Caught by the PO PO

Scene of Crime: 4th South and State Street (Downtown SLC, UT)

Mother (Me) & Daughter (Adeline) in the car on the way to a Christmas night out together

Adeline: Hey Mom, what's that big white building?

Me: Oh, that's the County Courthouse honey

Adeline: what's a County Courthouse?

Me: Well, it's where people go when they make bad choices and have to talk to a judge and find out their consequence for the bad decision

Adeline: Do some people have to go to JAIL?

Me: yes, sometimes people have to go to jail if they make a bad enough choice. So, make sure that you always make good choices because....blah, blah,blah...you get the picture it was a typical sieze the moment time to give a good talking to about choices and consequences and I was not about to pass up the opportunity! You Mom's out there know what I'm talking about right? Right!

3 blocks later, sitting at a red light

Adeline: Mom, why is there a police car behind us with his lights on?

Me: I don't know, I'm just sitting here at a red light minding my own business, maybe he needs to get past...I'll just pull to the side here and let him get past....UUHHH, why is he pulling behind me instead of moving along???

Adeline: why is he shining that bright light on us?

Me: I don't know honey, I'm sure it's just a misunderstanding, don't worry!

Wait, Wait, Wait...

Officer: Maam, were you aware that you ran a red light 3 blocks back?

Me: Oh....Uh....No, I thought that was yellow...(when in doubt, play dumb, right?)

Officer: It was yellow, Maam, about 10 yards before you hit the crosswalk then you proceeded through the intersection when it was red.

Me: UUHHH....OOPS?

Officer: Do you have your licence and registration with you?

Me: Yes (fumble, fumble...where did I put that dang registration again...oh, there it is)

Adeline: What's going on? Cry, Sob, Cry, Sob...I'm scared!

Me: Sorry, Officer we are having a small melt down...

Officer: Why? is it because of me???

Me: (in my head: DUH! Yes, it's because of you...) out of my mouth: Yes, I've never even been pulled over and she's not sure about this whole thing.

Officer: It's okay sweetie

Me: (in my head again: really? that's all you got? It's okay sweetie?)

Officer: Please remain in your car, Maam, i'll be back in a few minutes

Wait, Wait, Wait...

Me: Adeline, it's fine...I probably did run that red light back there so he's just going to give me a warning and that will be that! (in my head: he's going to see when he enters in my info. into his computer that I've never been pulled over, let alone gotten a ticket in 20 years so for sure I'm only getting a warning...yes, that's right a warning)

Adeline: Mom...are you going to have to go to the County Courthouse?

Me: No probably not

Adeline: So...you won't have to go to jail?

Me: No...Adeline, it's really okay...it's just a warning to let me know that I should be more careful when I drive...that's all...don't worry sweetie.

Wait...Wait...Wait...

Officer: Okay, Maam, here's your ticket for running the red light...(me in my head: Wait...did he say ticket? he must have meant warning ticket)...Please sign here and call this number in 5 to 14 days....

Me: Okay, thank you officer

Officer: Have a safe night, Maam!

Me: (after officer leaves) What? he totally gave me a ticket?

Moral of the story: Don't break the law while seizing the moment to give your child a "Choices and Consequences talk!)

F.Y.I...T hasn't stopped laughing since he heard the story...ha, ha, ha very funny honey!

Feliz Navidad

Ahhh...nothing like the tropical air, white sandy beaches and aqua marine blue water of Cancun to get you in the holiday spirit I say! We picked the coldest week in recent memory by the sounds of it which- Yeah for us- but man oh man was that cold blast of winter chill hard to swallow when that plane landed us back in reality! Thanks, Mom and Keith for an amazing Christmas present!

Blank-a-Palooza

It's good to know that if something ever (God fobid) happened to T and I had to go back to a 9 to 5er that there would possibly be a marketing gig available for me at Old Navy...I mean come on people, has it really come to the bottom of the barrel with maniquins talking to each other about their sweaters on the streets of NYC (anyone seen that beauty on T.V.?) and a Gobble Palooza Rockin' Deals add that could double as a Guitar Hero ad??? Only one word fits this sitch...WOW!

Brace Yourself

There's nothing like a few braces to make your daughters face go from little girl one minute to pre-teen the next. snif, snif...don't mind me I'm just a little sad that my baby girl looks so old all of a sudden. I do have to say, though, Adeline...you look pretty great in them for sure!

Goodbye to 1954!

Yes, as sad as it was to say goodbye to the lovely pink and brown original bathroom that I am certain was the height of fashion in 1954 when our home was constructed...the day has come! Yahoo! I never imagined how much I could love a bathroom so much...but after 3 1/2 weeks of dust, construction workers and platic covering the floors upstairs I really think love is the appropriate word to express my feelings for this room.

Since it would not be "our" (and by "our" I mean mine and T's) style to just take on one single project like a bathroom remodel at a time...we decided it sounded like a fabulous idea to re-vamp several other rooms in the house as well...the family room upstairs and Adeline's room as well. A.J.'s room is still in the process so stay tuned....

Champions and Champions

The first game of the state championships last Saturday was played at 9am by A.J.'s team and by halftime I was wondering why I had dressed for the frozen tundra of Iceland and why I hadn't packed my sunglasses in with all that long underwear somewhere...well, by the time the 2nd game, which was T's Team took the field at noon it was very clear that the frozen tundra had arrived. I am sorry I don't have a pic of the brutal, sideways, wind whipping snow storm whiteout in which we spent the duration of the game cheering in...just use your imagination (heaven knows i gave you enough adjectives!) Needless to say both teams WON!!!!

Witchy-Poo

This year we stormed the town (okay, just the village...Gardner Village that is) as witches. And not just any old witches mind you...Magnificently Beautiful Witches! We all went to the annual Witch-a-palooza Dinner and I have to tell you that I have never had so much fun dressed up in my life. Here's to Witches Brew and good old fashioned cacklin'!!

In the spirit of the season and the aforementioned Witch Fest...Adeline followed suit of course dressing as a Disco Witch for her Halloween Parade. You can't see the enormous afro she sported since she took it off the minute she reached the classroom...I guess that's why you don't see alot of witches with fro's...they're just not conducive to the lifestyle!

-side note: A.J. was home sick with a case of the "witchy-flu" ha ha ha...okay, so I was the only one laughing at that, who cares?

Blogging "Take Two"

Okay, okay...I know I am a slacker and that I have taken a 6 month sabbatical from blogging. I am sorry and do solomnely swear (yes..i am holding my right hand to the square) to do better from this day forward! Here's a re-cap:

• Family had strep throat in the fall - YUCK!!!
• A.J. broke bone in his hand playing duck, duck, goose at school in May...Yes, that's right people...duck, duck, goose....(insert: my rolling eyes)
• Spent majority of summer at Grandma Wiseman's house with all the cousins including a trip to Disneyland in July (Adeline had her 9th Birthday there)
• Football started for A.J. and Tony's teams in July as well
• 4th (Adeline) and 6th(A.J.) grades began in fall (insert: my sad, frowny face)
• Adeline, me, Aunt Shelby and Grandma Ilene had girls trip to NYC
• Aunt Lindsey got married to Shannon in September

Okay...that's a good overview...now let us begin....again!

Star ++

Adeline and I thought it only fair that since the last blog referencing the "school-card" was an art project with glue gone very wrong...it only seemed right to include an amazing 4 star plus card as well. This week is the dreaded CRT Testing week also, making this all the more awesome!

Here's what it says for those who's eye sight have gone...from age or worn out lasik (you know who you are!)

"She did well during CRT's. She was so focused"

Handy Manny

This is proof. Actual visual proof that T not only has tools, but more importantly...knows how to man handle them. It's not so much that he doesn't know how to actually fix things around the house (he's actually pretty good at it). It's more like he is never around during the daylight hours to get to them. So, when I looked out my front window yesterday afternoon and spied these going's on...well, I just had to document this!

Wicked Good

It seemed like forever...waiting for this day to come. We found out that the Broadway show "Wicked" would be in town last year and Adeline has been listening to her soundtrack ever since in anticipation. We had a blast together and now, we are all warmed up for our upcoming trip to New York in the fall....stay tuned!

Fake Bake

This is my friend Emily and she looks amazing on the eve of her 40th Birthday- in my humble opinion anyway! To celebrate we decided that something crazy and semi-out of character may be in order so we got a spray tan, of course...what were you expecting? Not any spray tan would do however; we had heard horror stories of orange mist blasted at your face and an even worse umpa-lumpa orange body to follow, so we decided to hit the all-new, state of the art VERSA TAN machine. This thing is a huge, open machine with a nice woman's voice which calmly walks you through the 4 poses you must take during the 90 minute process. Yeah, that's right...I did say poses! It was sorta like being in a tanning car wash-you know how that gentle mist covers your car up and down several times during the waxing stage? Then it blow dries you the same way...Needless to say we had a good long laugh at ourselves, fun showing off our new tan as it appeared hours later and yes..we did buy the package deal!

Spring has Sprung

Finally...the ice age that was this past winter feels near completion. I can't tell you how good the grass feels under my bare feet and the smell of it's fresh cut blades makes me remember to breathe; really breathe like filling up your whole body with as much spring scent as is humanly possible before exploding. And baseball, yes the all encompassing Oly High, Pony little league and super leagues have begun! Thank goodness, frankly I was sick of the late night drop off's at the warehouse they used far too long for plan B rain/snow outs. And lastly, but certainly not least of all...we are all smiling more! The sunshine has a funny way of bringing out the best in my family especially after being cooped up for what felt like an eternal winter!

Easter in Vegas

As you can see we took our annual trip to Vegas for the Oly High School Baseball Tournament. We had alot of fun eating, playing arcades, and eating some more. Thankfully the Easter Bunny found our hotel room again this year...I happen to know that he experienced technical difficulties this year for sure!

The Great Easter Flood

It's 7:30pm Monday evening and I had just settled in to watch a little Oprah (thank goodness for DVR) and Adeline was in the room next door soaking in a nice, hot bath...when a shriek was heard 'round the world. I jumped off of my bed so fast that I fell and almost broke my ankle, hobbled around the corner to see this...bizzaster!!! FYI...the water was deeper than it looks in this picture people. Adeline had thought it was a good idea to sneak the Easter Bucket that she recieved last night at Grandma Sally's Easter Egg Hunt into the tub with her to #1 fill with water and #2 balance on the edge of the tub...culminating in this lovely mess. Now it all makes sense...the Easter Bunny is a smart one for sure. He must've known that giving out candy in baskets with holes in them would prove a much better design for those who like to take a little Easter with them into the bath.

The raising of a squirrel...I mean girl

It's been a mystery at our house how Adeline survives on the amount of food she consumes (hardly any). Until today that is....we found the secret stash. The sprinkles and chocolate kisses that she evidently has been scavenging under my bed for weeks now. What you don't see was the pile of rappers that led to her undoing. When questioned about the contraban secret sugar stash under her parents bed her only comment was..."Mom always gets mad when I eat in her bed so I had to hide the food." So there you go...when Mom tells you not do something in fact what you should do is to continue doing it and just hide the evidence. Makes perfect sense.

Lucky? Not so sure!

It's official...we have been hit by those pesky little leprachans. It happens every year on St. Patty's Day. They show up when no one is around and destroy the house leaving green glitter, gold coins and all kinds of treats in their wake. As you can see...Adeline is doing a very appropriate jig to celebrate the occasion! So, lucky? some might think so...until it's time to clean up that is!

Princess of Quite Alot...well, maybe not...

Introducing Princess Adeline all dressed up for a date with Grandma Ilene and the Disney on Ice characters. These pics are in a sequence for a reason people...as you can see, the 1st one shows excitement leading to the 2nd in pure princess character ready to sit for hours on end. However, as you can see...we have faded, crashed landed actually to the carpet of despair. The tickets are for tomorrow night, oops!

Team Building

How great it is...not having to hire a babysitter everyweekend that is! A.J. (11) and Adeline

(8 1/2-I wouldn't dare forget the 1/2) are old enough now to stay home by themselves while T and I go out on a date...I know, I know an actual date! Anywhoo...T and I came home the other night after our "date" and found an amazing basketball coach and player hard at work running drills, practicing free-throws, etc. Way to Go Team!!

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss

David, Adeline & A.J. on Crazy Hair Day at School

(A.J.'s must have "C" for Cubs-of course!)

Happy Birthday to you,

you write about cats and fish too,

Happy Birthday Dr. Suess...

Why we have crazy hair day to celebrate...I haven't a clue!

Molto Benne

Merry Christmas Mom!!! Our newest and funnest holiday tradition has been to sign up for a mother/daughter cooking class and give it as a gift to Mom every year. This year was a pasta making class with chef Roberto (as seen above with Mom). Too bad I didn't catch on film the obvious favortism that Roberto showed Mom as well-breath mint anyone (had to be there...)

Lesson Learned

This is Adeline's science fair project...she did a great job helping me cut out the dye cut letters, adding the colors to the waters and writing down the temperatures at the appropriate times. But, this blog is not about her science fair project per say...it's about an important lesson that every mother must learn. Your kids school projects are not meant to be theirs...they are meant to be a display of your own creative ability on display for other mothers. To make my point, let's all go back a few months/blogs ago to the lovely marshmellow head Mr. Wheeler that A.J. and I did (mostly A.J. as you can tell by the pic). You remember, the one that sister couldn't resist chopping into? Okay, now we're all on the same page and ready for my point. A few weeks after the assignment was turned in, A.J. came home from school saddened that everyone elses ancestor clothes pin dolls were totally awesome including home spun kilts, amazing hair, etc. etc. etc. He had gotten a C on the project when everyone else, he felt, had gotten an A because in essence their Moms had done a far superior job than his had. There it is people...I'm a grade A Loser ( or maybe grade C Loser would be more appropriate). So...this time around when something had to be turned in for display I did not require Adeline to do the entire thing using only her magic marker set, crayons and some scrap paper...NO, I spent time and money on this display using my creative abilities to make it look amazing. So...may this be a lesson to you Mom's out there who haven't learned this lesson yet....It's your grade, so make it good...who cares what they learn in the process, right? I really did feel bad for a few of the Mom's who where putting up there kid's science fair projects with heaven forbid their own kids handwriting and pictures all over the thing!

Shingles II - The Sister Act

For those of you that follow all of the sister blogs (shelby, lindsey & Billie)- you will remember that Shelby was suffering from a case of shingles a few weeks ago: i.e. superbowl stupor. Anywhoo...I have come down with a case of the shingles myself and even though the doc says there's no way that I caught it from S it seems a little fishy at the very least. I mean really, do we all seriously believe that it's not contagious??? I am convinced that sometimes things are transferred between sisters even if it is through emails. P.S. thought you would all enjoy the sample pic from the doc's information....hey, at least I didn't post the one on my back! Linds..you better watch your back (lol...couldn't help myself)

Ooey, Gooey Hearts Day

Did anyone else's kids watch Rolie Polie Olie on the Disney Channel? You know, the one with the cute robot people who sing about things like having a Totally Chocolate Dinner? Well, I'm sure you've guessed by now that we did in fact watch and enjoy that show for years (sorry, A.J. your secret is out). Anywhoo...They referred to Valentine's Day as Ooey, Gooey Hearts Day and for our household that name stuck. This O-G-H-Day was celebrated a tad early seeing as how school has alot to do with the holiday and all...Thanks to Grandma Sally both A.J. and Adeline had very cute boxes for those tasty deposits that make this day special. A.J.'s was a toaster oven complete with a sign reading "Caution: I'm HOT!" and Adeline's was a dog house with a sign over the front door reading "Puppy Love".

Kiss Attack

This rare view of my family in a full pile-on-to Mom moment, which I am sharing with you not for your oohs and aaah's people...is for your sympathy vote! You fellow Moms out there know that moment in the day after 7 loads of laundry, several load/unloading sessions of the dishwasher, piano practicing marathons, homework duties, carpool runs...yes, THAT moment. The moment when some unfortunate soul decides to complain about the fact that they have to put away the folded clothes you have just slaved over washing and folding for them. Needless to say after the "Look of Death" from Mom there was only one thing left for them to do...You got it, Force Mom to Smile/laugh/Get over it. It seemed to work, although you can't see my smile, sorry!

Aggie Hell

I should have known the moment the 3rd or 4th person who walked by our floor seats (right behind the visiting team bench) said "Welcome!" with a warm inviting smile that trouble awaited. What they meant was, "We really don't all behave like crazy, lunatics here in this town..but you're about to meet all of them that do." After the warm fuzzy of the national anthem and that schpeel about "Good Sportmanship in this building" it was game on...and I don't mean on the court. What ensued the minute the game clock began ticking was nothing less than a brutal beat down meant to prove that anyone dumb enough to cheer for the "other" team must be sub-human and thus not worthy of any and I mean any type of respect. Thank Goodness Lindsey moved down by me AFTER I set the guy behind me straight about a few things, otherwise we might have had a WWF smack down on our hands! Needless to say, We cheered loudly for our team, they fought hard and lost by a few, and We were always proud of our team and especially of it's COACH!

Girls Night Out Extrodinaire!! Billie and Lori came into town for the big game, so of course we have to get together just us girls! It was fun to see everyone again and enjoy alot of good conversation along with alot of good Food!

A chip off the old....

Here she is in all her baking glory!!! Adeline decided that although she has many talents such as piano, dance, yoga poses (think incredible flexagirl) and singing...those were way too boring to share with the other achievement day girls (Of Course, what was I thinking?) . So thus, the Famous, Very Secret Recipe Carrot Cake that she makes with me whenever we get the baking bug...which sadly seems less and less these days what with all of the aforementioned talents and my dieting endeavors and all. This has been an excellent opportunity for me to remember that I will always have a reason to diet; however, the days of giggling over baby food carrots being added to a batter of butter and sugar are numbered I'm afraid and soon it will be gone....just like the 5 lbs. I just lost.

Pretty Lady

This is an actual Newpaper Ad circa 1935...It's kinda small so here's what it says:

Pretty Lady

how do you stay that way?

There is no one magic road to keeping lovely. It takes many things...rest, proper food, careful grooming, a dressing table of creams and lotions and fine cosmetics, and...among millions of women...A certain little blue box!

On its cover is the name Ex-Lax. It is dainty, mild, gentle, thorough and very pleasant way to combat that dreaded enemy of lovliness and health...constipation.

Delicious to the Taste

Ex-Lax is such a delight to take, it tastes just like delicious chocolate. Like fine candy. Once you take Ex-Lax you'll never mistreat your palate again with bitter, nasty-tasting cathartics.

Mild, Gentle Action

Ex-Lax is as thorough as any laxative you can take. Yet, it is so mild, so gentle. It doesn't overact. It approximates Nature. It doesn't disturb you at inconvenient moments. Nor does it ever leave you feeling weak afterwards. For yourself, and every member of your family, Ex-Lax is the ideal laxative. Children love its great taste, and it is so good for them. More mothers give Ex-Lax to their children than any other laxative. 10c and 25c boxes at all drug stores.

When Nature Forgets-Remember

All I have to say is Who Knew?????

What's the Capital of Boise State?

As you can see, we ( and by we I mean the Wiseman's, Leni's and Lindsey and Shannon) visited Balmy Boise last weekend for the annual LA Tech and Boise State Basketball duel. Shelby was the only adult who actually packed her swimsuit or admitted to, so therefore had to get in. Last year was a blow out and this year was a much better showing for sure. We did end up loosing by a few points in the last 2 minutes, but you know we were in it until the end for sure. It was fun to see Dad again and to watch the ball/water boy do his work. See Below:

After all of the swimming, eating, cheering and hoopla that we could possibly fit into a weekend...it was a nap that we all deserved!

Visitors!!!

Okay, so I'm a few weeks behind. It seems that between Christmas clean up, a brutal awakening of back to school schedules and the sugar coma from December -time has slipped by.. no one will fault me though, right? Anyhoo...back to the topic of visitors. Randie and Lori came into town and it was fun to see them again. We met for lunch with Cousins and Aunt Valaire!