(I feel like I need to issue a warning with this post - it's not my usual type of post, just so you know.)
"Count Your Many Blessings"
There are days when this is not the easiest thing to do, which are exactly the days we need to do just this.
This pregnancy, has been a challenge for me. I'm not sure if it is because it was such a surprise for us that I hadn't prepared myself mentally this time or if it's just been so very different from the first 3 (and it has) that it wouldn't have mattered anyway. There are days I'd really like to complain or just plain wimp out - but in the grand scheme of things I know I am very blessed. Most days it would be very easy to have the "poor me" attitude, and to be honest I have to admit I've had moments where I've let my emotions get the better of me - it's these moments that lyrics above have popped into my head & turned my heart. I remember being taught when I was younger about good music & using it to crowd out bad thoughts (or something along those lines), but lately I've been blessed with the "hum your favorite hymn" theory helping me to lighten my spirits & remind me that not only am I blessed but that are others around me who are struggling more than I am (my dad is a great example of this for me right now - a long story for another day). Doing my best to adopt this attitude has made me appreciate the little things so much more.
A simple smile or giggle from Kassie or a request from her to read a book, to Abbie's helpful attitude and daily prayers for the new baby, to Nate's hugs (the best stress relief EVER) reminds me just how blessed I am - and that the rest will take care of itself - eventually. The hips that hurt when I walk will get better once the baby is born & my back won't hurt so much then either. Maternity leave will give me the chance to get that nap that I so desperately desire to take but working just won't let me have the extra time for. Getting up with the baby won't be much of a change than getting up the multiple times a night I've been doing now & Kassie's teeth will eventually come in allowing her to sleep through the night again. And the list goes on, BUT... Having another family member to love & cherish will make this all worthwhile. It's this that gets me through the rough days, it's this that gives me the strength to do what needs to be done each day.
Counting my blessings quickly overpowers the negatives that could so easily drag me down. Like I said before it's not the easiest thing to do & it takes a very conscious decision to do, but for me lately it's made all the difference.
I am so very grateful for Dan and how wonderful he has been in helping out so much around home lately. He works so hard & has such long days but he's been amazing at doing much more than he should have to do once he gets home, but he does it to give me a much needed break. He's had to travel a lot lately & I realized then just how much I've been relying on him in the evenings - he really is the best! I truly love him with all my heart & grateful that we have the opportunity to be together forever.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Great Wolf Lodge
Looks like I've got time for another post today....
As mentioned in a previous post we had promised Nate & Abbie that they could each earn a family trip to Great Wolf Lodge when they finished their reading lessons with me (mom). Nate finished his early in February & we took advantage of a "no school" Friday & kept our word. School gets out early here on Thursdays so Dan worked half a day & I took the day off to get ready on Thursday & we both took Friday off & we left soon after the kids got home from school on Thursday. Thinking that we'd have Saturday/Sunday to recuperate - glad we did - we needed it!
Great Wolf Lodge is a resort type hotel with an indoor water park as their main attraction. There are other things to do (an electronic scavenger hunt type game that takes you all over the hotel on your "quest", a spa, a kids club where they can do art projects, a teen club, an arcade, various restaurants & snack shops, gift shop, you get the idea). We went a couple of years ago (2008 Spring Break) when it was their grand opening - we were there for 3 days & 2 nights & had a great time but decided it was too long and that a 1 night stay would be enough when we came back. It wasn't that we ran out of things to do - we still had to drag the kids away from the park (bleeding feet & all - another thing we learned - pool shoes are a MUST if you are going to be in that much water for that long), but a 1 night stay is plenty.
Last time we went Nate was big enough to go on 4 of the slides - Abbie could only go on 2 (funny/scary story later). This time Nate was tall enough to go on everything, but he had to go on their biggest ride with Dan - the Howling Tornado, he wasn't big enough to go on his own - which was fine with all of us. Abbie was big enough to go on everything but the Howling Tornado & the 2 biggest slides she could go on - she had to go with Dan, again ok with everyone. I just like last time wasn't allowed to go on anything (last time I was pregnant with Kassie - this time pregnant with #4 - man I hope this isn't a pattern), but since I'm a Nervous Nelly these days this too was ok with me.
Other than the slides (there are currently 6) there are 5 other play areas - a wave pool, a water basketball court type area, a floating balancing toy area (there are all these floating toys to climb on & keep your balance), this & the basketball court are in (guessing here) 3.5-4 feet of water, a fort type of thing that you can climb on/in & spray water at people with a large "tipping bucket" that dumps huge amounts of water on regular intervals - this is also where the 2 smallest slides are, and then there is the kiddie play area with 2 mini slides, a mini fort & other sorts of water toys to play on/with.
Last time we went we tried out most things but spent the majority of the time in the kiddie area with Abbie - she had a great time there & in the fort. This time I spent 100% of my time in the kiddie area with Kassie while Dan, Nate & Abbie rotated between all the fun things to do. The really nice thing was Nate & Abbie (and Dan) were really great about coming to kiddie area to play with Kassie. We weren't sure how Kassie would do being so small - she was unstoppable! She even got kicked out once, yes my 18 month old got kicked out of the pool. They have life vests there for anyone to wear. We had one lifeguard who insisted that Kassie wear one - she HATED it. It was about lunch time so we took the opportunity to take a break, have some lunch & wait for a lifeguard change so she could go back to playing. People were amazed at how sure footed she was & since she is so small we were asked at least 100 times how old she was. She went down slides on her own & towards the end was rather irritated when Nate or Abbie tried to help her. On more than one occasion another adult would try to stop her from going down the kiddie slides on her own - we assured them she could do it (we were ALWAYS at the bottom to catch her) & she did again & again & again &.... We kinda hoped she'd take a break/nap - no dice - she ran like the energizer bunny & then all but passed out when we headed for home.
Nate & Abbie had a blast pure & simple. They played hard, non-stop & they too passed out on the way home.
When we went the first time we bumped into a family we know from church, as we were finding a spot to "set up" - when we went to turn around to give Nate & Abbie the "rules" lecture Abbie was gone. Totally gone! This girl needs a healthy does of caution - but she's absolutely fearless (she does NOT get this from me). As we tried to figure out what to do & where to start looking for her (yes panic was setting in - there were so many people there) here she comes around the corner grinning ear to ear & soaking wet. The "where have you been" was answered with on the slide. Yep she had gone down one of the 2 slides she was big enough for all on her own. CRAZY GIRL. She was so excited & decided she just couldn't wait for us. This time we knew what to expect & the kids knew the rules better. When we were there this time we bumped into a couple of friends, one family from church & 2 families from school. It was fun to play with friends for part of the time we were there. Nate had a little more freedom this time, and was great about checking in & didn't take advantage of the situation. Abbie had a little freedom but was with Dan most of the time. Kassie was with one of us at all times, but did her best to try to ditch us as often as possible.
Everyone really did have a great time & we will be going back again. Abbie wants to go back when she is big enough to go on the Howling Tornado, I'd like to not be pregnant. Time will tell I suppose - at this point it's all up to Abbie when we go back (she's got to finish her reading lessons). Dan & I decided it would be a blast to go with family (hint hint Jon/Anj - Don/Crystal) that the cousins would have soooo much fun together - now that would be crazy fun!
Now for the proof of the fun (there isn't a lot of pictures - we were too busy playing):
You want me to leave? Yea right, not so fast - I'm going back in!
Lunch break - the second one is blurry but you can see how much fun Kassie was having - I love the picture anyway!
(That's Kassie in the middle of the splash)
I am grateful for the chance we have to have fun & spend time together as a family. Making fun memories together is the BEST!
As mentioned in a previous post we had promised Nate & Abbie that they could each earn a family trip to Great Wolf Lodge when they finished their reading lessons with me (mom). Nate finished his early in February & we took advantage of a "no school" Friday & kept our word. School gets out early here on Thursdays so Dan worked half a day & I took the day off to get ready on Thursday & we both took Friday off & we left soon after the kids got home from school on Thursday. Thinking that we'd have Saturday/Sunday to recuperate - glad we did - we needed it!
Great Wolf Lodge is a resort type hotel with an indoor water park as their main attraction. There are other things to do (an electronic scavenger hunt type game that takes you all over the hotel on your "quest", a spa, a kids club where they can do art projects, a teen club, an arcade, various restaurants & snack shops, gift shop, you get the idea). We went a couple of years ago (2008 Spring Break) when it was their grand opening - we were there for 3 days & 2 nights & had a great time but decided it was too long and that a 1 night stay would be enough when we came back. It wasn't that we ran out of things to do - we still had to drag the kids away from the park (bleeding feet & all - another thing we learned - pool shoes are a MUST if you are going to be in that much water for that long), but a 1 night stay is plenty.
Last time we went Nate was big enough to go on 4 of the slides - Abbie could only go on 2 (funny/scary story later). This time Nate was tall enough to go on everything, but he had to go on their biggest ride with Dan - the Howling Tornado, he wasn't big enough to go on his own - which was fine with all of us. Abbie was big enough to go on everything but the Howling Tornado & the 2 biggest slides she could go on - she had to go with Dan, again ok with everyone. I just like last time wasn't allowed to go on anything (last time I was pregnant with Kassie - this time pregnant with #4 - man I hope this isn't a pattern), but since I'm a Nervous Nelly these days this too was ok with me.
Other than the slides (there are currently 6) there are 5 other play areas - a wave pool, a water basketball court type area, a floating balancing toy area (there are all these floating toys to climb on & keep your balance), this & the basketball court are in (guessing here) 3.5-4 feet of water, a fort type of thing that you can climb on/in & spray water at people with a large "tipping bucket" that dumps huge amounts of water on regular intervals - this is also where the 2 smallest slides are, and then there is the kiddie play area with 2 mini slides, a mini fort & other sorts of water toys to play on/with.
Last time we went we tried out most things but spent the majority of the time in the kiddie area with Abbie - she had a great time there & in the fort. This time I spent 100% of my time in the kiddie area with Kassie while Dan, Nate & Abbie rotated between all the fun things to do. The really nice thing was Nate & Abbie (and Dan) were really great about coming to kiddie area to play with Kassie. We weren't sure how Kassie would do being so small - she was unstoppable! She even got kicked out once, yes my 18 month old got kicked out of the pool. They have life vests there for anyone to wear. We had one lifeguard who insisted that Kassie wear one - she HATED it. It was about lunch time so we took the opportunity to take a break, have some lunch & wait for a lifeguard change so she could go back to playing. People were amazed at how sure footed she was & since she is so small we were asked at least 100 times how old she was. She went down slides on her own & towards the end was rather irritated when Nate or Abbie tried to help her. On more than one occasion another adult would try to stop her from going down the kiddie slides on her own - we assured them she could do it (we were ALWAYS at the bottom to catch her) & she did again & again & again &.... We kinda hoped she'd take a break/nap - no dice - she ran like the energizer bunny & then all but passed out when we headed for home.
Nate & Abbie had a blast pure & simple. They played hard, non-stop & they too passed out on the way home.
When we went the first time we bumped into a family we know from church, as we were finding a spot to "set up" - when we went to turn around to give Nate & Abbie the "rules" lecture Abbie was gone. Totally gone! This girl needs a healthy does of caution - but she's absolutely fearless (she does NOT get this from me). As we tried to figure out what to do & where to start looking for her (yes panic was setting in - there were so many people there) here she comes around the corner grinning ear to ear & soaking wet. The "where have you been" was answered with on the slide. Yep she had gone down one of the 2 slides she was big enough for all on her own. CRAZY GIRL. She was so excited & decided she just couldn't wait for us. This time we knew what to expect & the kids knew the rules better. When we were there this time we bumped into a couple of friends, one family from church & 2 families from school. It was fun to play with friends for part of the time we were there. Nate had a little more freedom this time, and was great about checking in & didn't take advantage of the situation. Abbie had a little freedom but was with Dan most of the time. Kassie was with one of us at all times, but did her best to try to ditch us as often as possible.
Everyone really did have a great time & we will be going back again. Abbie wants to go back when she is big enough to go on the Howling Tornado, I'd like to not be pregnant. Time will tell I suppose - at this point it's all up to Abbie when we go back (she's got to finish her reading lessons). Dan & I decided it would be a blast to go with family (hint hint Jon/Anj - Don/Crystal) that the cousins would have soooo much fun together - now that would be crazy fun!
Now for the proof of the fun (there isn't a lot of pictures - we were too busy playing):
Good Clean Fun!
I am grateful for the chance we have to have fun & spend time together as a family. Making fun memories together is the BEST!
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