Great Wolf Lodge

Saturday morning, I woke up and headed to the restaurant to work for the morning. I had planned to work until 11:30 ish, go get my eyebrows waxed (desperatly needed), maybe head to Target for a little browsing, and relax. Around 9:30, Dean and the kids decided to come into the restaurant for breakfast to visit me. Now, you all need to know that my husband needs to have an agenda at all times, in all places, otherwise he gets bored very quickly (lets say ADD???). And knowing that we had absolutley nothing planned for the day, the next words out of his mouth, in the restaurant, should not have surprised me. "Umm, I called Great Wolf Lodge, and I got this great deal for tonight if we want to take it." So, 2 hours later, everything packed by Mr. Ants In The Pants himself, we were on our way to Travers City. We surprised the kids, and didn't tell them what we had planned for them until we got there--the look in their eyes was so funny!! We had a great time sliding down the slides, riding the Lazy River, sitting in the hot tub, squirting water guns, and eating lots of ice cream. Dean even got all of them to slide down the BIG slide with him--although, he tricked everyone of them into it---how nieve kids are. They never caught on until the tube was ready to go down, and then you could hear the screaming clear across the waterpark. We had a great time, and I am glad it was a spur of the moment thing--sometimes I need to not be such a planner, because usually the times we have the most fun are when it is a last minute thing.
 

Success!!

One foot in. Both feet in. Hind end next. There, SUCCESS!! And the joyous look on her face--priceless. I know, I sound like one of those "priceless" commercials. As I was going through these pictures, a deep thought came to my mind. Now, mind you, I don't get many of these deep thoughts going through my mind, so whenever I do, I feel as though I need to share it with anyone and everyone. And lucky you--you should have stayed away from my blog, b/c now you are forced to read them. Hehe! My thought was this: why as we get older, does our view of success get harder and harder to obtain? Why do we view success as things that are almost unattainable? As I was watching Tessa try to conquer this basket, I realized that this was a big feat for her. She was truly elated when she obtained success in getting in that basket. If that were me trying to get in that basket and succeeding, I would not view/consider that success--why? Why do I feel like success has to be some magnificant, earth moving accomplishment in my life? Why does the word success come to mind only when something SO big happens in my life that it should be newsworthy--new job, promotion at work, landing that BIG account, finishing the River Bank Run, losing all that baby weight. Why can't we look at success in our everyday things? Why can't I see success in the 3 inches that Josie has grown since summer (I fed that little body!!), the kisses and hugs that Tessa slobbers on us (I taught her those affectionate jestures), the sweet "theological" questions Elli comes up with on a daily bases (I have helped implant Jesus in her heart), the "your the best mommy ever" kissups from Thys (I have succeeded in being a loving mom to him), the "I appreciate you" lines from Dean (I have succeeded in [still am working on] being the best wife I can to him).......I need to realize that this family DEPENDS ON MY daily successes. The laundry getting done, the food getting cooked, the kids getting dressed and out the door, the daily prayers I pray for the family's safety, and growth (physical and spiritual). I don't need to look outside at others and envy their accomplishments, all I need to do is look in my own house and realize that I have definatly succeeded in a multitude of ways!!

Girls Got It Right!

I was listening in on a conversation between Thys and Josie this afternoon. Dean had mentioned earlier in the afternoon, to Thys, that if he wanted to he could go with daddy to a friends house to watch the U of M football game with him. So, during this conversation, Thys was telling Josie (trying to make her jealous) that HE got to go with daddy, and SHE did not. To which Josie replied, "Thys, girls don't go to football games, they go to Target." That's my girl. I have definetly trained her right and have exceeded my motherly duties.

Let's Aerobicize!!

Holy Cow!! So I got this grand idea this afternoon, that I would begin a new chapter in my life. A healthy chapter. Dean and I keep saying that we feel, and talk, like we are 80 years old with all the backaches, heartpains, snapping joints--lada lada lada. I usually sit on the couch at 1:00pm, put Tessa down for a nap, put the other 3 in the basement with a movie for rest time, and turn on Days Of Our Lives. As you know, resting for that hour tends to make me more tired when I get off the couch at 2. So I knew I needed to do something different. The first step was deciding WHAT to do. I used to be an aerobic queen back in the day, doing it almost everyday religiously. But, that was before 4 kids, the addiction to Days Of Our Lives, and the achy, snapping joints. I decided I would do my Jane Fonda step aerobic video. This is the actual video that I own--I know, wow huh! So, the first step was to locate the steps---I didn't even know if we still owned them. With a little searching in the basement, I spotted the hot pink and turquois steps under the basement stairs. Ok, you have to know that our basement is as unfinished as they come. Besides the loads of kids toys scattered on every square inch of the floor, the only other thing down their is yucky, nasty, crawly bugs and their webs. (I know, nice that we let our kids play amongst them huh?). So in order to get these psychedelic aerobic steps from under our stairs, I needed to become one with these bugs and their habitat. Not something I am fond of. But, I am starting this new chapter right? So, out came the broom to fish out those steps. As I am pulling them out, I notice that they actually are growing mold on them. Yes, nice black mold on these steps. That about stopped the new chapter in my life right there. But, I am a detemined 30+ woman with an agenda.(this just delayed the agenda) Into the garage I went and out came the hose and rags. By now I am hustling, b/c Curious George: the Movie has now been playing for 30min. and I knew I only had 50min. left of "tina time". So I throw in the video and begin. I never realized how many times I actually did this video years ago. Does anyone have those old workout videos that you did so many times, so long ago, that you know them by heart and you know what Jane Fonda is going to say before she even says it? I felt like I was back in 1998, in Dean and I's first apartment, doing this video again. I didn't miss a beat, or a sentence. I still knew when I was almost done, by the moves in the routine. Although, 8 1/2 years later, the exercises were a bit more tiring, the leg lifts were a bit lower, the jumps were (lets just say non-existant), the video was a ton cornier, and the man on the video was a lot more feminine than what I remember.

Halloween

We definatly are making progress in that we had no criers this year. If anyone saw the kids last year, yes, you are experiencing deja vo. I honestly had new costumes all set for them, but about 1/2 hour before we were to get dressed we had 3 breakdowns about the new costumes. I was in no mood to argue, so into the closet we went, and out came the olds!! I am just glad Josie decided to go--as I said in the previous blog, we are having issues with Girl Spirit, and "a horse is not a tiger, mom!" (which by the way, we are breaking down a bit--Girl Spirit is now eating with utensils again).
I do think that I am enjoying the kids treats a bit more than they are. I find myself munching on "mini" candybar after candybar all day long. The "fat pants" are going to have to come out of the closet soon if I am not controlled. I wish Dean enjoyed chocolate as much as I did. Then we could sit on the couch at night together and dwell on the fact that we just devoured loads of chocolate bars and talk about how we will control ourselves tomorrow night. But, all I get from him is, "no, thanks". How do guys have such willpower? It would make eating chocolate a lot more fun if you weren't so angry that your husband can turn down any and everything that is bad for you!! Anyone want to be my chocolate buddy?