holiday

The children had a good holiday. The kick off to the Christmas festivities was a trip to Durango, CO to play in some snow and ride the Polar Express train. Dylan started us off my giving me a heart attack. He decided to sled down a 10 foot steep hill with only one way out and that was straight up. On a normal day I'm sure it would've been no problem, but when there is at least 3 feet of snow it makes it hard to climb. Once we got settled and ready for some real sledding the babies pooped, but I decided to let them be rather then unbundle them in the snow. So the nice fresh mountain air had a tinge of poop for the better half of the day. Later that night it was time for the highlight of the trip. A train ride to the north pole to see Santa who would then give the children a bell if they believed. So once again we wore extra clothes and waited outside in the 13 degree weather for the train to arrive. Once we got on the train Nick pooped again, and again I opted to leave him then change him in the freezing weather. I think by the time the ride was over the whole train car was happy to get off and get some fresh air. This year we changed things up a little with the opening of gifts on Christmas Eve. My brother is married and has another family to accommodate for the holidays so to make it easier they came over on Christmas eve instead of trying to fit us in Christmas day. The boys were given the option of opening only a few gifts or all of them. Of course they chose all of them. Good thing I know Santa and knew that there was still going to be a few little things to open Christmas morning.
Now as the count down to the new year starts its also the count down to David's return home. For me it can't come fast enough, but the one thing I've learned from this deployment is just how much David means to this family and how totally unhappy I can get without him in it.

Merry Christmas!

I sure do hope you all have a great Christmas. Mine will not be the same, but we'll make do. It is always nice to be home for Christmas, but when the back bone of my family is not with me it just doesn't feel quite the same. It is times like these that I miss Dave more then usual, but like a "Ranger" I must press on and suck it up.
I want to thank you all for your blessings and sending Dave his care packages.

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
JOHN 3:16

Merry Christmas all

Gift cards

You know there is nothing easier to buy for a gift then gift cards right? Wrong I just spent 5 hours shopping for gift cards. Shopping for an actual gift is hard enough. You have to hope that the gift you just bought would be something that the receiver would actually enjoy. Buying a gift card is almost just as stressful, you have to hope that the place you buy the card is a store that the receiver even likes to shop at.

Time

I was just putting some pictures on my face book page and thought I might as well add them to the blog while I'm at it. This is what I do all day....clean up after babies.

Going organiclly healthy

I do yoga and pilates at least 3 times a week. I drink LOTS of water. I don't smoke and I don't drink alcohol. Well, except for the occasional glass of wine, but wine is actually good for you as long as you don't drink the entire bottle all at once. My point is that I work to keep myself healthy. My sister-in-law and friend Brandi told me of this book called "skinny bitch" Its a no nonsense guide to eating healthy. Mostly its a guide to the way of the Vegan life style, but since I eat meat and my family eats meat and we like to eat meat cutting meat completely out of our diet is not going to work for us. However going organic will work for us. I implore you to also look into this "organic" way of life. Not only for your health and the health of your kids, but to stop the insane cruelty to the animals that we eat. Did you know that the factory farmers inject the animals with antibiotics, pesticides, steroids and hormones. All so that they will be nice and fat when they butcher them. The more meat from an animal means more money in their pockets. The animals are kept in cramped spaces for their entire life time. Some cant even turn around or lay down. Cages made to hold only 3 chickens actually hold about 10. This means that they cant even open their wings to stretch. Not to minchin they are stacked on top of each other so they are actually being pooped on by the chickens above them. Pour little guys. Did you know that a good farm cow can produce 10 pounds of milk a day. But a factory cow is hooked up to a machine that forces out up to 100 pounds of milk a day. This results in swollen, sore and infected utters. Which the factory then gives the cow antibiotics to treat, but not before the puss and blood are mixed in with the milk that was pumped. Ladies who have breast feed should be feeling very sorry for these cows. There are stories about the cruelty these animals endure that I just cant bring myself to repeat. I've cried much over this, but I beg you to either read this book or do some research on the treatment of factory animals. If we all come together and buy hormonal and pesticide free meat then those factories will changes the way they do business. Money talks to them and if we stop giving them our money they will listen. I know that organic food is a little bit more money, but to me its worth it. To know that the hamburger meat I'm eating came from a cow that was not still alive when its hide was ripped off its body. or to know that the chicken I'm eating wasn't alive when it was put into scalding hot water to loosen its feathers before hung up in a contraption that shakes the chicken until the feathers fall off. Organic is not just nuts and grains, buts its fresh fruits and vegetables that weren't sprayed with pesticides to keep them "fresh" on the way to the supermarkets. We all know the importance of exercises, but its all for nothing if what you put into your body is crap. Eat lots of fresh fruits and vegetables. Whole grains and nuts and plenty of water. If you must eat meat ,like me then please make sure it wasn't from an animal that was put through hell first. If you don't get anything from this blog message then get this..You are what you eat.

Changes

So many changes happen this time of year. The weather, the clothes we wear, the home decor, even the foods we eat. Now Ive changed the background to this blog. I hope this doesn't put you over the edge.