Imma Be

HEALTHIER. FITTER. SLIMMER.

There! I committed to it IN WRITING for all the world to see. I told Ben yesterday that today I was going on a 'diet', and I've been mentally gearing up for it for a couple of weeks. (Maybe that's why I couldn't get enough crappy food crammed in my mouth yesterday??)

I wouldn't say I'm terribly unhealthy, but I could definitely be making better choices for myself and my family. I used to be *great* about it. Several years ago, after reading a few books by health experts, and this crazy book below, I went through my pantry and pretty much threw out all of our food. I started really reading labels, shopping in the health food section, ordering hard-to-find products on-line... the whole deal. Our friends thought we were nuts, but we kept it up for a good couple of years, and we felt great about it.

Then, we started our business, life got crazy, and suddenly, eating healthy was too hard and too time consuming. Pretty soon, oreos and chips and other processed food found its way back into our house. I've been feeling bad about it for some time, but I finally hit my breaking point last night as I found myself opening a CAN OF CHEESE SAUCE that Ben had requested last week at a football game, "How come we can't buy this for home?" It's no wonder that Jacob goes around singing "McDonald's Had a Farm"!

E-I-E-I GROSS!

Seriously. What happened here?!

So, today is IT. I'm making my grocery list and heading back to the health food section. It's not going to be easy. My kids are going to complain. A lot. But, I have to do it. I'm also going to start tracking my daily caloric intake, paying special attention to SUGAR! After attending a Family Fitness Fair at school (which I organized), *pats on back* :) last weekend, and finding myself sickened at the nutritionist's table, I realized it's critical to reduce the amount of sugar my kids consume. You'd be absolutely shocked to see the actual amount of sugar measured out in front of you that your kids consume!

And before anybody freaks out and replies that I don't need to lose weight and all that - hold your typers. I don't plan on turning into some scary waif. I would simply like my jeans to fit me properly and to lose the relatively small amounts of lingering blubber on certain areas of my body! If only I could transfer the excess from my thighs to my chest!

Wish me luck :-)

Idon'tbelieveyou.

As most of you know, Will loves, loves, LOVES his dirt bike. He got his first shiny new dirt bike on his 7th birthday. I remember being a little nervous with the whole thing, especially when he hopped on it and literally took off 10 seconds after receiving it... but over time, as he gained more experience, I became more relaxed with the idea of him riding. He actually is a good, responsible little rider. or was. little that is.

First Day with the new dirt bike 2007

Since then, Will has continued to grow, while his dirt bike has not. Our first thought was to have Will start saving for a new one. He liked the idea, and began by putting all the money he had (which wasn't much) in a huge glass jar, and eagerly started jumping at the chance to do extra chores to make money. The money didn't pile up as quickly as Will had hoped, and as we got busier with school and sports, opportunities for money-making became less frequent. He got discouraged and started to think he was never going to earn enough for a bigger bike.

Will's been saving for almost a year now, and while he doesn't have near enough to pay for a bigger bike, we decided to 'help' him out with the rest after finding a nice used dirt bike for sale. I found the bike on-line, had my brother in WI pick it up, and my dad brought it back to his cabin about 2 hours from our house. What a great find! Since the kids didn't have school yesterday, we told them we were taking a last-minute trip to Grandma and Grandpa's, and oh-by-the-way we're stopping at Grandpa Larry's cabin too. Sounded good.

After visiting with my Dad for about a half hour, he asked the kids if they wanted to see his *new boat* in the shed. Of course they did! My Dad put on a good show talking about the features of his (NOT NEW) boat - and since Will was only half listening, he didn't catch on. He was too busy admiring the yellow dirtbike parked to the side of the NOT NEW boat. The conversation went something like this:

Will: "Wow, Grandpa Larry, you have a dirtbike? I didn't know you liked dirtbikes."
GL: "Oh sure, I ride it around here every once in a while - it's fun."
Will: " WOW. This bike is AWESOME. I wish I had one like this."
Ben: "Oh yeah? You like this one?"
Will: "Yes, this bike is so cool. I wish it was mine."
Ben: "Well guess what... That bike IS yours."
Will: *huge smile* "WHAT??? *serious face* Idon'tbelieveyou."
Ben: "Yup! Happy Birthday early. It's yours!"
Will: *huge smile* "WHOA. This bike is AWESOME!!! *serious face* Idon'tbelieveyou."
Ben: "For real! It really is!"
Will: *huge smile* "Cool. *unsure smile* Idon'tbelieveyou."

It went on like this for a bit. Elation, a big smile and then reality check where he can't believe it's really true. It was SO CUTE.

HAPPY EARLY 10TH BIRTHDAY WILL!

A fresh bunch of nothing

As I sit here this morning, kicking myself for letting my blog go outdated... I can't think of what to write! Even after a glance through my latest pictures... still nothing.

Looking around the room - I get Mr. Noodle (nah), Ben on the computer (nope), a tipped over deck chair (nice), rain outside (blech), half eaten cheerios (abandoned on the table - who left them there?), coffee that's getting cold... I'll be right back - gotta get a new cup.

Is this what they call writers block?

I'll be back later.

chew on this:

Happy Birthday to Jake!

While we usually tend to go a bit overboard for birthday parties in the Dudley household, we reigned it in this year. With three kids' birthdays to celebrate each year amongst constant kid activities, throwing parties has become a little more difficult! I didn't want his 3rd birthday to go unrecognized, but our schedule simply wouldn't allow for a blow-out - HOWEVER, we did manage to squeeze in a little party Monday night in between all the chaos. He had a great time!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JACOB!

The Cake:

Happy Boy!

The big breath before the blow:

Chaos! :-)

Watching the 'hampster' cruise around:

THANK YOU ALL!!