We had a great busy Christmas. We started opening presents at 8 a.m. At 11 we went to some friend's house and visited with them until 3:30 p.m. At 4 we showed up at another friends' house, and then left town to go on vacation at 9 p.m. Needless to say, our Christmas Tree was still up when we came home on Jan. 7!


We stayed one night in Fairbanks and then drove to Glennallen the next day to visit with friends. The hoar frost was amazing!


Alaska is beautiful any time of year!


We were in Anchorage for New Year's and enjoyed the fireworks!

Wow! I have some great news to share!

I'm pregnant!

I have always wanted more kids, my current two are 11 and 8. They are very excited and I am sharing with them what is going on with the baby's development every week.

My husband got very sick when the youngest was two and his health problems were such that more kids at that time would be too stressful. My dh is still sick with a rare auto-immune bile duct disease that still causes problems but we are more able to deal with it now.

The baby is due Sept. 10, 2010.

I haven't been doing any quilting. We have been so busy since about a week before Thanksgiving that the only thing I've done is a couple blocks for a community quilt. Maybe I should take up cross stitch with a passion, I can do that in little blocks of time.

I gave away another quilt this year. This went to a little boy whom we met in AWANA. He and his mom started coming to church with us. He is such a nice little boy and his mom is really sweet.

No Crust Pumpkin Pie (2 points for 1/8 pie)

2 t grated orange peel
15 oz. cooked pumpkin (fresh or canned)
1 can evaporated milk
3 egg whites
¼ cup Splenda
¼ cup sugar
½ cup whole wheat flour
½ t cinnamon
½ t ground nutmeg
½ t ground ginger
¾ t baking powder
⅛ t salt

Brown Sugar Topping
⅛ c packed brown sugar
⅛ c oats
2T wheat bran

Heat oven to 350º F.
Spray pie plate with cooking spray.
Blend all ingredients in blender.
Pour into pie plate.
Mix topping and add to top of pie during baking.
Bake until solid (about an hour).
Serve cold.

So how did Halloween go? Did you eat enough candy to make you sick? Did you stick with your plan? Did you even have a plan?

There are about eight weeks to Christmas and this is the season for Holiday Parties and usually weight gain. Now that one holiday is over, make a new plan for the next one. Let's see, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's. One down, three to go.

So for November, are you going to say, "what the heck, the holidays are upon us!" And eat, eat, eat? Or are you going to say "Thanksgiving is just one day, and I will eat whatever I like on that day"? Or are you going to have one piece of pumpkin pie with whipped cream after a sensible portion of turkey and stuffing and give thanks for all your blessings. You decide. Don't forget to plan something to do with all the leftovers. Maybe go so far as to not have any!

So, October stats for me. I did great with my goal to eat no Halloween candy. Not one piece. I went to a party and had a sandwich and one oatmeal raisin cookie. I really wanted some candy today though, but I passed. I took the left over candy and donated it to the senior center, better them eat it than me. So, there is no candy in my house now.

Weight 9/27 220.4
Weight 11/1 220

Loss for October .4

However, my weight was not steady for October. I had three weeks of gain, 1 lb, 1 lb, and 3.6 pounds. And two weeks of loss 2.8 pounds and 3.2 pounds. So in October I gained 5.6 pounds and lost 6 pounds.

I just really don't understand. I eat well, exercise, drink water, and gain. I eat well, exercise and drink water and I lose.

I can't control the number on the scale. But I can control what and how much I eat, when and how much I exercise, and how much water I drink.

Look at my beautiful lunch! It was just so pretty I had to take a photo. It is kale, spinach, purple cabbage, ham and onion, sauteed in a little olive oil, sprinkled with salt. It was fabulous! My body is loving me, it was so healthy.

How is your "diet" coming along? Are you stuffing yourself on free Halloween candy? Are you just eating too much? Are you getting the exercise your body needs?

I did an official WI yesterday and was down 2.8! Finally less than 220! Yippeee! I added an extra workout to my schedule, a small 15 minutes in the morning right after the kids go to school. I was really diligent about not eating sweets this week and I have still not eaten any Halloween candy!

What are you going to do on Halloween night? A plan will help you stay on top of your eating. No plan will get you eating everything in sight.

I have been quilting, really I have. Just not much. I am making these flower blocks (design by Mary Ellen Hopkins) slowly as I sew with friends. I have about 30 flowers done, and it takes four flowers to make a block. I think I need about 30 blocks, so it is slow going. I am going to put the blocks together on point with green sashing and red cornerstones. All the flowers are different material, with the flower center being red and the leaves green. The greens are used many times but the flowers will all be unique. These are such cute little blocks.

This is our quilting club that met last Tuesday night. There were about eight people there. We all love to quilt! The group was working on a project, but I was helping someone with a previous project, so I didn't get to sew.