Family Time

My step son, Jason, is here this week b/c he wasn't able to visit over the Christmas holiday. We have had a great week. Jason is 17 and lives in Oregon so we don't get to see him near as much as we would like. I took off yesterday to spend with him. James took off today, and we both took off tomorrow since it is his last day here. I think the part of his visit that he is enjoying the most is the beautiful weather (as opposed to the weather in Oregon!)

Today is also my son Jeffery's birthday! He is 19. Wow, I cannot believe I have a 19 year old! I am so grateful that they are both happy and healthy boys and that they are such good boys too. We really have been blessed.

For those of you with youngsters, I know you hear this all the time. I did too and I thought I understood it at the time but I realize now that they are grown that I didn't pay enough attention to the lesson. SPEND TIME with your kids. Spending money on them isn't what is important. Spending time worrying about their homework or how many activities they are involved in isn't important. Just spending YOUR time with them is SO important. They will not forget it. And I don't mean just being in the same room reading your book while they are playing. I mean you spending your time doing what THEY want to do. It can be really hard with our schedules these days. But the relationship you will grow with your kids will be priceless. The same is true for grandparents. There are grandparents that just spend money on their grandchildren. Then there are the other grandparents who may not have anything to give but their time. Trust me, they will be the favorites, hands down.

Forget-me-not-keeper Stamp Camp

Jennifer G had her first class last night and it was great! I must say it was nice to be just a participant :) Emily, Tracy, Amber, Jennie and I had a great time making the wonderful card projects Jennifer had planned for us. I am looking forward to having my own class on February 21st and am glad to have Jennifer's ideas to help with the planning process! OH, and Sloane...well, what more can you say but "stinking CUTE"!! She has definitely become more sociable since the last time I saw her. What a joy!

Update on My New Year's Resolution

Well, so far so good. I have exercised every day this week but Tuesday. I got my ChaLEAN Extreme DVD program but it looks HARD. I am going to stick the first DVD in and just watch it to see if it is something I think I can do at this point! Foodwise, I have done pretty darn good, not perfect but definitely a major improvement over my normal eating habits!

My Very Messy Craft Room

Most who know me from stamping knows I don't show off my craft room. Why? Because it is always a MESS. I am generally a messy person. Clean, mind you. Just messy. Some of you Type A people may not think there is a difference. Well, you are wrong...there is a very big difference. You non-Type A people know exactly what I am talking about. So here is a before and after picture of my craft room. Now, I must clarify, the "before" picture was right after the Christmas Gift Class I had so everything kind of got dumped in there afterward. It isn't usually quite THAT messy. Of course this "after" pic was taken immediately after I cleaned it all up and it now looks much more similar to the "before" picture. I really do wish I was more organized. I know I would enjoy my craft room MUCH more if it weren't always so messy that I can barely even use it to actually stamp.

New Year's Resolution

Well, like most, my new year's resolution is to LOSE WEIGHT (again). So far, I am extremely proud of myself. I have exercised for the last 5 days straight (4 of which at 5 AM, yes AM). I have also ate only healthy foods. Guess what, I have lost 6 pounds this week! Woohoo! For all you skinny people who may not know, fat people can lose weight at a faster pace than normal. After a little while, the pace will definitely slow down. I guess it is your body's way of saying, Thank God, we can get rid of this excess....lets do it quick before she goes back to her bad habits! I like exercise videos because I do not like to be out in the elements...meaning I don't like to exercise a)outside in the hot and/or cold and b) I don't like for other people to see me exercise. When I was skinny, I loved to go to Aerofit for step aerobics. No more...it all happens inside my own home baby! I can't wait until next week because I ordered a new set of exercise videos. If you have ever heard of Chalene Johnson and/or Turbo Jam, then you may have heard of her new workouts, ChaLEAN Extreme. It focuses on strength training but is supposed to also burn fat too. I will let you know how I like it. I have to admit I was surprised at the price tag ($120) so it better be good and it better work!

Jeffery and Ginger

Here is Jeffery with my baby girl, Ginger. :)

Jeffery and his VERY SAD Snowman

Jeffery liked the idea of making a snowman but after about 5 minutes he got too cold and called it quits. I informed him that this was not a snowman...it is a snow lump or at the most a snow ghost :)

Snow Snow Snow!!!

Like everyone else in BCS, we really enjoyed the snow we had a few weeks ago. Here is a pic of our house. Everyone says I should use it for our Christmas cards next year.

I knew it...

I knew I wouldn't keep this blog thing up to date! When I get home the last thing I want to do is get back on the computer! I guess I will have to use my lunch hour to update it. I meant to update my blog over the holidays but again, I really didn't feel like sitting at the computer much. I will try to do better!