cereal.

Grace and I eat breakfast almost every morning together.  This morning was no different (this is not actually THIS morning...I'm still not able to eat much because I've got what Grace had...).  I planned to just take one picture of us eating together and then we got carried away and had fun taking pictures of every thing from the pouring of the cereal (I love that I have a picture now of Grace overflowing her bowl) to the eating.

Then Gracie decided she was done and left me sitting there alone then I just messed around...too long...and realized it was time to take Gracie to school. 

So what was going to be just one picture turned into this (this is a 10 second clip, make sure to click the play button below):

silly. LIFE.

it was a blizzard.

There was just way too much snow today to go to school and the kids were in heaven.

No your eyes do not deceive you.  There really was only about .0001 inches of snow.  Not even close to enough to make a snowball.  No snow on the tree branches.  I almost didn't get a picture of it before it was gone.  Doesn't matter. 

It was the best snow...ever.

In Utah we didn't get out of school for anything.  Really.  Ice Storm. No.  Blizzard.  No.  Four feet of snow.  No. 

In South Carolina .0001 inches of snow.  YES!!!  The kids are very glad we live in South Carolina, now!

funny. LIFE.

drink more water.

I'm so excited about everyone who is on board for this month's contest! Yay for all of you. It's not to late to jump in and share your hints and tips for losing weight, sticking with it, little ways to stay motivated, etc. and get in on the contest. (Read more about the contest here.)

Water is an important part of keeping your body healthy. Make sure you are drinking enough of it. Eight 8-ounce glasses are recommended for keeping your body hydrated through out the day.

Here are a couple of tidbits about water and your body:

*Drink more when you exercise. "If you exercise or engage in any activity that makes you sweat, you need to drink extra water to compensate for the fluid loss. An extra 400 to 600 milliliters (about 1.5 to 2.5 cups) of water should suffice for short bouts of exercise, but intense exercise lasting more than an hour (for example, running a marathon) requires more fluid intake. How much additional fluid you need depends on how much you sweat during exercise, the duration of your exercise and the type of activity you're engaged in.

During long bouts of intense exercise, it's best to use a sports drink that contains sodium, as this will help replace sodium lost in sweat and reduce the chances of developing hyponatremia, which can be life-threatening. Also, continue to replace fluids after you're finished exercising." Mayo Clinic. Read more here.

*"the liver's duties is to pick up the slack for the kidneys, which need plenty of water to work properly. If the kidneys are water-deprived, the liver has to do their work along with its own, lowering its total productivity. It then can't metabolize fat as quickly or efficiently as it could when the kidneys were pulling their own weight. If you allow this to happen, not only are you being unfair to your liver, but you're also setting yourself up to store fat.* Maia Appleby at inch-aweigh.com Read more here.

*If you think that drinking that much water sends you running to the toliet all day long don't give up. Maia says, "What is really happening is that your body is flushing itself of the water it has been storing throughout all those years of "survival mode". It takes a while, but this is a beautiful thing happening to you. As you continue to give your body all the water it could ask for, it gets rid of what it doesn't need. It gets rid of the water it was holding onto in your ankles and your hips and thighs, maybe even around your belly. You are excreting much more than you realize. Your body figures it doesn't need to save these stores anymore; it's trusting that the water will keep coming, and if it does, eventually, the flushing (of both the body and the potty) will cease, allowing the human to return to a normal life. It's true. This is called the "breakthrough point."

*Do it for your skin. "You've heard this since high school, and it's true. Water will do wonders for your looks! It flushes out impurities in your skin, leaving you with a clear, glowing complexion. It also makes your skin look younger. Skin that is becoming saggy, either due to aging or weight loss, plumps up very nicely when the skin cells are hydrated.

In addition, it improves muscle tone. You can lift weights until you're blue in the face, but if your muscles are suffering from a drought, you won't notice a pleasant difference in your appearance. Muscles that have all the water they need contract more easily, making your workout more effective, and you'll look much nicer than if you had flabby muscles under sagging skin." Maia Appleby. Read more here.

Water and Weight loss myth:

*"Drinking water in and of itself will not lead to weight loss. Of course, water is key to a healthy lifestyle and drinking enough has many benefits, but when people lose weight due to drinking water, it's most likely because they're substituting it for high-calorie juices and sodas."  about.com Read more here.

Whether it's possible to lose weight drinking water or not it, the overall health benefits are huge.  I think it's definitely true that water can help you avoid things that make you GAIN weight.  If you are replacing soda or other drinks with water than, to me, water is helping you lose weight.  If you are drinking water instead of putting food in your mouth, then water is helping your to lose weight.  If you are drinking water before, after, and during your daily exercise and helping your body to run more efficiently, then your body may be losing weight. 

I know that, for me, when I drink water before dinner my stomach gets the message sooner that I'm full.  I also know that when I drink water instead of having that high fat snack I'm much less likely to eat the high fat snack and reach for something more healthy.  If nothing else, it buys you some time to rethink what you you are eating instead of mindlessly shoving whatever is in front of you in your mouth.

Here's another take on hydration.

No matter the reason for drinking water you can't go wrong with making eight 8-ounce glassesof water sprinkled through out your day part of your daily routine.  Your muscles and skin will definitely thank you.

So here's to water and better health.

healthy. LIFE.

NOTE:  Nominations are now CLOSED.  Click here to VOTE.  VOTING is open until Sunday, February 1st.  GO VOTE!!

tell us.

With a new President coming up this week I thought it would be fun to vote for favorite images of 2008.

You can pick a favorite picture from the slideshow above (there is a gallery icon so you can look through them slowly) or from here on the blog.

Just put your nomination in the comments or send us your nomination at info@davinafear.com Soooo.... if you want your picture to win then you need to make sure your friends and family nominate your faves! We'll take nominations until Friday.  The voting will start January 27th.

What will you win??

The couple or family with the winning image will get a $100 gift certificate to their favorite store (for me that would be Anthropologie) and a beautiful 7x7 album of favorite images from their shoot!

fun. LIFE.

too much time here.

Over the last week Grace and I have been together a lot.  And not always under the best of circumstances.  I think that she may be feeling better and I'm so glad about that.  Of course, I'm just keeping my fingers crossed hoping that it's really true.

All of you have been so wonderful and I've gotten some really sweet and thoughtful emails filled with concern and help and I can't even say how grateful I am to each of you.  I'm blessed.

Here's to all of the moms out there who have:

*stayed up at night with a sick child

*cleaned up puke off the wall...and the toliet...and the pjs...and the bed...and yourself

*washed a toliet so that the person that is putting their face it won't get even more sick because you haven't cleaned it in way too long

*wiped snot from a child's face and then wiped it on your own clothes or the grass while you were at the park without a tissue

*sat on the floor of a nasty bathroom to change a diaper or feed a baby

*bribed your child with ice cream to get them to do what you wanted them to

*said "because I'm the mom, that's why"

*gone to check on your child in the middle of the night just to make sure they are still breathing

*read Clifford the Big Red Dog at least 139 times

*walked in a room to see your child naked except for a diaper and painted like a lion...and the walls full of a little 2 year old's art

*looked out the front window to see your child in the street and had a panic attack

*been woken up by a child at 3am with a fever and stayed up at least 1/2 the night trying to bring it down

*heard your children giggling wildly in the next room and peeked around the corner to see what was going on

*made dinner with a child attached to your leg

*walked into a room and asked, "who made this mess?"  and had all of your kids say, "Not me!" and you know it wasn't YOU

*opened the fridge to eat that delicious piece of dessert you were planning to eat and found that someone else beat you to it

*cuddled next to a sweet little missie and had her say to you, "you're the best mom in the whole wide world.  I love you soooooooooooo much!"

*had little arms wrapped around your neck that wouldn't let go

*and had slobbery kisses from gooey mouths.

Here's to all of you...and here's to knowing that there's not a moment in the bunch that we want to trade.

good. LIFE.