My Blog

It seems as if we've all gotten out of the routine of blogging or maybe it's that our lives feel SO routine, that we're not sure what to blog about.  I thought I would kickstart us back again with a little of this and that. We joined the YMCA a few weeks back.  Jason was ready to commit to an excercise routine and has been very faithful so far.  I'm sure losing 25 pounds in 3 weeks has been a great motivator!  I "officially" started my routine today.  My goal is to lose a pound a week for 8 months which should lead me to my goal.  I'm already struggling.  I do enjoy excercise and was able to accomplish that today, it's just the calorie restriction that I struggle with.  It's a mental thing.  I know I'm restricting myself and so I tell myself I must be starving, even though I'm really not!  Anyway, the Y membership will hopefully help to motivate us to be consistent.  I've also been taking the girls swimming there 1-2 times per week.  It has been great fun!  It is an activity that we all love doing together.  Plus, they take great naps when we come home!  All of this swimming at the YMCA has brought back great childhood memories!  I have great memories of going to open swims with dad, I loved taking swim lessons every summer, and remember fun times with Sharla in the summers too.  So, I'm hoping now, my children will start having great memories of their trips to the YMCA too.  (Boy, I feel like I should be getting paid for this plug for the YMCA!) 

Ilona has a favorite game she likes to play.  We play it everyday.  As we head out to the playground each morning, she quickly says, "I'm the Mommy and your Ilona."  She loves to play this role reversal, mostly, I believe, because she feels she can be in control.  I have found myself mostly amused at this game.  It is like looking at myself in the mirror.  She has me down pat.  I hear myself in her words and sometimes in her tone.  I occasionaly drift in and out of my "role" as Ilona and act as myself, her mom.  One morning, I was annoyed that she was throwing some toys off the side of the playground, so as her mom, I corrected her with somewhat of an annoyed tone of voice.  She didn't miss a beat as she was still playing her role of mommy and said, "Don't talk to me that way, Ilona!  You may not talk to your mother that way."  Ah yes, she got to give me a taste of what she gets to hear too.  I guess the best way to see yourself is not through a mirror, but through the eyes of your child. 

Yes, it's true, I'm in Love....with our new backyard play ground!  Ilona has been earning stickers all summer for making her bed, putting her dishes in the sink, sharing her toys all to earn a play ground.  After much research and shopping, we ended up with the play ground from Sam's Club.  Jason hired two guys from church to put it together.  I must say, that hiring them was probably some of the best money we've ever spent!  They unloaded all of the boxes Friday night and when I saw how much wood there was too piece together, I almost laughed out loud.  After 13 hours of work Saturday, 5 hours of work Sunday, 4 hours of work Monday, and 3 hours of work Tuesday, it is complete.  yes, 25 hours of work to put it together.  Have I mentioned that hiring other people to do it was totally worth it?   So, this morning was our first time to really get out there and play.  I have nicknamed it "Imagination Station."  Although I had thought we would spend hours on the swing or slide, we did only a few minutes of that.  But we did spend 2 hours straight of imagination play dreaming up fighting off mean kings and protecting our castle.  It was a joy to be able to enjoy the great outdoors in a new and exciting way!  Oh, and did I mention that I'm sooooo glad we paid someone else to put it together! 

Want to hear a brilliant marketing strategy?  Pay two teenage girls for two hours to dress up as Ariel and Snow White, print off coloring pages for them to hand out, and have two more teenagers ready to face paint.  What do you get?  A restaurant jam packed with parents and children and a lot of revenue to show for it!  We were one family of many who headed to the Old Barn Out Back after seeing that the "Princesses" would be there!  They encouraged the kids to dress up, so Ilona was thrilled to get to wear her Princess dress and dress-up heels.  The parking lot was full when we pulled in around 6pm, but it was worth the wait to not only see Ilona thrilled to get her picture taken with the princesses (see our website for pics!), but to enjoy those famous Old Barn cinnamon rolls too.  And......we'll be back in June....when Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty are going to be there too.         Brilliant!