.. so I have to figure it out on my own.
IF anyone has any good suggestion.. PLEASE feel free to share!

So this is HUGE for me. I HATE exercising.. and I know that is a strong word.. but I mean it. Ask my family, ask my friends.. ask anyone. I just have always had the attitude that if I have to exercise to get skinny, I would rather be fat!  But in the last few months, I realized it's not just about being skinny. It's about being HEALTHY.  I mean I don't feel old, in fact I feel like life is just beginning and In order to keep up with my kids as teenagers and being a grandparent, I really need to learn to take care of my body right now. I know I will feel better for it. (of course if I can get a hot body in the process, it's an even bigger motivator). I watch my sister Tia, who struggled with weight her whole life and since high school was always a size 12-14, exercise her way into a size 4 this year! She has muscles and she can run like no one else. She was never big on diet or exercise either.. but a year or so ago.. she hit the same spot I am at and decided it was now or never. and She looks GREAT! I am so proud of her! My old boss, Melody Ross has always inspired me to be fit too. She inspired most of the girls at my work.. unfortunately..I never stuck with it and always had some excuse why I didn't need to! My sister Leora recently took up exercising and she is doing so good, she has been going steady for about 5-6 weeks now and seriously looks so great. Her and I are about the same.. so it's great to see her progress!

Soo... let's do it together. I am just like most of you.. say I don't care if I am over weight.. my husband still loves me, I don't go out much (except to travel and teach).. and people that know me or are around me, love me for who I am, not what I weigh.. so forgot exercise and diet..   YET I still long to be fit, healthy and skinnier FOR ME.. not for anyone else. Because deep down, I look at my body everyday and think.. UGH!

Okay.. so who's with me? I am going to keep track of my progress on my blog. I will even post my exercise, weight and eating habits. I will try and give good tips on thing you can eat. Keep in mind, these are things I EAT.. not prescribed by a nutritionist and everyone's bodies are different. But if it's works for me, it might work for someone else. I promise I won't slack off and go into my cold cereal diet again (well except for breakfast like grapenuts or special "k").

So starting today here is where I am at:
My weight: 155.2 (that's with no clothes and first thing in the morning.. it's when you are the lightest!).

My Clothes: I can fit into most 12's.. but in Juniors.. more like a 15 and my shirts are size large.

Goals for Week: I am going to walk/run on the treadmill for 20 minutes each day. Working up to a mostly run by the end of the week. (on Friday I could barely walk 18 minutes after all those squats, but I did it!) . Do 3 sets of 15 reps of each of my weights listed above, 3 times a week,( working into 20 reps by next week).

Great website for keeping track of you calories, weight etc and FREE: Fit Day . Love this website. It can tell you the calories or fat or carb count of just about ANYTHING you can eat including restaurants, fast foods, frozen food, fresh foods etc. and it keeps track of it for you on a daily basis, so you know how many calories you have eaten and how man you have left (if you are going on a 1200 or 1500 calorie diet). you can also use it for low carb diets (it can keep track of the carbs) and also for low fat diets (it can keep track of the fats).  Seriously the best site. Plus you can keep track of you weight, make goals, keep a journal.. etc. IT ROCKS!

Tip of food for the week: we had these when I was younger, one of my favorite low calorie lunches.

Ham and Lettuce Flour Tortilla: 180 Calories per serving

Flour Tortillas (ones that have less than 120 calories per tortilla) 1 or 2 depending on your diet

4-5 slices of slices ham deli meat (the kind you can buy in a bag and has about 80 calories per 8-10 slices)

1/4 cup diced tomatoes ( i love Roma's)

1/2 cup lettuce ( I use bagged lettuce that has Romain in it too).

1 TBS of non fat Sour Cream. I love the cow looking one (name??) (has about 20 calories per 2 TBS).

Olive Oil or Butter Flavored Cooking Spray (basically NO calories).

Directions: In a frying pan, spray with cooking spray generously and turn dial to medium high. Put one tortilla in the pan. While the tortilla is frying, cut up your ham deli meet, tomatoes and lettuce. Turn the tortilla once it starts to bubble. Once the other side is bubbled (this only takes seriously like 1-2 minutes per side).. then immediately removed and put on the plate. Spread sour cream in the middle and put the other stuff inside too. Roll up like a burrito and enjoy!

It's so crispy, but buttery from the spray and the other ingredients are the prefect blend! It's very low calorie for a lunch and if you eat with some fresh veggies on the side dipped in low calorie ranch dressing, it makes a great lunch. I usually make two of them if it's for dinner. They are seriously so good. You could also try tuna, chicken or salmon (though I can't eat salmon).. but I am sure the others are good too!

Well this turned into a very long blog post. But hopefully some of you will get motivated to join me. Seriously we can do this and if we start before the holidays really hit, we won't do so much damage. Keep in mind I DO plan on splurging on the holidays and eating our holiday goodies we make every year for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Years, but just in smaller portions, plus I will be exercising so it will help counter act some of it.

Hugs to you all!

As promised...

but first! I have an update on the skunk! Our little friend has left.. finally! Last night my husband put out a food trail, that lead from where he was.. to the sidewalk. It snowed last night and when we woke up, he was gone! We saw his little paw prints in the snow that lead to the elementary school across the street. I am sure he didn't stay there.. there is an open field close by and I bet that is where he came from. We should have called animal control though! We didn't think animal control would come out for a skunk, but I got several e-mails from people who said that they had similar problems and animal control came and took them away. oh well.. next time we know!

Okay! so here is an update of all the teaching events I will be attending or doing next year. I have had several people e-mail me and ask.. so thought this would be easiest :)

So if you live in the area.. I would love to meet you! For more information on each one... Just click on the highlighted name and it will take you to either a website or an e-mail address to find out more info.

2007 Teaching Calendar

January 12-13th: Christy Tomlinson House Retreat: Shelley Idaho. Space is limited. This event will be held at my house. We will be doing 3 classes and a crop. For more info e-mail me!

February 23-24th: Manchester Kiss Scrapbook Event: Manchester New Hampshire.

February 25th-March 2nd: Scrapbook Cupboard: East Bridgewater, MA

February28th- March3rd: Scrapbooks Etc, BHG Magazine "Scrap-A-Fair" on line teaching event.

March 19th- April 1st: Brazil Event: Sao Paulo, Brazil

April 26th- 29th: Ruban Rouge: Palm Harbor, Florida: I am doing this event with Margie Romney- Aslette from Making Memories!

May 3-6th: Memory Works Consultants Retreat:  Midway, Utah. This event is for Memory Works consultants only. My dear friend, Stacy Julian will also be there!

October 2007: Cruisin Western Caribbean: Fun for Less Tours: This was rescheduled from January.

October 12th- 14th 2007 Canada's Crop for Kids: Winnipeg, Canada

November 2007: Scrap Gala: Montcon, New Brunswick Canada

So that's it! I know.. it's a lot but after May, I will be settled through the summer to spend lots of family time with my kids and husband. I am planing my 2007 classes this week and some of those classes will be taught starting at the Scrapbook Cupboard in Ma. Well better go. Dinner needs to be done and tonight is FHE (family home evening). I have the lesson and it's on "Being Honest". Haven't done it yet.. so better get on it and I have laundry to put away too!

Skunks, computers, work and family stuff...

that's why i haven't been updating my blog lately.

first and foremost, I was without a computer for over a week and that seriously screwed me up. That was my busiest week of work too and such very BAD timing. But now it's fixed and working like new! I still need to have some stuff re-installed on it.. but it's all good.

So onto the Skunk.. well many of you know we bought an older home, gutted  it down to the walls and redid the entire main floor and downstairs family room. Luckily the basements for the most part was unfinished, so that wasn't something we needed to redo.. just finish. We didn't do that before we moved in.. so we are doing it now. Part of that process means making the current windows downstairs, to full 4x4 windows.. so that it meets code and we can make 3 bedrooms down stairs for our boys. So Ben a few weeks back rented some sort of tractor/backhoe sort of thing and dug out all the bushes and dirt about 8 feet down, then in a few weeks, we are going to have someone come and cut through the concrete walls to make bigger windows out of the exisistng ones. Anyhow, so these holes have been dug for about 2 weeks.. there is one in the front, directly under our bedroom window (which is above the downstairs window that need to be made bigger).. and 2 in the back. Well Friday night I came home from a girls night out (went and saw a good year.. okay movie).. and I could smell a skunk SOOO badly. Went into the house and didn't think anything of it, except that all night long, when I would wake up to get bottles for Noah, etc.. I could smell it so bad in our house.  Well later the next day, Ben came into the house and announced that a skunk had fallen into the hole in the front  yard (beneath our bedroom window) and that is was still alive! Too funny. So we weren't sure what to do, because if we tried to get it out.. we were afraid it would spray and then our house would REALLY smell and probably for weeks if not months.. So Ben made a ladder that would be easy for the skunk to climb up and then paid some older neighboor kids 10 bucks to slowly walk up to the hole and place the ladder down the hole next to the skunk (being ever so careful so the skunk wouldn't be startled and spray)... anyhow.. so today woke up and nothing...  the Skunk was still down there.. and just didn't really seem like he wanted to leave. (he's so cute by the way).. So then Ben and Braden got a fishing pole and put a piece of hot dog on it and put it down in the hole and tried to coax the skunk up the ladder and out of the hole and it WORKED!! except that after he got out.. the skunk then tried to climb back down the ladder and when he realized he couldn't.. he climbed over the small mound of dirt and found a little nest in the bush right next to our front door. So that's where he is now.. and when I mean right next to our front door.. I mean literally 2 feet away. So we have to use our side door to go outside.. in fear that if we use the front door, it will startle the skunk and spray. We live in a great neighborhood where everyone brings treats to all their neighbors around Christmas and we are just nervously waiting for someone to come to our front door and startle the poor skunk. We can't kill it either because it would still spray. The inside of my house already smells like skunk just from him being so close the house for 2 days.. I can't imagine if he actually SPRAYED our front door. Seriously I think our carpet and furniture would smell for months! LOL

... so that's my crazy skunk story. The kids love the skunk.. think he's so cute.. and he is.. but the smell is just killing me.. fun fun!

As for family stuff.. I love this time of year because we do so many Christmas traditions. last week we made gingerbread houses.. we also draw names within our family and so this week, Ben, I and all the kids headed to walmart to buy gifts for the person we had drawn names for. I got Ben.. but didn't find him anything. Then we went to a Christmas dinner party with some new people in our neighborhood and had a BLAST. Such fun people. My mom came into town and we had a great time playing games with my kids, then I visited my sister this weekend and I also met for the first time, in person, Greg Olsen. He is a very famous religious artist. He does paintings and my parents bought some of his first paintings when he was young and just out of high school. He lived down the street from us when we were kids.. and my parents were still married. My parents were good friends with him (he was a 19 at the time). Anyhow.. it was cool to finally meet him in person. I have a ton  of his prints and have met his parents several times. He had a lot of nice things to say about my parents and that was nice. So that's what's been happening the last couple of weeks!


Okay so tomorrow.. I have a little bit of work to do.. but then I want to update all of you on my teaching schedule for next year! I am so excited for all the different events going on.. one right here locally.. at my house. Fun fun. I also wanted to mention that Making Memories now offers this free cool service.. it's called "Smile Box". You can upload your pictures and put them into premade digital layouts.. and print them out or send them through e-mail to friends and family. It's free too. I actually created a few of the templates you can use. It was fun. I don't do digital very often.. so it was a nice break to work on something new.

Anyhow.. so I will update my blog tomorrow with all those events!
night all!