I thought I bought this

but I actually bought this 

The horror!

Soynut butter's got nothing on sunbutter. NOTHING.

Today she said "I have a fun day with you, Mommy. My dress. Kitty whiskers. Now you can read to me?, cuddle for two minutes." 

I choose to not wallow in sudden bouts of sadness ... I get out of bed, put on a brave face and continually ask God for strength. Today is a struggle.

My family deserves joy and perseverance, even when I'm merely running on faith.

The snow keeps coming and going. I've said it before and I'll say it again, Old Man Winter has been a lazy jerk this year.

A quiet weekend is on the home front. 

Mazie made a crown and a bracelet and was on cloud nine for hours.

(I handled the scissors as you can tell from the fine craftsmanship ...

scissors and I have never gotten along.)

Freya dubbed Nate the king.

I found Freya reading this book the other day

Uh, freak out time. Total hot face. You know when your cheeks get all red and hot because you're so nervous you want to vom? That was me tonight ... for the first time I shared my entire life story with others. All of the mess. All of the sadness. All of the yuck. Ah, lemme tell you, that was both nerve-racking and liberating. The ladies in my recovery group responded with grace and were in turn more comfortable in their own sharing. I love my group of ladies. They are brave, honest and hilarious all at the same time. I can't believe God has brought me to this place ... a place to lead others through their hurt and anguish. I'm proud of my ladies for opening up and letting go. And for trusting me to lead them. Oh, and for laughing alot. Laughter always helps. 

The girls were playing with all of my shoes the other day and Mazie squealed with excitement over these little beauties. I can't tell if they're hideous or amazing. Either way my skin looks better. That's really all that matters .... and I can say that because I've dealt with skin probs since the dawn of time. Thankfully, getting rid of those foods has made a big difference.

Speaking of food, today we went out for Chinese with some (new, super awesome) friends and I must've gotten MSG'd. (Anyone remember this?) Or wheat'd. Or egg'd. Or something because I have felt like death all afternoon/evening. I did as good as I could on the ol' buffet line. I had green beans with shrimp and some chicken. Ooh, and some wasabi. LOVE wasabi. Everything was disguised by tasty sauce so who knows what the poo I was actually eating.

Anyway, what was the point of this post? Oh yes, the shoes. I'm still on the fence about these.

Nate just lovingly informed me that we weren't playing Mario Kart and that wasn't Princess Peaches. 
We were playing Crash Team Racing and that was Coco Bandicoot.

The scary thing is that we play CTR all the time and I'm usually Coco.

Er ...

How about some pictures of those cute, little sprouts to distract from my dumbness (<-- this is an actual word. I looked it up).

Yes, how about it?

I received the best Valentine's cards this year. All homemade, all a surprise. I also made a lovely dinner of red lentil soup which turned out to be more of a light brown than red. Bleh. Tan is a romantic color, too. Sort of.

 From the girls

From Nate

(this was hanging on the front door when I got home last night)

Date night! We didn't have anyone to take our picture so we took some ourselves.

If you're looking to hire photographers for your next event, don't call us.

Squishy face. No reason

Contemplative model pose

Photo tip.

Not sure what to do?

Stick your arms out a little ... because that's not awkward

Props make photos fun, no?
Ok, ok it's not really a prop he was just taking his hat off while I took a picture. 

Close up! See the chicken pox scar on my forehead?
Of course you do because that's the kind of fun thing you can see in a close up.
(I made my hairclip. Crocheted the heck right out of that one evening. It's my fav.)

Another close up. Basking in the light of Mario Kart.

The best pic we managed to get of us together.

Not include Mario Kart on our date nights? NEVER!

Princess Peaches for the win!

Cool Whip is weird.


Today at work I discovered this little tub filled with the nectar of the gods. Think Cool Whip minus the antifreeze and bovine breastmilk plus a little dab of heaven.

Date night tonight!!

Today we made wands. 

Because we are princesses.

The snow surprised me AGAIN on Saturday.  Meteorology is not my forte. I realize that in this day and age it's rather difficult to be surprised by weather considering that it can be checked everywhere (phone, tv, internet, looking out the window) ... so .... yeah ... really no excuse to be surprised.

Oh, I didn't trip on the stairs yesterday or break down crying either. Hallelujer!

And the results are in ...

As I have suspected for a long time I have some food sensitivities. I had some more testing done recently and the winners are:

Dairy
Eggs
A bunch of grains

We decided that I would cut out all grains for now and begin adding them back in one at a time, beginning with oats (most people can digest oats) to see which ones I can tolerate.

I'll go back in for another test in a few months to see if things have improved/changed. It's crazy to think about how many people out there are walking around with major food sensitivities without even realizing it ... unexplained fatigue, brain fog, skin issues, difficulty losing weight, depression, anxiety and the list continues.

My advice?
Get tested ... by a naturopath (ND), of course.


Also, I am giving a brief testimony about Freedom Group in all three services tomorrow. Eek, I hope I don't trip on the stairs!

Aww. I ran across this picture this evening.

Baby Mazie and Nate when he worked on the farm. 

Freya was reading in bed the other day. Must be a family thing.

I wish that a) I had extra money to blow on a juicer or b) it was closer to Christmas because I really, really want this ... (click here)

For now my Kitchen Aid blender and I are stuck with each other ... blending fruits and veggies is much different than juicing them. Much. Beggars can't be choosers though and since I'm a beggar (code word for frugal) I won't be choosy. (But, I really want one.)

Speaking of money, we did our taxes and as soon as we get our return I can pay my fine (from SIX years ago) and get my license back. I have to take another test, have Progressive send a special form to the BMV verifying that I have car insurance and blah blah blah and walah! I can drive again. It's going to be so exciting ... like reliving 11th grade, getting my license! Maybe I'll go pick my friends up and make a taco bell (grody to the max) run just like the good ol' days.

(side note: those consistent runs to TB were nothin' but trouble. it took me several years to work off all those meximelts.)