How To Weigh Yourself

I can't believe I was doing it wrong all these years.
Weighing in is one of my biggest battles. That (%#%^ scale lies to me every week. I work out, I watch what I am eating, I spit every drop of moisture I have before I walk in the door, I wear the lightest clothes I have, and even stand backwards on the scale and NOTHING!!!!
Finally, I figure it out. I never even thought of this one and can't wait to share it at WW next week when I go to weigh in. Since they never know what I am going to say or do when I come to weigh in, I am sure this one will blow them out of the water. And if that dang scale gives me bad news, I am bustacating it all over the place.

Winter Wonderland

Life just doesn't get much better than this. I love the snow and have been waiting for the day that I could go outside with Chelsea and build our first snowman together. Everytime Ronda tells me it is snowing on the mountain I ask her if it is good snowman snow.
Although yesterday wasn't the greatest snow for making a snowman, it packed but didn't want to roll into a ball, Chelsea and I bundled up in our best snow gear and away we went. I only wish Papa could of been here to capture more of our day in pictures.
We shoveled the walks twice, by the time I got to the end of the sidewalk it had snowed so much I had to start over. After that we saved that job for Papa, we had more important things to do.
My best solution to not being able to make a snowball was to get us each a bucket and pack them with snow and to keep stacking snow that way until we could shape our snowman. Chelsea was a trooper and packed and hauled snow for over two hours.

It was so much fun to watch Chelsea run through the snow, crawl in it, jump in it, and even try and catch some on her tongue. Now who taught her that? Wasn't me this time. I must say it is pretty cute though.

And the fruit of our labor.....Frosty the snowman, who Chelsea told me is a girl. I don't think Mark has noticed yet that I broke branches off a tree in the yard for the arms. I knew I was keeping that cute straw hat for something besides a yard sale, and I must say, the mini carrot nose tops Mrs. Frosty off quite nicely.

Our hair was soaked, along with everything we were wearing, our faces were red and Lord knows what all came our of Chelsea's nose during our adventure, but I will never forget this day.
These are the special times, times I'll remember, times I will cherish forever.

ABCs

Okay, this has got to be the most pathetic thing I have ever seen. All day Chelsea had been singing songs and wanted me to take her picture. So when I got the camera out, she just stopped. I told her that was okay and put the camera down. Well, that was not what she wanted and put on such a cute display of spoiled rotten behavior I have ever seen. After all the tears were cleaned up I told her I would turn the camera back on and wait for her to sing. What follows is the saddest version of ABC's I think you have seen.

Notice the attire.....Cute Pink nightgown and princess shoes (on the wrong feet). The feather helps to keep balance and keep her on tune. I think the fact that after hours of Stacey and I trying to get this video to turn, it is just appropriate that it is sideways.

Christmas Pageant

We hadn't planned on Chelsea being in a Christmas Pageant when we went to church on Christmas Eve, but when we walked in the door they grabbed all the kids and if you wanted a part, you were in. At first Chelsea was going to be an "Angel". Notice there is one star to hold for one lucky angel. She was pretty good about the fact that she was not the designated angel but we turned around and out she came, dressed as a "Shepherd".

What a smart girl she is. She figured it out that if she was a shepherd she would get to hold her own stick so she changed costumes. I was a little nervous when I saw the look on Carson's face, but was even more nervous when I found out that the kids didn't sit with parents, but up in the front row with one of the older girls to help out.

I am not sure I got much out of the service as I was constantly watching Carson and Chelsea's "Staff" waving around, hooking objects within reach and some not so much in reach. I am pretty sure that the girl that was sitting with them was an angel in disguise. She was so patient with the two of them. God surely has more patience than I do, with about 5 minutes left in the service I broke down and went and sat behind them. The bad thing was they were in the front row and if I boxed them between the ears, God and everyone would of been watching......God is good.

Lovin' Her Uncles

Everyone needs an Uncle that you can wrestle and play with.
One who gladly gets down on all fours and pretends he is a horse for you.
Who takes time to wrestle with you and allow you to jump all over him.
One who puts you on his shoulders and runs through the house with you so you can touch the ceilings in every room.
One who tickles you and lets you tickle him back, laughing just as hard as you are.
One who cuddles with you on the couch and will watch "Little Mermaid" again and again with you.

And how lucky for Chelsea, she gets two Uncles to love on her.
The smile on her face shows it all. Life doesn't get any better than that.

A Sledding We Will Go....

Over the river and through the woods.... well, we are crossing a creek, does that count? Here we are at Lon and Ronda's for a fun day of sledding in honor of Melisa's birthday. This is the beginning of our day and after bundling everyone up we head out to find a hill. By the time we got this far all the adults were exhausted and we were probably only a block from the house. The snow was so deep we could hardly walk, let alone pull the kids on the sleds. Melisa said the snow was waist deep on her and she turned around a few feet into the treck. Oh, my short friends.

We ended up building a little hill right next to the house and Mark spent most of the day setting the tube on the hill, piling kids on top and letting them go. I think they had just as much fun doing that as they would of climbing a big hill all day long.

This was Chelsea's first time sledding and possibly her first real time playing in the snow. She had a blast and didn't want to come in. The only thing she didn't like was when the snow got inside her gloves, but who would?

I don't know if Chelsea is old enough to really remember her first sledding adventure, but if nothing else she will have adorable pictures that captured the moment. I wonder if my kids wish I could of been their Grandma instead?

Papa, Do This! Like This Papa!

It amazes me how one person can demand so much attention, and we give it to her. She has needs that must be met I guess, and she knows how to go about it. Chelsea found this set of weights in the closet one day and just loves to show us how strong she is. I have no idea how she even knew what they were or how to use them, (wonder if she saw me working out?) LOL

So, here she is trying to show Papa how to use them. The whole time he is struggling to lift them she is encouraging him and helping him out. And when he finally is able to lift them..............

She says, "Good job Papa". Then she once again shows him just how easy it really is.

Notice she can lift them all by herself, and even wearing jewelry. Man I love this girl.

My Greatest Accomplishment

I don't know how a person can begin to summarize 25 years of marriage, after all, it has taken us 25 years to get to this point. On December 30th, Mark and I celebrated our 25th Anniversary. I can not think of one thing in my life that has more meaning to me. It truly is my "Greatest Accomplishment". The only relationship that means more to me is my relationship with the Lord.

Life has brought us many struggles, some that we would not of made it through together if not for a God who continues to show us what unconditional love really is, and family and friends who dared to spend time on their knees for us (especially during those times when we wouldn't or couldn't). I think I may of even been mad at times for people praying for us, it was just easier to quit. Somehow, we have come through those dark times even stronger than before.

If there is one thing we both agree on, it is that we are in this for life. We have also agreed to not try and shorten each other's life in any way. LOL....I was getting way to serious there. There is a song that I have always felt sums up our life by Shania Twain called "You're Still the One. The odds were against us from the start but somehow we held on.....at times by a thread, but we still held on. Some of the lyrics follow:

Looks like we made it
Look how far we've come my baby
We mighta took the long way
We knew we'd get there someday
They said, 'I bet they'll never make it
'But just look at us holding on
We're still together still going strong

You're still the one I run to
The one that I belong to
You're still the one I want for life
You're still the one that I love
The only one I dream of
You're still the one I kiss good night

Ain't nothin' better
We beat the odds together
I'm glad we didn't listen
Look at what we would be missin'

They said, 'I bet they'll never make it
'But just look at us holding on
We're still together still going strong


So, here we are....25 years stronger, 25 years richer in love, 25 years together.

Our dating days...

and The day we said, "I DO!" December 30th, 1982

1988


1992ish Had to convert to sepia, not sure about those colors we were wearing.

Cotillion 1997...man I wish I could be that thin again.

Summer of 1998

Fall of 2001

Fall of 2003

I wish I could say our storms have all passed us by, that it will be smooth sailing from here on out.
I wish I could say we got it all together and have this marriage thing figured out.
I wish a lot of things, but this I know....
We both commit to taking each other by the hand and weathering this life together.


Thank you for all the prayers, the support, the shoulders I have leaned on, and for the love you have shown.

And to my husband Mark, I love you. Thank you for your unconditional love, your strength and compassion and most of all for your desire to be a man of God and follow him daily.

one day,
one challenge,
one celebration at a time......

We've become a family
with a crazy, funny
runaround life.

We've built a home,
filled with warmth and caring,
made it a place
where love and
dreams can grow...

And it all begins with love,
the love we give every day.
I am so thankful for the life we share and the happiness we've found together.