A PERFECT DAY FOR SLEDDING

We promised the kids that we would take them sledding yesterday, and lucky for us, it was the only nice day of the week. There was no wind (very unusual for Mountain Home)and clear blue skies. I've never seen snow sparkle the way it was with the sun reflecting off of it, it looked like someone had dumped a huge container of white glitter on the ground. I don't think the weather could have been any better.
We don't actually have any snow in town, so we drove about 20 miles to a well known sledding hill. We went pretty early, so it wasn't too crowded. The kids had a blast, although we were really wishing we had a snowmobile to pull them back up to the top. What a workout!
Here are a few pics of our outing:




That's the sledding hill behind Jace. See what I mean about the snowmobile?

The Resolution Thing

Okay, so I'm a few weeks late with the New Year's Resolutions. I actually started making them before the new year, but am just now getting around to posting them.

1.- (Same as every year for the past 10 maybe?) DRINK MORE WATER - This is very hard for me, I really don't like water and I really do like soda. Unfortunately, my doctor thinks that I am slightly dehydrated at all times and that I don't have enough blood volume in my body because of it, and that is why I get dizzy EVERY time I stand up. So, I really don't have much of a choice on this one and I know it will benefit me in many other ways as well.

2.- EAT FISH ONCE A WEEK - This one may be even harder than the first. I DETEST fish! I have never in my life liked it, and I don't see that changing. When we were little, I would con Mandi into eating my fish sticks at dinner so I could leave the table. It's really the only food that I strongly dislike. However, I am making an attempt, sort of, to keep this resolution. Here is what I have had so far: Week one - tuna fish sandwich (that counts, right?); week two - breaded tilapia with ALOT of cocktail sauce (Tim thought I was insane, but it was the only way I could gut it down); and week three - popcorn shrimp (this is probably stetching it, I know). So far I am thinking that one or two tuna fish sandwiches a week is the only hope I have of carrying out this one. However, if anyone has any REALLY GOOD fish recipes, let me know!

3.- EXERCISE 5 TIMES A WEEK - So far, this has been the easiest one to stick with because Tim is doing it with me. Every night after dinner we play with the kids for about an hour and then go exercise. I know that 5 times a week is a lot, but I figure if my goal is 5 and I do 3, it is still good.

So there they are. I figure the less I make the easier it will be to keep them, right?

New Year's In McCall

This year for Christmas (Tim's Family) we decided instead of buying gifts we would rent a cabin in McCall and spend New Year's together. It was a blast. We stayed in a really nice cabin called the "Fairway Chalet", and it was big enough that the kids were the only ones that didn't have a bed to sleep on. We spent 3 days snowmobiling, sledding, ice skating, playing games, taking pictures and so much more. There were only a couple of minor injuries - Tim crashed into a snow bank on his sled and cut his nose and Jace fell down the stairs in the cabin - but considering all of the activities that we participated in, we did pretty good.



This must have been a "tame" neighborhood fox because he hung out by our cabin the whole time. This picture is through the front window when one night as we were playing games at the dining table, we looked up and saw him watching us from the front deck. The guys had a blast feeding it and taking pictures - it would eat the food out of their hands.





And for those of you (pretty much just my family) that said I would never be able to ice skate, here is the proof. I only went around 3 times, and yes it did hurt my ankles, but I did it and I didn't fall. The kids did it too, but Jace was very upset because "Ice skating is REALLY HARD" and his skates gave him blisters, and Paityn just quit when Jace did.

Christmas 2009

This year Christmas was pretty quiet and laid back, which was wonderful. We love it when we have family here for Christmas, but no one could make it this year so it was just our little family. The kids didn't wake up until 6:45, which was also great. We spent the day playing with new toys, watching new movies, napping (Tim and Paityn), and taking the kids up to the mountains to try out their new snow toys. I attempted to bake Jace's new BigTop cupcake, but while taking it out of the oven I tipped it over and completely ruined the top portion, so we had half of a gigantic cupcake instead. OOPS! Here are some pictures of present opening. I also have some of Jace trying out his new snowboard, but they are in Tim's truck so I will have to post them later.

Starting Young

Paityn has recently decided that she is going to exercise just like mommy, so she gets dressed in her t-shirt, shorts and "running" shoes and gets her water bottle and goes to town. I know that some of you may think this is somewhat "unsafe", but I assure you that the speed is very low and she is monitored very closely during her "workout". You might notice the small bike in the bottom of the picture - that is her "exercise bike" (video game bike) that she uses while I am on the treadmill. I think it's great that she likes to exercise and hopefully if I continue to do my workouts she will grow up thinking it is just something you do and it is fun too! No pressure, right? :)