Aw Man!!!!

Before Christmas I went to the doctor for my annual exam. You girls know how fun that is!! Anyway, as part of it they drew some blood to check my cholesterol. I called yesterday to get the results and dang it, my cholesterol is high!! How can that be?? I am not THAT old, I am not overweight, I don't eat fast food much, I like to run and try to make it to the gym some. I don't exactly have a sedentary desk job. What's the deal!!!

Hmmm could it be that I don't excercise with enough "regularity" or could it be that the food I do consume, though not "fast food" is still not exactly what we would call healthy. My diet would gross out even the modestly health conscious person. I could live on toast and cereal, maybe it's the butter I put on my toast! I know what it is: eggs, I love eggs for breakfast!

So yesterday I had to go to the grocery store to restock the pantry and fridge. Well if it wasn't the healthiest grocery trip to Walmart I have ever had!! Now that is no easy task, the people at Walmart looked at me really funny when I was stopped in the aisle actually reading a label!!! Gasp!

health+walmart=not exactly

But I managed to find some stuff to at least try to start eating healthier. I did all right yesterday til we went out for pizza for dinner! My pizza eating ability is known from here to Atlanta (I can hear the hearty laugh of our friend Gary in Atlanta right now if he were to read this!)

Ok so I am gonna try, I already had some sort of cereal called "Uncle Sam" for breakfast. It's supposedly full of fiber, flaxseed, oats etc. I think they just scrape the side of a tree into the box. The banana helped it down some. I kept thinking "how long til this tastes good to me?" I missed my Lucky Charms!

Well, you know I don't like to lose so I am thinking of it as a competition, how many points can I drop!!

Happy New Year! Happy New eating for me! I guess I gotta find a race to run in the spring, something to make me get up in the mornings and run!!

Merry Christmas!

I hope you are all enjoying a restful holiday season! I know I am! I finished work on Friday saying goodbye to 22 sweet children, praying they would have a safe and blessed Christmas. I look forward to seeing them in the new year! Now I am having a great time just being with my 2 favorite kids in the world, sleeping in, hanging out and playing. It's funny how quickly I can fall right back into lazy summer type habits! It's a gift.

We celebrated Christmas with my side of the family on Sunday night. It was a crazy blast. Lots of food and gifts wrapped in a blanket of noise and laughter, tied together with a ribbon of love. I had a "moment" as my children were giving their hugs goodbye to their grandparents and great grandmother. I was just standing at the door holding back silly tears, thinking how incredibly blessed my children are to have these people in their lives. They don't understand it now, but I hope one day they do.

I think they will.

Now my sweet man is off for a few days and we have some more celebrating to do, enjoying the season together, reflecting on the most incredible truth I have ever heard.

And the angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

Merry Christmas

The Christmas Crazies

Yep, it arrived this week. You can feel it in the air, and hear it in the air. It's a different kind of advent and no I am NOT celebrating it.

It's the Christmas Crazies!!

The whole school has it and my class caught it this week.

There is only one cure: Christmas break! Oh please let it come quickly!

A WHOLE week off!!

Today starts our Thanksgiving break! We are pretty happy to all be off for a whole week. (Ok Chris has to work, but somebody has to!) I am thankful for so many things! Just about a week ago I was home and the kids were playing and Chris was home and I just looked around and thought what a blessed life I live!

Here is my top 10 list of things I am thankful for:

1. For a God that loves me unconditionally and offers me much needed grace everyday

2. A husband that loves me and spoils me and adores his children

3. A son that makes me laugh and loves his mama!

4. A daughter that has a heart of gold, and shows it to everyone she meets

5. A job working with 22 kids that I look forward to hanging with (on most days)

6. A church that has a humble pastor and a desire to serve others

7. A really cool mom and dad. My mom spent last weekend herding cattle! Who would have ever thought?!!

8. A sister that is my best friend.

9. A few close friends that actually seem to like to hang out with me, or they just fake it really well.

10. A week off to eat and eat and eat, and sleep and sleep and sleep!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

A President I can REALLY get behind!!!

I know the election for our country took place on Tuesday, but another election took place today in our little town of Sachse, in our little neighborhood, in our little school, in a little classroom on the 3rd grade hall and I think our big boy (and girl) politicians could learn a thing from the new class president of room 304. This president is as kind hearted as they come, but has a real gift for keeping everyone organized and in line. She is as honest as the day is long and has nothing to hide, she even tells on herself sometimes. She ran a positive campaign, with no smearing of the other candidates,

on a side note

that would have been kinda funny to have smear campaign on a 3rd grade level:

"have you seen Mary play dodgeball, is that what you want for president?"

or "Mary can't deliver the goods, see I brought extra dessert in my lunch for everyone."

or "Let's pull out report cards and see whose got the experience for the job"

Sorry that's my dark side coming through.

Anyway, I think room 304 has it down. They took a vote and everyone came out with smiles as they ran off to the swing set to play.

Catching our breath...

Well tennis has ended, baseball has ended, the weather is cold/cool and it's getting darker earlier. All these things are helping me to feel like I can take minute and catch my breath from 2 months of going, going, going. Don't get me wrong, I have post baseball depression, and I really miss watching Jessica swing that racket and pound that tennis ball, but basketball is right around the corner so this down time is definitely momentary.

So in my catching up I am actually doing my housecleaning schedule this week

Yes, I have a schedule:

Monday: kitchen

Tuesday: bathrooms

Wednesday: laundry

Thursday: dust/vacuum/sweep

So since the maid hasn't shown up EVER, and I am pretty sure she won't exist for me til I have enough money to pay for college and since that little thing called the stock market is, well, struggling, all that may never happen, so I figured I better suck it up and get to cleaning. As you know today is Tuesday, I don't like Tuesdays in my cleaning schedule, loathe is a better word. Mondays I can handle, Love Wednesdays, Like Thursdays, but loathe Tuesdays. I was cleaning the bathroom today and was wondering if this thing really works.

Does anyone know? I wouldn't want to spend the money unless it could buy me a few Tuesdays between cleaning. Let me know if you have tried it.

I started to be concerned about something when I cleaned my shower, there is so much hair in my bathroom that either:

A. I am going bald (rogaine for women?)

or

B. This fella is secretly coming to my house and using my shower.

I am not ok with option A or B.

What have you been up to?

So it's certainly been awhile since I posted, over a month! So sad, I am sure I have lost all 3 of my readers! I am pulling my calendar out to help me remember what I have been up to.

Ran my 10k, surprised myself that I did it since I only gave myself 2 weeks to train for it

Father-in-law came for a visit while waiting for the electricity to come back on at his house in Houston.

Jessica has been taking tennis lessons, first lesson she beat the tar outta the tennis ball like she was hitting a line drive to center field, by the last lesson she was learning to take a little off the ball.

Joshua's has played lots of baseball games, the boys are having a good season.

Chris went to Atlanta for a conference. I was jealous.

I had 22 parent conferences in one week. Yikes.

We went camping on what was probably the best Texas weather weekend we will see all year.

Ok I feel that I was busier than that but that's all I can think of...

I will try to do a little better at this blogging thing.