I finished Wild by Cheryl Strayed.  I enjoyed the book.  I think the author and I are about the same age... her adventure was almost 20 years ago and I have to say that when I was that age, I never, ever would have considered doing the hike that she did.  Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail by herself with really no back country experience took some real guts.  Wild will be coming out in 2014 to a theatre near you!  And yes, I'll be going to see it!

I just started reading The Monuments Men (which is also a movie).  I have always been fascinated by World War II and this is a completely different take on what was happening in Europe during the war.  Corrine and I have also been reading Katie loves the Kittens and Katie and the Puppy Next Door by John Himmelman.  Katie is a (I think) Jack Russell Terrier and her person brings home three little kittens and Katie loves those kittens so much... We checked the books out from the library and have renewed them to their limit.  I returned them after explaining to C that maybe another kid would like to read about Katie.  We were at the library last Friday and she was drawn to them on the shelf.  We checked them out again.

Happy Yarn Along Wednesday!

 I would like to introduce you to my sister in law Bren.  My sister in law is one of those super organized, crafty, DIY people.  She has organized the  most amazing birthday parties for her kids (Harry Potter and Lego themes for starters)  She makes the best teacher gifts. (I bow to her superiority in this department).  She does all kinds of research on projects before she gets started.  She is a communications teacher.  She is the boss of her house, mom to two cute kids, plus she puts up with my brother.  Don't get me wrong, I love my brother and they are good for each other.
Every time I ask her advice on a project I'm thinking about she comes through for me.  At Christmas I needed a teacher gift for C's pre school teacher.  All I did was email Bren and I had a list of four things to do/make for a gift.  I wished she lived closer to us so I could use her in this way weekly.  They live in Japan where my brother is stationed with the United States Navy.  We once decided that we would be the perfect combined mother.  She is the crafty one and I and the homesteader one.

lego cheese & crackers

teacher gift tags

After discussing one of her projects while we were in Japan, I said to her that she should start a blog to share what she's done.  She said that many of her friends have said the same thing.  So at the end of December she did just that.  Her new space is called BrenDid.  Bren shares her recipes, her craftiness and her research (like for her laundry soap).   Today she shared her recipe for homemade Naan which I can't wait to try.   Check it out!

1/52-  Corrine and her "Princess Henley" (It's a good thing he completely loves her, it was hard not to laugh at a 150lb dog with a pink princess crown on his head!).
 2/52- Corrine and Henrietta Hippo on her birthday January 13th.
 3/52- With Mickey Mouse!
4/52- "Roping" on her "pony" at the stock show.

Jodi, who started the 52 Project just changed to blog from cheandfidel to practisingsimplicity.
Have a great week my friends.

 But what a wonderful time!  We actually went to the park on Thursday which was mama's birthday.  We made reservations to have breakfast with Ariel (The Little Mermaid) and ended up meeting Cinderella, Snow White, Aurora, and Belle.  Not a bad way for this mama to spend her 45th birthday!
We also  met Chip and Dale, Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Goofy, and Pluto.  We rode as many of the rides as we could and rode some twice.  Daddy also stood in line with C to meet the princesses again, so mama could ride an adult ride.  Thank goodness for the single rider line at some of the adult rides with longer lines!  With a nap in the middle of the afternoon (and during the hottest part of the 88 degree day) we were able to enjoy most of the day with no cranky melt downs!

It was a great trip, albeit, a fast one.  We will go again when she is a bit older and will be able to go on some of the bigger rides.  Plus I think she will be able to appreciate a bit more.  I was shocked (although I shouldn't have been) at the overall mass consumerism of crap at the Disney store.   We didn't go crazy buying stuff, but we did purchase a couple of souvenirs.  We bought the birthday girl a Minnie Mouse suitcase that she will use for years (or until it falls apart) that she put all of her stuff in a wheeled it through the airport.

On Saturday we had just a few people over for pizza, cake and ice cream.  On Sunday morning we met Papa at the National Western Stock Show.  Papa, who is mainly retired, works at the NWSS during the month of January as the beef superintendent and a catch-a-calf supervisor.  We got a behind the scenes tour.  Her favorite part?  Either the pony ride or the petting zoo!
It was a busy weekend for all.  I think it will take us a few days to recover and get back into a groove!
It's been quite some time, but I'm joining Amanda.  Have a great week!

Corrine at 1 month

Corrine today

In the NICU the day after she was born

*  Yesterday my sweet baby girl tripped over a door stop and did a face plant.  She fell on the right side of her face and at first glance she looked ok.  Then I took her glasses off to dry her tears and her glasses had slammed into the side of her eye.  She has a very "pretty" black and purple eye.  We put a Hello Kitty bandaid on her cut and then mama kissed it to make it better.

*  There is an food swap coming up and while we don't often have a theme, this one is a soup swap.  Last time I made cream of broccoli cheddar soup.  I'm not sure what to make this time.  Any suggestions?

*  Happy Thursday!

I don't normally make a New Years resolution and I'd say the same for 2014,  but I did make some goals that I'd like to work toward.

My first goal is to be a better diabetic.  I was a great diabetic while I was pregnant because I had a high risk pregnancy.  But once my sweet baby girl was born, I kind of fell off that wagon.   I have been a slacker in the blood sugar checking department for quite some time now.  While I was pregnant I checked my blood sugar 10-12 times a day.  Now I'm lucky if I check 4 times a day.  My last A1C was a 9.  An A1C is a 3 month blood sugar check the doctor does.  Sugar adheres to red blood cells and stays there for about 3 months.  They can tell an average blood sugar by how much sugar is on the cells.  A A1C of 9 roughly equates to a blood sugar of 250.  And my doctor wants my blood sugar to be 90-120.  Oops.  Must.  Do.  Better.

My second goal for 2014 is to start exercising more.  Once again it all goes back to when I was pregnant.  I used to run daily.  And then after I worked out, I'd take the dogs for 2-3 mile walk.  But throw a baby in the picture and all of that went out the window.  I am going to sign up for the Georgetown to Idaho  Springs Half Marathon again.  That race is in August so it should give me plenty of time to get back into running shape.  I just feel that I need to be more active especially with a 3 year old.

So both goals are totally attainable.  Both goals are great for my health.  And I'd like your help to keep me on track.  I am doing this for myself and for my family, but I feel that if I have a third party to report to, I might make more of an effort, ya know what I mean?