A week's gone by...

and it's December already. Guess I better work on getting my blog stuff changed, huh?! Pumpkins are only good thru thanksgiving I suppose. Oh well. I can't believe we've gotten away with such nice weather right up to December 3! Seems like we always have had a good snowfall around Thanksgiving or sometime in November! I know they say it's coming tonight or tomorrow, but I am thankful that it has held off until now! Maybe just maybe it will make this winter seem a little shorter! A girl can hope! Can you tell I despise snow?! Why do I live in Michigan, you might ask, well I LOVE our spring, summer, and fall - that is why!

It's been kind of a busy week - felt like I haven't been home hardly at all! Monday and Tuesday nights we went to parades - christmas parade and parade of lights! The kids enjoyed those for sure! Last night was church night, which was fun! My group of kids got to make their own snack - mini bagel pizzas, and then they had so much fun making a little present for their parents! It was so fun to watch them all work so hard on them and have fun crafting! Glitter glue was a hit with them! Tonight is a little more laid back with just a few haircuts at home, and tomorrow is low key as well! We have been having dinner though every night as a family around our table still, which is really important to me! Love, after a busy day, sitting down to a meal together and finding out what everyone did that day! This weekend is our last "non-crazy" weekend before all the holiday weekends begin, so I think we will try to enjoy it! Going out on Sat. night with some friends while the kids have a sleepover at Grandpa and Grandma's! Thanks you guys! I so love living close to our parents and family - I definitely don't take that for granted and I love the kids getting to have the same type of moments/memories that I had with my family and grandparents growing up!

I have really fallen off the dieting/ exercise bandwagon this last part of this year, and it is really catching up with me. Last year on Dec. 13 I had started working out really well - doing Jillian's 30 -Day Shred workout and mixing it with elliptical and stuff. I also ate pretty good - drank water, just was all around more concious about health. I somewhat did it in preparation for the trip we took in January, but I wanted to really keep up with it. I had chose a word for me for 2009 and it was MOVE. The word had two meaning for me - the first was to make a concious MOVE towards Christ, and the 2nd was to MOVE as in excersice. I did so well for a while. Then I slacked. I have been thinking about why I fell off the bandwagon. There are a few reasons, and a few of them I am not sure how to remedy. Although I will always have excuses I guess. One reason is that in late February I got a promotion at work which meant I was going to work one whole extra day more than I was previously. That is when a slight decline in working out happened. I was still trying to eat well though. Thru the summer though I still had 2 days home when I didn't have to run kids here and there to preschool and stuff, so in the summer I tried to workout at least on those two day during the week and then on weekends when I could! Well end of August came around and now on my two days off I am getting kids off to schools, gymnastics, etc.... I feel like there is really no time. By the end of the day I want to just sit on the couch, watch t.v., and scrap. Of course sometime in all that busyness I have to keep the house up as well and provide dinners. I guess that is pretty normals, eh?! Anyway, so there is my story about why I have fallen off the bandwagon. All excuses really, but in all honesty I worked out everyday of this long weekend we had because Ididn't have to rush off to work or anything, so I could just get up, workout, and then shower for the day after that. I would have to get up at 6:15am in order to workout before leaving the house during the week, and I am just not commited enough to do that - not that much of a morning person. 7:00 I can do, but 6:15 is too early for me. All in all I need to remedy this somehow because I have definitely gained weight in the last 6 months and it is frustrating me lately. OK - enough dieting stuff - it really is no fun to talk about, is it?!

No new LO's to share - the December BYOC (Build your Own Collab) is going live at the Lilypad tomorrow, so I have a LO from that, but will have to share it later! :)

Oh wait, I lie - I found a few I haven't posted here yet! Lucky you! Hehehehehe!

Here is the advent calendar I made that we are doing with the girls:

One with the collab of Kate Hadfield and Shabby Miss Jenn:

And then one I did the December Journaling Challenge at The-Lilypad:

If you are ever needing inspiration on what to scrap or are just not sure what you want to scrap you should check out the challenges at The-Lilypad forums - they are great! I tend to get my LO scrapped much quicker when I have a springboard to start from!

OK - have a great rest of your week and weekend everyone!

Thanks for listening to me blab my mouth again!

Signing out,

MandaKay