Christmas Craft

This time of year our little people are really antsy! Ryan is a child of  routine and several non school days makes him a tad cranky and restless and add in the excitement over Christmas = some wired little people!!!
I happened to read Amanda's Blog and thought it would great to have them do a craft to help structure our day.

                                            I found this craft mixture on clearance at the Perry Walmart for $1.97 this fall.

                                             Cut scraps of paper and made them look like a tree shape.

                                                Lily loves anything crafty. Mainly the making a mess part.

They "decorated" their trees.

                                                           Craft time = peaceful afternoon!
                                                          Thanks Amanda for the idea!

Ten Years

 Well it's a good thing that I am not a professional blogger or I would be out of a job! This holiday season has flown by and I have thought about blogging a lot. Today I am fighting a cold and Grandma Freda came and took the little people for the afternoon,potato soup is in the crock pot and I have some down time. Ten years ago today I was getting my hair fixed and getting ready to get married.

We defiantly had a big adventure ahead of us. We look so young in these pictures! But at the time 22 and 23 seemed so old. So many things have changed since that day. We would graduate from college, got professional jobs,my grandfather and Pete's dad would go hang out with Jesus a few short months apart. We would move four times including out of state. We would take over the farming of Pete's family farm. I learned how to drive tractors, wheat trucks and now can tell you where all the fields are and how to get to them. Not to mention the two little people that joined us a few years ago.

We never would have imagined that we would have two redheaded babies! I have PCOS so our journey to

having a family was longer than we thought it would be.

Or that Pete would battle with Grave's Disease. He looks super skinny in this picture and I look super sleepy. I don't think Lily has enough pink on. Can you tell she was the first girl born on the Matthiesen side in several generations? We had 2 ultrasounds done because we were in such disbelief!

We have had lots of ups and downs over the ten years. Marriage is a big commitment. So many people get caught up in the wedding and forget that you have to live with the person too.

God brought us together and has brought us through alot of the last ten years too!

 I didn't want this post to be all gaggy and sappy cause Life isn't Fair and it isn't easy but I am thankful that I have Pete to experience this journey with me.We laugh a lot and we talk alot we don't always agree on everything but we have turned into those annoying couples that sometimes order the same thing at dinner because we both really want it and sometimes have the same color shirt on when we head out the door.( I always want to tell the waitress no really we both really like this and we didn't color coordinate our clothes either)

 I am excited to see what the next ten years brings and the next 60 years after that too.

 That puts us at 102 and 103.

Warm Winter Love

I am not a big fan of winter. I tend to want to hibernate under covers and not get out in the cold especially when its dreary and windy outside. I have been trying to think about the positive things of this season. Then last Friday about midnight I discovered these really amazing slippers at Old Navy.

old navy
I got mine in store for 40% off and I don't want to take them off ever. I wish I could find boots that were this comfortable to wear out in public. (with these and my comfy leggings I feel like a 80's aerobic instructor so I shouldn't go out in public like that) But after discovering these it takes a lot for me to want to leave the house and have to take them off. Another reason its hard to leave my cozy living room is because the the little people helped decorate the Christmas tree.

Yes, it has taken all I have not to rearrange their decorating but Ryan is so proud of it. Our house in Kansas is still for sale so we are living in a cozy rent house. The lights on the Christmas tree, my hot black tea , two little people to snuggle up with in our fleece OSU blanket and my slippers, I may just stay in till Spring.

A Milestone.

                              I love November. Its not just the changing color of the trees, fun football games (GO OSU COWBOYS!!) and I get to wear fuzzy socks a lot. Its a time where traditions of friends and fun times happen. Life is a little slower since now the farm is in the "off" season till about the end of April when Pete will start getting this ready for the June harvest season. Last year we were in Kansas so I didn't get to attend the EHBC shopping day. It started about 10 years ago, the women go shopping all day long eat at Abuelo's for dinner, shop till Target closes at 10 pm then meet at The Cheesecake Factory for yummy dessert and coffee. Since I have really been focused on weight loss and making better choices I was a little nervous about the trip. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Mexican food. Chips and salsa are a huge craving for me. I love restaurant salsa. So much that in the past I when I was pregnant with both of the little people I would get the salsa to go and eat it all week. yep,probably more of an addiction. But over the last year and half I also realized that I love Mexican food but it's not really the tacos, burritos and enchiladas so much as it is the chips and salsa. I also love restaurant tortilla soup. So now I get a cup of soup, count out my chips (12 for 4 WW points plus). I also break up my chips so that it feels like I have more. Since I really enjoy the soup I don't feel like I am not enjoying eating out!

One thing I realized is that I really enjoy the atmosphere and visiting with my friends. It's not all about the food. I can have fun, enjoy the evening and not have huge amount over the guilt over what I consumed the next day. This what a huge thing for me to think about.

 Especially when I looked up the information on The Cheesecake Factory. My goals for this week and the information didn't mesh. But I focused on the fact that most of these ladies I don't see often ,so really visiting and talking about our finds is what I love the most and being in the atmosphere of the restaurant is one of my favorite things of the year. I found that the caramel apple cider did fit with my goals for this week.

It looked something liked that..but yes I did give up eating these yummies...

But I had a blast, still had a special treat and enjoyed shopping! Also two of my weight loss buddies were there so that helped to have the accountability. This season of Holidays can be tough on the waistline but making informed choices, planning out the trips and meals on the upcoming holidays really makes a difference. I have a lot of all that coming up and I am determined to keep my goals! So whats your plan and whats your goal for the upcoming months??

Pictures Part 2

            Here is the rest of the pictures, I can't decide which ones to put in the frames to update from last year.

Lily again not looking at the camera.

                                                                          

Ryan

                              Ryan was alot more cooperative with picture taking. He likes to take and be in pictures most of the time. It amazes me how much he has grown physically and matured this last year.

                   He still likes to do silly things and sometimes smiles so big you can't see his eyes.

                                                I just never know what he is gonna do. I just hold my breathe and hope he doesn't fall or injure himself. Most of the time he is fine.

Then he does this

                            Never a dull moment. We did have the conversation about why we can't fly  and birds can. Luckily he decided not to try it that day.

                                                        
                                                                

More pics part 1

Jessica Alexander came to the farm and took some pics for us!! I was in a Bible study with her years ago at Eagle Heights in Stillwater and then she married Richie and they were in Newton at the same time we were!! She was passing through Oklahoma on thier way home from vacation so it worked out great!

Lily does this thing now where she closes one eye when she is mad or irrated with us. She didnt want to sit still at that moment.

The many faces of Lily..

These pictures were taken all in row. That's how fast Lily mood and facial expressions change.
  (oh and yes I completely forgot about the tattoos on her arms- I know mom of year for that)

OSU Homecoming Fun!

Pete and I are both graduates of Oklahoma State University. We didn't realize how much we enjoyed living around the college atmosphere until we moved away. Now granted, the traffic is not fun during games days and every August its nuts when the students get back in town. We missed walking into Walmart and seeing orange cups, clothes and hats. I don't miss being in college the week of Homecoming. It never failed that I would have a big group project with people that had to work on Homecoming house decorations and sometimes I really think that professors enjoyed making that week hard for that reason. Here's some pictures of this year's fun! I have read in different places that there was between 75,000 and 80,000 people there this year and with all the traffic I believe it !

Here's some of them in the daylight.

                                                  We got to go the Homecoming Parade this year. Most of the time in college I was either asleep, at work or it was really just too cold out since it's at 9 a.m. and Oklahoma weather is just that random. The little people had a blast! We snagged a seat with our friends the Ingrams.

Here's the lawnmower drill team. The little people thought this was neat.

                                           

Yep, they gave out cheese. yum.

Here's a picture of the traffic coming into Stillwater for the game, I'm glad that we were on our way out! I like watching football games on t.v. where there's the yellow line on the screen so you know if it's a first down or not.

Ladies of 76

In college I got to attend a women's conference in Austin, Texas two years in row. I think it was called Crossroads. The first year it featured the Jackie Kendall co-author of Lady in Waiting ( a book and bible study that I have read and taught) This is one of my favorite books of all times. A must read for pre-teen,teenage girls, college age and single women! 

The conference focus Bible verse both years was Titus 2:3-5  3. Guide older women into lives of reverence so they end up as neither gossips nor drunks, but models of goodness. 4. By looking at them, the younger women will know how to love their husbands and children, 5. be virtuous and pure, keep a good house, be good wives. We don't want anyone looking down on God's Message because of their behavior.(The Message) 

Back then I had so much energy, worked  two part time jobs, attended college full time and even really enjoyed cleaning other people's homes to help  pay my bills. I didn't grasp the mentoring need that I would one day need as young mom. Even when I worked as case manager for Big Brothers Big Sisters after college. I loved seeing a child's life change after a having a mentor for several months but I had no idea what was in store for me. That years later I would bring home a colicky baby that didn't sleep and my energy to clean house or even just take a shower would be completely zapped out of me. Then my neighbor invited me to a mom's group that met every Tuesday morning. Some of these women were in different seasons of life and others were similar to me. It was just what I needed. Then 3 1/2 years later we moved to Kansas and I met another group of mommies that also met on Tuesday mornings! How I treasure the wisdom from these Ladies too!

We moved back to Oklahoma but not back to our old town. We are about 30 minutes away in a smaller town and 15 minutes from where we farm. Ryan's school schedule kept from attending my previous Tuesday morning group that I went to years ago. But I found a fun Zumba class for exercise two mornings a week. My grandma invited me to her homemakers club which is a short drive away and it meets once a month . (So of course I can't tell her no :)

                                               Some of the group. It's called Ladies of 76 because that's when it was formed. There are two other members around my age with young kiddos too.

It kinda reminds me of a grown up 4-H.

I tried to find a website that had info on all this but couldn't yet. It's part of the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Services( part of Oklahoma State University) I'm excited to learn more all about this! My degree from OSU was in Human Environmental Sciences in Human Development and Family Services so this kinda stuff really interests me and I really enjoy it. Yep, I am a nerd :)

Every month is a different topic. This month was on Easy Desserts.

Yummy!

I am excited to learn from these ladies too!

If you are looking for good read and funny too, this is a great one-

( Amazon Link)