Christmas Loot and other random pics

Well here are a few pics from our Jamestown trip-

These are pictures of the ships that the settlers came over in



And here is Bridger on the opposite side of the ship from me.



I am trying to be more creative with my camera angles so I can get some better pictures. I still have a long way to go before I become a great photographer, but it is one of my goals!

Here is a picture of what the kids gave their neighbor friends for Christmas



What they are is pint size containers filled with Gingerbread Playdough. We filled each container and make a little topper for it and wrapped a ribbon around it with a cookie cutter and a tag explaining what it is. The recipe is so darn simple that the kids and I made them in a matter of minutes.

Here is the recipe

1 C Flour
1/2 C Salt
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 TBSP oil
1 C water
and then we added a ton of cinnamon, ginger and ground cloves to make it smell good and to give it a brown color.

Mix it all together and cook over medium heat until it starts to pull away from the sides. EASY

So, for Christmas Jadyn got another American Girl doll and the huge hit was a karaoke machine. Here she is belting out a tune.



And Bridger got some video games and Rokenbok which is a radio controlled construction 'stuff'. He loves it so much. Here is thinking about what he is trying to build.



And here is how tall his elevator has gotten thus far.



I'm telling you, this is hours of entertainment for him. They are coolest toys.

Well, Keith got some clothes from Abercrombie, a book and some slippers so he will stop wearing mine! I have been getting some great use out of my new shoes and iPod. I have made a deal with myself. I don't respond well to positive reinforcement. I always tell myself that when I lose whatever I will go buy some new whatever. But it never enough to keep me going. I will just go buy what I want and not think twice about it. So now I am going for some negative reinforcement.

The deal is this...if I don't lose 10 pounds by February 14th (I have to be a little lenient here) then I have to post a picture of myself in a bikini on this blog. Heaven knows I DO NOT WANT TO THAT! I want to keep my friends and family. I am not going to post my weight here, but Keith is going to track it for me to make sure I do what I say. So, it can't be 8 lbs or 9.5 lbs-- it has to be 10 lbs or more!!!

So when I feel like vegging out on the couch all I have to think about is having to post a bikini pic of myself if I don't lose it to get me off the couch and out the door. So hopefully you will all be spared!!! Wish me luck!!!

A Surprise

Yep- except Keith couldn't wait until Christmas to give them to me. Here it is



But it isn't as simple as a pair on tennis shoes. These shoes actually talk to me via my iPod and keeps track of all my information such as miles I run/walk, the pace in which I do it in, the calories I burn, my weight, etc. Then I have this hot male voice that tells me every so often where I am at in my workout. Then I just plug my iPod online and it downloads all the info to a Nike website where you can keep track of whats up.

It is beyond a cool present. I am downloading all my POWER songs right now. You know the ones that make you want to push a little bit further because it has such a great beat. Here are a couple of songs I totally recommend just for when you need that power--

Jerk it Out-- Ceasars
Hips Don't Lie-- Shakira
Somebody Told Me-- The Killers
Beautiful Day-- U2
Mr Brightside-- The Killers
Sexyback-- Justin Timberlake
Lady-- Lenny Kravitz
Fergalicious-- Fergie
Let's get it started-- Black Eyed Peas

My Christmas

Well, I have discovered just about every gift I am getting for Christmas and it is not because I snooped. One gift sat in my hallway for 4 days in a box before I decided to open it and see what it was. The results...



Yes, I have a Wok on my wishlist. I even wrapped my own present and put it under the tree but no questions what that big box even was.

Then I another box came, Keith looked at it momentarily, got sidetracked and put it down. I then picked it up later and opened it and set it on the kitchen counter where it is still laying at this very second. I guess he wants me to wrap this one too.



They are special bamboo spoons to go with my Wok. I don't even think he has noticed them.

Then another box came and this one he opened and 'hid' in the bread basket!?! Hello! I go through the bread basket at least once a week to get rid of anything green, but instead I found something silver.



I even wore it for about 30 minutes and then I put it back in the box and back in the bread basket. I might have to wrap that one also!!

This one is sitting in the closet. I opened it and just shoved it away and I might mention it to Keith on Christmas Eve. Or I might wait to see if he notices that something is missing.



It is all stuff I asked for, but nothing so far has gotten past me for any Christmas surprises. But then again, it is not Christmas yet, so I may find one or two, you never know!

Reading an awesome book right now that was recommended from a good source!



This is the first Western book I have ever read and generally a book I would never even look twice at. But I am glad I did because it is keeping me very busy at 900+ pages. I might be done with it by Christmas...

A Stroke of Luck

I have never been one to NOT get a ticket when I get pulled over. I am not one to cry, beg and plead my case- I just refuse to do it. And I usually always get the ticket! But today, I got lucky! I got pulled over for going 22 MPH-- that's it! And it wasn't in a 50 MPH zone either, then I would have deserved the ticket.

No, I was going 22 in a 15. Have you ever tried to drive 15 MPH for about a good mile? It is almost impossible to do. And what a lame ticket to write- going 22 MPH-- good thing he didn't waste his time doing it!

History Comes Alive

We spent the weekend at Jamestown- had a total blast and going back next weekend. Part of the reason it was fun is because we were so knowledgeable about it before we went. We have only been reading about it for the last several months now, so this seems like the perfect ending to the subject.

I have a tendancy to fixate on one subject for a long period of time so I am going to try really hard to move on. I need to hurry and get to the Civil War while we live here or we are going to some really great opportunities to truely understand the battlefields that surround us now.

When I get some new camera batteries, I will upload some pics if they are any good.

BTW, Bridger thinks he has Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS). He told me this last weekend that the reason he can't sit still is because he suffers from this malady. I hardly ever try to make him sit still, so I don't know why he thinks he has it. Perhaps he is being overloaded with commercials on TV right now! What do you think?

Fall Fun

Well, it has been two full weeks since we have moved into this hole, but we have made it our hole. And it is starting to feel OK. The kids and I are in full homeschool mode as you can tell from this picture below. We always do it on the living room floor and/or at the kitchen table. It is really informal for the most part but we cover a lot. This is art, history and math all over the floor. It only takes a second to pick it all up and shove it in the homeschool bin.



The kids have been having a ball with the massive amount of leaves in our backyard. I mean this stuff is like a foot deep. So they have been making mazes out of that stretches across 4 backyards. And when you walk through it- you must be careful to take the right path. Bridger and Jadyn have been working on this particular maze for 2 days now. They only have a few days left to play in the leaves because they had to be raked before we got a 'ticket' from housing. But it was fun while it lasted.



Some of my pictures downloaded crazy- don't know why- but you get the gist.

Here is the picture of the kids in one of the many trees in the back



And then, I took a few close up of the kids. They are such hams and love it whenever I pull out a camera.

Here is Bridger being silly.



And Jadyn trying to be serious.

TiVo is BACK

Ya, that's right! After 33 days, my Tivo was able to call DirecTV and hook up all my favorite shows so I can watch them on my time. It took the installer 2 days to get all the recievers hooked up and the house properly wired. It took 2 weeks to get the proper paperwork in order for the installer to come out and do the work. Just one hurdle after another.

And it is a good thing this is not my house because there are wires going into every window and snaked all around the yard that are quite unsightly. It was the only way they could hook it up because Housing threatens DirecTV with lawsuits if they so much as drill a hole in the house. So I guess the neighbors would rather look at the wire webs all over the house instead. I simply don't get it!