Christmas Eve, Day, Trains

Christmas was a nice and relaxing time for us this year. Mark had to work on Christmas Day and Eve so we e-mailed Santa and asked him to come a day late....he obliged! On our Christmas Eve, mom, Dave, Andy and the kids and I all just literally hung out and munched goodies all day. Christmas morning brought a fun time, bright and early. We opened presents and enjoyed time as a family once again...this time with Mark. Mom got Rock Band 2 and Mario Kart for her Wii and we had fun with that. Andon and mark played with the train a lot and we got some really cute pictures of them doing so...especially Andon. The pictures of the kids all dressed up was on the real Christmas Eve before we headed out to church. The kids did really well as they sat in the "grown up" room together. Hope everyone else had a Merry Christmas!

Weight Loss...Almost 1 year Later

Well, I write this 28 lbs lighter and at least 27 inches smaller! I started the year with my first boot camp, did Hot Mommy Boot Camp this summer and have completed the rest on my own cycling, changing my diet and staying motivated! I have lost 6.3% body fat, most of which was after my boot camps were over and I am now in my size 6's again! I even bought a size 4 pair of jeans for the first time since I can remember! I feel great and have included some before pics and recent pics...I can really notice the change in my face. It's funny how few pictures there are of me before I lost weight...I guess that I was subconsciously avoiding the evidence! I am really proud of myself and although I am still battling those last 4 or 5 lbs (which I am trying to shed before February...the last ones are the hardest though), I am still extremely happy! It took a year but it should stay off!!! Now watch, we'll get pregnant again and the journey will begin once again!

First two are me around my heaviest...


The next pic is a cycling shot from September...

One in October...

Taken end of November...

This blows me away...
BEFORE
AFTER

Merry Christ-Mas!

The gap that we could never reach across was bridged when God Himself came down, in the flesh of Jesus Christ, to forever carry our burdens of sin. A gift that is readily given to all who shall receive it...let us celebrate the birth of that gift. May He be remembered this Christ-mas and may blessings of joy be received!
Love,
January

Blogger Backgrounds

Ahhhh HAAA! I think I fixed the blogging problem! I hated (as did Kelly and I'm sure a few others) the way my last blog read. I love the idea but just couldn't figure out why it was so hard to read. I finally made it much more legible by changing my template through blogger first...what do you think????

Do we, or do we not??? and January's New Job

Warning....this is about as deep as January gets on the blog.....

So Mark and I have been talking....do we have more kids or do we not? We both have mixed feelings...The kids will be going to kindergarten next year and that leaves the question do I go back to teaching? The answer to that is no mostly because my cert expires on my birthday this year but also because I just don't want to be committed full time to a job where I will not be able to help in their classroom and be part of their education...I mean that IS my forte! But, I'll feel guilty staying home if the kids are in school (half day or full day will depend on the school we enroll them in and that's a completely different discussion) and what do I do with my time? Clean? Run errands? Become the room parent? Volunteer more?

I go through stages where I think we really would love to be blessed with another baby...probably another set of twins...but is that just because I loved being pregnant (other than the 1st trimester)? Because my good friend, Kelly, is 17 weeks along with her first little girl? I don't know. But then I go through stages where I like being able to do more "stuff" with the kids being older...babies really do keep you from doing a lot of things (all worth it, of course). What about cycling? When will we find time to do that? Plus I just worked SOOO hard at losing 28 lbs and getting below my pre-pregnancy weight! Ok, so really that's not a concern...I did it once and I can do it again! I'm just enjoying wearing size 6's!!! Then there are the issues that we are having with Andon...he's a VERY strong-willed child. Will he outgrow that? Will it get worse if a baby comes? By the way, both kids have already picked names for our new babies....Avery wants to name our baby girl Sarah and Andon wants to name our baby boy Malachai (we'll work on that one with him).

We are planning a big DisneyWorld trip in June with the Chicago Bibbey's so I would like to wait until after that (Disney is just not as fun when you are pregnant) but sometime's I just wish that God would give us a surprise pregnancy so we didn't have to decide the timing. It's His perfect timing anyways, right?
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As mentioned above, I have been contemplating going back to work when the kids go to kindergarten. Our Children's Director at church has always said, "Before you go back to teaching, come talk to me because I want to hire you in Children's Ministry." Well, she contacted me two weeks ago and said that a mid week position opened up, effective ASAP, and she thought of me . We began to talk about the different needs right now and as it turns out, they are looking to make some changes..."all the people are on the right bus, just not in the right seat". The offer was made to come on as the N-2's Director as of January 1 and while it isn't the timeline we had anticipated, we decided that it was something to consider. A lot can be done from home, the kids can come with me when I need to go to "work" at church and the pay will help supplement our income allowing Mark to release a little stress about finances! The tough part is it's a weekend commitment for all 4 services (2 Sat night and 3 on Sun morning)...something that will take some adjusting for us all! I am also still the MOPS Coordinator, which was my first commitment, so that will be an additional balancing act! We will also have to stop fostering dogs once Charlie, our current foster, gets adopted because we just can't get them to events on weekends nor have patience to try and teach old dogs new tricks (like peeing outside)! Well, after much prayer and discussions with Mark, I accepted the position so I will be the new N-2's Director effective January 1...not full time, just a 15 hour part-time salary gig.

Please pray with me during this adjustment period...I feel that it's the right decision but everyone will need to be flexible as we get a routine set!

Well, that's enough from me this morning....

Holiday Parties

Is it just me or does it seem like there are many more Christmas parties to attend this year than usual? Usually we have just one or two but this year it was 6! Yes we had a lot of fun at them, getting to spend time without kids with friends, but I'm just exhausted! It's 1 week before Christmas and we still have 2 more to go!

I am having my first annual Girls Night Cookie and Ornament Exchange here tomorrow night and am really surprised that we will have 30-40 people, kids, friends, moms and grandmas, attending this close to Christmas. I was thinking that with it being the Friday before Christmas and kids being out of school that we would have a lot of people who couldn't come and that we would start small for our first one....not so much, only 4 people can't come and most are bringing 1 or 2 guests! Don't get me wrong, the more the merrier and I'm really excited and glad that it was a good date, it's just not what I expected! I'll post some pics....this is a tradition that I am looking forward to keeping up until Avery starts her own!

Grandma and Grandpa Visit for Thanksgiving

We had a nice visit with Mark's mom and dad who drove all the way out from WY! THey stayed for just shy of a week and the kids really enjyed having Grandma and Grandpa around! We went to the ASU game the day after Thanksgiving and then to the Tempe Parade of Lights. Here are some of our favorite pictures...

Southwest Airlines Kid Christmas Party

Today was our first time attending the SWA Kid Christmas Party! We had a lot of fun and it was just like going to a carnival! There were rides, Santa, live singing and dancing, food, a car show, there were helicopters and planes...really fun! Here are some of our favorite pics...

4th file, 4th picture...

Per request by my Auntie Jellie....here's my picture from my 4th file, 4th picture...I know it's of Andon's head injury (no stitches, by the way just an ugly bruise and red mark of course, the day before we were scheduled to take their 4 year pictures)!!! This was posted back in June too titled, "No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed" because guess what Andon was doing??? Yep, jumping on the bed! He hit his head on a crate that Avery had in her room where she put her books she reads before she falls asleep. That crate is long gone by now!

If you are reading this then you really need to do the same....4th file, 4th picture!