Cool Dude

I'm working on getting posts done for Christmas with the Wells and with the McGills as well as New Year's but in the mean time, here is a funny new video. Whenever Molly puts on either sunglasses or a baseball cap she says "cool dude." It comes out sounding like "O'Douls." She's pretty proud of herself and I could watch this all day long and still laugh every time.

One More

Molly had a great time playing this game. Don't worry about the end, she got right up and wanted to go again (although our parents of the year award might have been lost).

Molly Jumping

Mike's been trying to teach Molly to jump, this is her progress. Hilarious and she's so proud of herself!

Did/Didn't

Things I didn't do this weekend:
Clean my house
Finish my Christmas shopping and wrapping
Clean out the closets that desparately need it
Get caught up on paperwork

Things I did do this weekend:
Played Skipbo with Mike
Spent an hour leisurely strolling through the new Trader Joes
Had multiple dance parties with Mike and Molly
Read the same books over and over again
Did the same 3 puzzles over and over again
Baked 5 different kinds of Holiday goodies,packaged them up and delivered to friends and family

Yep...I'd say it was a pretty productive weekend.

This One's For Annie

Want a gift card to Target?

I want to take a break from the cute Molly updates to talk about something that I think is pretty exciting.

There is a blog that I have been reading for the past year or so that has been really inspiring to me. Jody is a mom to 6 kids. She is someone who I admire a lot because of her strength, ability to overcome adversity with grace and humor and her passion for helping those in need worldwide. Often times I read her blog and feel kind of ashamed that I am not doing more to help those in need. I never know where to start and, if I'm being completely honest, I am selfish with my time and money.

BUT...that excuse isn't really a good one anymore because Jody and a friend of hers have started a new nonprofit organization called The Adventure Project. Their mission is to see worldwide poverty eradicated in their lifetime. Seems a tad ambitious, no? But they have a brilliant plan. I can't do it justice by trying to explain it here, so please go to the website and read about it. It is so cool to me that as a midwestern mom here in Iowa I can know that I am doing something that DIRECTLY benefits a mom in a developing country and allows her to safely feed and protect her babies.

So, here is how I am going to help. I am going to buy a $25 gift card to Target (I know it isn't much but who can't use $25 at Target?). If you leave me a comment on this post that you buy just one lump of coal (follow this link and you will know what that means). I have absolutely no idea how many people read this blog so it is likely that your odds of winning are quite good. If even one person who reads this blog buys one lump of coal then we have helped one family in a developing country tremendously.

Also, you can join the Tribe at the Adventure Project and learn ways that you can help with this awesome effort as well. Maybe you can put a link up on your blogs (that are probably read much more frequently than mine), or on your facebook or twitter or whatever to help even more people learn of this amazing project.

I went online tonight and bought my lump of coal and it is seriously so easy.

Okay, let's see what we can do...

New Tricks

Molly has learned to say "Cheese" so we got her picture during dinner the other night. She hasn't connected it to posing for pictures yet, she mostly says it when standing outside the fridge or eating, but it sure looks cute.



Thanks to Grandma Nancy and Aunt Melissa, she has recently discovered the fun of boxes. She thinks this is hilarious.