y'all come on back now, ya hear!...

So, Dave and I finally succombed to peer pressure and went to Cleveland for the 24th of July firework show. No, not Cleveland, Ohio... they don't care about our Pioneer Days...Cleveland, Utah. The little blip off highway 10 between Elmo and miles of nothing. According to Wikipedia, Cleveland has a population of 508 and I'm pretty sure they included livestock in this figure.

It turns out, these country folk know how to party. People lined up rows of blankets along a grassy hillside next to a county building of some kind. A good band was playing, food was eaten, strangers blankets were trampled and desecrated by my children, and a fun time was had by all. Eventually, the fireworks started and I have to admit, it was impressive! The show was put on by a group of firefighters just across the road from the hillside, so it literally felt and looked like the fireworks were going off right above our heads. This thought was later confirmed by the warm, spent, cardboard firework casing I found my six month old sucking on. During the show, my kids yelled "Wow" and "Ohhhh" a lot. I heard people around us saying ..."This is so much better than the one in Price" (well done), a few "Yee-haws!" and surprisingly only one "Hell Yeah!". At the end of the show, a sign lit up with a tractor and the caption reading "I love this town", and the band struck up the John Mellencamp classic "Small Town...". The firefighters did a Rockettes-inspired grapevine across the firework field before one firefighter broke out into a spin, ending in some version of the splits. The "crowd" went wild! It was fun, I got a little teary thinking about how proud the Clevelanders were of thier show. And then my mind wandered to how in the world they pay for it...speeding tickets on Highway 10, is all I could come up with. As we walked to our car, a few groups of straggeling fireworks went off, that apparently weren't lit during the "show". These were the cherry on top of a fun night, and distracted my boys long enough to trick them into their seatbelts, so all the more appreciated.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

funny quote of the week from my funny kid

Edison... "Mama look! A binkie.............with a baby on it!"

it's our anniversary...

I was thinking today about some of the things I love about my Dave, and realized, most people who know him only know a little bit about him. Dave is a multi faceted man. I still find out things I didn't know about his life or who he is. It's crazy to me that this is possible after marrying him 13 years ago! Yikes! Here are some things you may or may not know about my Dave.

1) David is a talented musician. He is a great singer. He once sang a jingle for a Gart Sports commercial. This is funny to me. He also used to be a wedding singer - for reals people. This is beyond funny to me. Dave still occassionally writes his own music and records vocal and guitar tracks, just for kicks. He is especially good at two genres....funny, comedic songs off the hip (ala Adam Sandler or Andy Samberg) and intense, brooding, somewhat psycho rock songs. Some sample lyrics from past Dave hits include....

(Set to a melodic, catchy guitar strain) "Homeless people make me sick, they beg for money and they smell like %$^#".

And, set to a beautiful, haunting guitar strum...

"Feel my fist upon your head, and the blood begins to fall, to fall, to fall..."! This one suprised me - he must have been in a dark place.

2) Dave has ridiculous calf muscles. I mean crazy calfs - they are epic really... double bulbed wonders. He has been approached, more than once to become a professional body builder - I think the interest has come because of his ginormous legs. I am fine with him not becoming a protein-loving meat head. Not my type so much. But, no matter how little or how much Dave does...his crazy, muscled legs remain...even now in his "late thirties". Once when we were dating and standing in line somewhere, a girl tapped him on the shoulder and said,

"Dave? Hi....I recognized you from your calves"!

She was, obviously a dirty, dirty tramp and I slapped her.

3) Dave is an awesome athlete. One year, out of boredom and a desire for a good game of soccer, Dave tried out for the University of Utah soccer team and actually made the team. Crazy! Then he said, no thanks - I'm sorry but I don't even go to this school and made a few people mad. Such a Dave moment. And, Dave has been snowboarding since before snowboarding was cool - he was offered a professional sponsorship back in his glory days...not bad.

3) Dave is a worrier. He takes his responsibilities as a Dad and a husband seriously. He fretted about this during our engagement and I was shocked because he had always been so laid back. But, he is not laid back about the important stuff. My "laid back" boyfriend turned into the most concerned Daddy in the world and the most responsible husband. We have made several trips to the ER for panic attacks while in the midst of big life changes. I'm afraid I am the one who has given him his gray hairs, but I love him for caring so much.

4) Dave has a kind heart - with me, our kids and with everyone else. This guy who I had never before seen shed a tear, now cries when getting a welcome-home-from-work hug from his boys. He clears his throat a lot when it is happening, but I know exactly what he is trying to cover up. His patients LOVE him. He is gentle and kind and smart and competent. I love this traits of his.

5) Dave is a protector of women. I think this stems from growing up with SIX sisters. He cannot stand a girl being mistreated. He gets it - if that makes sense, how to treat women. Dave is no Price Charming, but he always makes sure I am driving the newest car, have the most comfortable seat, walk furthest away from the road and he will drop everything and anything to make sure I am home safely and taken care of. I will never forget sitting in our new apartment, the morning of our wedding and watching out the window as Dave walked over from his nearby parents home to pick me up. Walking behind him, in their jammies, were Dave's three little sisters, all crying and waiting for him to notice them so they could say goodbye to their big brother. It was so sweet to see how much they loved him and that hasn't changed. He loves his mom, he loves my mom, he loves little old ladies, he loves his little old patients. He is a good guy.

6) Dave wants a "tiny dog". It cracks me up, I don't get it! I've always liked big doggies, like our two neighbor-angrying, old doggies out in the backyard. But Dave wants a little, tiny lap dog...like "Eddie" was to Frasier or "Tinkerbell" is to Paris Hilton. Someday I might let him get one. We'll see - Anyway, it's funny to me...his love of little mutts.

7) Dave is hilarious. If you know him a little, you must know this. He is always entertaining. He is goofing around all the time. I have spent years listening to his end-of-the-day recaps of the hilarity that ensues everywhere Dave spends his time. I always think, "Why wasn't there someone like you in my school, or at my work!". Dave is witty and smart and self depracating in the funniest way. I love that about him the most. He is funny as a husband and even funnier as a Dad. He cracks me up everyday.

8) Dave is a information junkie...a little bit of a Cliff Claven if you will! Watching a movie or TV with Dave, goes a little like this. As soon as anything happens in the movie, and I mean anything...Dave is whipping out his laptop to do a query about whatever topic the movie brought to his mind. Stuff like....

What year was Kennedy assassinated?

What other movies has Ryan Reynolds been in?

How much does a human heart weigh?

How old is Dog the Bouty Hunter's son Duane?

Then, Dave tells me about everything he is learning and I say stuff like "Uh-huh" "Really" and "Wow" a lot.

9) Dave cannot wake up in the morning. Will he ever get himself up for work? I don't know! As long as we've been married, I've been waking him up several times every morning only to have him roll out of bed 5 minutes before he needs to be out the door. He can get dressed and shower and leave in that time. It's insane. In College, Dave had to be at work at 5am. He carpooled with a friend Brian who would beg Dave every day to not make them late again. Without fail, Brian would walk in our house, and gently nudge Dave next to me in bed to get him to leave for work. Poor Brian - we should really send him a fruit basket or something now as an apology. Jacob is always shocked at how Dad can be asleep one minute and "at work" the next. I'll tell him Daddy is at work and Jacob will respond..."Not again!". We don't get to see him much in the mornings.

10) Dave is a wonderful Dad. He is so sweet and tender with our kids. Dave gives them as many hugs and kisses after work than I can get in during a day at home. And although he doesn't beg me to leave the house, if I have to work...Dave can be Mr. Mom with the best of them.

We have been married for 13 years today! I am so thankful to have such a good guy in my life and I am learning more and more all the time how lucky I really am that he belongs to me. Forgive the sappiness...I can only be a smart mouth 95% of the time.

the show's over folks...

We have blinds! Woo-h00, and only five months after moving into our new home. The voueristic side of me is a little sad, but the paranoid side of me is relieved. So for those of you who have been coming by around 10:30pm for a little peek - the fun's over! Dave deserves some privacy - leave the man alone.

This morning, after helping the kids get dressed and made their beds, I opened the blinds in Jacob and Eddie's room. Jacob was in awe...

"Oh.......my......gosh! How you do that? It morning now!"


I know son. Mom is amazing.

balloon animal fail...

Today I took my boys to see the dentist. It went smoothly to my suprise. Jacob was somehow talked into an x-ray, a tooth cleaning and an exam. Eddie was "restrained" and the dentist got a quick look into his mouth. Mission accomplished.

Here is a picture of the balloon toy Jacob and Eddie were given at the end of their appointment. I think the hygenist called it a "rattlesnake". As we gathered our crap to leave the waiting room, I turned the balloon over and around a few times trying to see the snake correctly. I didn't get it! It frankly looked a little vulgar. I'm not implying it looked like anything specific, it just looked "wrong" and not much like a rattlesnake. That's all I'm gonna say. I shrugged and handed it back to Jakie, who was apparently a little confused as well. He said this immediately (direct quote...no fooling)!

"What this balloon supposed to be?.....A monkey butt?"

I cracked up. We have been to the zoo in the past month and Jacob was obviously paying more attention to animal anatomy than I realized.

Still laughing, I explained, "Buddy...I think that is supposed to be a snake".

Jacob..."No, it's not a snake...it's a monkey butt. Watch this!" He then held the balloon behind him and started making loud monkey noises and jumping around, grinning fiercly. Of course, we were still in the waiting room.

Just when I thought I could stop crying and keep it together, I got the boys into the car, and Jacob set his balloon down saying "Thanks Mom! That is a really, really fun monkey butt!" Has anyone, in the history of humans populating the earth, ever heard that sentance besides me?

PS: Don't judge me, I only took the pictures.

paging security

During a rough night with Edison this week of him coming in and out of his room, in and out of my bed and in and out of consciousness...I noticed he felt a little warm. Did I say a little? He felt like a raging furnace. I checked his temperature...105.2 degrees! Whaaaaaat? Checked it again.....104.8 degrees. Mommy panic ensued. After cooling him off, we made it until morning at which time I began the obligatory, lottery inspired, radio contest-like 8 am calls to Dr. Madsen's office. When I finally got through, I found out we already had a visit scheduled for Edison at 11am.

Me -What for?

Nice office lady - A follow-up head circumference check.

Me - Well, I'm not so worried about his giant head today, but more about this fever, can I bring him in for that?

They said yes. Turns out Eddie had ear infections - apparently bad ones with his sudden, high fever. Of course, like all my kids, before determining he had otitis media - he had to have huge amounts of wax scraped out of his ears before his pediatrician could see well enough to tell what was going on. My kids are champion ear wax producers. Anway, back to the ear infection. I was relieved! An ear infection was about the most benign problem that had crossed my mind. I was sure he had swine flu, or leukemia or meningitis (after all Sammy's baby Grace just had a fatal meningitis infection on Days - pretty sad). But, poor Eddie, it was a rough day for him, despite my relief. Imagine Eddie, with a fever that had spiked back up to around 103 degrees, being wrapped tightly in a plastic lined papoose board, having the Doctor probe around in both of his already infected and painful ears with a giant metal scraper for 20 minutes or so while Eddie sweated profusely and screamed non stop. It was so sad. I couldn't comfort him - I couldn't help him. All I could do was....well laugh... not in a mean way. But Edison was so darn funny during his torture. I was feeling a mixture of worry, pity and sadness and the giggles just came out listening to him try to toddler talk his way out of the mess. These are the things Eddie yelled over and over during his wax removal. I will go in order from the beginning to the end of the procedure.

"No, no, no"

"No more, no more, no more"

"Help me Mommy. Help Me"

"Take, take" (What he says when he wants me to hold him)

"All done, Done!"

"Daddy! Daddy! Where are you Daddy?"

"Car, let's go. Go in car NOW"

"Sticker! Sticker" (You get one when you leave the clinic)

"Stop it...stop it!"

"Get off me. Get off me"

And at last, my favorite..."I get you. I get you"

I'm not sure if his final threat was intended for me or Dr. Madsen. I like to think it was meant for the guy with the metal tools in hand and the guilty expression. Hopefully, he will forgive both of us. The good news is, Eddie is feeling much better after a few doses of antibiotics. He was so weak from the fever and the not eating and the throwing up (a puke worthy of a separate post by the way), but as soon as his fever broke he started acting like himself again. Eddie was trying to run around the house, pointing a toy rifle at me and yelling "Freeze mama!" all the while shaking from weakness. I had to literally hold him down to watch a movie so he could get a little needed recooperation. He is a wild man, but thankfully, a healthy one again!