Thursday, December 9, 2010

Bald Eagle Sighting

The other day I was sitting at the computer and when I looked up this is what I saw.

A Bald Eagle. 

He just sat there for probably ten minutes. What a majestic sight it was. It was the bird of all birds. And although my camera doesn’t do it justice he was sitting less than a half a mile from me. What a beautiful sight. And a week before when it was snowing I saw a Bald Eagle with its wings spread flying outside of our window. It might be the same eagle. And that is one more thing I am thankful for about living in the North West.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Christmas Cookies


I love this time of year. The wreaths made of pine, the smells of cinnamon and sugar, and the festivities that fill your calendar up to the brim of Christmas day. But there is one thing about this time of year that I’m not so fond of this year and that’s the cookies.

Last night I partook in a wonderful cookie exchange party between the 10 moms there were 11 different types of cookies. My friend and I hosted so of course staying after everyone had left means I got double the amount of cookies. When I left the party last night with my 3 Tupperware containers full of cookies I thought to myself, “these are going to be yummy, I can’t wait to share them.”
Then I got home and one after another I took a bite and then I had to eat the whole thing. My husband with the ever strong will of self control chose one accordingly, a coconut macaroon and was satisfied with his choice.
This morning I woke up making breakfast for my little girl-of course no cookies for her. But for myself I thought I might have a Reese’s peanut butter cup cookie. And then just a plain peanut butter cookie with chocolate chips, then we went out for some errands. A cookie or 3 more when we got home, and I switched from my favorite peanut butter cookies to the chocolate cordial cherry, which was ever so delightful. I devised a list to use in case you’re wondering if you’re eating too many cookies.
1.       You start to esteem the ingredients in the cookies as being healthy. For example, the peanut butter is a good source of protein. The cherry counts as a fruit.
2.       You sit down to a plate balanced nutritious food and all you can think about are cookies and how you’d rather be eating one.
3.       You go to the gym and instead of feeling great from working out you never reach that point of feeling great, but just feel tired and out of gas.
4.       You start counting the many ways that you hate cookies.
5.       You devise a plan to get the cookies out of reach, but know that just putting them in the freezer isn’t enough. So you take it to the next level. Put them in a duck taped box in the freezer.
6.       Tell yourself that you’re going to eat something healthy when you’re done writing this blog instead of eating another cookie!
And that my friend is why I am done with cookies for the holiday season! I am giving my 3 large Tupperware’s of cookies away! And I am praying for self control!
*And folks this pic includes only one container of the cookies that I have left.

Friday, December 3, 2010

Snow, Thanksgiving, and a waterpark all wrapped up into one

Well it's been a while since I've sat down to write a blog.. Thanksgiving week we had snow. It was beautiful. Not only was it beautiful but most of the city shut down because the roads hadn't been salted and the ice made it too dangerous to drive. So we had some extra time together as a family until Paul decided to brave the snow, and he did it :)
Sam didn't know what to think of the calm, cold snow.
Sam loves to play in the funniest things, like baskets and totes.

This is her little pizzeria hat :)
We went to a friends and spent Thanksgiving with her family who was so warm and welcoming, it felt like we were with family. The food was great too. Sam was all grown up at her own little table, which might have only lasted for the photo.
We braved the cold weather to get some family shots of the water with the snow still on the ground.

The next day we meet some friends from California at an indoor water park where Sam loved the water. She walked in the 2 foot deep kid area and played with all the babies splashing around her. We were all pretty exhausted after that day.
But what better way to end the day than with some ice cream?