Toothy pictures

Angel's short bangs haircut she gave herself. I recently finally got them trimmed the same length.

Angel is so delighted that she has several shirts, pj's and underwear that have her name on it! She will always have an easy time getting paraphernalia with her name on it!

Courtney has lost 4 teeth in the Month of December! All she wanted for Christmas was her two front teeth...but she got them in time for New Years! It's a good thing that Courtney makes a dollar for each tooth, because she stole all her sister's chocolates and had to buy her a new box as part as her punishment. Unfortunately, it took ALL her tooth money. So she's broke again...until she looses more teeth!

Tactile Girl

My Julianna is a tactile girl! She has to eat and rub everything all over herself. Her newest fetish is Floss. She LOVES to suck on floss. No matter how I hide it, she manages to find it. Then she pulls it all out of the box and sucks on it, stringing it all over the house. She is also loving getting into my buckets when I cook. She digs into the wheat and loves letting it run through her fingers. She has also discovered how fun the kitchen sink can be, which scares me because she still wants to suck on the kitchen sponge (yuck).

Smoothies and pumpkin bread for breakfast!

Having a luncheon with Aunt Norma at Izzy's in Mcminnville.

The Evergreen Science Museum has these really fun airplanes that we get to ride free because we are members! Julianna is just crazy about them. We usually get to ride them 3 or 4 times, and then for about a week afterwards whenever we get the car she asks me "Plane ride Mommy? We go on the airplane?"

Girl Pictures

A kind friend brought me a beautiful bouquet of lovely flowers!!! Angel was enchanted with them and asked for permission to play with the ribbon. Christmas music was playing, so she started dancing with the Ribbon. That inspired my girls to all grab ribbons, and soon we were invited to a dance show! Later in the Holiday season, Dorathy put on a delightful original play called "Mrs. Claus saves the Day". It is all about how Santa got sick and wasn't feeling well, so Mrs. Claus was superwoman and got it All done in one day! Dorathy played Mrs. Claus, of course. Courtney and Angel played Santa's helpers and Santa's Reindeer. Very cute!

Angel always smiles with these big eyes....she loves to pose for cameras!

Here I am at Time Out for Women with my dear friends and Companions. It was a great and inspiring day!!! I am so glad I went.

Boys Club

This Year I am having a terrific time teaching my own class. We just call it Boys Club. I have 9 boys in my class, and we meet two Fridays a month at my house for 3 hours. During our Fall Semester, we studied great American explorers and Frontiersmen. Here the boys are posing outside with their Davy Crockett hats. We learned gun safety, shot at targets, made some crafts, had lunch, a discussion on Davy Crockett's life, and then ended with several games. Fun times, great kids!!!

Holiday Blech!

I have been struggling ever since Thanksgiving.

I had been doing so good on my no-sugar quest.

Then the Holidays hit. There was several amazing looking pies at Thanksgiving, and I figured I could get away with just two small half-slices to try them out. I immediately got an incredible buzz. Then my head started to ache and my stomach started to churn. I didn't sleep well that night.

Yikes. I will say this for super healthy eating: the worst part about it for me is that I have a hard time being able to go back and enjoy some social desserts! I wish I could enjoy a slice of chocolate every now and then without feeling sick.

So, the other bad part is that this kind of cheating usually puts me on a negative cycle that then escalates out of control, not to mention weakening my will when the next treat comes along. And they always do come along! I used to say to myself "No sugar except for special occasion!" Then I discovered that in our American Culture there was a special occasion nearly every day! That wasn't going to work!

When I eat no sugar at all for about 2 weeks, it's totally out of my system and I no longer crave it or think much about it. However, once I taste it...whether for a social occasion, or on accident, it starts an incredible craving. Then I start finding excuses to have a little bit here and a little bit there. Next thing I know, I'm sitting down to a whole plate of Christmas cookies!

That's what happened today. I had been subtly cheating on my goal more and more since those Thanksgiving pies. Today, there happened to be many kinds of Christmas cookies in my house from various activities and functions. They looked so good I couldn't resist, I had to have a "little" of everything. Now I'm sick and tired. A nasty headache behind my right eye, ear, and then to the back of my head. Why do I do this to myself?!?

I guess I really have to face up to the truth: my body and sugar do not get along. I know lots of people who can enjoy their desserts without these consequences, but I am just not one of them. I have to choose between my health and my treats, and it is not a happy one for me. I'd much rather enjoy some goodies throughout the Christmas season!

I'm trying to get my strength of will back (where did it go?!?) to go back to no sugar. It's all or nothing, I guess. It's a mournful situation for me because so many family traditions are tied to food and it is so heart breaking to even try and change them. But I can't afford to be sick, so what's a girl to do? I can't have my cake and eat it too! (Haha, pun intended!)

Kid quote of the day

Christopher: "What's for dinner, Mom?"

Mom, "Just popcorn and peanut butter toast since we had a big meal in the middle of the day."

Dorathy, "Popcorn and peanut butter are two foods that I Frankly Detest!"

Tactile girl

Julianna has always been a tactile girl. She is just discovering new materials to play with! I think my school shelf being opened and the black make-up incident has opened up a whole new world!

These week she has: finger painted glitter glue all over my bench in my entryway. This was right after a bath, and she smeared it all over her face, neck, and hari.

She found a glue stick and used it like lipstick, smearing it all over her lips and cheeks and eating some for good measure.

She has discovered markers make great tattoo devices, covering her legs, arms, and hands with dark green and black.

She has decided the bar soap in the bathroom is great for eating, squishing, and painting with on all the mirrors.

As you can see, this is quite a trend! I know lots of little ones do these kinds of things, and I know she'll grow out of it. But it is hard to keep all these things out of her hands when my older school age children need to use them.