Different Christmas ornament…and…

First I’ll show you ours and Anton making it. Then I have a “different” one to show you.

 

We’ve made about 6 so far but they are so easy to give away too so these are the last two for now. It’s just folded paper, glue dots and a button. Easy.

Here’s a “different” ornament I found today. We aren’t going to make them, I sure don’t want to explain what they are using for supplies but it is a unique idea.

Can us guess what they are made out of? Think TOM.

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Joss loves helping me in the kitchen. We bake, cook and make some goodies to take home. Last night she was so mad her mama came and we were still cooking.

So that’s that. Nothing real new here. Oh the difference between black and brown coal, the brown coal burns at 26,000 – 30,000 btu’s and the black coal burns at 90,000-130,000 btu’s and is much more expensive. Wood burns at 9,000-13,000 btu’s, so quite a bit of difference. Here’s another fact I did not know, if coal gets wet it can become combustible. That’s why building a coal crib inside after I move the wood today. Anyone want to come and help me?

Now that’s all folks. Take care and have a safe and blessed day!!

Minnesota funny…had to share…

Cold is a relative thing ya know....

At 65 degrees, Arizonans turn on the heat. People in Minnesota plant gardens.
At 60, Californians shiver uncontrollably. People in Minnesota sunbathe.
At 50, Italian & English cars won't start. People in Minnesota drive with the windows down..
At 40, Georgians don coats, thermal underwear, gloves, wool hats. People in Minnesota throw on a flannel shirt.
At 35, New York landlords finally turn up the heat. People in Minnesota have the last cookout before it gets cold.
At 20, People in Miami all die. Minnesotans close their windows.
At 0, Californians fly away to Mexico . People in Minnesota get out their winter coats.
At 10 below zero, Hollywood disintegrates. The Girl Scouts in Minnesota are selling cookies door to door.
At 20 below, Washington DC runs out of hot air. (Ya think? Nah.). People in Minnesota let their dogs sleep indoors.
At 30 below, Santa Claus abandons the North Pole. Minnesotans get upset because they can't start the snowmobile.
At 40 below, ALL atomic motion stops. People in Minnesota start saying..."Cold enough for ya, eh?"
At 50 below, hell freezes over. Minnesota public schools will open 2 hours late.

Have a blessed evening.

P.S. No chips, no candy just banana’s and flour. YEAH!!!

Tuesday already…

So where did Monday go? I haven’t finished up visiting everyone’s blogs and their updates yet. WOW, yesterday was a busy day but still I’m behind. Hopefully this afternoon I can get caught up.

Yesterday was my last practice run before my bus driving test on Tuesday the 13th. At this moment I am not worried at all because I know after putting over a million miles in driving semi I have this hands down but…yep but…I don’t do well with tests and I become a shaking nervous Nellie so I’m hoping all will go well.

Yesterday I also went and worked out at 5am for 2 hours. My running is getting better so I decided to go for the elliptical. It went fair, not grand...I only was able to tolerate about 15 minutes before my leg really started to hurt but I got my 2.5 miles in on the treadmill with a top speed of 7.0 and an average speed of 5.0 and then a mile and a half on the elliptical at 6.6 mph and a 6 setting. Then some planks and home. Today I did the treadmill for 2 miles and the elliptical for another mile. I was short on time today so no weight training but can do some during nap if I have the energy. My leg is bothering me a tiny bit so will take tomorrow off from the running and all and just do some fish flopping exercises at home.

We finally turned on our furnace last night. We’ve been just using the radiator heat in the living room but it’s was below zero the past two night and getting up to 56* is just a bit hard so today getting up to 68* was like heaven. 8:00 this morning it’s still this outside.

They say we’ll make it to 17* and sunny so we’ll warm up some. We finally got our local feed/seed company to go to North Dakota and get a semi truck load of brown coal, so starting this weekend we’ll be using coal for heat which is so much warmer and easier to use though so much more dirtier on the body then wood. The only thing, remember all that wood I stacked in the shed? Well I have to unstack it, restack it outside so that we can build a coal crib, I am not impressed about that but I do like coal because you only have to stuff the stove every 30 hours or so instead of every 6-8 and it’s cheaper in the long run (once we are set up). Our stove is a old coal/wood stove so no changes on that but building a coal crib will take some time and money. We are paying $100.00 a ton and figure 6-7 tons will take us through the whole winter/spring so much better then 12 cords of wood at $120.00 a cord.

I am craving these…. Better then these…But still wanting something not good for me. I don’t have any here but I have to go to the store and pick up flour so I’ll just stay out of that chip isle.

Well it’s time to get moving. Joss just finished breakfast and now it’s time to work on a craft or two. I have some new ornaments to share with you when I get them downloaded. Anton was here last night after school and we made some cool paper ones.

Take care my friends and have a blessed and awesome day!!

CDCC Update..2nd to last one..and…

 

Well I think this is the first week of any challenge I blew it. Not a little bit but a good chunk of it. Now I didn’t eat sugar except for one evening but the food I put away this week would make a healthy man full. I don’t know why so hungry except I had a cold and wasn’t exercising and just sorta laying around and ate all the time. I can’t even say it was all good for me, it was a mixture of good for me and a few to many carbs. The scale shows it with the pound I lost last week back so back at 178.4. Remember the old myth, feed a cold, starve a fever? Well I fed the cold really well. It’s a new week and I’ll be back to exercising at 5:30 M,T,T,F and back to logging my food. It’s good to take time off once in awhile too but I am sure they didn’t mean eat the cupboards bare and then make more. Oh well, it doesn’t happen ever so guess I’ll just learn from it and move on.

Now for the Sweet Tooth Challenge, minus one day I kept away from anything that had extra sugar in it. No candies, no cookies, no treats except for the night that Kim and I went out to Girls Night Out. I indulged some that evening but I have to report that because I knew I was going to and I knew it was just that night I didn’t have any issues getting back like I was suppose. Like I said this week was not a stellar week for me but I’m not perfect, never going to be but will learn and keep going.

I so want to order the book I told you about. It’s not to expensive but right now anything is too expensive. I will order hopefully soon. So that means no real book reading though I have been spending a lot of time reading up on what I’d like to do next.

So for the rest of the CDCC I read and commented at least once on everyone's blog and more. I kicked butt (like I expect you to do to me this week), I supported and I praised (oh so many of you are doing so amazing). I am so proud of everything, no matter good, bad or the middle because you’re still here, you’re still working on getting to be the best that you can be. We are all learning, we are all getting there, even on the bad weeks you learned something, you learned that you can do better, you can kick butt next week, you can do this.

I got my body shaper (or whatever that thing is called that suppose to help smooth the lumps and bumps. I haven’t tried it on yet, today was a busy day, tomorrow will be too but maybe on Monday. It’s two weeks to the end of the CDCC Challenge and then the dress goes on. Will it fit? Will it even go over my head? Will I be able to pull it down over my fat tummy? We’ll see, you’ll see because no matter how it fits I will share with you because you my friends have been here through thick and thin for me, you’ve helped me when I’ve asked, you’ve kicked my butt when I’ve needed it, you’ve listen to me complain, you just been the best blog friends a person could ever have. I so appreciate each and everyone of you. Thank you so much.

Now off to post this and see how the rest of you are doing plus my other friends that aren’t in this challenge but maybe doing their own thing, or another challenge or more.

Take care my friends and do have a blessed weekend. Good luck on our second to last week.

Have to leave you with this pictures….It’s Bobby, the monster kitty, watching TV. 

Ask and it will be given…and…

Yesterday Mike was getting worried about a job. He’d been home for 5 days plus the weekend and was getting antsy and worried. So we sat down and prayed. Just an easy, “Lord, Mike really needs a job, he’s working hard to make a living, trying toget ahead and become a man, will you please help him?” and last night he got a phone call. 3 days out of town. Last time out of town meant 3 weeks so we are hoping but will take 3 days and go from there.

Not quite a hop, skip and a jump away but 125 miles away. He’s happy, they company asked for him so they are happy and all is good.

Well the kids worked on ornaments tonight, we did stain glass ones but used regular paint because I didn’t have the plastic paints. They turned out beautiful if you ask me and I’ll be putting them on the tree tomorrow.

 

Remember our geo-caching?….I finally downloaded the pictures. Rachel and Abby had never gone before and Scott wanted to come along so Mike took them all. They found 3 out of the 4 caches.

 

 

 

Joss wanted to help on Monday put up the Christmas tree. She is such a doll and loves just being and playing. Check these out.

 

And my Sweet Tooth Challenge…..it is not easy but each day is just a bit easier. Today is day three and I didn’t think about anything sweet 90% of the day and when I did I had a piece of gum and that seemed to curb that. It’s sugarless but smells like mint ice-cream and if it works.

So hump day is come and almost gone. The week has been good, busy and a blessing. I hope all is well with all of you. Take care my friends. God Bless you all!!

Day one…Sweet tooth challenge and ….

I want candy, I want candy. Really I did great all day until after dinner and now I want candy. Just a piece or two, just a handful of M&M’s. Please, I want candy. BUT!!!…. I’m not going to indulge, I’m just going to go to bed soon.

Now I have something super to share. I ran today, I ran at 5.2 for 3/4 mile and then 5.0 for 1/2 and 4.5 for 1/2. It felt awesome. I did walk some too because I’m not up to par yet but oh it felt so good. 2 miles in 29 minutes, not great but not complaining either. I got a good 2 hour work out in before heading home to daycare.

Today we put up the Christmas tree and a few decorations. I don’t put up lots because I can’t stand the clutter and being closed in but I so love the lights and color.

Starting Wednesday I am going to have my after school kids work on Christmas ornaments to decorate the outside tree. Last year we had a tree we started at Christmas time, then kept adding ornaments for different holidays until after Easter. I’ll share what they make each week. I wish I knew where my hot glue gun is, it sure would make crafting a bit easier.

So that was today. A busy day but a really nice one too. Mike is still out of work so hopefully soon he’ll find something or the resource center will. Like all of us he already has a bill or two to pay plus rent so work is a must.

Take care my friends and sleep well. Tomorrow’s a new day filled with challenges. I’ll be up at 5:00 to go swimming and get my workout done with, then daycare and ??? I have the beginnings of a cold so I’m trying to survive the cough and hope it doesn’t get any worse. Blessings to you all!!

I need help so….

Maren from Cow to Wow has put out a challenge and I wasn’t going to partake but seeing that I can not kick the sweets from my last period I have got to do something so starting tomorrow morning (from November 28th to December 18th) no more sugar. Now I don’t mean like what’s in fruit or what’s in my oatmeal or that kind of stuff, I mean candy and cookies and treats. Now I really don’t eat lots of the stuff but enough that I’m craving it. So tomorrow it’s time to give that sugar a kick in the pants. I know that the first few days are going to just drive me nuts but I can do this. Thank you Maren for this challenge. Good luck everyone that has excepted this challenge…like Caron.

Have a great day. I’m off to the gym at 5:30, daycare at 8:00 and a house that has exploded from the long weekend and guests, plus I haven’t had Joss for a week so lots of play time and cuddle time. Take care my friends, blessings!!!

CDCC week 11….

Only 3 weeks left to get into my dress. I’m not positive it’ll happen or if I do get into it it won’t look like it did in 1980. But it won’t be from lack of trying or lack of focus it’ll just be because I am one of the slowest losers in the world but I am still losing, both weight and inches so even if it doesn’t fit perfect I will be wearing it for Jim at Christmas.

177.4, that’s the new number on the scale. Not quite a full pound but I’ll still take it and run. I am going to wait until the new year to work on keeping track of toning measurements. This challenge goes until just before Christmas and then I’m going to take a couple weeks off from blogging about weight and losses and more and then the 1st of January I’ll start that part of my new life style changes.

My book, well I’ve come to the end of the 40’s into the 50’s, I still can’t believe I am getting to be that age. There are some major changing happening to my body and mind in my 50’s. Not bad things but some major things. I have picked a new book. Check this out…

Since I am still learning to take care of myself I want a heads up on what else to expect. Of course the usual mentalpause, extra weight gain (which I am going to make sure doesn’t happen to me), hot flashes (which I get to experience almost on a daily basis now), loss of sexual desire (nope not happening here, in fact with weight loss that has turned into something pretty darn cool) and a super slow metabolism (which well has been with me for some long now)  but I want to know more. I can’t afford this book now but maybe I can put it on my wish list for Christmas.

I have visited each of you at least once this week and you guys are awesome. Yep, we screw up, yep we learn but you’re honest, your powerful and you all are teaching me something new along the way. Thank you!!!

It’s a new week, a week full of challenges and learning experiences and so much more. Will you succeed? I know you will, I have the utmost faith in all of you, I DO!!!! 

Take care my friends and have a blessed Sunday and a super successful week.

I won!

Jillian over at I'm in love alright, with my crazy beautiful life had a give away for a free download from My Memories Suite. I’m not a scapbooker and really don’t even understand 99% of this program but tonight I worked on a page, just to see what I could do and though it’s not nearly as nice as even 1/10th of the pictures and pages I saw here’s my first page I created.

I think it’s going to take me a very long time to figure out how to embellish a page or add stuff (and it’s not cuz the program is hard it’s I just don’t know what goes with what).
Thank you Jillian for hosting this give away and thank you Random numbers for picking me. I’ll keep working on it and see just what I can learn to do.
Yesterday was an awesome day. Mike took the girls geo-caching and they found 3 out of 4 caches. I have some pictures but need batteries so will add them later on. Then the girls and I went swimming. We had a blast. We were gone from 10-4 so by time they went home at 5:30 they were tired and me, well I was dragging too.
Today Brenda and I went thrift store shopping. I took $8.00 with me and needed to buy milk and apples too. I found a red long bathrobe and a green brush suede 3 piece outfit, and was able to get the milk and apples. A great day today. Tonight our Venture Crew got together to play volleyball. I love volleyball and we played for a good 2 hours. Another great day of exercise and fun.
I’ll get to my update for the CDCC shortly. I hope you have a great night sleep and a blessed Sunday.

The day after…

So do you have any regrets from yesterday? Did you enjoy your family and friends and just eat what you need to stay happy and healthy or did you sorta add a few extra things here or there or did you just throw it all to the wind and have to start over today? Me I ate like I was suppose to, just like I had planned and even better. Minus one yucky taste of some awful pumpkin pie from hubby’s plate. We went to the casino for their Thanksgiving buffet

 

and it is the most wonderful place to eat. It’s a treat, we go twice a year with my in-laws, Thanksgiving and Christmas so for me I don’t have to fix a huge meal. My plan was to have a huge plate of salad but without all the extra fattening stuff you put on it so my salad consisted of dark greens, ice-berg salad mix, a spoon full of chopped eggs, a dozen pieces of cucumbers, carrots and broccoli and a tiny drizzle of dressing (I’m not a dressing fan so it’s so easy just to add less then a teaspoon for the taste). My second trip up was for the fresh fruit, I had pineapple, muskmelon and cantaloupe. Third trip for the soup, chicken dumpling minus the dumplings. It was gross so had a couple spoonfuls and nixed that. Forth trip, turkey and cooked green beans and a tiny piece of ham. By now I’m getting full but decided just a tiny bit of cranberries and a bit more fruit and that should be it. Opps, I was over full. I should of stopped at the meat but I ate the last of my fruit and quit. I did try just a tiny bite of Jim’s pumpkin pie because it smelled awesome but it didn’t taste that way. I wasn’t missing anything there. All in all ate well and that was all I ate for the day. When we finished we walked around the casino (I’m not about to gamble, I’m not a person the wins much so why spend money I don’t have in the first place).

 

We left at noon, ate at 2:00, home at 4:00 and was still full at 9:00. In fact it’s almost 8:00 this morning and I am not starving yet, yeah!!!

When I got home all I wanted to do was sleep. A long neep, that was what I wanted but because I have worked way to hard to get to this point in my life I knew that wasn’t it so I went for a walk. Not just any walk, a 1 1/2 hour move my butt trot. I took the dogs who had been cooped up all day and they wanted to go so we did. Really I wanted to see if I could get a close up picture of the swans on the lake and in order to do that I was crawling around in the woods, being as quiet as I could to sneak up on them. Yeah right, they see, hear and move faster then I could even imagine so all I did was get to see them lots from a distants. Then just as we were heading back home I found out I had lost my mitten, my good black warm mitten so we back tracked a good mile to find it. Dogs sure didn’t mind but by time I got home, it was dark.

 

Mike had Scott over for the evening so the boys had a great time, we all watched a new movie we picked up sometime this summer and by 11:00 I was in bed snoozing away the day.

It was a great Thanksgiving and now it’s time to move on and keep getting fit and healthy.

Today I have just the two oldest girls, Rachel and Abby so we have a full day planned. They want to go geo-caching and since no snow and it’s suppose to be 40* again that’s what we are going to do and then go swimming at the Hallett Center. After that a late lunch and then we’re heading to town for me to do my cleaning job and their daddy to pick them up there. It’ll be another busy but great day. The perfect way to end my work week especially since I didn’t work with kids all week.

I hope that today is a great day for you and you know, if you did screw up yesterday, today’s a new day. You should of planned better but plans are not always a possible thing to keep going so just start today fresh and get to being the most healthiest you possible. We have 30 days till Christmas…remember you want to be wearing that new outfit and looking fabulous and all that takes effort…lots and lots of effort but you can do it. I know you can. I have some toning to do, I don’t want to have to wear shape gear to be less lumpy, I want to put on my under things without being confined. So I have lots of work to do to unfluff and buff up.

Take care my friends and here’s to a great TGIF!!! Blessings to you all!!!