Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday)

The name “Fat Tuesday” came from the Christian tradition of abstaining from meat for the 40 days of Lent. The day before Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of Lent, families and neighbors gathered together to rid their houses of all the “fat”.

Some Christians don’t want anything to do with Mardi Gras for understandable reasons. The name has become synonymous with drunkenness and immorality. But that was not what it was intended to be. Lent is a rather somber season, and tonight will be the last celebration until Easter. Rather than removing the celebration just because it has been misused and turned into something else, we will reclaim it for what it was intended to be!

Our Church family gathered tonight to enjoy a few simple pleasures (not sins!) before our period of self-denial. I see nothing wrong with that--to everything there is a time and season. I do recognize that just as the practices I will undertake during Lent can help me to grow spiritually, some practices can hinder my spiritual progress, such as overindulgence and drunkenness. So we will not do those things. We will just celebrate.

   

St. Valentine’s Day

Because HoneyBear knows I’m trying to be healthier, he did something a little different.
When I opened the big heart-shaped box, instead of the chocolates I expected, I found…

…rose petals and little hand-written love notes. And packets of flower seeds for us to plant together. Sigh
The kids found me a heart-shaped leaf, which I will make into a bookmark for my daily devotional. And Sunshine brought me another heart-shaped rock for my collection.
I’m a very rich woman.

Our New “Family Room”

Our shed before:

After:
 
When we moved from our dojo, my instructor gave me some of the old equipment. Now I have a place where I can work out without spending time away from home.

This sign was hanging in the old dojo when I first started there several years ago. I found it when we were cleaning the place out and decided to keep it. It motivates me to dig a little deeper and work a little harder.

I can see and hear the children playing in the fence from here.  

Sometimes, they even come play with me. (Little Gigi can be especially fierce!)

As Of Today

I am officially 26 pounds below my pre-pregnancy weight. I actually had lost 28 pounds and reached a goal that I had set for myself, but I gained back a couple pounds over Christmas. So many people have asked me “What are you doing?” that I thought I would go ahead and blog about it.

Basically, I am just eating whole foods most of the time, keeping my less healthy indulgences in moderation, and exercising consistently. I have not done anything extreme. I have not put a whole lot of time into exercise--usually 15-30 minutes a day, with 1-2 rest days a week (when Greg is home, I sometimes do more). I have not spent a lot of money on fancy diet plans, memberships, or equipment (I use a $20 dumbbell set from Wal-Mart). And I have not taken any supplements. A little discipline, a lot of consistency, and a lot of patience is my “magic pill.”
(Well, and weight training. I think the thing that has brought the most noticeable results for me has been lifting weights!)

Anniversary date night 2009 and 2011… 

Spring 2009, fall 2010, and December 2011…

Christmas 2011

Poor Gigi had a nasty cold on her first Christmas. But she was as smiley as ever!   
After our delicious dinner, I got to relax with my feet up while my sweet hubby took care of the dishes. And then we played on our new Wii the rest of the night. :-)

Date Night 2011

This year, we shared a quiet, uninterrupted dinner, went to the symphony, and ended up at Starbucks. Happy 12 years to us, and many more!

Gigi Meets One of St. Nicholas’s Helpers

My Planned Parenthood Poster Contest Entry

Back in 2003, Planned Parenthood hosted a poster contest to celebrate the 30-year anniversary of Roe v. Wade. The theme of this contest was “Behind Every Choice Is A Story.”

I couldn’t help it; I had to submit an entry. I found it recently while going through some old folders, and I thought it was worth sharing again. It got me a few hate emails from the PP folks at the time. ;-)

(Click to see full size) 
Speaking of Roe v. Wade…did you know that Norma McCorvey (aka Jane Roe) is pro-life now? I heard her speak a couple months ago. Here is her book “Won By Love”.

Our Little Gem is Five

One of these days, I’m going to learn how to use a real camera. Until that day comes, here are the pics I snapped with my iPhone.

 
Mama put together a rainbow fruit tray and made rainbow cupcakes topped with marshmallow cream and the My Little Pony characters. We even had rainbow drinks! I made colored ice cubes with food coloring, and we poured Sprite over them.
(Want to hear something funny? Back when I was pregnant with Gem, I asked Mojo, who was five at the time, what we should name her sister. She insisted that her name was Rainbow Fruit. As I was putting together the fruit tray, I chuckled at the memory.)
 
Here’s my precious birthday girl! In addition to rainbow cupcakes and fruit, we also had Gem’s meal of choice—barbecue meatballs. And carrots and dip, pickles, and blue chips with salsa.

 
Some of Gem’s favorite friends came to celebrate with us.

  
Big sister, Sunshine, once again donated her artistic talents to help us Pin the Tail on the Pony. We also made paper princess crowns (there are some nice templates here, and the boys even enjoyed making king crowns). The guests also guessed how many pony treats were in the jar. 

Here are Gem’s favorites this year…
Color: pink
Toy: Ponies
TV Show: My Little Pony (big sister pulls them up on Youtube for her to watch)
Movie:  Cars2
Song: “that pony song!”
Food: grapes
Dessert: M&M McFlurries

Happy happy birthday, Princess Gem! You are truly a bright, sparkling part of our lives!
 

All Saints’ Day 2011

St. Nicholas, St. Maria Goretti (she also carried lilies), Blessed Mother Teresa, and one of St. Francis’ little friends. ;-)
Our church had a party on November 1st to celebrate, with games, a wiener roast, and “trunk or treat”.  The kids had a blast.