Christmas Gifts

When you're on a tight budget one has to get creative with their gifts. This year for all my friends and family I made wood block Christmas decorations. Most of them said Noel, but some said Wish or Joy. This was such a fun project and I felt really proud of myself that the total cost was under $10 and I made almost 20 of them.


I also had enough to make a friend a set that wasn't Christmas-ish for a wedding gift. I thought they turned out pretty well. I hope she liked them.

Winter Wonderland

This past week we've had real wintery weather. Thursday I was even lucky enough for work to call a "snow day" and was able stay home and hang out with Luke. Friday I did venture to work, but they let us off early so we could travel home in the daylight.
It's now Sunday, church was canceled and it started snowing last night and has continued. They're saying we could get another 6" - 8". Crazy! I haven't seen weather like this since I was in elementary. Thankfully, I have all of my Christmas shopping done except for a few small things that aren't high priority. Now I just need to work on baking my goodies. I'm hoping I get a snow day tomorrow. That would be great.

Camera Shy

We've been working on family photos for Christmas and we couldn't get Luke to smile. I think it takes a pretty talented person to make him smile for the camera. My sister, Christina, somehow can do it. Sadly, she was working the day we wanted to take photos. At least he's not crying.

Pumpkin Patch

Saturday, Chris and I took Luke to Craven Farms in Snohomish to get his first pumpkin. I think he secretly loved it even though he didn't smile in any of our photos. Then again, a 6 month old doesn't exactly smile on que. He's cute anyway. When Luke hits two or three I think it will be a lot more fun for him since he'll be able to walk and interact more with everything around him. The trip was really for me. I wanted to get the memorable pictures of Luke's first Halloween adventures. I loved Luke in the wheelbarrow. He would just sit there and watch everyone go by. After we picked out our pumpkins that were nearly as big as him he put his arm on one like he owned it. I think that particular farm will be the one we go to every year. Not only did it have a patch of large pumpkins, it had a small patch too. Also, there was a corn maze, a food stand, a small animal farm, face painting, a store that sold crafty things, and lots more. I went there when I was in kindergarden so it's been around a long, long time. All in all, it was a fun outing for our little family.

My love-hate relationship

Does everyone have one of those? I do and it's called The South Beach Diet. I love it and at the same time I hate it. You would think a person wouldn't love a diet at all. But, how can you not love something that gives results in a short amount of time?

For the past two weeks my husband and I have been on this diet. We cut out all sugars which include the fructose kind found in fruit. I know! How crazy is that? A diet where you can't eat fruit for two weeks. We also eliminated starches found in potatoes, corn and rice. Also, no eating grains so bread is out. What did we eat, you ask? Lots of vegetables, chicken, meat and cheese. Sugar-free jell-o and pudding are a staple to this diet. I've come to find that everything you eat during this time is a wet food. This is the part I hate.

The part I love is I've lost 10 pounds! I didn't even do a single sit-up. How is that for results? The thing you need the most is will-power to resist all temptation. I think that is the hardest thing for me. We have a cookie jar at work and you don't want to know how many times I pass it during the day. At least I found out that those cookies do disappear even without my participation so I'm not the only one who eats them.

Another good thing is there is an end in sight. After the two weeks are up you can add fruit back to your diet. You can also eat wheat pasta, wheat bread, and brown rice and limit yourself to goodies occasionally. If you stick to this "lifestyle change" you should continue to shed more pounds...just not as quickly as before.

My goal is 20 pounds so I'm half-way there. Hooray for me! Let's hope that the next 10 go just as easy. This time I am going to start working out.

September Wedding

My husbands mom, my mother-in-law, was just re-married on September 6th. We travelled down to Umatilla, Oregon for the big event. It is only a 4 hour drive, but with a baby it would most likely be longer.  So, I suggested we leave later in the evening around 8pm. By then, Luke was asleep and he didn't wake up until we got there. What a good little traveller!

His cousins (only a few pictured) were so excited to meet him.  They loved to talk to him.  Colby, who's 3, felt Luke was hungry and pulled his bottle from his diaper bag and started to feed him.  The only place we have a picture of that is on Chris's phone.  I bought Luke little sunglasses since we'd be spending a lot of time outside.  

The wedding was "Cowboy" themed with wranglers, boots, and hats.  I was in charge of  the bride's hair and it was a good thing she wanted a frenchbraid. It was pretty hot so I don't think curls would have stayed nice with all the sweating we were doing.  Her daughter, Jodi, and a friend from work were bridesmaids, two granddaughters were flower girls, and a grandson was a ring bearer. Everyone looked great.   There was more to the "wedding party", but no one was together at the same time so I got what I could.

Congratulations Mr. & Mrs. Don Ranne!

Immediately following the ceremony was a BBQ.  Those were some good eats.  Someone in her ward made the cake  and it looked very beautiful.  

We'll be back to visit in November for Thanksgiving.  See you soon!

My, how he's grown.

How the time flies!  Luke is 5 months old and is getting so big.  At his 4 month appointment he was already 17 1/2 pounds.  He's not a chunky kid either....he's just long.  He measured in at 27 inches which is the 99 percentile for height at his age.  Kids do grow like weeds.  

Here are the things Luke's been doing.   He is now sitting up on his own.  He wobbles a little, but for he's getting pretty steady.  

Luke is also starting to eat solid foods.  Well, cereal isn't super solid, but it's not formula.   I think he's ready for baby food since he watches us eat and grabs for it if we're holding him.  Chris is more than willing to share with that baby boy.  One day I came home from work and Luke's shirt was red and wet all down the front.  When I asked Chris what he gave Luke he told me they shared a popsicle.  Way to go on getting our child addicted to sugar already, Dad.  

Luke loves to have books read to him.  I even get to read it instead of only pointing at the pictures.   I think he'll be a reader like his Momma.  Luke also loves kisses.  He is such a lovey and cuddley baby.  He hasn't become scared of new people yet, but maybe he won't ever be which is s a good and bad thing.  Good for family that he doesn't see all the time.  Bad because strangers aren't always good.