Christmas already?

This years tree

Carlie June Dec 2008
Alex's cookie on the tree

This years new ornament

One of my favorites - the butterflies!
Carlie's favorite ornament

This weekend we put up the Christmas tree. I love decorating for Christmas. It's by far the best Holiday of the year. After Christmas I love Valentines day for all the pink and red, and doing things for those you love. I think I love Christmas so much because I just love making others happy. Especially the kids. I also love cooking, breads, potatoes, cakes and the best ever cookies. We have a tradition going with the kids, even the neighborhood kids have gotten involved, where I make the best cookies and they come over to decorate them. We hang them on the tree, and all the kids make some to give to their parents. We've had the same cookies on our tree for the past 2 years now. Time to throw them out for some new ones I think.

This year we let the kids decorate the tree all by themselves. Matt and I'd unwrap an ornament and we'd talk about when we got that one, and how much it means to so and so. Then I'd declare it my favorite! They're all my favorites. Each year we get one new ornament to add to the tree. So most the ornaments really are special. Anyway, then I'd hand it to one of the kids, and they'd place it on the tree. Carlie put most her ornaments on the same 4 branches. Lucky for us Tim was here this year, he's over 6 feet tall, and Alex is just right in the middle of Tim and Carlie, so the tree is well balanced. It looks great! They all did a magnificent job! I was surprised to be so relaxed about this ornament not being here or there. I figgure it's more about the kids having a fun experience than having a perfect tree. And, I think it even looks better not perfect! I'll post photo's of the tree and the kids soon. I didn't have time to take them yesterday, Walmart calls! I hope everyone has a very Happy Holiday Season!

Thanksgiving

One end of the table left to right- Beth's Parents, Ga, Pa Pa, Aunt Darleen & Uncle Bob, Amy & Carlie.

The other half of the table, left to right, Beth, Ryan, Mark, TimAmy & Carlie - see my apple pie in the background? Matt's Uncle Bob & Aunt Darleen
Carlie & Chinook Ga and Pa - Matt's ParentsUncle Ryan- Matt's younger brother
Uncle Mark - Matt's older brother
Tim


We had a great Thanksgiving this year. We spent the day at Mark's house (Matt's brother) with close family. My family is in Utah, so we alternate each year. Everyone went around and said what they were thankful for and we had a really good meal. A special thanks to Matt's mom for making the best sweet potato dish in the entire world! I could eat it EVERY day! I made the apple pie, and Matt brought the cheesecake! There aren't any pictures of Matt because he had the camera, and Alex somehow evaded the camera. Strange, I know! Thank you Beth and Mark for the use of your house, and making the turkey!

PS- Validation!

Study Suggests Sugar May Be Addictive
Finding might yield new insights into eating disorders, experts say
By Amanda Gardner, HealthDay Reporter


WEDNESDAY, Dec. 10 (HealthDay News) -- Science is verifying what many overeaters have suspected for a long time: sugar can be addictive.
In fact, the sweetener seems to prompt the same chemical changes in the brain seen in people who abuse drugs such as cocaine and heroin.
The findings were to be presented Wednesday at the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology's annual meeting, in Nashville.
"Our evidence from an animal model suggests that bingeing on sugar can act in the brain in ways very similar to drugs of abuse," lead researcher Bart Hoebel, a professor of psychology at Princeton University, said during a Dec. 4 teleconference.
"Drinking large amounts of sugar water when hungry can cause behavioral changes and even neurochemical changes in the brain which resemble changes that are produced when animals or people take substances of abuse. These animals show signs of withdrawal and even long-lasting effects that might resemble craving," he said.
Dr. Louis Aronne, director of the Comprehensive Weight Control Program at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York City, added: "The big question has been whether it's just a behavioral thing or is it a metabolic chemical thing, and evidence like this supports the idea that something chemical is going on."
A "sugar addiction" may even act as a "gateway" to later abuse of drugs such as alcohol, Hoebel said.
The stages of addiction, as defined by the American Psychiatric Association, include bingeing, withdrawal and craving.
For the new research, rats were denied food for 12 hours a day, then were given access to food and sugar (25 percent glucose and 10 percent sucrose, similar to a soft drink) for 12 hours a day, for three to four weeks.
The bingeing released a surge of the neurotransmitter dopamine each time in the part of the brain involved in reward, the nucleus accumbens. "It's been known that drugs of abuse release or increase the levels of dopamine in that part of the brain," Hoebel said.
But it wasn't only the sugar that caused this effect, Hoebel explained -- it was the sugar combined with the alternating schedule of deprivation and largesse. After three weeks, the rats showed signs of withdrawal similar to those seen when people stop smoking or drinking alcohol or using morphine.
The scientists next blocked the animals' brain endorphins and found withdrawal symptoms, anxiety, behavioral depression and a drop in dopamine levels. In other words, they confirmed a neurochemical link with the rats' behavior.
But longer periods of abstinence didn't "cure" the rats. Instead, there were long-lasting effects with the animals: They ingested more sugar than before, as if they were craving the substance and, without sugar, they drank more alcohol.
The researchers speculated that some of these brain changes may also occur in people with eating disorders such as bulimia and anorexia, although more research needs to be done to confirm the effects in humans.
"Some say it's easy to lose weight -- you just have to shut your mouth, stop eating so much," Aronne said. "I tell them a good way to overcome global warming is if people made less carbon dioxide by breathing less. Obviously, that's absurd. You can't do it because you feel uncomfortable.
"The same thing is true of eating," he added. "Fattening food has an impact on the regulating mechanism that breaks down your sense of fullness, makes you feel an urge to go back and get that blast of sugar and this creates the vicious cycle of weight gain that we're going through."

So, I wasn't crazy after all! Whew! Sugar thing is still going well, I've slipped a few times, but overall I'm not eating sugar but once a week or so. I still feel good, but I still crave it sometimes!

The demise of the sugar rush...

I decided last week to give up sugar and flour. I just went to bedone night and said no more. That's it, I'm done with it! To give you an idea of just how amazing this feat will be I guess I should let everyone know I'm a sugaraholic. Yes, now I've said it. It's out in the open. Whew! Now I can begin my long road to recovery.

The first thing I did is go online to find a support group for people like me. To my surprise I found several sites that actually help people going through withdrawl. Ha, Ha I laughed, withdrawl? Are they seroius? I took a few pointers, just incase I really felt anything, and tucked it all in the back of my brain.

Fast forward 3 days.

OH MY GOSH!!! I think I was run over by a Mack truck in my sleep! I can't focus on anything, I want to crawl into bed and sleep for a year! My head hurts, and it literally hurts to think. I can barely lift my wrist to even type I'm so tired! It's so funny I actually start to cry at one point! But, I'm not giving up. Thanks to the few tips I read about earlier in the week I don't really even want sugar right now. Anyway, I can't eat anything right now, my head hurts too much, and I'm too tired to actually make food. I think I really would rather just die so this headache would go away!

Day 5......

Ahhhh. Better! I feel pretty normal now. I have a lot more energy. I think more clearly now - although after 2 days of not being able to think at all, at this point remembering my name and where I live is a good sign.

Day 7......

Had a tall Starbucks with soy. Not too bad! That was my only cheat all week. I'm going for another week! Wish me luck!

For those of you wanting to try this.......

Be prepared! One thing I read was that I should have a potato each night, 3 hours after my last meal, or at least 3 hours after any protein. Eat it however you want, baked with butter, baked fries, etc. Just NO PROTEIN with it. (no sour cream) This really helped me I think. I used to get tha craving for something sweet at night. I'd just tell myself my treat was my potato. Luckily I love baked potatoes!

The other thing I read was that I should eat breakfast within one hour of waking, and make sure I had complex carbs AND protein. I don't eat much meat at all, borderline vegetarian, and I don't usually eat breakfast at all, so this was hard for me. But, oatmeal with LOTS of cinnamon, no milk, and a soy protein shake with almond milk each morning is great! The shake is low sugar- 2 grams. That's the only sugar I was getting each day. The almond milk is unsweetened, and has 0 sugars.

Also note, I'm working this week from 8:30am to 8pm at the Dealership, every day, no days off. (My cohort is out of town this week - I'm covering for him.) I also started my second job this week working nights at Walmart. (a posting on that later!) I work there from 9pm to 1am. So, craziness I was feeling I didn't take out on my family, all on co-workers. (sorry guys!) This approach is highly recommended!

I do have a lot of energy, and I'm only getting about 5 hours of sleep each night. Amazingly I don't feel especially tired. I worked a total of 95 hours last week, and still managed to fit in a couple of workouts. I'm ok. I think I'm going to make it!

Alex and the Matron

The Rock!

Alex

Alex climbingWow, look at that!

Almost there....

Alex and her dadAlex and her dad again...

Repelling....
The End!
The Matron is a 850ft. standing pillar of rock that Mouse (Alex), Scott and their great friend Tim Ostrander climbed this past Sunday. They hiked in 3.5 miles, roped up, climbed six pitches, repelled 180 ft. and then hiked the 3.5 miles out. WOW! Alex may be the youngest climber to do the Matron yet. Scott's checking on that one.

I want to say I'm proud of Alex for climbing this huge rock, but, more than being proud I can say I'm so happy to see her doing things she loves- especially in the outdoors. It makes my heart just beam to see her so happy. I think that's all I really want for her in her life, to do things that make her happy, whatever that may be. Alex has such a sweet heart. I'm so lucky to have her as a daughter. I love you Alex!

Carlie on Politics

For those of you who weren't sure, Matt and I were rooting for McCain this time around. Carlie was running around the living room Tuesday night shouting: Go McCain! Go McCain! (since it's hard for her to say McCain- especially when she's tired, she finally stopped and said: "Mom, can I just call him John?" I didn't even know she knew his first name! I told her sure, no problem. Later that night as Obama appeared on TV for his acceptance speech, I enthusiastically called for Alex and Carlie to see the historic event. As much as I wanted the other guy, it was still pretty cool that we elected the first "black" American to be president. Someday they could tell their kids they were there and witnessed it all. Carlie came down the stairs and didn't hear a word, just saw Obama's face on the TV and gave a BIG sigh. She moaned, "oh no! Did Obama win?" I told her yes, she asked why? I explained that lots of people like him and think he will do a good job. That was the end of our political discussion.

(Three days later.....)

This morning I was in the kitchen when Carlie came over and said:

"Mom, did you hear what Obama said today?"

I said: "no, what did he say?"

Carlie: "He said to give your money to your neighbor." Long dramatic pause goes here........ then with much emphasis and enthusiasm: "Don't do it! Don't listen to him mom!"

I really do not know where that came from! We haven't mentioned anything regarding the elections since Tuesday night. She must have been dreaming about it or something. Anyway, it was pretty funny!

Side political note for Carlie:

When Carlie was just about 18 months old and could barely talk she saw a picture of President Bush on a calendar. (It was hanging on our refrigerator) He was at a party - acceptance party maybe? Anyway he was smiling and had balloons in the background- there were several other people in the picture with him, all smiling. I was holding her when she looked at the refrigerator and said "monster!" I thought she saw a bug, or thought there was a monster in the frige, so I said no honey there's no monster. She insisted saying "see, see?" and pointing. I took her over to show her, and she put her finger RIGHT ON BUSH! all the time saying "monster mom, monster" Remember there were other people in the picture too, and everyone was having a good time. Matt and I were not Bush fans, but we'd never said he was a monster or anything like that. And, we'd never shown her a picture of him, or watched the news with her. I still don't know where that all came from!

I found a new Blog...

I just came across this blog while reading one of the Bray Family's postings. (Gale is a contributor to the linked blog) It's called Mom's into Politics. I'm glad I found it, I thought some of you might like reading it!

http://momsintopolitics.blogspot.com/

Pumpkin Carving, at last!

Getting all the seeds out. We roasted and salted them, mmmmmm!!!

Carlie's Pumpkin!

Carving, I mean hammering out Carlie's horse.

Not too bad... I can really tell what it is! Alex's pumpkin in progress....
I had to get a picture og Carlie in this dress. It was Alex's dress when she was little. I LOVE this dress! I has a matching hat and booties. I can't find the brand anywhere - if you see it the brand is LeLe.

Sunday afternoon we decided it was time to do the pumpkins. Matt went to paint his parents new house, and said it was perfectly okay to go ahead without him! :o) Alex helped me clean them out and designed her pumpkin - then Carlie said she wanted a horse. (of course!) How am I going to do a horse? I googled a silhouette of a horse and traced it to paper. Then we cut it out and taped it to Carlie's pumpkin. Next we tapped the light up pegs into the pumpkin along the silhouette, and had to improvise a little because we ran out of pegs, but it looks amazingly like a horse! We roasted pumpkin seeds while we carved and hammered, they were really good! We had a great time!