some pictures I love...

I love that time of day when my lovebugs are all clean and shiny and ready for bed...

Cutting up these cucmbers with plastic knives for a salad actually entertained my boys for a good 45 minutes. It was heaven! Until Eddie started putting lettuce in his hair and yelling "Look my hat!".

The most perfectly placed barrel toy ever...

just a little respect please...

WARNING....long sentence ahead.

During the summer of 2006, the community came together in Carbon County and built a beautiful place where our teenagers could mingle with one another, practice their tagging skills, pass the Dutchie down the left hand side, speak like truckers and give each other tongue baths, all the while scaring away pesky toddlers and young kids who need a place to play...that's right...The Dino-Mine Adventure Playground.

OK, I'm being facetious...but what has happened to our favorite little playground? It has been over run and I, for one, can't take it anymore!

My kids love this playground, but all summer I have been hard pressed to find a day where they could play carelessly, without me worrying about the impending Junior High invasion. I tried my luck again today, thinking that the school year would drive away the unwanted teens. It was wonderful for a while...until 4:15...when a herd of kiddos in Volcom T-shirts came walking, skating and riding up the hill towards us. In the past couple of weeks, while with my kids at Dino-Mine, I have witnessed the following.

1) A 10 or 11 year old couple engaging in a public make-out under the bridge (not rookies by the way).

2) A 9 year old ecstasy salesman in the Toddler area of the park.

3) A teenage boy hurdling inches over my 7 month old daughter's head while playing "tag" on the upper level of the playground.

4) A friend's son lamenting to his Dad..."Hey, those boys are saying garbage words!"

5) Skateboarding down the slides.

Come on teenagers! Come on lame, clueless parents who think your kids are just going to the playground. They are turning the said "playground" into a prepubescent Rave. At least the term "adventure" is apprope. Isn't there a Skatepark and BMX track about 200 yards away? Can't you leave the little kids playground to the little kids? I'm just saying...

a few things that need to be vented about...

1) The blonde Lagoon girl. You know which one. She is cute, but come on...when she drinks that can of Coke in slow motion... it kills me. She looks at the soda with such bewilderment and affection. As if this newfangled Coke stuff is some sort of epic, earth-shattering beverage that is so surprisingly delicious and refreshing it may possibly end world hunger and make your boobs grow at the same time. That expression on her face should be reserved for winning the lottery (or maybe running into Jon Hamm in an elevator). And have you heard the radio ads? The female voice (I have to picture the aforementioned blonde, hot poodle) has the most irritating, nonsensical use of intonation..I'm sure it's meant to be sexy but all I can hear is..."It's what dumb is"!

2) My non stop e-mails from "Mr. X". The subject line always reads...."My millionnaire friend wants to meet you...". Enough Mr. X! I have tried blocking you, and still you persist. Maybe, Mr. X., you should tell your wealthy, desperate friend about my ill-tempered husband, my three children and my PMS. Move on to another hapless, gold digger. This ship has sailed. Also, my SPAM filter is a miserable failure for letting you repeatedly into my life, and by that I mean my laptop.

3) The worst country song EVER. "Double XL". I heard it on the radio yesterday (thanks KOAL) and my mouth was hanging open from pure, offended shock. I'm pretty sure a grammy was not involved in the writing, producing, singing or performing of "Save a Horse, Ride a cowboy", but this song justifies a public hanging. It is vile and horrid. Some sample lyrics for those of you not lucky enough to have heard this catchy tune...

Well double XL, double XL. Dont call me on the phone just ring my dinner bell! Im a lean, mean, love machine that likes to be held, ooo brrrrr baby Im a double XL!

No! You are a juvenile, absurd, distasteful, repulsive, self-ingulgent, untalented, overpaid pig of a man who sings a song about having a big weenie. Ew... seriously country music? Sir Mix-a-Lot you are not!

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.