Gingerbread Houses X 5 !!!

The Boys get to work.

Amy helping the girls get started.

Zanna made a tidy roof and Sarah wanted grass.

Leah's first whole house-last year she shared with Jake, but actually, she shared with me this year.
Perhaps she will share with Gabe next year when he joins the gang!

Jake loved squeezing the frosting and only used red & green Decos!

Dan did a very TIDY job this year (compared to last year)  He even had a great time doing it!

Lovin' making a house, lovin' the gap in her teeth!

The yard and fence complete, she is ready to start on the house!

The kids await the verdict of who won for the competition!
They ALL WON!!  We came up with a category for each.

Leah's: Best Mommy Help award

Jake's: Most Coordinated (all red, white and green!)  Looks like a marshmallow world, too!

Dan's: Best use of every kind of candy available!!

Lizzy's: Best Use of Color-She made it very colorful!  I love the hearts on the tree!

Sarah's: Most realistic.  Nice yard!

More of Sarah's.  We loved her roof decorations and fence with "snow" on it!

Weight Watchers Week #11-12

     Hi there!  It has been a very busy week!  I traveled to California last Friday to surprise my brother with a Christmas visit!  I also surprised all of my dad's side of the family, but really, I was most excited to be 3,000 miles closer to my brother and sister in law and nephews!  I took Gabriel with me and we flew all day Friday.  Saturday we relaxed with Dad and Mom, then headed off to the annual Floyd Family Christmas Party.  My brother was surprised speechless when I hopped out of the car and my sister-in-law indeed looked pleased!  We had a great party at their house with about 60 FLOYDS!!!  It was crazy loud for a good 6 hours, but Gabe slept through most of it!  On Sunday we had a bridal shower for my cousin's fiance and finished the day with a nice visit with my brother's family, my aunt and cousin on my mom's side and then a visit from another cousin and his daughter!  What a weekend of visiting!
     Despite it all, I was concerned about my weight loss this week.  I would have to track my points AFTER I ate everything and pray I was close.  I tried to eat a lot of protein if nothing else and was conservative with the yummy Floyd traditional appetizers(artichoke dip with corn chips and bacon-wrapped water-chestnuts with sweet bbq sauce).  I had several mochas given to me that were NOT no-fat, but in the end, I still managed to lose 1.5 pounds!  All that and I even had a piece of cake, cookies, etc!  See!! Dieting can still include yummy treats and work!
     I never posted about the previous week, so I need to mention here that I lost exactly 1 pound the week before.  For my 10 by Christmas goal, I need to loose 2.5 more pounds in less than 2 weeks.  I am on it!  The weeks I eat more I actually tend to lose more, which goes against everything i've ever heard about dieting, but when you eat the right things, I guess it works!
  Look for a post soon with gingerbread house pictures!

Weight Watchers Week #10

     Thanksgiving!!!  Yep, we geared up for this big event for 3 WHOLE WEEKS at our Weight Watcher's meetings!  I am happy to report I preplanned my plate, stuck to it, and enjoyed the holiday without guilt of overeating!  For the FIRST TIME I had one little tumbler of Apple Cider-usually I could drink a whole bottle!  I passed up the pumpkin cheesecake and enjoyed my own homemade Butter cookies with vanilla frosting-so yummy!  I was nervous about my weigh-in, though, because we also ate at California Pizza Kitchen for my birthday lunch, and PF CHangs for my birthday dinner two nights later.  At CPK I had my new usual: Thai Linguini with Chicken, which I haven't looked up, but probably isn't TOO bad.  But AFTER eating at PF Changs, I looked them up, and that did NOT look so pretty!!  YIKES!!  All things considered, I was happy to lose 1.4 pounds over a holiday week!!! I have officially hit 20 pounds lost!!
     My mom rarely dreams.  She considers this a blessing, though I personally think dreams are hilarious and enjoy them!  However, a couple of nights ago she had a dream about herself and me being on a diet together.   It was called the "Butter Diet" and we could only eat things dripping and oozing with butter!!  She said in our dream diet we felt quite sick!  I LOVE IT!!!

A Wonderful Article About My Life

     A friend sent me this article from Veritas Press.  I hope it is not a bad thing that I am passing it on here, since it is from an email newsletter.  This about sums it up!

"In the Rock Tumbler" from Loving the Little Years   I remember a time when I used to be much godlier. It was sometime in junior high and my room was clean. It must have been beautiful weather outside because the lighting was very nice in my room where I was reading my Bible every day and feeling really good. It was quite clear to me that my sanctification was progressing very well. As the feeling wore off, I remember looking back to that time as a high point. That was really living the Christian life. The truth is my Christian life then was like a rock being refined by a slow river in a quiet place. It wasn't as though I wasn't growing spiritually, but my word! So easily! And so little! But God took me out of that life and threw me into the rock tumbler. Here, it is not so easy to feel godly, because we spend our days crashing into each other and actually getting our problems addressed. Here there is very little time for quiet reflection. I do a lot of on-the-job failure and correction. Repenting and forgiving. Laughing. Lots and lots of laughing. Because if there is anything that life in the rock tumbler will teach you, it is that there is no room to take yourself seriously. Like trying to strike "cool" poses on a rug that someone is continually pulling out from under you, self-seriousness in mothering is totally pointless and probably painful! The opportunities for growth and refinement abound here-but you have to be willing. You have to open your heart to the tumble. As you deal with your children, deal with yourself always and first. This is what it looks like and feels like to walk with God, as a mother. God treats us with great kindness as we fail daily. He takes the long view of our sin-knowing that every time we fail and repent, we grow in our walk with Him. It is easy for us to accept this, because our sins are, well, ours. But our children sin against us, annoy us, and mess up our stuff. We want to hold it against them, complain about them (if only to ourselves), and feel put upon by their sin. We have a much harder time accepting that every failure from them is a wonderful opportunity for repentance and growth and not an opportunity for us to exact penance. It is no abstract thing-the state of your heart is the state of your home. You cannot harbor resentment secretly toward your children and expect their hearts to be submissive and tender. You cannot be greedy with your time and expect them to share their toys. And perhaps most importantly, you cannot resist your opportunities to be corrected by God and expect them to receive correction from you. God has given us the job of teaching His law and demonstrating His grace. We are to be guides to our children as they learn to walk with God. Sin is just a fact of life. It is the way we deal with it that changes ours. Rachael Jankovic   Rachel Jankovic has five children under the age of 6, including a set of 2-year-old twins. Loving the Little Years is a slender book of short essays that presents an honest and sometimes funny glimpse into her life and the wisdom she's learned in the trenches.