Traffic School?!?

I'll admit that I have a tendency to speed. When my kids are in the car, I am definitely more careful and only push the limit when I am late (which doesn't excuse speeding either!) However, on Tuesday morning, we had actually left about 5 minutes early to go to Emma's dance class, so I know I was not purposely speeding. I was driving along a semi-residential road (one side of the road is mostly farms) when I noticed a police car up ahead. I took my foot off the gas pedal and glanced down. I was probably going about 30-33 mph. I slowed down even more when I knew it was a police car, but as soon as I passed him--BAM--lights are flashing. So, I pull over and he says that he clocked me at 37-39mph (I don't remember what he said because I was thinking there was no way I was going that fast.) But, I didn't argue, I just apologized and explained that I wasn't paying attention. As I said before, I was not in a hurry, and was not purposely pushing the limit. So, he goes back to his car and we wait. Emma is now worried and on the verge of tears because she thinks I am in serious trouble. I was confident though because I have only been pulled over once before (about 3 years ago) and I have never had a ticket, never been in an accident, I have insurance, my car is registered......I am good, right? WRONG! He comes back to the van with a "citation" (since when did they change a "ticket" to a "citation"? Citation sounds a lot worse!) He tells me that I have to call this number and if I don't want it to go on my record, I have to go to traffic school. TRAFFIC SCHOOL?!? Isn't that were people with multiple DUI's or revoked licenses go? Come on!!!! I am a mom--in a mini-van--everyone has their seat belts on--I have a perfect record--and he is telling me I have to go to traffic school! So, I pull away, and I just start crying. Why a "citation"? What happened to my warning? Then, I start to get angry. No one drives 25 mph on that road (several people I talked to didn't even know what the speed limit was on that road). There was no way I was going as fast as he said I was. A light bulb goes on!! It's the end of the month.....he is trying to meet his quota. I drive home an hour later and he is parked on the same road. What cop sits in the same place for an hour? Only those trying to give out tickets! aghaghaghagh I am still fuming (if you can't tell). Now, in five days, I have to call and learn about my trip to traffic school. It was a terrible, no good, very bad day!

P.S. It made me feel a little better later that day because a friend of mine got pulled over for a registration violation and she told me as soon as he was done with her, he pulled someone else over. Met your quota, yet, officer?

IKEA

Miss Kassidi trying on children's hats!
children's IKEA-- most important, most tempting, most expensive

our favorite stand with IKEA supplies

#14!

This month, for our girl's get-together my friends and I went to lunch at Zupa's (very yummy) and shopping at IKEA. Holy cow--what a store! My friends weren't kidding when they said that it takes at least two hours to see the whole store! The coolest part was the stand at the front of the store that had a measuring tape, little pencil, and a paper to write down your shopping list. What a great idea! (sorry girls, I had to embarrass you by getting our picture taken here!) I loved children's section....so many cute things (I could spend too much money there). Walking through the store just made me want to organize everything with all their little containers, jars, buckets, and baskets! I did buy some buckets for our basement in hopes of getting the toys more organized (I might need more than two, so I guess I will have to go back!) In the end, my feet were a little tired, my eyes a little filmy, my throat a little dry, my bank account a little smaller, and my "30 List" a little shorter! #14 Shop at IKEA. Check!

It's My Blogiversary!

Today is my 1st Blogiversary! One year ago on this day, I entered my first post. Only slightly before that had I learned what a blog was! And I have loved it! At times, it has been rather addictive. It definitely has been more fun to read the happenings of other people than to sit and watch t.v. I glanced back at some of the titles of my earlier posts and I started remembering things that had happened in the last year that I had forgotten about. It has been a great way to journal our lives and I hope to make the last year into a book for the girls to look back on (since I don't develop many pictures in this digital age!) I wish I could give away something fabulous like some of my other friends have done on their blogiversaries, but as you know, I am just not creative. So, instead I am encouraging everyone to go smash cake in their faces like other traditional birthdays or anniversaries! Wahooo!

The Enchanted Woods

Happy with their treat bags

Annie Oakley (who is also a friend of ours!)
are you giving me treats, Dad?

Listening intently to a hero

In September, I purchased a membership for the girls to the Treehouse Museum in Ogden. I thought it would be a fun place to take Brielle on days we were by ourselves or we could go there with Emma during the winter for something fun to do. Well, in October, the Treehouse Museum does "The Enchanted Woods" on the weekends. This year the theme was "heroes" so the kids went on a quest to find 5 dragons in order to discover the magic word that would put the dragon (who was causing a lot of trouble) to sleep. Along the way, they met about 10 storybook heroes who told their story of courage and gave the kids a treat. It was so much fun. A lot of the heroes were teenagers who did a great job. Emma was totally enthralled with their stories and Brielle did pretty well when she realized they were putting prizes in her bag. It only took an hour and Emma even got to wear her costume! Definitely something we would do again!

Snow?!?!?

So we went from enjoying the warm weather at the pumpkin patch on Thursday to playing in 12 inches of snow on Sunday! We usually don't get that much snow since we live closer to the lake, but our area hit record amounts! Emma couldn't stop saying how beautiful it was as we drove to church. It was perfect snow for building a snowman and Emma could have played outside all day. Luckily, Nick had bought a snowsuit for Brielle a couple of weeks ago, so she was able to go outside, too (She wasn't quite sure about it, though!) It was a fun surprise to have a snow day especially when we topped it off with hot chocolate! Yum!

Black Island Farms Fieldtrip

Emma's cute little class
Brielle was so proud of her pumpkin
cute sisters
Emma coming down the hay slide
catching a ride on the cow train

Pickin' Pumpkins! For Emma's field trip this month we went to Black Island Farms. We had taken Emma there before when she was probably 1 1/2 years old, but it has changed quite a bit! You still get to go on a tractor ride out to their pumpkin field where you get to pick a pumpkin off the vine! But they now have a huge open field with hay slides, a train ride, a maze, an inflatable pumpkin to bounce in, a corn kernel box to dig through, pig races, and all sorts of farm animals. We had a great time and picked some pretty perfect pumpkins!

My "30" List

I love the fall. I love "back to school" season. I love the cooler weather. I love the fresh garden vegetables. I love to wear jackets (some people love shoes--I love jackets!) I also love September because it's my birthday month and I love my birthday. This year was a little different. I wasn't quite as excited to approach my 29th year. The last year in my "twenties"? Where had the time gone? Ten years ago, I looked forward to my twenties. That was when everything exciting was going to happen! Moving away from home, going to college, living on my own, working, dating, finding a career path, falling in love, getting married, being a "newlywed", getting pregnant, having children, etc. Luckily for me a lot of those things happened and I wouldn't change where my life is at right now. But the "thirties?" It sounds like a whole new dimension! It just seems kind of......boring? Not that boring is bad. But I don't expect big life changes in contrast to all the changes I went through in my twenties. (At least I hope there are no huge changes!) So, I guess the fear of turning 30 is two-fold: what will the next ten years be like (a.k.a. how will I change) and how can I "spice" up the next ten years as we go about our daily life? So, I came up with an idea....

What would be 29 things I would want to do before I am 30? This was really hard. Harder than I thought. Some things I knew I would do anyway, so why make it part of the list? I wanted things that would take some planning and time to accomplish. It has taken me almost two months to finish my list and it is similar to a "bucket list", only there are only 29 things to accomplish and I have until I am 30 to complete them. Now, don't expect any wild and crazy stuff because I am not a wild and crazy girl! I just wrote down some things that I would personally like to do/see, things I would like to do/see with my family, spiritual things, and also some "projects" that I can never seem to get to (you will know which ones I mean)! I hope that by posting this "30 List" on my blog, I will be more motivated to accomplish them (similar to writing down New Year's Resolutions). I also plan to print it off so it can be somewhere visible in my house. It should be a lot of fun. I am looking forward to doing everything on my list, so I think this 29th year will actually be great!!!! (I'm also going have my list on the sidebar and when I accomplish something it will disappear! Oh, how I love crossing things off my list!!)

1. Ride Frontrunner (done 09/08)
2. Go to a National Park
3. Participate in the All-you-can-eat-ice cream at the Utah State Fair
4. Clean out my cupboards
5. Lose 9 pounds
6. Take an LDS Institute class
7. Test drive a Mini-Cooper (my dream car)
8. Go on an overnight trip without kids!
9. Do the 12 Days of Christmas for someone
10. Hike to the Timpanogos Cave
11. Attend a General Conference session
12. Make home-made salsa
13. Start a new family tradition
14. Shop at IKEA
15. Run in a 5K
16. Go to a State Park
17. Make a will
18. Read the Book of Mormon (again)
19. Clean my blinds
20. Star-gaze at Antelope Island
21. Attend the temple (12 times)
22. Finish Christmas shopping by Dec 1st
23. Take a college course
24. Attend a concert with Nick
25. Be current on the girls photo album/baby books
26. Stay up until 12:00am on New Year's Eve
27. Read the required "missionary" books
28. Buy a nice swimsuit
29. Write a letter to my girls about motherhood

Preschool Fieldtrip--Dinosaur Park

Emma's Preschool Class
Emma and Jill (her cousin)
making dinosaur masks
Brielle loves to color
my favorite picture--Brielle with crazy hair & a bunch of moms with cameras!

Nick went with Emma's class to this field trip which worked out great because he has never been there. It looks like they had a lot of fun and got to see other area's of the park that we didn't see last time we were there!

More Pictures!

I know, I know...I should have just created a slide show!

Family Pictures