Life, Liberty (and most importantly) Justice for all!

So, this morning began very early for me. 7:00 am to be exact, but if truth be told with the recent change to Day Light Savings it was more like 6:00 am and that my friends is way too early. For those of you that really know me, you know that I don't function too well in the morning. I just don't see the point of getting up from a nice warm cozy bed when it's still dark outside and there are more logs to be sawed.

I don't know if it comes from finally being at place in my life where I don't have to rise up at the crack of dawn to rush off to work, because seriously the laundry can wait till 10:00 or 11:00 to get started. It's not putting any pressure me or enforcing any deadlines. So why rush it?

Maybe my lack of desire to rise with the sun stems from the fact that I have (luckily) been blessed with children that actually sleep in and get up at a more agreeable and reasonable hour in the morning. They usually wake up around 8:30 or 9:00 and that is a much more perfect time for me to get myself together and going. I know this will have to change a little once BB1 starts all day school, but for now I am enjoying the later starts to the day!

As for why I was up at what felt like the crack of dawn this morning, I had an appointment with the South Ogden Traffic Court. You see there was this pesky business regarding a traffic citation I received back in January where the officer cited me for "Improper Lane Travel". Hello - I was just making a left hand turn and entered into the turn lane, going about my business, doing nothing illegal, when the cop pulled out from the right hand, through lane and then proceeded to pull me over.

You can imagine my complete shock/indignation/frustration as to why this cop was pulling me over when I hadn't done anything more than drive my car well within the confines of the law. That frustration only grew when I asked him to explain why he pulled me over and he absolutely refused to discuss it with me and simply stated "I won't debate this with you" and walked away.

Oh how I wanted to smack him. When he came back to the car he handed me an "invitation" to attend traffic school, which by the way cost $75 and would require me to spend 8 hours learning about how to drive and the law. Are you kidding me? I didn't do anything wrong. My desire to back hand the cop only grew, but luckily I was able to control my growing temper with the thought that it would be much worse to get carted off to jail for assaulting an officer. I consoled myself with the thought that I would have my say.

So needless to say this little encounter set me off on a path of very righteous indignation and I was all about fighting the citation. So, I let the time frame to sign up for traffic school lapse, which sent the traffic school invitation back to the courts and a citation was issued in it's place, along with an invitation to come to court.

So off to court I went - the first time - thinking I would be able to confront the judge, tell him my side of the story and walk out of there with a dismissal in hand. I was psyched and just a little nauseous only to find out that it was all for nothing. I wouldn't meet with the judge as I had to first meet with the court prosecutor for a Pre-trail hearing. And I had to have an appointment in order to meet with him and that would mean I would have to wait another week before presenting my case.

And oh what a case it would be. I had satellite imagery showing how many feet into the turning lane I entered and copy's of the Utah drivers handbook, all showing me to be in the right. I was ready!

So today I went to the court for the second time to meet with the prosecutor. He called me back into his office behind the judges bench. He was able to pull up video footage from the cop car from the day the citation was issued. I wasn't worried for a second. He showed me everything he had and listened to me explain what happened and before I even had to pull out my satellite maps (thanks Google Earth) and DMV documentation, he said the most wonderful words in the universe "I am going to recommend this citation for dismissal!!" and "You were in the right!"

"Thank you, Thank you very much!" (said in an Elvis drawl & tone)

There is indeed justice in the world and I am so glad I fought for it. It might seem like a small thing, but it was my thing and it even made getting up at the crack of dawn worth while!!

So let freedom ring - Power to the People - and don't be afraid to fight for what you know to be right!

Happy Birthday Baby!!

BB2 is officially 2. On one hand I am in denial because it means my baby is growing up! But on the other hand she is sooooo 2 years old. Yep, the temper tantrums and demands have gone onto a whole new level. At least she is balancing out the "bad" with some serious sweetness when it comes to giving loves and kisses.

Her party theme was monkeys - not Curious George - just monkeys. She got a huge purple helium filled monkey balloon which she loves and freaks out any time her sister tries to take it away from her, which is often. She started pulling down on the string and thought it was the greatest thing to watch the balloon go up and down. That is until it poked her in the eye and she needed some convincing the monkey wasn't trying to hurt her. I love the way kids brains work as they are so highly entertaining without even trying to be and so quick to recover from bumps and boo boos.

You wouldn't believe how hard it was to find cute monkey theme decorations with out having to resort to the Curious George ones.

Luckily by making the decorations myself it allowed me to tap into my creative side, which is a rare thing as my perfectionist side tends to take over, but luckily this time there was a pretty good balance between the two. I just have to say thank goodness we have a pretty good color printer and there were some decent monkey graphics in Microsoft Word Clip Art.

As for how the overall decorations turned out, just picture various sized monkeys and bananas hanging all over the house with green streamers and green curly ribbon (aka "jungle vines" ) also hanging all over the place. Lots of fun and BB2 loved it.

She did total justice to her birthday cake and I just have to give serious props to her Grandma L.(my mom) for having such a delicious frosting recipe. Fluffy frosting is by far the ultimate in cupcake toppings and a big thanks to Aunt CeeCee for reintroducing me to the fluffy sugary goodness.

We used to ask for it all the time growing up and it just takes me back to a happy place whenever I taste it. It had been way too long since my last indulgence and needless to say we all heartily partook. The bowl was seriously licked clean. Yum!

The picture on the left is of BB2 in her new ballerina dress-up with a matching one for Spice Bear that she wore around for the rest of the party.

She also LOVES her new chair and now doesn't want to sit anywhere else but in her chair. This could pose a problem at meal time.

All I can say is she is adorable (and yes, there is a huge amount of personal bias, but you have to agree with me!!)

Thanks to all the family that came up and celebrated the day with us. It was so much fun!!

And for those who were too far away, we know BB2 was in your thoughts as we were wishing you could be here with us!

Happy Birthday Baby - You are growing up way too fast!

Not the sharpest tack in the box!!

Sheesh - Apparently my math skills need some work!

What I meant to write in my previous post was to enjoy your extra "1440" minutes, not the "1660" that I put in.

Guess I just really, really, REALLY wanted to create some extra time for those people nearest and dearest to my heart.

It's all about the love, baby!

Happy February 29th

For all those people who has ever asked for more time, more days in the year, more hours in the day, - here you go. You get one extra day, 24 bonus hours, 1660 precious minutes to use however you like. They only come every 4 years.

Good for some, not so good for others, like for those babies unlucky enough to be born on this day. Sorry, you only get to celebrate your birthday every 4 years. It won't be much fun when you are younger, but just think how cool will it be when all your friends are turning 40 and you are still young and fun at 10!! Yahoo! (Papa Bear contributed that little statement of fact)

Feb 29th is also a good date for the people in the world who are horrible at remembering important dates, like anniversary's and "when we first meet" moments. Just have them tomorrow and then you won't have to worry about being asked every year for the exact date when you proposed, said "I love you", got married, etc. You'll get lucky and get a reprieve for at least 4 more years before your "date" rolls around.

All in all it seems to be a silly little thing to write about, but it just struck me as a little funny that we have this one day come into our lives every 4 years and Hallmark has yet to market the crap out of it with flowers, gifts, sentimentality and the like. (hey - if they start, I better get a cut. Just send the check addressed to me)

I am not even sure of the actual point or historical reason for getting one extra day in Feb, but I plan on using it to the fullest and not spending any one of those precious minutes doing mundane, domestic things like laundry (although BB1 is out of pants), dishes, vacuuming or dusting (even though I am still cleaning up from the dry wallers who ended their work a WEEK AGO! argggggg - stupid dust particles) My domestic goddess hat will be set aside and I will become light and care free with not a care in the world.

I plan on spending the day playing with my girls, hiding in our most secret and favorite spots. For BB2 that means spending the day climbing onto and standing on the sofa table while "talking" on her Blackberry (really an old calculator) and laughing and giggling and snuggling all day long with my sweeties. (Papa Bear included).

We will spend the day pretending that we are fighter jets, flying through the air and given the Air Forces recent and oh so frequent fly bys over our house, we will have all the necessary sound effect to complete our attempts.

I plan on dancing like no one is watching and if anyone happens to catch me in the groove, then I hope they join me rather than laugh at my white girl hippy shake moves. I had to share this picture of BB2 at Elmo's Dance Off at the Children's Museum in Salt Lake. I could not get her to leave the dance floor as she loves the music and I just love how carefree and open she is. This girl can really shake it.

I plan to immerse myself if fanciful play and help my girls make memories of "the good times" for them to treasure all thier life. Order up!

Also - just so you know - any calories you consume on Feb 29th are totally extra and don't count against you in any negative way. OK, so my last statement wasn't totally true, but I would like to think that everyone should get at least one day, say every 4 years, to eat whatever they want to and not think about or feel guilty about what you put in your belly, so bring on the brownie sundaes for breakfast and peanut butter and ice cream waffles for lunch. If we aren't too sick to our stomachs, it's Mexican food for dinner.

Oh yeah - my stomach is already rumbling in a very good way (and it has nothing to do with the fact that I haven't eaten anything today, besides a smoothie, because I went to the dentist this morning and he drilled into my tooth (almost to my toes from the feel of things) and I still have yet to regain a normal sensation in my mouth. I hate going to the dentist!! But enough on that!

Just get out there and make the most of your extra 24 hours, 1660 minutes. You won't get it for another 4 years!!!

What happens when . . .

. . . mom is upstairs doing laundry and therefore out of sight, sister is down for a nap, your 5 year old is bored, and the camera has been left out???

Say Cheese, BB1!

and of coures, you get your favorite stuffed animals to strike a pose and give you thier best smiles possible.

Spice Bear and Sugar Bear - Cheese!!

Spice Bear, Breanna Bunny and Sugar Bear are ready for thier close-up!

These are just a few of the 30+ pictures (I am not even kidding) that were taken on the camera before the memory card filled up and the battery went dead. I didn't even know she had taken the pictures until I went to use the camera for something else and found the battery dead and the memory card full. I guess it also explains why I found Breanna, Sugar and Spice Bear all proped up and posed on the chair.

Looking on the Bright Side

Ok - so now I need to balance out my frustration with the insane amount of snow we have been getting by sharing some of the fun things we have been doing to help us forget about the hand cramping, back breaking, uselessness of snow removal during the middle of winter when there are still 3 more storms on thier way. And that's just with the latest 7 day forecast.

So here's to the fun, the happy, the memory making moments that bring on a much needed smile and a warm fuzzy.

Here's to the dressing up in silly costumes, because seriously, where are we going to go with 5 feet of snow on the roads and not a snow plow anywhere in sight? Better to just stay at home and dress up in your sparkliest, funnest outfit possible. BB2 spent the entire day in this outfit and she only ever wore the one Cindrelle shoe. I guess she was just being true to character. Although the witch hat threw in a little twist.

BB1 was the prettest looking witch, complete with dark eyes and "witchy" lipstick as she called it. Really it was just my eyeliner and a really deep plum lipstick she found in my make-up bag. But on bottem she was all dancer with her princess crown tights and ballet shoes. Guess she just wanted to be prepared for anything. Cast a spell, dance with the prince. She had all her bases covered. The girls stays like this all day long until it was time to put on jammies and get into bed. I almost thought BB2 would want to wear her little skirt over her jammies. I am sure that day will come.

To BB2 dressing up in sister's scarf and gloves and then zooming around the downstairs on our little pink scooter bike, screaming wheeeee and wooooooooo as loud as she can, never once showing fear as she took a corner around the couch or the table going mock-9 with her little piggy tails flapping in the wind behind her.

To venturing forth onto our lawn and sinking down into the snow almost to my hips, BB1's waist, just so we can shoveling the snow into a great big huge mound and then shape it into the world biggest snowman ever. This baby is complete with 3 snow mounds as every decent snowman must have if he is even to be remotely presentable in snow man society.

Ok, in truth, it may not the world biggest snowman, but it is definetly the biggest snow man on the block and that counts for something. This snow man comes complete with hair (twigs) and arms (branches), scarf (courtesy of mom) and carrot nose (thanks to the makers of realistic plastic fruits and vegetables) and eyes and mouth from our rose bush.

BB1 was very exstatic about the results and thought that her snowman was way cooler than the dinosaur the kids across the street where trying to make. (I won't even mention what Papa Bear thought they were originally making when he first saw it - and if you really want to know, you'll have to call and ask.)

To snow drifts that are now so high that the snow can no longer be thrown on top as all you succeed in doing is knocking down more snow than you just shoveled up - but that make for a great high chair for the girls to sit on once mom has thrown then up on top.

Can you see the ground in the picture on the left? Just to give you a little insight in to just how much snow we are dealing with.

BTW - It is very easy to loose sight of your little ones with snow piled up this high, as I learned for myself as BB1 and BB2 were playing (as I was once again shoveling the walkways clear) and I realized I had no idea where they were. They had walked around the corner from where I had left them and since I couldn't even see the tops of thier little snow hats, I had to yell for them to determine their location. Scary for just a moment, but in reality, they would have only been able to circle back to our driveway, so worry for nothing.

For getting to eat the freshes, whitest, sparklingest newely fallen snow, before mom steps in and says to not eat said snow. Sometimes it just pays to be a kid and not think about what is in something and how it might hurt you or make you sick, before putting it in your mouth.

To deciding that your hands aren't getting the snow into your mouth fast enough so you turn to the shovel and the bucket.

The picture on the right was taken just before BB2 decided it would be a good idea to take off her gloves and then her snow boots and finally her socks before mom noticed her undressing herself. To bad it resulted in her being picked up and taken back inside as mom decided she has probably had enough snow and cold for one day.

This is the aftermath - and oh so yearning look - I was given by BB2 from inside the house (sorry for the glare) as BB1 and I stayed outside to finish our snow man and BB2 had to watch our activities from the warmth of the house. Guess next time she won't try and strip naked to go a'frolickin in the snow.

To bending over backwards as you can only do when you are five years old and as flexible as a young willow tree. BB1 will soon be delighting us with cartwheels and roundoffs and back flips. That is if her gymnastics teacher has anything to say about it. She goes on Saturdays for about 45 minutes and on her very first day, she kept trying to do this hand-stand-down-into-a-somersualt thing, instead of the cart wheel flips her teacher was trying to get her to do. It was fun to watch, especially as she had NO FEAR. May she never lose that.

And finally to snuggling up in a warm fleecy blanket to "watch a show". JoJo's circus is what is keeping BB2 so captivated and still for just a moment for mom to take this picture. I love how content and calm she is. So unlike the whirl wind of energy and activity that usually surrounds this kid.

And for once she is not eating something or asking in her little voice for "a bite" or "mine". The latest is what she says when ever she sees someone eating something that she then decides she wants. "Mine, Mine". I makes me think of those sea gulls in Finding Nemo that only ever say that word - "Mine" over and over again. Luckily, she also says please and thank you. Little rewards for knowing you are doing things right when your kids use thier manners.

So, while Mother Nature may be kicking our behind, atleast we are having the last laugh. Anyone want to come for a visit??

Lessons in Futility

Futility: The quality of having no useful result, uselessness.

So lately I have been feeling a lot like I do the same thing over and over again only to turn around and find myself doing the exact same thing all over again. Doesn't this sound like a waste of time and effort.

This is exactly how I feel about the following tasks and I thought I would share my frustration with you - aren't you feeling lucky!

1 - Pickup up toys - the same toys that are supposed to be contains in one small basket downstairs, that without any explaination seem to double and triple in size and quantity. I guess the only reasonable explaination is that the playroom is trying to make a break from it's upstairs location, downstairs to my living room.

2 - Shoveling snow - especially while it is still snowing!

3 - Wiping down the counter tops.

4 - Doing any of the following cleaning activities while your basement is being finished and insulationers, dry wallers, plumbers and electricians are running around your house:
*dusting
*sweeping
*mopping
*vacuuming!

5 - Loading/emptying the dishwasher. I really feel like the dishwasher is always open, either to have clean dished taken out and put away or dirty dishes loaded into it.

6 - Laundry - just when I get the last load of clothes folded and finally put away, I have 6 more loads ready to go. Is this really what I am supposed to be spending my day dealing with?Seriously?!

7 - Did I mention shoveling snow, clearing sidewalks and driveways?? If not, then it needs to be mentioned again. Apparently someone really prayed super duper extra hard and long for a really good snow pack this winter and Mother Nature is taking thier request to heart and giving them all she has got. And she is concentrating her efforts in my neighborhood. We are at the breaking point with no more places to push the snow too. I don't even want to think about the mess we will be dealing with once it starts to melt.

Big, Big Sigh! Thanks for listening.