And the countdown begins!!

Today was the first day of our countdown to Christmas!  It didn't go quiet as planned because last night one Doyle was throwing up.  How did that effect today?  Well, that child was not feeling up to going and picking out the tree, which was our first advent activity....But they did join in the second part of the fun, DECORATING!!

You can thank the oldest child for the count down to Christmas this year.  It was her special request because mom didn't do it last year....maybe she will show up in some of my other photos.

#6weekstofab

Can you put a hashtag in a blog title?  Oh well, I did.  I did because this is the new workout I have started.  You may remember a while back(like 2 years) when I lost 30 pounds.  I was so excited!  And so sure I would never gain it back....but then life happens.  Things get hard.  My health declined.  And while I haven't gained it all back, I have gained back A LOT!  To kick start back to a healthy me I started by an over haul of how I have been eating.  I started a 30 day Paleo challenge.  I know I will never be a hard core Paleo gal, but I now know gluten and me don't do well together.  I feel healthier eating this way than I have in a long time.  Once the eating was changed I decided I needed to get back to exercise.  I love to run, but just wasn't getting into it.  Then I came across a blog.  A blog that inspired me. A blog talking about CrossFit for health.  Something I swore up and down I would never do.  It felt too competitive to me.  But guess what?  This is a CrossFit inspired AT HOME workout!  I only compete with me....and my cute kids who have started doing it with me.  I plan to blog about my progress as I go.  No, not weekly.  It's not like I'm growing a baby or anything.  So to start with I am sharing my very first photos.  Here I am at 5ft 2 and 160 pounds.  And to keep it real, I don't have plans to become a skinny girl with a thigh gap(not that I don't love you ladies), but I do plan to be healthy and strong.

Here is my warm up and work out. And yep those are my measurements.  If you are really interested here is the blog I found it at.

And I suggest a workout buddy.  I have one.  We push each other to make sure we get it done.  We complain to each other when we think we r going to die part way through.  We cheer each other on when we finish.  We don't work out together.  She is at her house and I am at mine, but it works well.  The best part of these workouts?  My kiddos doing them with me.  Melia is right beside me doing it all.  And Isaiah likes to do what he can.

Dressing up

So Halloween has come and gone.  It is one of those days that people deal with differently depending on your family.  We have gone through different seasons in our own family.  For the past couple years though we have dressed up and spent the evening with my mom.  This year we really had fun.  The kids enjoyed the dressing up and tricker treating, but I was surprised to learn they loved handing out candy even more!  So here is our night via photos.  Enjoy!

 Little Kamdyn was the cutest watermelon(strawberry) ever!  The fruit might have been debated....

  

I was going for pirate, but the girls said I looked more like a gypsy....

 Kellina was the cutest Dorthy ever!  I might be biased....

 My boys wouldn't just smile.  Caleb was doing magic like Oz, pirates never smile, and ninja moves are way cool.

 The entire Wizard of Oz crew.

   And of course my attempt to get all the kids in one photo.  This was truly the best I could get!!!

I just couldn't wait!

I don't usually post a blog post so quick, but today I just couldn't wait!!!  I got to do some family photos this morning.  Not something I do all that often or that I am that comfortable with.  Today though I couldn't stop editing.

I couldn't stop falling in love.

Such a sweet family.  And this is just a taste of what I got!

And there was even the bonus of a cute cousin to boot!