: Working it :

Today is Thursday - in the second week of January and today is my first day of "work" for the year...So I'm in the kitchen building a princess cake {actually 2 of them} for my niece - so even though it's work, it's still for pleasure as it's for her ;)

I've been keeping up and working it on the treadmill since boxing day and I've been able to squeeze in some interval training as well....feels good, but finding that extra 1/2 hour to 45 minutes a day is nuts, but so glad it's a priority!Yesterday I had a little guy come down and count me out when I was doing leg lifts/push ups/traveling planks and I guess my face looked rather pained when I moved and Cole burst into tears! I said what's wrong? He said with such sadness "that was a really hard one and it looked like it hurt!" and started to cry again. What a sweet little thing! I ensured him that the self-induced torture was not hurting Mama ;)

Nothing like a new pair of kicks to help you get back into the step of things -- here are mine; they fit like a glove....I'm in love ;)
Edited to say: BabySteals has Lindsay Brin's dvd sets on sale today -- So for those days that I'm feeling less inspired and want to have someone working it with me I'll pop in one of her amazing work outs --- she is incredible {I bought the 60 day slim down, for a steal @ $30!!!}!

Have a fabulous Thursday lovelies!

{XoXo}

: Wednesday :

Correct me if I'm wrong but don't Wednesday's always creep up on you!??! I always wake up Wednesday mornings thinking "it can't possibly be Wednesday already!".

Wednesdays are good days -- but typically the busiest one of the week. I have Women by Design in the morning {during Cole's school hours} which I love, but means that I'm not just going to spray shampoo my hair and throw on my favorite LuLu's and Nike's...I'm going to actually put some sort of thought into myself as it's the one day that I get to interact with humans that are taller than 4 feet!

But along with it being one of my favorite days, it also comes with more time being needed on everything, my breakfast/snacks, getting ready, fixing the house prior to leaving so I don't come home to beds to make, dishes to do...which in turn makes Wednesday just that much more busy than any other.

At any rate, it's a beautiful day in my neck of the woods and thus it's a lovely day.

I signed up for a new study @ Women by Design this morning and I'm really looking forward to it -- so much promise and hope washing across my January...it's gonna be good!Anyway, I better run here as "project organization" is still in full effect and I've got a few more minutes before I'm dashing out the door to pick up JJ!

Oh, but I must share one of my new "things I LOVE" ---- My girlfriend CJ told me about this fabulous tea, and F A B U L O U S it is! So fabulous I bought 2 boxes of it at our local grocery store this afternoon! Thanks CJ for letting me in on one of your favorite things! Happy Wednesday all!

{XoXo}

: Project Organization :

Happy Monday!!!

We had a great weekend enjoying some family time, dating time, church time & friend time. Now it feels great to get back into the swing of things and into our daily/weekly schedule...
& ORGANIZATION!

We've been in our house since the end of September - between move-in and now we have celebrated 3 birthdays {in our immediate family}, our 9 year anniversary, halloween, renovations in the basement, survived another season of Cranberry Creek and Christmas...obviously that's not including the every day/week events that happen with school and such!

{*}
So to say the least, our home is ready for some good 'ol organization, from adding hooks to the entry way to re-organizing the cutlery drawer; our home is getting an organization face lift!

Mr. L and I hit up Ikea after dinner on Saturday night {our yearly "goals" date} and invested in some new tools to help organize our new place.{ this is Mr. L's idea of o r g a n i z a t i o n :: he loves the thought of being organized but kinda lacks the way in which to make things organized - ha ha}

I'm trying to organize our home on a budget -- I have grand schemes in mind, but little budget so I hit up one dollar store on Friday night prior to heading out for a "girls night out" then hit another one before I picked up JJ from school today. I've found most of the things I've been looking to create a more organized place at the dollar store...may not last me a lifetime but it will do me for a year or two and for a buck, you can't beat that!

I've heard of lots of friends organizing and I feel it too, when the weather is dreary and all those organization containers are on sale plus the increase of "new" from Christmas...I've got to get the STUFF under control or I'm going to loose control! Anyone else feel my pain, or am I the only crazy one!?!

Literal things I'm working on:
Daily file :: for mail...Mr. L drives me nuts with this, so hope this will help
CD file :: specifically for Christmas movies/music
Linen closet :: organize & label

And speaking of home, one of my favorite design couples is coming back to HGTV! The Novogratz family is back with a new show called "Home by Novogratz" can't wait to watch it tonight!

Any help with your organization tips would be greatly appreciated!

Happy organizing!
{XoXo}

: word of the year :: 2012 :

flour·ish (flûrsh, flr-)

v. flour·ished, flour·ish·ing, flour·ish·es

1. To grow well or luxuriantly; thrive

2. To do or fare well; prosper

3. To be in a period of highest productivity, excellence, or influence

I don't know about you but you and your word for the year, but when God laid it on my heart that mine would be "Flourish" it was pretty exciting. I do want to flourish, I want my life to be in constant place of "high productivity, excellence & influence" ~ What an exciting feeling!

When I think about my past "word of the year"2011 -- I know that it was building up to this one and that feels really good too!

Last year's word was "Change" and change I {we} did - it was painful, long and very little of it was enjoyable; the change I mean...the year was enjoyable but you do the best with what you have and we continued to trust that God's best was in store for us through it all...and we are always shown that His best does reign in our lives.

Anyway, so there you have it...if you care to share your "word of the year" leave a comment with a link to your blog; I'd love to hear about it!

May God give you a word to hold on to in the craziness of this life and in the stillness of the moments we have with Him.

Happy Weekend Y'all - I'm off to a "Girls Night Out" tonight and a full weekend ahead!
{XoXo}

: Christmas 2011 Recap :

Before I start in on my resolutions for 2012 or my word of the year...I better post about our Christmas.

We had a great Christmas, a homey Christmas, a Christmas busy enough to make us feel involved in celebrations but close enough to home to be relaxing and warm.

We kicked off the season the boys and I by making our sugar cookies - this is the first year they really got into the decorating {and got sugar beads everywhere} - but it was OH so fun!

As a family we completed our gingerbread house & train

Then we celebrated Christmas with the our whole family {including our Island portion} by going on the Bear Creek Farm Train and meeting for dinner later that same day

Love this shot of the kids, my SIL has a cuter shot, but I couldn't resist posting this one with my little guy yelling at us to "hurry up"!

...might be built for little people Mr. L ;)

Later that night we tried to get a shot of the kids in their matching pj's - what a riot...three photographers, not enough light, no flashes and moving babies - HA!

We enjoyed Christmas Eve at our church then on to dinner {drive through McD's is what the boys wanted - HA!} drove by some beautiful lights and then on to home to go through our traditional events. Reading the night before Christmas, opening one gift that Santa left while we were at church ;) and tucking the boys in so we could enjoy some movie watching, wrapping gifts and enjoying some snacks...all in all a perfectly {late} night :)

JJ brought home reindeer food from school {oats&glitter} to through out in the front yard, super cute idea and they loved the hype around it!

Tree all dressed with presents and love..

Christmas morning we got up to Santa's footprints left in our family room, some lovely gifts under the tree and in our stockings. We enjoyed a quick little breakfast of our traditional panettone, yogurt & fruit...then quickly got ready to head out for the rest of the day by 10 am.

Sang an important happy birthday song to baby Jesus and laid him in the manger

Tree all unwrapped and some of the boys new toys {train set for JJ & pirate ship for Coley}

First stop was my parents for brunch..my Marm makes a mean brunch and they are always so great at personalizing each of our gifts & gift baskets {aka: family stocking} -- we also got a chance to be with my Grandma Rosie and have a short visit with my Aunt Shirley & Uncle Ron -- which hasn't happened in many many years. That was definitely a pleasant surprise!

Around 3.30 pm we headed out to Paul's families place across the bridge...there we enjoyed great appies and time with the cousins. When the house is filled with 4 kids under 5 it makes the volume go up intensely; so it was a beautiful thing when our kids finally retired to Nana & Papa's bed at 9 pm.

We got home from the In-Laws well into Boxing Day so to say the least, Boxing Day was a low-key day letting the boys enjoy the toys they just opened and spending the majority of the day with Christmas video's playing and trying to put together said toys - OY VEY!

There we go, now onto resolutions and the word of the year..it's

a good one and I've had it for a couple days now so I can't wait to share!

{XoXo}