So much happiness for only a buck.

Ever since we went to our neighborhood party a week ago, Jacob has been talking about S'mores non-stop. He enjoyed a few s'mores by the fire that night and it left a lasting impression on him - so much so, that it's been the first thing out of his mouth in the morning on many occasions, "Momma, can we make s'mores?" (ummm sorry, not at 6:10 in the morning!).

Yesterday, our town hosted their annual town-wide garage sales, and I promised the folks running our library bake sale that I'd stop by and purchase a few treats. The older boys, of course, wanted to tag along, and being a pair who can't resist a good bargain, they headed out with their piggy banks in tow... literally. After snagging a package of cinnamon rolls (hoping they might serve as a stand-in for S'mores), we started making the rounds around town. At my first stop, I found a case of really neat pilsner glasses FOR TWO BUCKS. Score! The boys were pretty tight with their money for the first few stops, but at about the 4th house, they both hit the jackpot. We found video game books, board games, trading cards, legos, bionicles, a like-new big barrel youth baseball bat (for FIVE BUCKS!!!!) ((seriously, that was the best find ever)), batting gloves, and more.

Our most unique (and hilarious) find was this set of classic FM wireless intercoms.

The box alone makes me laugh! Our original idea was to put one out in the shed so we could talk to dad from the house... but we tried that - and the distance was a little too far. Instead, the boys each plugged one in near their nightstand so they can have pleasant conversations before bed... (WILL!!!! ANSWER ME!!!!)

My last stop on the way home was the icing on the cake. The kids didn't even get out of the car, because they were to engrossed in the backseat with all their new items. As soon as I approached the perimeter of the displayed items, I spied an item we could not live without.... An indoor/outdoor S'mores maker!!! For $1.00!!!

Look at the proof below - happiness for a buck!

From good to Mud

When my friend called me over a month ago to ask if our kids wanted to participate in the annual 'Mud Run' in Des Moines, I immediately answered "OH I'M SURE THEY WOULD!" I let the kids watch the commercial which featured folks splashing and running in mud and puddles - and that was it. We were going.

Since Jacob was too young to participate, Ben reluctantly (yeah right) volunteered to sit out with our little guy while the rest of us ran the race. I actually thought it might be kind of fun - definitely out of the box for me - and the kids were over the moon about it. What's a little mud?

The rules were as follows:

Wear your grungy clothes and old running shoes.

Make sure your shoes are double or triple tied.

Avoid clothes with pockets, pockets carry extra mud.

Bring a trash bag, dry clothes and towel.

Make-shift shower stations available.

(and here comes the best one:)

Do not dive head first into the mud pit.

This is a FUN RUN so help your neighbor if they get stuck!

HA!

A little mud on a nice sunny day would be one thing. But a LOT of mud on a FREEZING morning (40 degrees) is another! The unseasonably cold temps on Saturday morning had us watching puffs of our own breath float around in the air. My 2 layers of running pants and three shirts were not keeping me warm while we waited for the race to begin. What did I get myself in to?!?!!?

Well, THIS:

note the difference in facial expressions between myself and the chap in red

And believe it or not, we didn't get near as muddy as some of the folks who ran this baby. They may not have dove head first into the pit, but there was definitely evidence of many a belly flops, that's for sure. And we didn't freeze. Once we got going, it was better - and pretty funny... and fun. Getting out of our wet muddy garb in the parking lot was a bit of a challenge, but we managed. I can only imagine what was going through the attendant's head when we walked into our hotel to check in!

Baseball Fever

This weekend I got my first taste of intense, crazy baseball parents and coaches. While I have to say the experience was far superior to the many wrestling meets we've been a part of, I was still a bit shocked after our first day of playing. Will is part of a local 9-year old baseball team in which he had to try out for to be a member. I knew it would be a competitive league, and I knew it would be a big commitment, but since he absolutely LOVES baseball, we went for it. Between Will and Charlie, the practices have pretty much taken over our lives and the supplies have put a dent in our checkbook - BUT they are having a blast and learning a lot - so all is good.

This weekend was Will's first game (which also happened to be an all weekend tournament). We started off Saturday morning by finding out one of our best pitchers broke his arm that morning while riding his bike. Not Good. (At this age, pitchers are hard to develop - so this was a major blow). Luckily, we had several others who had been practicing, so our coach still seemed optimistic.

The first game, the kids played great against an experienced team, and when the ref called the game, we had won 7-5. Our parents and kids were celebrating as the players lined up to shake hands when all of a sudden, a parent from the other team started shouting that we still had five minutes left to play. Huh? We started the game at 2:15pm, it was currently 3:50 pm, games are 1.5 hours long - so it was OVER. Over! Our ump, who was clueless, started to doubt himself on what time he started the game... was it 2:15pm or 2:25pm?? We had the time documented as 2:15pm, but the other coach's chest started to get all puffy, his face began to resemble the color of his shirt (bright orange), and he started in on the arguing. The ump bowed out to let the coaches figure it out - what?! As more orange shirts joined the fight, it was clear that the other team was *insane*, wasn't going to back down, and planned on bullying us until they got their way.

The next thing we knew, the game had started AGAIN, and we were playing another inning. The kids were confused, the other team was revved up and enraged, and in the end, they beat us by one. It was totally disgusting. By the time it was done, our kids had played for over two hours, they were tired and upset... and were late for their next game. You can imagine how that one went.

To make matters worse, the ump approached our coach afterwards to APOLOGIZE and admit that he was in the wrong... and that it never should have happened that way. OH GOLLY THANKS. Try explaining that one to your nine year old. "Yes honey, you did win, but then you didn't"...

With two losses from the first day, we were kicked into the 'Silver' bracket for the following day - but we were okay with that. The kids played their hearts out despite missing players (another pitcher got the stomach flu Sunday morning), and the day went much better. The kids played great, we had a lot of fun and guess what - WE WON first place! :-) Great job 9U Vikings!

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!!