If I woke up tomorrow with my head sewn to the carpet, I wouldn't be more surprised than I am now.

I had this overwhelming feeling of contentment and happiness on Christmas that I wanted to blog about but then I fell asleep on a pile of wrapping paper. Christmas Eve we went over to Ryan's moms for supper. She had the book "A Christmas Bell for Anya" and while it is sad (Anya is killed by a stray bullet) I really liked the part where Anya's father thanks God for letting him be Anya's father for 8 years. It made me think about my own children and Evie. Can I be glad that I was Evie's mother for a few short months? I think I can. Were those months better than nothing at all? That's not my reality so I'll never know. Anyway, I thought I'd share my enlightenment with others. It's kind of a big breakthrough for me.

What is cuter than kids in footie pajamas? Maybe Kittens in footie pajamas?


Kids on a Christmas high.

Grace got a flip camera for Christmas so I tested it out while they tried out their new Ripstix.

Please don't follow our example
So this year was pretty good. Ryan and I are still liking our jobs. Mine is getting a little bit easier. We took a fabulous vacation to Disneyland, visited Charlotte and my family in the summer. Both girls are doing well in school this year and I really like my class at school. Ryan does his detectivy stuff and does it well. I don't think anyone in our extended family was in the hospital this year! There are still things in my life I struggle with, namely my body image and faith but all I can do is continue to work on these things. I'm so grateful I have Ryan to go through life with. How lucky we are that a chance meeting between two people at a bowling alley has turned out so well? We were so stupid and young when we got married. I tell my girls if they ever come to me at 19 and tell me they are getting married it will kill me. "You don't want mommy to die do you?" They just roll their eyes.
You wish I was your mama
Hanna started wearing make-up this month. I've never had any hard and fast rule about when make-up wearing could start but she'd never really bugged me that much about it. The other day she wore some eyeshadow to school and when I questioned her about it "Is that eyeshadow?" She told me yes and that even her teacher told her she looked really good. I said it looked fine and she could keep wearing it. (COOLEST MOM EVAS!) The next day she came to school with this super dark purple eyeshadow on. Coolest mom ever rubbed it off with her fingers. Obviously she needed some guidance. So Santa brought her some mascara, eyeshadow and I gave her some of my old Clinique samples. Even Ryan admitted she did a really good job and looked cute. That's big for a dad. Next week I'm going to show her how to use a Sharpie to make some chola eyebrows.
This year is going to kick a$$
My friend Kristin and I have this thing were we say "This is going to be the year!" It means different things to each of us but it usually has something to do with exercise. This year Kristin and I are going to run the Riverton half-marathon together. I'm excited to start training for this challenge. My goal is to not have to walk or puke. The marathon is held the end of March and a few weeks later, Ryan and I are going to Mexico for his 40th birthday! That has to do with my other goal for the year which is to look decent (for 37) in a bikini. Happy New Year! I'm leaving you with one of my favorite kitten videos of the year.