Thoughts for the New Year ~

I started doing this in 2008 and now its become a bit of a tradition, so here goes...

I'm feeling...Very thankful today!  My Cousin Christy, my Mom and my Uncle Lynn all had medical scares this last week, but all is well now, and I am overwhelmed with joy about that!  Justin had a medical scare in October, but is doing well now too, so i am happy that my family is healthy once again!  Some of my good friends had health scares this year too, and its got me thinking, we are getting older and need to start taking better care of ourselves now!  So yes...an exercise and diet regimen is in our future!

I'm seeing...my daughter growing up, and becoming a beautiful young lady.  I cant believe she will be in 5th grade next year...our last year together at RFLE, and then she will be heading down the mountain to middle school.  That will be tough for me, but i know she will do well.  She has changed so much over the last year, its amazing to watch!  I love you kiddo!  :)

I'm thinking...of the new year and all that that will bring.  We are a bit concerned about Justin's business lately, but are hopeful that things will pick up in January.  I am happy that I started a new job at Red Feather Lakes Elementary as the new Media/Tech teacher, and excited to see where that direction takes me.  I am still the preschool teacher, but the new job helps fill my afternoons a few days a week, and that certainly has helped!

I'm appreciating...a warm roof over our head...a kitchen full of food...a stack of wood outside...and all the other things we sometimes forget to be appreciative for!  Our financial situation is a little tight right now, so these comforts mean the world to me right now!

I'm cooking...a dump cake to take over to the party tonight.  The recipe is so simple...a can of raspberry pie filling and a can of crushed pineapple, mixed together and then dumped into a pan.  Top that off with a box of white cake mix...and then added an entire stick of butter pats on top, and cooked till golden bubbly at 350.  Never tried it before...im not a sweets person, but hopefully everyone else will like it!

I'm planning...to head over to Sharons house tomorrow night for a "mom" sleepover!  Four of us moms are heading over to her place to hang out and relax...no kids, just cocktails...and tasty food of course!  Im looking forward to hanging out with the girls!  The last time we were all together, we had a blast!

I'm reading...A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole.  Im about 1/2 way through it and enjoying it, but it seems every time I sit down to read it, I get about 2 pages in and fall asleep.  I joined a challenge on Goodreads, and read 21 of the 30 books i was hoping to get through this year.  Not too shabby considering I only read 3 books in 2014!  I still have an exciting stack of books awaiting me though, so I'd like to finish this one up and move on!

I'm wearing...fleece pajamas...been in them all day, how lame is that :)  It's 5:30 pm though, and im getting ready to hop in the shower and head on over to Becks Automotive for a Shop Stomp!  Justin and the gang are playing on New Years Eve again, so that should be fun!  Im pretty sure Jordyn and I wont be staying till midnight though, and im fine with that.  The pipes were frozen this morning, and i dont want to be gone too long, in case they try to do that again tonight.  Its supposed to get into the negatives tonight!

I'm creating...alas, not much at the moment!  I have a quilt I'm working on for someone, but I'm way behind on it!  No other new projects in the works...just projects I'd like to be doing, but somehow cant keep up on this year!  The new job at school has made me fall a bit behind on things, but I'm hoping by next year I will be in a groove and that will free up a bit more time for me.

I'm hearing...Jordyn shouting from upstairs about how excited she is with the new Minecraft updates on her computer!  Ill be lucky to get her out of the house tonight now!  She loves that game!

I'm enjoying...the new hockey set Jordyn got for Christmas!  It makes skating on the ice so much more fun, and i love watching Jordyn play too.

I'm sharing...Some pictures that I took at the shop stomp tonight...enjoy!

May you all have a peaceful New Year filled with joy, love happiness, good health and prosperity in 2016!!!

Gamers ~

What do you do when its in the single digits outside and you are feeling a bit under the weather? You climb onto a heated mattress pad and play Angry Birds and Minecraft, of course!!!

Holiday On Ice ~

 We had some fun on the ice today breaking in Jordyns new Christmas gift...which work much better on the ice than the croquet set  :)

 Uncle Damian had a blast playing too!

 Justin was super goalie...stopping almost every puck that came his way.

 We also enjoyed some sledding fun...here's Jen taking her first run of the day!

 Mena got in on the action too!  Heads up 7-up Mena...

 It was a very chilly 12 degrees outside, but no one seemed to mind!  We had plans to do some late night skating with a fire and tiki torches lit down by the ice, but after enjoying a warm bowl of potato soup, the temperature dropped to a toasty 7 degrees....so we decided to call it a day!

Merry Christmas From The Black Bear ~

 Christmas morning started out with all of us sleeping in!  yeah!  Jordyn was still sick, but feeling much better than she was last night, so that was good!  She started tearing into presents, much to Kato's delight, and the festivities began...

 She received lots of great gifts, including a new Hobbit lego set, a chess set, a Magic deck, clothes, fuzzy pajamas, ski goggles and thermal underwear, underwear and socks, a zombie slayer bow and light up rocket arrows (cant wait to try that one out), a couple of new movies, a Lindsey Sterling CD, an origami set, a jewelry making kit, and many other fun goodies!

 I scored some cool gifts too...including this NOLA photo blanket from TJ, some pearl earrings from Denise, and this fun R2D2 measuring cup set from Pete and Kathryn.  Mom sent fun money for the whole house and some new ornaments for the tree, and Justin scored a lot of cool goodies as well.

 Frank and Pat came up to enjoy Christmas Brunch with us...I hope they dont mind sharing with Kato (Kato, get off the table!)!  I served donuts, a cheese and cracker platter, with marinated mushrooms and olives, a breakfast sausage casserole, and fresh fruit!  Naturally there were screwdrivers to wash it all down!  :)

 With a full belly, we decided to go outside and test out the sledding run!  Uncle Damian, cousin Marcus and Justin had worked on it the day before, so it was running pretty fast!

 Jordyn created this bridge, and then tried to destroy it by climbing on top of it with no luck, so Uncle Damian came over to help her.  With a full belly flop, the bridge came tumbling down, along with Uncle Damian!

 It was a chilly day 12 degrees outside, so we all came in to get warm.  Jordyn worked on her Hobbit lego set, and then showed Uncle Damian all her presents.  It was a cozy fabulous day at the Black Bear Cabin with great company and lots of laughs!  Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

Christmas Eve Magic ~

 On Christmas Eve morning we were supposed to be sharing breakfast with Grandma and Grandpa Bruen before they headed over to steamboat, but since the roads were so bad, they decided not to come up that morning, which left us with a bunch of fabulous food!  No worries, i made enough for tomorrow morning should they decide to come up :)  I made sugared cranberries, a breakfast sausage casserole, fresh fruit, donuts and of course some Christmas cookies!

 And if that didnt make you want to slip into a food coma, then a nice hot cup of coffee with some chocolate cherry baileys would do the trick!  YUM!

 Heres a shot of Fuzzy patiently waiting for her stockings to be filled...

 but since she cant get along with her new sibling, Kato, then her stocking might just get filled with coal instead!  Here is a rare shot of them laying together.  Kato jumped up there to get cozy, and Fuzzy was not too happy about it...she tolerated it though, briefly, i think to appease Santa :)

 Justin, Damian and Marcus worked on the skating pond that afternoon, and then we headed up to Grandma and Grandpa Bears house for dinner.

 We had a delicious meal of Filet Mignon, shrimp, veggies, salad, and super yummy cheesy biscuits!

 Then it was time for presents...and check out the awesome gift Jordyn got for Christmas...

We cant wait to try them out on the ice!  After gifts, we enjoyed watching the new Minions movie Jordyn also got for Christmas.  She was really not feeling well at this point, and had a bit of a fever, but was a sport and made it through the whole movie, which is more than i can say for the rest of us.   After the movie, we headed back to the house, where Jordyn quickly opened her present from Grandma Barbara, a tradition of new pajamas, climbed into those new pajamas, and then went straight to bed, exhausted!  Sweet dreams sweetheart, hope you feel better in the morning!