What a Wonderful yet Exhausting time of year!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, We went to my mom's Christmas eve and it was so fun being with family , we had an AWESOME time until the ride home from hell, it was smooth sailing until Woodburn and then it took us 2.5 hrs to go 12 miles, I thought we would all kill each other. Our cat Merl had been sleeping alot and we chalked it up to 2 ft of snow outside but on Christmas day Conner yelled for me that she coudlnt walk on one leg. We noticed she had a huge gash and took her to the vet, after shaving her leg and hip, they discovered it much much more, she had been attacked by something, maybe a racoon and needed surgery, she has drain tubes and ALOT of stiches, shes wearing the collar that looks like a lamp shade and lets just say shes one pished off kitty. We went to Rods parents in troutdale and I can only say OMG, they had snow banks that were 5 ft tall, it was a mess, we had a Wonderful but quick Christmas with mom and dad as we had to pick merl up after her surgery, we are very lucky Rod and I have the best families.

Did I mention We are so exhausted!

The snow was nice but I AM SO DONE, yuck its getting old! We are looking forward to a fresh year and I am looking forward to another round of "total health" at Bally.

I hope everyone had a great holiday and a happy safe healthy new year.

we love you all
Helen & family

At the tree farm

We went and got our tree today and I have to say this was the funnest year yet as far as Hayden is concerned. I remember this was about the age Conner LOVED going as well. Well this year all 3 boys (Rod included) were equally excited. We went to a farmwith my mom, sister and niece that some people from our church own and are donating 1/2 the proceeds from the trees, the money goes to Royal family kids camp, which provides a camp for kids who are in foster care and have been badly abused by their birth parents, while at this camp they have a one huge birthday party together with cake and present s for all. they have a week filled at a real camp (canby grove) . This camp is all run by volunteers and they are truley amazing people, they get probably as much joy volunteering as the kids do from attending. I hope to volunteer next summer.
I just cant imagaine not having the loving home that I had growing up. I have the best mom in the world as well as brothers and sisters and while we didnt have a lot material wise, we had such a great time. I dont know how my mom did it but she ALWAYS did. Holidays were the best and my childhood was filled with so many great memories and thats how it should be. Y ou dont need money to show your kids love and teach respect and compassion for others, you just need a parent whose willing to go to bat for you no matter what it takes, no matter how hard it may be, because they believe your worth it so with that I want to say "Thanks mom, I love you".
Happy holidays
Love, Helen

The moment of truth..............

Well i had my 10th week of my bally class until January today and I was pretty happy with the results after getting over shock of gaining 7 lbs in one week (i have no idea) I freaked and was so upset, I worked so hard that whole 10 weeks and knew I had lost weight as I'm almost down 2 pant sizes. My trainer did all my measurements and my total for that was over 10 inches lost and my body fat was over 8% lost :O) she said average is a 3% loss after 10 weeks so I did Very well. Not sure why my weight was up so much , she thought maybe some muscle and water weight. Anyway I'm proud and I'm just going to look forward and pump up my cardio even more and drink lots of water and Ill be thankful when all the holiday party's are over and all the yummy food is gone. Gosh i LOVEEEEEEEEE food. ;o)

We are supposed to get our tree on Saturday so Ill post my first pictures on my blog then.

Love, Helen

Saying your "pers"

Hayden has really taken in interest in praying lately as we have been trying to teach him the true meaning of Christmas and that he can talk directly to God through prayer. He tells me "mom , we need to says our pers" so pers we say. Hayden thanks God for his family, friends, school and then out of nowhere he thanked God for bones, yes bones! He is fascinated about the human body and how it works and how the body would be a big blob without the bones to hold it up. He had to have an xray last week as his leg has been hurting (all was fine) but he was sooo thrilled witht he picture of his bones. On another Baby Jesus note , we were putting the nativity scene up and talking about the manger and later Hayden was curious to know why baby Jesus had "mange" LOL oy vey! This age does have its entertaining parts.

My first blog..................oh my!

Wow, What a wild weekend, The Beavs lost their shorts to the ucks (no, I mean UCKS), but in all fairness we beat their azzes the last 2 years so I guess it OK. ;o)

So I'm having a really hard time getting into the Christmas spirit. Iv gave to charitys, helped others and I still feel blah. I miss My family who has passed, my brother, my stepdad and yes even Conners dad Curtis. My mom says I just cant go there or I'll let it consume me. I know shes right, but the heart wants what the heart wants right?

Hayden has been dye free 6 weeks now and all we can say is.....WOW, I mean hes still your average 3 3/4 year old but to think they almost diagnosed and treated my almost 4 yr old for ADHD with meds. Im just shocked all other countries can use natural things to dye foods but not the U.S. , things need to change, no wonder so many kids are screwed up. Its not as big of a challenge as I thought it would be. However he had a bday party to go to this weekend and they had a DORA cake with every dye you could imagine and I had to plan ahead, I took him to Whole foods and let him pick out a fancy cupcake and funny thing is all the kids wanted Hayden's cupcake..........go figure. If you want more info ont his topic this lady has dedicated her blog to this cause.....http://fooddyediaries.blogspot.com/search?q=

Conner is doing good he loves church, he has an awesome youth leader and has really connected. He can always do better in school, he has so much potential but he wastes alot of it, He is such a smart kid and will go very far in life if he lights the fire under his rear. :O) until then i ride his butt daily! oy vey!

Rod got new glasses and looks amazing, also its a real bonus not to have super glue holding them together lol :O)

I have been taking a class at Bally total fitness called Total health, this is my last week. Thursday Ill get weighed, measured and my body fat tested. I know Im down 13.5 pds and 2 weeks ago we "unoffically measured' and I was down 7.2 inches in my waist and hips combined so Im pretty excited to see the final numbers. The class breaks for Christmas and then we are back in January, keep praying for me. Rod and Conner have even joined Ballys.

Sorry for the novel, this is exciting to have place to vent. Ill add pics when I fuigure it out. :)

Love, Helen