C is for Cookie

So tonight I fulfilled one of my dreams...

Right now one of our favorite words is COOKIE.

Sometimes we talk about this COOKIE

(Really, How can you not love him?! He wishes COOKIES grew on trees. My kind of Monster!)

And sometimes we talk about this COOKIE!

(The iphone doesn't do this justice.)

Since we are almost 2, I am letting them have real world cookies every once and a while. I only keep vanilla wafers in our house and these are the only sweets they EVER get.

I always dreamed of being the mom that would have a plate of fresh cookies waiting for her kids. And the greatest blessing is that I am living that dream.

So, COOKIE as you near retirement (which I am sure you are getting up there...) I have 2 little friends I could recommend.

Dylan is the COOKIE MONSTER that savors each bite. He will take a bite, set it down, take a drink, and nibble on it a little more.

Brody models his style after the great COOKIE MONSTER. Now you see it...Now you don't. (He won the cookie monster award at Christmas. He LOVED those COOKIES for Santa! He is the boy that is shoveling it in and not even bothering to look up for a picture!)

My dearest friend, Tamara has the best chocolate chip cookies. These cookies are legendary. SO legendary that she almost burnt down the dorm our sophomore year while making these chocolate chip cookies.They make me turn into a COOKIE MONSTER. I remember in college that her cookies may have been all I ate all day. But...I am not turning blue and I am not in college anymore. So I have to put the cookie down more often.

I have passed the torch to 2 new little monsters.

COOKIE!

The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow

(Sorry...No pics. This was before digital and the pics can't be found. )

I was going to be an Actress.
I was going to go to NorthWestern and be a star.
It all started in 5th grade. I was Dorothy in search of the Yellow Brick Road.
I was in Drama class for the next 4 years exploring the world of musicals, improv, and the diary of Anne Frank.
Then my sophomore year I changed gears and started Photography. I loved processing my own film and printing my own prints. I had fun taking classes at Glassel Art School, Rice University, and Summer Photography Camps.
In college, I gave up photography and I took music lessons.
I always wanted to be able to sing. I thought lessons could help...
Then I took guitar and was actually able to play some songs!
After I graduated college, I poured all of my creativity into my first classroom and all my lesson plans.
Five years later, I was using every free moment to nurture and care for my 2 precious
As part of RECLAIMING ME 2010
I am wanting to find a hobby or an outlet for myself.
I just have no clue where to start.
I don't know who I am anymore. I am a Daughter of HIS. I am a wife. I am a mother. I am a daughter. I am a teacher. But I am on a quest to know under all these things, who am I?
So, part of reclaiming me is searching on the inside.
I am searching for a outlet.

MRI

Tomorrow I get to go in for a MRI. I have to wait until 2/1 to find out the results. I am SOOO ready to get moving again. It has been since the beginning of November since I went to the gym. This stinks.

Today could CHANGE all days

January 11, 2010 is National Human Trafficking Awareness Day.

While all my favorite TV shows were on a Winter Hiatus, it gave me some time to catch up on all my Oprah's. (These are precious archives now that she is retiring soon!) As I watched this one episode, I found myself feeling defeated by the brokenness of this world. In particular, the Human Trafficking of Women in other parts of the world. Did you know:

* that there are more WOMEN killed in the last 50 years than all the men that have died in all the wars/battles of the 20th century! SHOCKING!

* There are 60-101 MILLION women missing and every year 2 million more women disappear!

* That with just a little bit we could CHANGE a life.

Oprah was interviewing the authors of Half the Sky, Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. The interview is life changing and the book is even more detailed of the triumphs and dark, dark days of being a woman in another country.

At Christmas, Michael and I focused our gifts to each other around this simple gift exchange. He bought me this book and it has so many heartbreaking, eye-opening, true accounts of the Human Trafficking and Slavery of Women. Our gifts to each other were simple, but changed someone's tomorrow. You can change someone's tomorrow with just 7 dollars here.

Today is National Human Trafficking Awareness Day.

Take a peek at these websites:

Touch a Life
The Girl Effect

Watch the Video

Nicholas Kristof said that the first step to change is awareness. Then from there comes a grass movement begun with everyday Jo.
I can do something, too.

Reclaiming Me Part 1

2010 is going to be a year of reclaiming all things me.

****Note: This is Leah in REAL life. All these are my true and HONEST feelings. Saving the sugarcoated status for Facebook. ;) )

The last few years (3 to be exact) have been about the boys.

And as sweet and perfect as they are

(and they are just absolutely perfect)

it is time to reclaim things that make me me.

This was me 4 1/2 years ago. Pre-Kids, in the middle of a very stressful move, and living apart from Michael to finish the school year before I made the move. I thought I looked fat in this picture...What was I thinking?!!!

Then this was me almost 2 years ago. Stretched out as far as the skin would go. I thought I was fat here too. Now I think the belly was huge...but the rest is so little.

This is me ( and the rest of my family for Mee-Maw's 90th birthday. More on that here.) in Dec. And I am unhappy with the way I look. I almost lost all the weight from the boys this summer. (This does NOT mean I was wearing my old clothes. That body is just a memory!) But now with some poor eating choices, my knee injury, and who knows what else I am overweight. At the beginning of the school year, I did one of those Health Screenings so my gym payment would go down. They think I need to be 96 lbs. However, the days of me being 96 lbs are soooooooooooooo O-V-E-R! I need to lose 30 lbs, but I will settle for 25. Or just 10. Really I would be totally happy at my current weight if any of my clothes fit. But they don't, bringing me to my first 3 resolutions to reclaiming me.

1. to lose some/all/any weight-This is going to take a while since I am still injured and can't work out. I have been recording my meals on this website.

2. To let go of all those size 0, 2, 4, and 6 clothes

My dear friend Kate is having this AWESOME consignment sale in March. I started tagging years of my wardrobe this weekend.

3. To spend a little bit and buy me some new clothes.

I used to LOVE, LOVE,LOVE shopping! Now I HATE,HATE,HATE shopping. I can't spend what I want to and I don't want to spend any on me. So for the last 2 years I have been living in elastic pants. They are great actually. I love sweats, but they aren't the best for work. You can't wear them to church. Sunday mornings are now my least favorite time because I have NOTHING to wear.

To reclaim me, I have to do something for myself outwardly.

Reclaiming Me Goals Part 2 coming soon.

Blessings to You this New Year

So a day late and a dollar short...This was our Christmas Card for 2009.

Debbie Riggs at Pure Photography is our photographer.

She is WONDERFUL!

The NINE blessings of 2009

1. my new PART-TIME job-This has changed my life!

2. Friends who babysit for free-This is a treat when all your family is far, far, away.

3. Restaurant Gift Cards-I get the night off from cooking!

4. Sweet Teachers at the boys' school that can love on my precious boys

5. A very generous Christmas provided all the things we needed.

6. Being able to be active (until Nov. which is why I am missing that terribly!)

7. Outdoor Toys-The outdoors brings a whole new playroom for us to explore!

8.. My most precious boys learning new things and growing up so fast!

9. My husband being taking charge of bath time and early morning routines-This is SUCH a treat after nursing for 11 months. Freedom!