The first of a zillion Christmas festivities

I think that one of the reasons I like to decorate so early for Christmas is that once Thanksgiving hits, our Christmas festivities start right away!  On Saturday, we headed to Indianapolis to celebrate Christmas with my mom's sister and her family.  I'm pretty sure I will say "this is one of my favorite things to do" about 38 more times on my blog before Christmas actually arrives, so just bare with me. ;)

This is one of my favorite things to do.

My aunt always has her home decorated to a tee and it's just gorgeous!  

This year, we celebrated in their brand new home.  My aunt has impeccable taste and I love snooping looking around to see the new things she has decorated with.  Oh, and she always does the cutest favors for everyone.  Love!    

This is my mom and my aunt, two of my very favorite people on the planet.  

The second we arrive, the kids all do what they do best: find their cousins and drag out every single toy they can find.  Our crew doesn't get to see their northern cousins very often, but when they do, they act like no time has passed at all.  

As for the "big people", it's pretty much the same.  We cut up, tease, laugh, reminisce and the time goes by way too fast.   

This year, my uncle found THE PERFECT Christmas gift for my dad.  Even my dad chuckled.  Priceless.

After lunch, we had a surprise for the kiddos.  A trip on the Polar Bear Express!  They were sooo excited!

I'm gonna let you in on a little secret.  When we get together, there is a lot of craziness!   

And there is SO.MUCH.LOVE.

Occasionally, there is some sarcasm thrown in for good measure {{DAD!!}}.

A perfect way to kick off the Christmas season...with my crazy fun family!

Thanksgiving aka eating too much and feeling like you're going to explode

It just doesn't seem fair.  All the hype and build up to my favorite food in the world and it is over in a few short hours.  I really wish we, as a nation, could get on board and make Thanksgiving a week long holiday.  Who's in??

Our morning started off with what has become one of our favorite traditions - - brunch at Cracker Barrel!  

A few years ago, right after Maggie was born, we started meeting my in-laws for an early lunch.  The kids and I usually get breakfast and they usually get the turkey dinner.  I mean, who doesn't like going out to eat, getting a fabulous meal, and not having to clean up??  SIGN ME UP.

Look at that concentration... 

 I love the memories we are making with the kids.  They adore their grandparents and the feeling is mutual.

After some lazy afternoon naps, we headed over to my aunt's house for Thanksgiving dinner.  As usual, it was AMAZING - turkey, mashed potatoes, dressing, corn, green beans, rolls and our family favorite cracker dumplings.  My sister-in-law also put this adorable fruit turkey together!

 
Shortly after dinner, people started falling into their food comas.  

Every year I take my camera to my aunt's house fully intending on getting some great pictures of the kids playing and the women visiting while the men sleep.  And every year, I FAIL.  Maybe I get too caught up into visiting.  Who knows!  We did manage a quick picture of my granny and papa with most of their great grandchildren.  Precious.

And, my sister and I snapped a quick picture together.  Love her so much!!!

What a wonderful day of celebrating with our families! Now, bring on the Christmas festivities!! :)

Before we get to Thanksgiving, let's talk about the extremely fun hours leading up to it!

The older I get, the sappier I am about my friendships.  I truly believe that the friendships that I have formed are some of the best on the planet.  

This is Karrie.  She was my very first friend.  {Please excuse the blurry phone pic! Grrr}    

Karrie was my first friend, and this is her first baby, Jackson.

Karrie and I were friends while we were still in the womb.  Our moms lived next door to each other and went to church together, so it was only natural for us to become close.  Growing up, we spent most of our waking hours together. :)  Even though she moved away after getting married, we've continued to stay in touch.

Jackson is two months old and when I found out they were coming home for Thanksgiving, we made plans to meet up.  The second I held Jax, I fell in love instantly.  

He is beautiful.  Perfect.  And, it was so amazing to see K as a momma!  She has a gorgeous glow and just fits into the role perfectly.  Can't wait to visit with them again.  :)

As if seeing Karrie and Jackson wasn't enough to make me happy on Thanksgiving Eve, I had plans with these beauties: 

For the last two years, Gretchen, Jami, Jaime and I have gotten together on Thanksgiving Eve to go see the new Twilight movie.  Since Twilight is no more, we had to continue our tradition and find something fun to do.  

Paint??  What the what?

Jaime Mac had the brilliant idea for us to go to one of those artsy places where you make your own painting.  I was game, even though I have ZERO artistic ability.  

I wasn't too worried.  I had my Starbucks and some wine.  It was a win-win situation.

Jaime also invited her friend, Shawna and she fit in to our little clan perfectly!  

The instructor started and we all followed suit.  I didn't want to make anyone else feel inadequate, but I DID win an art contest in third grade.    

photobombers!

First little break.  My owls kind of looked like a super hero gone bad...

 At times, it was a little stressful, but we didn't let that stop us from selfies or whimsical poses. ;)

Finally, they were finished!  Our cute little Christmas Owls: 

I was pretty proud of myself!  Not too bad for a first timer --

Me thinks this shall definitely be a new tradition!

^^ Notice that Shawna was such a pro at this that she defied the rules and gave her owls bows instead of the little hats like the instructor showed.  Amazing!  When I grow up, I want to paint like Shawna...

Such a fun night out!  I'm so grateful for these little gals and their friendships.

Thankful.

Just thankful. 

a first for Maggie

We had a pretty laid back weekend, which is nice considering there are only FIVE WEEKS UNTIL CHRISTMAS!!  We are SO EXCITED!  Our Thanksgiving is just as big as our Christmas, so at our house, it's a non-stop party 'round these parts!  

Back to the weekend.  Eric and my brother had plans to take the boys to the gun range.  It's safe to say they were pretty giddy...more excited than a kid in a candy store!  Levi and Griffin were, too.  ;)  It was cold and a little rainy, so what's a girl to do?  Pedicures, of course!  Jenny and I took the girls for some pampering.  This was Maggie's first pedicure and she loved it!

I love that she was "reading" a magazine AND had her hands propped behind her head...total relaxation!  Ha!  She was pretty pleased with her choice of purple polish and a sparkle flower on her big toe.  Too cute!  I think she was proud to be initiated into the girly club.  

a day with some of my favorite people

 Levi has been begging me to come eat lunch with him at school.  If you've never had the privilege of eating with three 7 year old boys before, let me enlighten you.  Here's a highlight from our engrossing conversation:

Boy 1: I have a dog.  It poops in the back yard.  I've stepped in the poop before!

Levi: Mom, I want a dog!

Boy 2: I have a dog.  It pees on our carpet.

Levi: Moooom, when can we get a dog?

Boy 1: I have a hole in my pants.  My dog bit my leg.

Levi: Mom, can we get a dog for Christmas?

Boy 2: Have you ever eaten poop?

Boys in unison: Ewwwww!  Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha....

I have to admit, I loved every minute of eating with Levi at school!  It is precious seeing him interact with other kids.  Even when they talk about poop.  (Eye roll)  I drug invited my mom to go along with us.  She didn't bat an eye at their choice of conversation.  I guess that comes with years of experience teaching first graders! Ha! :)

Such a fun morning!  I want to freeze my kids at these ages!!

The day only got better...I got to spend some time with these beauties --

Gretchen came in for a quick visit over the weekend, so I forced her to go to dinner for an early birthday celebration!  I had to twist her arm pretty hard when I mentioned Kansai.  ;)  I'm so, so thankful that Jami and Melanie were able to join, too!  Girl time was perfect and just what I needed.  {Disclaimer: that bottom picture was our dessert.  I meant to snap a pic before we ate it, but our instincts took over and the Monster Cookie never stood a chance...}  My friends are such a blessing to me!  I don't know why God chose to bless me with such a wonderful family and with the best friends on the planet, but HE DID.  Even though we don't get to spend a lot of time together, the time we are able to sit back and chat is perfect, quality time!  I love every minute of it.  Love those girls to the moon and back!

Motivational Monday

It has been a while since I've done my MM post.  A long while.  So, I think a progress report is due!

I'm pretty sure the last time I chimed in, my weight loss was at 19 pounds.  Then Disney.  Then the rest of Fall Break.  Then Halloween candy.  CURSES on that stupid Halloween candy.  

Despite all the candy life happening, I'm proud to report that this morning, my loss is at 24 pounds!  I'm still trudging away.  I still have great days and not so great days, but I'm determined to KEEP MOVING.  

The week after we got back from Disney, Eric and I started on this meal plan.  My sister-in-law shared it with me.  It seemed doable and I really don't mind it!    

Meal 1:

• 6-8 egg whites
• 1/2 cup oatmeal (measured dry) - no milk (add cinnamon and honey to flavor)
• 1 cup fruit or 1 med banana
• 1 oz almonds

Meal 2:

• 4-6 oz chicken breast or fish
• 4 oz red skinned potatoes
• 1 cup green veggies

Meal 3:

• 4-6 oz chicken breast or fish
• 4 oz sweet potato
• 1 cup green veggies

Meal 4:

• 4-6 oz fish or ground turkey breast
• 4 oz sweet potato
• 1 cup green veggies

Meal 5:

• 4 oz ground turkey breast
• 1 cup strawberries, mixed berries or an apple

(**I still haven't needed meal 5 yet.  Some days, I only do 3 meals, some days I do 4.  Depends on the day and if I have been to the gym.)

There are some rules to follow along with it.  Grill, bake or pan fry all your protein.  Stay consistent, drink lots of water, limit salt...that kind of stuff.  My favorite rule is "treat time"... 1 day per week, for 3 consecutive hours, you can cheat.  So, I can plan ahead and cheat on a Friday night from 7-10, or on a Sunday when we eat out with my family.  I have had a few days here and there where I haven't stuck to this, but for the most part, I'm staying with the plan and, ahem, liking it!  

My biggest obstacle was the oatmeal.  I'm a super picky eater and have never eaten oatmeal.  Ever.  But, I thought, if my brother could do it, then I could too!  He is W.A.Y. pickier than me!  Since we started this, Eric and I have almost gone through a whole large container of oats.  Yesterday, we picked this up from Sam's Club. 

Yes, my friends...that is 10 POUNDS of oats.  Oh sweet Jesus.  And, it's not the brown sugar and maple kind.  Or cinnamon roll.  Or any other of the numerous flavored oatmeal they have out there.  It's plain ol' simple oats.  Gag.

My favorite way {and the only way I can manage to get down a whole bowl of oatmeal} is to dice up an apple and add some cinnamon and a teaspoon of sugar.

I actually kind of crave it now.  SO WEIRD.

I'm eating a lot of things that look like this...more good-for-you stuff and less carbs.  Hard to get used to!

I'm happy with my progress!  It's slow, but steady.  I still enjoy special things I want to enjoy, but am getting used to a "cleaner" eating style.  And, the best part is that people are starting to notice.  The last two weeks at church, several people asked me if I was losing weight.  THAT makes me happy.  :-)

Gotta keep at it with the holidays quickly approaching because the other option is to give up and gain it all back and THAT'S NOT HAPPENING!!!! Happy Monday!

Happy Halloween

Wednesday night, the kids got to dress up for church.  They called it "favorite character" night, or something like that.  I'm not sure that Levi dressing up as an inmate really counted as a "character", but, we went with it.  ;-)  Maggie opted out of the inmate costume and wanted to be a kitty cat.  

I think she made a pretty cute kitty cat, if I do say so myself! 

This was the weirdest Halloween!  Our whole county actually MOVED Trick-or-Treating from Thursday (actual Halloween) to Wednesday due to storms that were predicted.  Um, okay.  It is what it is, so we went out for just a little bit on Wednesday night after church.  The kids had fun, that's all that mattered!

Today was the Fall Party in Levi's classroom.  I'm the Room Parent for his class this year.  I am so thrilled that I get to help out in his classroom.  I loved all the party planning stuff -- picking out the games, food, crafts...it really was so much fun!  However, because I was kind of "in charge", I had to be on my A game today and didn't really get to see Levi participate in anything during the party.  That stunk bad!  I didn't get to follow him around and take pictures.  All I got was this one lousy picture...

Several parents were there taking pictures, so hopefully if they are good and flattering I can post more later!  On the way home, Levi said he had a great day and he loved every minute of his party.  THAT was enough to make all the hard work worth it.  Period.  What a great day to kick off the Fall season!