News Flash...

There's more to life than football.

I know it's shocking to some, but it's true.

As many of you know, I wasn't real thrilled for Cole to play football this year.
It's not that I don't want to support my kids in their activities,
it's just the idea of football drives me crazy!
Not only did I worry about him getting hurt,
I worried that it would consume his life like I've seen in other kids.
Well, he's had either practice or a game every day of the week for the past two months
and I have to say that's I'm tired of it!

Call me a party pooper if you want.
I won't care.

Last night was the topper.
He had a game at 8:00 p.m. in Heber City!
Yes folks, 8:00 p.m. in Heber City on a school night!

Ridiculous!

What are these league organizers thinking of?
Well, luckily it was his team's last game.
I know he wishes they would have won so they could advance in the playoffs
but I'm so glad this is over.

Even though it wasn't fun for me,
I think it was a good experience for Cole.

He had fun so that was good.
He had a good coach (at least one) that was encouraging and didn't stress only the winning so that was good.
He realized that maybe he wasn't meant to play football so that was good.

He told me that he thinks he'll play golf next year to see if he likes it. Then he'll decide which team to go out for in high school.
In other words,
"Football isn't for me so I think I'll try golf."

That's my boy!

"Whimpey" is the New Strong...

** This is kind of rude but it's so funny I couldn't resist.
I'm sorry in advance! **

Every time I drive through Orem,

I have to laugh

when I see these campaign posters:







I'm sorry Mr. Whimpey.

I'm sure you are a nice man,
and you will work hard for Orem,
but it's just such a funny poster!


I guess with a name like "Whimpey" you better make it clear
that you are strong!

You Learn Something Everyday

My lesson today...

"The happiest people don't have the best of everything.
They just make the best of everything.
Love generously.
Care deeply.
Speak kindly.
Leave the rest to God."

Just Wondering...

Why is it that when you make a doctor or dentist appointment for a certain time and you
bust your butt
getting there on time,
(because you know that if you are too late they will charge you for a missed appointment)
they take their sweet ol' time calling you back
and when you finally get back there,
it takes another half hour to see the doctor/dentist?

Today, Max had a dentist appointment at 2:00 and they didn't call him back until 3:05 and didn't start working on him until 3:20.
Max's appointment was at 2:00 and Jake had one scheduled at 4:00.
Silly me, I thought Max would be done in time to go get Jake.
But, since they didn't even start working on him until 3:20,
I told them they would have to reschedule Jake and I wasn't going to be paying any cancellation fees.
The assistant tells me,
"Oh, you can leave Max here while you get Jake."
Are you kidding me?
Uh, no.
So, by then I was pretty mad and the dentist came out to talk to me.
He's a nice guy and I did feel a little bad for him. He had 3 emergencies right before Max and he felt bad that no one explained that to me. Well, he didn't charge for Jake's cancellation.
Then I told the assistant and the dentist that because of the time and Emma was getting restless, I just wanted them to pull Max's tooth and not to worry about the spacer today. We'd just take care of it at his next appointment.
(He had a rotten tooth. Lovely, I know. And, he has eleven cavities so there will be more appointments.)
I couldn't figure out why they weren't done at 3:50 so I go up and ask.
"Oh, they're just finishing up his spacer right now", I'm told.
What!?!
I was annoyed by then and it was all I could do not to lose it!
So, by the time they figured out what I owed and managed to reschedule Jake and Max's next appointments, it was 4:15!
So, I left the dentist office from an appointment that was for 2:00 at 4:15!
Because my time means nothing.

Seriously, why make appointments?

Weekend Fun with Grammy and Papa

Friday night, I took Max and Emma to spend the night at Grammy and Papa's house.

We had a fun time, as usual.
Grammy made homemade carmel sauce and we dipped cut up apples in the warm sauce.
DELICIOUS!
We stayed up way too late talking while the kids
played forever with the old Fisher Price Little People ferris wheel
I used to play with as a child.
Do you remember when the Fisher Price Little People were made of wood?
(or am I really THAT old?)

Saturday morning, we headed to
Gardner's Village
in West Jordan to see the witches.
It was fun to see all the funny witches and pumpkins around and to go to the great shops there.
Max wasn't too impressed with the shops, but he enjoyed the water. He found a huge toad and
the large gold fish in the pond.
He also got to go on the pony ride and climb on the many bales of hay.
What a boy!

He was funny when we came to a witch that was in an outhouse reading a newspaper.
The sign on it read,
"Witchy Poo."
Max says real loud,
"Oh, I get it! Witchy Poo is the witch going poo!"
I thought my mom was going to die!
It was pretty funny!

Emma was too chicken to ride the ponies, (She's not an animal person.) but she did enjoy the victorian lace shop with the cute little glass tea sets! She was so excited to show Papa that she practically drug him into the shop to show him.
It was so cute!
She took him by the hand and said,
"Tome on Papa. I have to show you somethin'.
It's soooo tute!"
She led him into the shop and held out her hands pointing at the dishes and said,
"Ta Da!"
She cracks me up!

What a fun day!

Here's some pictures from our adventures at Gardner's Village:

Grammy, Emma, Max, and Papa pose with a scary witch.
Poor Papa with his scraped up face! (That's another story!)

Max and Emma posing with the witch and her crazy bugs!

Before we left Grammy's house, Emma and Max raided her stocking hats and gloves drawer (she keeps extra hats, gloves, sweat shirts, t-shirts, etc. if the kids ever need them. Yes, she's a wonderful Grammy!) Good thing, it ended up raining part of the time!

Max showing Papa the toad. He was trying to get it to move but it was a stubborn little guy!

Emma and Me with the cutest ghosts! I want to try to make some of these. They were really cute. (Remember it was raining off and on...Hence the BAD hair! Yikes!)

These were the coolest pumpkins! They were outside an antique store and were made with antique knobs, jewlery, etc.
They were so original and so cute! One (Emma's blocking it) even had old springs off the sides for pig tails. It was so cute. Emma's favorite (of course) was the princess one (middle left). So cute!

Max on the pony ride. He had fun but I think, between you and me, he wished he could take off on that horse!

Friday Fun...

In Saturday morning's
General Conference Session,

laughter erupted after President Hinckley sustained
Elder Eyring as the new second counselor in the first presidency.

Those of us watching it on T.V. had no idea what was going on.
I was wondering what was so funny about sustaining new leaders?

For those of you that didn't see it on the news later,
here's what the laughter was all about...



After President Hinckley finished with the sustaining of the officers of the church,
Elder Eyring had moved to his new seat on the stand.
When President Hinckley turned around,
he stood there for a moment looking at Elder Eyring,
then picked up his cane and
"knighted" him on his shoulder and head!

Aren't we so blessed to have such a great man with
such a sense of humor leading us!

You gotta love President Hinckley!

I also love how President Eyring looks like a surprised little boy.
I'm sure that was probably one of the last things he expected!

Look Who Made the News, AGAIN!

On Fox13's morning show yesterday,
Provo High School was
The Cool School of the Week!
(of course we all know it's always been the cool school!)

Jake was featured with Big Buddah.
He demonstrated a Physics project he had done.
Yay Jake!!!
(Just so you know, before they aired, Big Buddah had Jake explain the project to him and so when they aired, Buddah repeated what Jake told him so he would look like he knew what was going on!)

Click Here and then click on the second video clip from the bottom on the side bar and you can see Jake.

Both Jake and Scott are flourishing at Provo High and we are so happy with the teachers and staff at PHS.

We feel very grateful
and honestly,
PHS is a
Cool School!

A Note for Lindsey

Dear Lindsey,

Good to hear you're ready to change your life. It didn't seem you were on a very good road before.

I hear you want to stay in Utah. Good choice! I hear you even want to live in Park City. Even better choice! Since Park City is your choice, I have the house for you. Considering the prices of most houses you would buy in California, it's a steal! It belongs to another majorly famous person and it's GORGEOUS! Just call my hubby (one of Coldwell Banker's best realtors...seriously!) He's got it listed but can't do a lot of marketing because the owner is so famous that it will cause a frenzy. Just trust me that it's an awesome property and you will be very happy there.

Best wishes,
Cari


P.S.
At the risk of sounding like I'm begging,
Pleeeeeeeeeeease buy this!
You would love it and you have no idea how this would help us!





*** He really does have a listing for a spectacular home in P.C. belonging to a major celebrity that he talks with periodically. It really would be great to sell this. Anyone know any wealthy people looking for property in P.C., send them our way! ***

I Need to Vent a Little...

Have I ever told you how much I hate carpooling?

I have to admit there are times that it's been convenient to carpool,
but there are more times it's a pain in the butt.

I am currently involved in a carpool for Cole's football with someone I really like.
She's a very nice, wonderful lady.
And her son is a great kid.
I have no problems with them.
It's these other two kids that weasled their way into our carpool.

One kid,
I just don't like.
I know he's only 12,
but I REALLY don't like him.
He's a punk.
He's a know-it-all.
He's disrespectful.
For example,
tonight, when I picked them up,
I drove into the parking lot and didn't notice that the boys were waiting on the grass in front of the parking lot.
I drove all the way into the parking lot where I normally pick them up. When I didn't see them anywhere, I asked Max to go see if they were in the bathroom.
When Max jumped out, Cole yelled out to him and came running towards the car. So, I waited for him to get in thinking the others were behind him.
BUT OH NO!
I was informed that they didn't want to walk to the car.
huh?
They didn't think they should have to walk to the car because they were waiting in front for me.
They EXPECTED me to drive back up to the front to pick them up.
ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?!
I DON'T THINK SO!

I yelled out the window that if they wanted a ride home,
they "had best get their butts in the car" because I was leaving!

GIVE ME A FREAKIN' BREAK!

And then I had to hear all the way home, from the punky kid, that since he earned his money to play football, the coaches technically worked for HIM and therefore he should be able to play whatever position he wanted and should be able to play whenever HE wanted.

Yeah.
I told you...
He's a punk!

The other kid is a good friend of Cole's.
The thing that is annoying about him driving with us is
his brother-in-law (who lives right by him) is one of the coaches and
comes to every practice and every game.
So, why does he need a ride?
That is the question.
Normally, I wouldn't really care about taking this kid because he's great but he lives out of the way and his brother-in-law will be there anyway.
(One time, he actually followed me to a game!)
And this kid calls like 20 times before we pick him up to "remind" us that he needs a ride.

It's just plain annoying!

This really bugs me...
We go out of our way every morning at 6:10 a.m.
to take a girl that used to be in our ward to early morning seminary.
She doesn't even live by us anymore.
She asked my son if we can take her because her parents said she needed to find her way there because it's an extra thing and it's not their responsibility to drive her.
Uh, what's extra? Seminary?
I normally wouldn't complain because I think this young lady has gone through a lot in her life and I really like her.
The problem is her lazy parents.
Yes, I said
her LAZY PARENTS!
Every time we pick her up,
her parents are there.
(and they are already up!)

Why can't they take her?

These are active members of the church but seminary is extra?
It's not like she's asking them to take her to a friends house or something fun like that.
It's SEMINARY!
I mean, she's willing to put in the extra effort to go to early morning seminary
(which for a teenager to want to get up and be out at that hour is amazing!)
just so she can take an extra class in school and get ahead.
Come on lazy parents! Support your daughter!
Geeze!

Well,
I'm done venting...





for now anyway!

Thanks for listening!

P.S.
Just don't ask me to be a part of a carpool anytime soon.
The answer will be no.
Sorry.

Friday Fun...

Just wanted to give you all the heads up.



All you parents out there be careful!



The latest of a long line of
recalled toys...

Although it might look fun,
I wouldn't recommend it.

I have a sick daughter today.


She was up all night
(no exaggeration!)
throwing up.

How can someone who only eats
MAYBE two or three bites every meal
throw up SO MUCH?

It's a mystery.

Today, she's been able to eat
one saltine cracker,
a small glass of water,
and some Ibuprofen.

She's a pale girl to begin with
but she looks horrible today.
She's just miserable.
My poor little Emma!

So, today I'll be trying to keep liquids down my three-year-old
and trying to keep her from getting a fever.
(She has seizures when she gets a fever.)

Feel better soon my sweet little girl!