Wordless and Wardrobe Wednesday

Loving embrace or killer headlock?

I'll let you decide.

Check out 5 Minutes for Mom, Momspective, and Wordless Wednesday for more wordless photos.

This was Caitlin's attempt at camouflage. It works in her room anyway. Don't forget to head over to see how all the cool kids are dressing at Heathen Family Revival.

Advent Calendar

I decided to get a nice advent calendar for the kids this year. I put a different holiday activity in each door to do that day. The kids love opening the door to discover what we are doing that day. Davey liked opening it so much, he opened all the doors and the wooden calendar fell on his head and made a little egg. Now it is stored out of reach when not in use. Maybe next year we will be able to keep it out.

Excitement of opening the door.

Reading Christmas books for December 2's activity.Some of the books we read.

The kids picked out toys to donate to needy kids was another activity. The ever questioning Caitlin asked me, "Doesn't Santa bring needy kids toys?" Good thing I was awake enough to answer that. Caitlin is already questioning the math on Santa. How many elves are there? How does Santa make it to all the houses in all the world in one night? So far she is satisfied with my answers. Four years old seems too young for all the questioning.

We made Christmas tree crafts. And yes Davey's hair is wet because he put glue in it. Luckily he told us right away so we were able to wash it out pretty well.

Weekly Winners-The Tree Addition.

We got our Christmas tree this weekend. Here are some of the better shots. Be sure to go to Sarcastic Mom to check out more weekly winners.

Family photo courtesy of the tree guy.

Dave and the kids.

Caitlin.

The kids' favorite part is running up and down the tree rows.

Together.

Fitness Friday

Insomnia is so not good for working out. I probably should just go to the gym when it strikes. The gym I joined is always open but somehow working out at 4 am seems wrong. I keep thinking that I will fall back asleep. So far no such luck today. It makes it hard to get a good workout in later in the day because the fatigue will hit by then. Oh well I see a sleeping pill in my future...

I'm trying to stick to a workout schedule. Here it is:

Monday- 30 day shred video and elliptical machine

Tuesday- run at the gym. I have exactly 45 minutes to go to the gym. I need to run faster so I can do some weights too. I'm a really slow runner. I' m running about a 10 minute mile right now. I'm trying to speed up each week by 30 seconds or so.

Wednesday-30 day shred video and elliptical machine. I will jog with Davey on Wednesdays and Fridays while Caitlin is at school while the weather permits.

Thursday- running at the gym again. I missed it this week so we could finish hanging Christmas lights and yard work. It looks like it might be the last nice weather day for a while. It was 65.

Friday-Probably just the elliptical machine

Saturday and Sunday- I'm going to try to walk Maximus for an hour each day to get his exercise in. But I know with crazy weekend plans he will probably miss one day. Poor pooch.

Now if I could just stick to a sensible eating plan, things would come together.

Wordless Wednesday

He brought frosting and a spoon to me for dinner. He really thinks that is what he is going to have for dinner. He was so happy...

...until I told him "No frosting for dinner."

He was a little disappointed.

Check out 5 Minutes for Mom, Momspective, and Wordless Wednesday for more wordless photos.

Random Tuesday Thoughts

I'm surprisingly not ticked off this Tuesday so I thought I'd try participating in Un Mom's Random Tuesday Thoughts. Its my first time so be gentle.

My dog's paws always smell like popcorn.

My son finally figured out he can get out off his big boy bed after 7 months. It only took my daughter 2 months to figure that out. I know you shouldn't compare kids. Anyway I'm not looking forward to the new challenges this will bring, like I will actually have to get out of bed right away to stop the little man from burning down the house.

I just saw an ad for Lost. I'm so excited but sad it is not coming back on the air till February.

I haven't slept through the night for 4 days. Five days ago I took a sleeping pill. I fear getting dependent on the pills and refuse to take them too often. I'm not sure what my problem is. I fall asleep fairly easily but then wake up in the middle of the night and have a hard time getting back to sleep. I felt ready to start the day at 2 am last night. I knew that would be a mistake. I feel like a newborn baby unable to sleep through the night.

A Big Step

My heart was pounding but it was not from exertion. We had not started walking yet. I wore no earphones. I wanted to be able to hear everything around me, especially the jiggling of dog tags. My eyes continuously scanned yards looking for loose dogs. I made sure my pepper spray was easily reachable. Logically I know the chances of Maximus being attacked again are minimal but I can't help to be paranoid. I took Maximus to our downtown area where a lot of people walk with and without dogs. The downtown area is made up mostly of businesses and the prep school with some residential houses peppered in. I figured that there was less of a chance of loose dogs in this area.

I walked Maximus for almost an hour. This was his first walk since his Labor Day attack. I have been struggling with guilt over not walking him and wanting to keep him safe and his love of walking. I so want to protect him. Seeing his attack and not being able to do anything to stop it was heartbreaking. I can't seem to get those images out of my head.

But yesterday I felt brave enough to try walking Maximus. Yesterday Maximus was joyous as we strolled downtown. Maybe someday I'll feel comfortable walking in my own neighborhood again. I hope so.