Mom is always right

When I was younger and used to go to my girlfriends houses for sleepovers, my mom would always make me take a nap the next day and tell me I was going to get sick. And, I always did. Needless to say, got home from Florida and woke up sick...gross swollen throat, bad cough, real crabby kind of sick. Don't you hate when your mom is right about these things?

Florida

Carol has all the pictures and videos...all I can say is "What stays in Orlando...happens in Orlando!" or something like that?!?!?

Getting to know me from A-Z

A- Available or married? Married for 13 years on March 5. (Sidebar...Jen & Tim got engaged after us and married before us...that took some time to swallow!)

B- Best Friend? I'm happy to say the older I get the longer this list becomes because there was a time when my list was short...and my friends were far away! My BFF's are Jen, Carol, Laura, Tina & Carrie & my mom(she can drive me crazy, but I love her)

C- Cake or Pie? Warm brownie pie with ice cream

D- Drink of Choice? Coffee, Diet Coke, Corona light with a lime

E- Essential Item? Laptop

F- Favorite Color? Purple or Red

G- Gummi Bears or Worms? Sour Patch Kids

H- Hometown? Oak Forest or I'll just say Chicago

I- Indulgence? Dunkin Donuts double chocolate donut

J- January or February? January cuz it's not February!

K- Kids & names? Christian Douglas(9 1/2), Emily Nicole(7 1/2), Jacob Edward..."Jed"(4 1/2), Wesley Marten(very much a two-year-old!)

L- Life is incomplete without? Doug...I tried for awhile to do it alone but was always brought back to him...I know you're all gagging!

M- Marriage Date? March 5, 1994

N- Number of Siblings? One little "jerk faced" brother...I love him now! Douglas who is 32 and a pastor can you believe it?

O- Oranges or apples? Apple w/ peanut butter

P- Phobias/Fears? Bridges! I hate them!

Q-Favorite Quote? In order to live well you must dine well and sleep well.

R- Reason to Smile? Bears in the Super Bowl!!!!!!

S- Season? Summer...by the pool with a Corona with lime

T- Tag three people! Has everyone been tagged already? Kristen, Becky and Kary if you're out there

U- Unknown fact about me: Sometimes I take such long showers the hot water runs out.

W- Worst habit? Cracking my knuckles

Y- Your favorite food? Hot wings or stuffed pizza

Z- Zodiac? Virgo...kind of exotic huh?

WE'RE GOING TO THE SUPERBOWL BABY!




BEAR DOWN CHICAGO BEARS!

Can you believe it? Florida here we come! We laughed, we screamed, we paced, swore, were convinced we were gonna lose and then saw our Chicago Bears come back and kick New Orleans butt! AWESOME!!!!! I have no voice left.

After the game we celebrated outside banging pots and pans and screamed our heads off. Carol got an great text message "New Orleans flattened by Hurricane Chicago!" It's been a long time since the Bears have gone to the Superbowl...I was in 8th grade, hadn't met my husband yet and was still a natural blond!

What a great celebration we had...thanks to the Lampens, Decker's and Pruim's for the good food, great company and sharing such a sweet celebration.

I'm exhausted! What a Game!

AWESOME!!! I LOVE FOOTBALL!

We had Time and Jen and the girls over today to watch the game. And what a game it was! We had good food, a great game and lots of beer...not for Jen though. Just us.

Can you believe that game? I think I put a hole in the carpet from pacing so much. And I feel I need to apologize to the Lampen's for my loud outbreaks of "Throw the *$%# ball!" or "What the *&%$@?" I tend to shout and clap real loud and I often find it hard to stay sitting on the couch...tend to jump, fall on the floor or pound the ground. Watching football is a very physical activity. Doug snickers at me and shakes his head but deep down I think he's thinking, "I've got such a cool wife."

After we cheered so loud we woke Greta and the game was over Doug and Tim went down to the basement for X-box time and the kids followed them to play with the toys in the basement. Having a few minutes of peace was a beautiful thing.

Greta, Wesley and Millie had a great time chasing each other and playing tackle. They were so cute I had to take some pictures to show all of you. I wish you could hear them giggling it was adorable.

Next week the game is on at our house again...and it's an open invitation...GO BEARS!

Keep On Keeping On

I'm into day 5 of my new exercise and eating routine. It doesn't sound like much when you write it down on paper, however, this has been a real change from normal. It has taken a lot of my brain and will power this week to stick with this. I seem to constantly ask myself, "Is this a good choice?"

Have you ever had this experience?

I really hope, as I always do, that this will be the time I truly change my bad habits and turn into a fit and healthy 30something. That hope is what keeps me coming back to diet and exercise. I have some friends who seem to think this way automatically, it's just a part of them to make good and healthy choices. (And no, it's not Laura, Jen or Carol...we all struggle the same I know.) So I keep on keeping on...in the hope that this is the time I will get it.

Out for breakfast...on a diet...

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January 11...If your not pregnant or skinny already you are probably dieting. I've talked about this cliche' before and how I hate being driven by the societal "norms" but I am.

Yesterday I went out for breakfast with three of my good friends, Hot Momma, Feeding My Addiction and blog-less Tina. This is what the poor young very skinny waitress had to put up with:


Laura: "I'd like a Large tomato juice and do you serve salad for breakfast?"

Carol and I: "Gross! Tomato juice....oh, sick are you gonna drink that?!"

Laura: "Shut up! It's good! OK, I'd just like a dinner salad....but can you put extra veggies on it?(Sidebar...of course they can, it's Laura, she gets EVERYTHING she wants!end side bar) I'd like extra peppers, cucumbers and tomatoes. Oh, and do you have oil and vinegar? Is it separated? OK, I would like that one the side please...and oh, please can I have another Large tomato juice. That's all."

Carol: "We'd like to split the vegetarian omelet." Christine interrupts: "Is that an egg white omelet? We have to have an egg white omelet!"

Carol: "Dry wheat toast and can we please have fruit instead of hash browns?"

Christine sobs in the corner of the booth for the loss of the hash browns.

Tina: "I'd like a fruit platter with no strawberries and fresh melon and a dry English muffin."

When the food came Tina, Carol and I all spent minutes convincing Laura how beautiful her breakfast salad looked and watched her pour copious gallons of red wine vinegar on it. (She's on the cabbage soup diet with very strict instructions on how to lose 80lbs in one week.)
Carol and I split a very large football shaped white omelet filled with vegetables and Tina picked at her not so fresh melon and dry English muffin.

In the end we had great conversation and walked throughout the day very proud of ourselves. But in the back of my mind I played the video of us going out for breakfast for my birthday when we ordered pancakes, french toast and Eggs Benedict, and I wondered, "have we really become our mothers?"

Sleep

I have discovered that when one is working out one sleeps better. Sorry, Becky, this probably won't work for you, however it is working wonderfully for me. I used to be one of those people who would wake off and on throughout the night. Sometimes, I get a long bout of real insomnia, but mostly it is just up long enough to see what time it is and evaluate how much longer I have to sleep. Well, for the last 4 nights as soon as my head hits the pillow I'm out, and the next minute that dang alarm clock is going off. It is a wonderful feeling to sleep all through the night...I love it!

What I don't love is going out for breakfast when I'm dieting. It's 7:45 now and I'm starving...but we aren't going out until 9:30...So what's a girl to do?

Drink coffee and take a shower...that's what I'm gonna do before I go crazy!

45 minutes baby!

We did it! Skipped Taco Bell and went to the gym instead. We did 45 minutes on the tread mill and then did about 30 sit-ups. Small steps lead to big rewards...right?! I feel great! Now on to tomorrow!

It's back to school time..."yawn"

6:30am: had to wake up myself and the kids an hour and a half earlier than we got up yesterday...it's still dark out. I know this is what I said I wanted yesterday...but this is early.

Today is the first day back from Christmas break. It's been a good break, very intense but good. We attended lots of Christmas parties, shopped with gift cards, went on a vacation and played a lot of computer games, listened to many new CD's and made the house very, very messy! There is crap everywhere! I don't know where to start...so I'll start by going out this morning for a meeting and hoping the house fairy comes to put everything away. Isn't that how it works, if I close my eyes, cross my fingers and hope really hard everything will just "magically" go back to where it belongs?????

Reality is tough sometimes...but getting in the swing of things will be nice. Hope you all have a good day and that we all get a little "magic" in our day even if it consists of your rice cake "magically" tasting like a chocolate brownie! = )

Life is getting easier

We just got back from a three night, four day vacation to the Wisconsin Dells. This is an annual trip we have been making with the family for about 5 years now. Each year it seems as if I am pregnant or have a small baby in tow. Each year, we have a good time but by the end of the weekend Doug and I are exhausted and are at the end of our patience rope. It is truly an experience to travel with small children, depending on the age of the smallest child we either have to stop half way so I can nurse, navigate our way through McDonald's holding a baby, a toddler and a tray, which is not easy, try to get some rest as the baby wakes every three hours or the toddler cries off and on all night because he is not in his own bed, push a stroller through crowded hallways loaded with who knows how much garbage you have to carry when taking care of an infant and then always be aware of where the elevator is because the stairs are off limits.

It is a challenge to travel with small children but when you have four kids there is no choice; we either needed to go on vacation with them or stay at home for 10 years while they all grew up. I am not a mother who believes in staying shut up in the house because I have kids. I think it is a good idea for kids to learn how to behave properly in public, grown up situations. I think kids should learn how to eat in a restaurant that doesn't have slides and tubs for entertainment. I think it's important to teach them, even at a young age, to place their order with a waitress, to ask for refills or extra napkins if they need them. It's a good lesson in speaking to adults, saying please and thank you and how to make up their own mind and take responsibility for their choices. We always start at Denny's or Buffalo Wild Wings or other loud restaurants where we won't draw too much attention to ourselves if one of them decides to scream or throw a tantrum...which has totally happened. What I've learned as I've added to my clan is that the youngest look at the oldest to see how to behave. It always amazes me how my little ones take their cues from the older children. That said...it's not easy and often Doug and I have thought, "we should just go by ourselves."

Anyway, all that "training" at home has grown into a more enjoyable vacation; that, along with the fact that the kids are getting older. The two older ones played with each other as Doug and I took care of the little ones or they all played together while Doug and I watched. That is a thrill I hope every mother gets to see...all her kids playing together without killing each other. The kids were able to stay up later in the evening and sleep later in the morning...that was the best! We have had vacations when everyone is up at 6:30 am... that is the pits! (By the time 10:30 rolls around they are ready for a nap.) We had no stroller this time, which meant that Doug and I could walk together while the clan ran up ahead.

Christian and Emily were a huge help. They packed their own suitcases, put away their clothes when we got there and then packed up again when it was time to go home. Granted Christian only packed one pair of socks and underwear but hey that was his choice. They helped us in so many ways, getting themselves dressed, keeping track of their bathing suites, entertaining the kids, helping making lunch, finding luggage carts and even stayed in the room for an hour after the little ones went to bed so that we could go get a drink. (That kind of back fired on us though...as we were walking back to the room about 10 doors away, the fire alarm in the hallway next to ours went off...it freaked us out...Doug ran all the way to our room...the kids seemed to be just fine.) The older the kids get the more enjoyable they are to go out with; Christian is so witty and Emily is a great shopping partner!

I really feel like we have rounded a corner in our family life. We are no longer in baby mode and we are moving into I'm not sure what you'd call it...but I'd call it easier as far as vacations go. It really kind of surprised Doug and I. As we were driving home, we both commented that we had a good time and we are not totally exhausted. Amazing...for those of you who have younger kids than me...life does get easier and it will sneak up on you too.

PS. Don't worry...that's not a real bear in the picture...or at least it's not still alive.

Sorry Jen,

Sorry I said I was gonna post every day and my good friend Jen has pointed out that I have been derelict on my duties. We are in Wisconsin Dells right now at the Wilderness Resort with the kids. This place is tons of fun with four seperate water parks within the walls of the resort. It is literally a mile walk from where our condo is to the furthest, and coolest, water park. Today we spent the morning at the Wild Water Dome. It has a kiddy section with water guns and mini slides. A massive zero depth wave pool and a huge water slide that you can go down with four people! Tommorow we will hit the wild west water park that has a tornado slide...not sure what it is but it looks scary and awesome at the same time. Tonight we ate at Famous Daves and played in the ball pits and arcades. Vacation with the family is fun...but exhausting. There is a Tanger outlet mall across the street with a Gap outlet that I would love to go to...but the jury is still out on that.

I have a question for the blogger blog friends...have you switched over to the new Beta and is it worth it?

Happy New Year

So it's 2007...


Wow! All I can say is the years really do start to roll by faster and faster the longer I'm alive. I can only imagine my grandmother must be thinking that life floats by like fog.

We just watched the Adam Sandler movie Click...acording to Doug it's simply It's a Wonderful Life with a remote control. But I thought it was a great movie that really made you think about slowing down and paying attention to the small details in life. Like talking to your kids, enjoying a good argument with your spouse or having dinner with your parents.

The new year is a good time for reflection, for looking at how we prioritize things and what we call important. I hope you have time to reflect on the past and make at least one goal for your future.