Well we started T25 yesterday and so far I really like the program. The workouts really work you and I can get one in while Rae sleeps. 

Getting older sucks. There's no nice way to put it. It. Sucks. Sure, I can do more things than I did, and what I've learned has served me well. There's more to learn and that excites me, but what doesn't excite me is the slow deterioration of my body. Namely, my eyes.

I've had reading glasses for several years now, and I haven't always been the best about wearing them, but I had them and when I did absolutely need them, I wore them.

Then the headaches started. I kind of figured that it was my pregnancy hormones going crazy. So I wore my reading glasses more. Especially while working with fine-detail stuff. The headaches kind of went away, ok not really. Then I gave birth, and it seemed like every other phrase I was uttering was, "I can't see it, bring it closer," which wasn't entirely true. I could see things, I was just having trouble focusing on them. Very annoying, but I chalked it up to being tired, and not getting enough sleep. Ya know, a newborn will do that to you.

Then we got our eyes checked. All of us. All 5 of us at the eye doctor. Fun times. Not. For their part, the boys were very well behaved. Rae was behaved too, but really I was impressed with the boys. We all had our eyes dilated. I didn't see the boys get their drops, but I didn't hear any blood-curdling screams, and hubs said they did well, so I'm going to chalk it up to it went better than anyone imagined it would.

Then came the good news. 3 new pairs of glasses. It will be 4 pairs of glasses next year, but there's no way that glasses would survive Harrison and really there's no point in getting him glasses until he starts reading more. So 3 new pairs of glasses were ordered.

We got them in yesterday. Its kind of nice to be able to see. Dev's and my glasses have the same rule. If you're doing anything but driving (for me) or playing (for Dev) then your glasses are on your face. Sigh. Dev seems to like his. He wasn't too thrilled at the idea of glasses, but I think wearing them at school yesterday made him realize that he needs them.  He looks pretty darn handsome as well.

I was ok with my glasses, until I realized my lenses are thicker than my frames. What the crap? I know my eyes got worse. Ok, maybe a little bit lot worse, but still?!?! Ugh. So now I have to get better about my glasses. Oh and the doc said in a year or two, I'll probably need a different set of glasses for driving and basically seeing far. Awesome. Both extremes of my sight are going. And no, I can't wear the same glasses. They'd be different strengths, so two glasses. Ugh.

Selfie of my new glasses. They're not actually black or grey but purple!

While reflecting on my poor eyesight and the changes I have to make, it got me thinking about other aspects of my life that I've gotten lazy in. So I'm going to make my New Year's resolution early. I'm going to resolve to work on me. Work on being a better mom, wife and person. I'm going to not live in my gym clothes, even tho I love them and they're comfy. I'm going to try and remember to put on some makeup, even if its just powder. I'm going to allot individual time to each of the kids. Obviously that latter is easier to do with Rae than the boys, but its going to happen, even if I have to put aside what I want to do or am working on. Or maybe just include them in what I'm doing. I'm going to try and stop obsessing that I still have a baby pooch and just work on getting back to where I want (and had) my body at before I got pregnant. Yes, I know its only been two months, but that logic doesn't help because really there is no logic with this obsession about getting back to where I was. I finally had gotten to a place where I liked my body again, and then BAM! You're pregnant. Not that I don't love Rae, because I do but I'm not so in love with what pregnancy did to my body. So that's going to get worked on.

So that's what I'm resolving to do. Oh and I'm signing off till the New Year. I'll be back with some of the Christmas gifts that got made and given!

Well its finally here! There is a week or so before Christmas and I'm finally sharing my house with all of you.

There were a lot of changes this year from years past and I'm really happy that I shook stuff up.

So with out any further ado, here's the house!

Here's our family room this year. I am loving all of the different touches of Christmas this year. Harrison was a huge help in putting up all of Christmas this year. He's just as fastidious as I am about ornaments. :) I changed up the tree topper this year for this tree. Instead of putting up my usual glass finial, I took all of my dogwood branches and pheasant feathers and created a nice crown framing a woven bow and a cardinal. I love how it looks.



 I wasn't sure this little Christmas tree was going to get put up this year, but I'm glad I decided to put it up. I simply filled a vase with some grits and then plopped her into it. Added some red, gold and copper accents and then added some little touches to the rest of the table.


Going into the dining room, the crib mattress support is donning the white tinsel wreath again along with the few Christmas cards we've gotten so far. The boys put up their letters to Santa as well.

Into the dining room we go. I love this room this year! All the silvery and gold goodness!
 I didn't add the star topper to this tree this year either. I like the Vegas showgirl effect that I've got going on. I pulled out the white iridescent decomesh for this tree and then added the berries and feathers. This tree breathes glitter. I can't go into this room without coming out glittery.


Decorating the buffet this year was a bit of a challenge, because I didn't know what I wanted to do on it. So the decor here just kind of evolved.


To the lamps I added some simple crocheted snowflakes that I made. I like how the simple touches throughout the house this year really add a little something extra.
 


The table was another conundrum. what to do with it. The flowers got placed there as a way to get them out of the way when Christmas was just getting pulled out, and there they stayed. I decided I liked them there. Then the silver and gold accents were added to it. I like how I've got little elements from elsewhere in the house spread all over so that everything is cohesive.


For the first time, I decorated the radio that's in the dining room. The extra elements got put on it, but I like how it all turned out.

Now into the living room and the big tree!

This tree was a pain in the butt this year. All my lights died on it. 11 strands. How does that happen!?!? So I went and bought 600 lights and wrapped them around and scoped out the new tree for next year. This tree is going on 10 years old and there's a 9 foot tree calling my name. :)


 I changed up  a lot on this tree this year. I edited a lot of stuff and added a bit of stuff. Starting with the tree topper. More decomesh! I actually found this decomesh after the tree was up and ornaments on it. I took off the tree topper I had up and replaced with with the spikey bow I made and then topped it with the new glitter mesh bow and the old tree topper. I do love all the glittery goodness!


After I added the spikey bow, the ribbon garland needed something so I added these small spikey bows around. I like how they add a little oomph.

Here's the coffee table. I switched out the bench and this table, because the bench allows us to have more room for baby stuff in the family room. Its a little tight in this room, but it works. The finial from the family room is also in this room as apart of some table decor, and the red bows scattered around were from the banister decorations from last year.


 Here's the banister! Love all the colors going on! You might notice that some stockings are different this year. Of course, Reagan's new (she's the pink one), but we lost our dog, Jackson, this year. He died in July, and we all miss him terribly. I opted not to put out his stocking, because his loss was especially hard on the boys, but we have our husky ornament on the tree in his honor.
 The end of the banister got a simple wrapped garland wreath and another red bow. Then I added the spikey gold bow, because it needed something more. There are also pine cones hanging from the newel post.


The back of the front door got decorated this year too! I even added some butterflies that didn't make it onto the family room tree. I love the little unexpected touches.

I hope you guys enjoyed!

Sometimes I think I ought to teach myself how to knit. I've tried knitting, but I just don't get it. I'm clumsy. I also have a mom that knits. She does my knitting for me. I do crochet. She knows how to crochet, and does it well, but she knits more. I crochet more. The problem is that she has her own knitting projects and isn't solely at my beck and call, so when I wanted sweater-like covered ornament balls, I was on my own.

I tried doing google searches, but nothing I found was right. It wasn't what I was looking for. I have 9 clear plastic round ornaments begging for some crafty love, and I had nada. Till the other night, when the hubs and I were watching TV and I was playing around with my yarn and crochet hook. Then this happened.

And this.

And these.

Look at all the red yarn-filled love! They also look pretty fabulous on my tree. Just sayin'.

So these are super easy and quick.

Materials:
Yarn - I used Red Heart Super Saver
I-9 crochet hook
3.5" ball ornament
Scissors
Blunt Needle

Instructions: