Snow

Snow...finally...snow!
There is just something about snow that makes you feel young again.  I hope it is here for keeps or at least until next March.  : )
This weekend marks the first lighting weekend for our town.  Thousands of tourists will visit us to see our town all lit up with thousands of LED lights hear Christmas carols sung up and down Front Street, witness the living nativity, and sled down the sledding hill.  Bonnie will be dressing up again as a Christmas character.  She will also be singing downtown at the gazebo with some other kids from her choir.  Her teacher specifically asked if she would sing with them, which is such an honor.  Brian will also be working downtown with the Boys Scouts selling something ( I don't actually know what they are doing downtown, except that he has to work for three hours the next couple of Sundays.) 

So with the snow falling outside, the fire crackling in the wood stove, Bonnie playing Christmas tunes on the piano, I say....Welcome Winter.


P.S.  I went out and bought a pair of size 10 jeans and they FIT!  One more week until I weigh in and get measured.  I am excited to see how much I have lost so far.  What an exciting journey this is!

ski season is here

With the decorations up, the house cleaned, and the shopping done, it was time for Todd and the kids to head up the mountain to go skiing.

We were fortunate to get passes to Mission Ridge this year.  In January, the boys will tag along with Todd's school every Friday for ski lessons and then an afternoon of free skiing.  Since the Christian school counts these ski dates as PE so do we.  Sadly, Bonnie will miss out on the Friday skiing but we hope to get her on the slopes every Saturday possible. 

 The kids had a blast and I have to say, I enjoyed the time alone at home. 

 I have to say I feel so blessed living here in Leavenworth.  I look back at our time in NC and remember feeling so sorry for ourselves that we couldn't do anything for our kids.  Since God brought us here, our children have had a wealth of experiences.  For that, I am truly thankful!

Friday

I wasn't planning on it, but Bonnie wanted to go Black Friday shopping, so at 4 am we got up and headed off for Wenatchee.  We got everything on our list and had a lot of fun. I even treated her to breakfast at Denny's.  We were home by 9:30 am and greeted by the boys who were eager to start Christmas decorating.

They didn't give me much of break but immediately started pulling out all of the boxes and decorations.  While they set up the nativity scene, I got busy putting up the tree and fluffing it up.

I had to finally buy some new lights for the tree. About nine years ago, I bought a box of Christmas lights at a yard sale for a dollar.  A pretty good deal I must say since I am just now buying some new ones.  I should have bought more but what I have will do for now. 

 Brian thought the container that held the new ornaments in would make a great hat.  Gotta love that boy!

 The boys had a lot of fun helping me out, unfortunately, they didn't stick around to help clean up.

 "You gonna stand there and take pictures or stay and help us decorate?"

The finished product.  I really like our tree this year. Of course, it could use some more lights. 

Thanksgiving

 Thanksgiving at Don and Susan's

Melting Away

I haven't talked about it much, but I am still on my weight loss program.  Thursday I will have completed my fifth week of counting calories and not eating sugar, bread, pasta, and potatoes.  I don't know how much weight I have lost because we aren't supposed to weigh ourselves until we have completed the six weeks of phase one.  I do know this...I HAVE LOST ONE PANT'S SIZE!!!  Not only that, but the size I am in now is getting loose, so I put on the next size down and THEY FIT!  I haven't totally moved into the next size down because they were a little snug but I could pull them up, zip them up, and button with no problem.   : )   Can you imagine that??? Two pant's sizes in 6 weeks! 

In the next phase, we add back in whole grains and potatoes.  Funny thing is I almost don't want to add them back in.  I think I am scared that my weight loss journey might stagnate if I do.  I know I will still have to count calories, weigh and measure my food so I should do fine.  It is great going through my closet and finding clothes that I haven't been able to wear since moving from Michigan which was seven years ago.  The one thing I need to do now is get back into the gym.

So here I am, a gal who a year and a half ago was wearing size 16 and now wears a size 12 comfortably and is flirting with a size 10.

Having Bonnie in high school has been quite a ride.  She is really enjoying her time there.  Her two favorite classes are Living Skills (because they cook in it.) and Geometry (because her teacher actually teaches). 

One of the things that I enjoy about high school is that Bonnie gets to pursue some of her passions like singing and acting.  This semester Bonnie is in the school choir.  She hopes to get into the select choir next semester.  She is currently working with another student on a duet to try to get in. 

Last night concluded Bonnie's final performance in the Curious Savage.  She portrayed a nurse who takes care of a group of patients that are socially challenged.  A new patient, Mrs. Savage, has been admitted by her step-children who are afraid that she is going to give away all of their money with her crazy charities.  It was a great comedy and Bonnie did an awesome job.

The Day the Children Cried

Yesterday, while the majority of school aged children celebrated a day off of school, slept in, laid around in their jammies til noon, or vegged in front of the tv, our children were cruelly subjected to taking a hike in the snow covered Cascade Mountains. 

Oh, it was fun at first.  They threw snow balls and eagerly hiked along the trail.  We stopped a short way up to look at the animal tracks in the snow that reminded us that we were not alone.

We never did see the bear that left these tracks, but continued to trudge along.  After about 30 minutes the trail became steeper.  Before long the moaning began.  Cries to turn back rang out.  Pleas for pity.

Don't let the smiles on their faces fool you. The minute the snap shot was taken the begging and pleading began again.  But the cruel, insensitive parents said "No"  and we continued to climb.  Their dad even set his phone to his "whip" setting and began to "crack the whip".

Finally after an hour of hiking, the cruel, sadistic parents looked into the sad, forlorn faces of their children...

...

....and gave in to their pleads allowing them to slip and slide all the way back down the mountain.

But not before they celebrated for being cruel, mean, sadistic, crazy,.....parents!

Leaves

 We have one, deciduous tree, but it drops ALOT of leaves.  I mean, ALOT! 

 I informed the kids that after church we would be raking leaves and bagging them up.  The kids' friend, MacKenzie, asked if she could hang out with us today.  I told her sure thing as long as she was willing to work. 

I got to stay home last night and pass out treats while the boys and Todd went trick or treating.  I gave myself exercise credit for getting up and down for two hours.  The best part was that I didn't eat one piece of candy.  I wasn't even tempted!  This morning the boys and Bonnie went through the loot.  I offered to buy their candy off of them, so after picking out a few pieces that they wanted, I bought the rest.  No one really seemed to care or lament the loss of their candy.  I am glad that sugar is becoming less of a controlling factor in our family.

Tonight I go to my Prism Weight-Loss class.  I am excited to see everyone and hear how they are doing.  I have had two good days were I haven't felt starved.  In fact, I couldn't even eat all of my oatmeal this morning.  Hopefully, I am turning a corner on my attitude towards food.