Changes....

The holidays came and went really fast this year. Christmas Eve, Shanon and I were just finishing up wrapping presents and I looked at our small stack of goods and looked back at him and said, "That's it? That's all we got for the kids?" He gave me a reassuring smile and a hug and said, "Let's just enjoy each other, and have fun." My stomach felt kind of sick. I am used to the money I use to make. Spoiling Colton rotten when he was littler than Alex is now. Spending at least $700 on him alone! Now, here we are with no more than a couple hundred dollars worth of Chinese crumb for three kids. I was sad, looking at our tiny pile on the floor. I thought about arranging it under the tree in a way that you couldn't tell there was only a couple handfuls of presents. Shanon got a nice tool set, and we all got lights for our bicycles. Now we can ride at night and be seen by the cars.

We have to be very specific when we get something because we do not have room for excess. Plus, I'm that way anyway. If I dont have a spot for it, I will not get it. The one and only thing I wanted was running shoes (more on that later). There are no running stores in Moab, of course not in Moab, so I wrote myself a note - from Santa of course - and stuck it on the tree 'help yourself to a new pair of running shoes' so that it wouldn't throw Alex off the belief in the Clause.

The next day, Christmas morning Alex woke up excited to see what Santa brought. One look under the tree and he exclaimed, "Oh my gosh! We got a TON!" A smile ate my heart up in that moment, and a few moments later when he opened one of his presents which was socks. "YES! NEW SOCKS!" He says. "Thank you Santa!" he hollered up into the sky. What a little charmer. He is different than any kid I've ever met. He is simple. He isn't really attached to anything. No new toy really gets to him the way I've seen them get to other kids. He's amazing to watch how he responds to 'things'. He is a great photographer so Santa brought a cute, inexpensive, digital camera. Colton, although he wasn't here for Christmas because he was with his dad, was also pleased with his new cell phone and bike lights. Bailey was happy with her bumble bee pillow pet.

New Years was pretty uneventful unless you consider our sweet Boston Terrier, Trogg Delight, who threw up his supper and jumped over the barrier in the laundry room to get inside the house because he was afraid of the fireworks. Poor baby. We have to keep the dogs in the back room at night unless we want to find our shoes, or a stuffed animal in the backyard in the morning...yes, they are two and still chewing our stuff up. That night, however, we let him sleep under the wood stove - away from the scariness.

A couple of nights ago we caught Stormy on fire. Stormy is our black widow eating beast of a chicken. She's the best huntress around. We thought the chicks were going to get cold at -8 degrees so we put a heat lamp in the coop. The next morning we found our girls backside with burnt feathers : ( so terrible. Fortunately she will be okay - and she is still laying eggs. It's incredible how much better our eggs taste than the eggs people buy in the store. I boiled some today - they were so tasty! We have about four dozen in the fridge even after making a habit of eating eggs for dinner at least once a week, which doesn't include the breakfast eggs we make.

I did something a little crazier than I like to admit myself as doing. I signed up for a half marathon on March 19th. Then, I realized that it is thirteen point one miles of running! At the time I signed up for it I could barely run a mile. My dear husband has been so supportive of me. I am up to four miles at least every other day, with the days in between running at least thirty minutes - which for me takes me another two and a half miles. My sister, Gay, and I will be running as 'Angels in Sneakers.' I really have enjoyed it. I feel so good when I get done with a run. I should have started this years ago! In fact, I bought my heart rate monitor when Colton was one and a half years old with the intention, and the desire, to run. I've been watching people run for years and saying inside my head, "I wish I was running, I really want to run, I should be running...." and on and on. Tomorrow will be my first six mile run.

I thought that if I could work towards a goal other than weight loss maybe it would help. I have twenty pounds to lose in ten weeks. I realize only now that I have to incorporate weight training as well as running. It almost doubles the calories I can burn.

Last week we painted our kitchen cabinets a beautiful turqouise blue. A neighbor friend of Colton's said it best when he walked in the other day. He said, "It makes it feel happy in here." Thanks Josh. You can be my adoptive son.

Our family at least is off to a great start this year and I hope everyone has a great 2011!