Wasting time...

So I have always been the token photographer in my family...well, maybe I should say I have always been the annoying one in the family (probably out of all of my friends too) that always seems to have a camera on hand & is harping on everyone to "say cheese"! However, everyone can say all they want, but we all know you're so very grateful that I caught so many precious moments on film. I'm just grateful for the invention of the DIGITAL camera & its lovely little "trash bin" feature. I have boxes & boxes filled with...um...less than stellar quality pics.

Anyway, I digress. I got a new camera & I have been fiddling around with it. The boys have been good sports to let me take their pics again, and again, and AGAIN! I know that I should take the time to sit down & read the manual on how to use my new favorite toy, but I am ridiculously high ADHD & just want to take all the wonderful photos now! I'm looking for any excuse to snap shots, so I have been out & about pretending I'm a paparazzi...hmm, there is a job idea...I'm getting off track again...I'm planning to celebrate like a true pioneer for this wonderful Utah holiday by heading down south to St. George to enjoy all that that lovely city has to offer...mainly soaking in the sun, playing some golf & tennis, and (of course) shopping at Krumpets (you all know how I can't contain myself in that store... I LOVE IT!!! If you haven't been, it's a must next time you are in Jorge's saintly city). Anywho, this time around I'll have my new camera to catch some of the lovely sites for all to see:) So be sure to check back.

For now, I went ahead & posted a few of some of my latest...enjoy!

Aidan Thomas

Dylan Benjamin

It's all about the Benjamins

Does this look like the face of someone that

"HATES SWIMMING 'CUZ IT'S STUUUPID!!!!!"?

Dylan is in swim lessons right now & like everything else with this little boy, you never know what to expect 'til you are right in the thick of it. Keep in mind, that he already knows how to swim very well & was actually going to try out for swim team this year. HOWEVER, for some odd reason, he has decided that he is terrified of the water now & acts like he doesn't know what to do. The after his first day his teacher looked at me like "um...what is this kid doing in this level", but I explained to her the situation & that I am really just trying to acclimate him to the pool again so he remembers all the joys swimming has to offer.

We were in luck the first few days since he was having sooo much fun & really liked his teachers...UNTIL the boy teacher was sick one day. When the girl substitute showed up, all enthusiasm waned quickly. Ugh! Here we go...he refused to swim to the girl. He refused to even let go of the wall. He refused to even turn around in the water & look at or speak to the girl. WE ended up leaving.

After some discussion, we negotiated a reward system for going to swim lessons EVEN IF his favorite teacher was not there. He agreed to go every time & we'd celebrate when he was finished with all his lessons by going to 7 peaks Water Park. He was so excited to go back....or so I thought.

We went to our next lesson & he was literally dragging me so he would not be late. As we approached the pool, he looked to his class' normal spot & saw a completely different teacher. He freaked out & that's when he refused to go in. He not only insisted that swimming was boring & dumb, but that I WOULD be taking him to 7 Peaks even if he didn't go to swim lessons. AHEM! I don't think so. After lots of tears & screaming, he decided he didn't care if he went to 7 Peaks & he was NOT going in that stinkin' pool! Great! Now what do I do?

Well, I'm sure everyone will shake their heads in disgust, but I opted for the old "buy them off" route. I offered him the opportunity to earn a crisp, clean $1 bill for every lesson that he went to. He then could either go to the gas station or dollar store to buy a prize OR save up the money & buy something bigger later. I CAN'T BELIEVE IT WORKED!!! I showed him the dollar & he was good to go.

I brought my camera to catch the return of his enthusiasm...the funniest part, a woman walked up to me & said, "WOW! That's a big change from yesterday." At first I was embarrassed & started to apologize, but she said that I handled the whole thing very well. So Kudos to me for doing something right on the mom-front. Oh happy day! :)

S'More Summer Fun, PLEASE!!!

We seriously live in the BEST neighborhood.

The other night my gal pal, Canesa, decided to throw together a last minute neighborhood marshmallow roast. The Rowleys' dragged out their fire pit, while everyone poured out of their homes with their children, chairs & chewy treats...yeah that was a sorry attempt at some clever alliteration...oh well...

Anyway, fun was had by all as the adults had a chance to sit around & catch up with each other while the children ran around wild hopped up on sugar playing night games to their heart's content.

Thanks again, Burt & Canesa, for being so spontaneous:)

Who knew the "Gangster's Paradise" was in Pleasant Grove?

Dylan came to me & informed me that he needed some gold chains & gold stuff for his teeth. Apparently, he was a "rapper guy" now. He said that he already had a big shirt, baggy shorts, "cool guy" shoes, & his hat on backwards, SO now all he needed was his BLING!

I have no idea where this came from, but the boys were laughing so hard at trying to act the part that I had to take some pics. Oddly enough, my child that is always good for a scowl kept smiling in every pic. Go figure!


I tried to do the "Chola stare" since I had on my big "Chola hoops" to go along with my "gangster" child, but Aidan upstaged me with his impression. That, plus the fact that I was fresh out of Aquanet to give myself 3 inch high bangs. :)

A special gift...

I received a very special gift the other day from a friend who cares SOOOO much about my well-being...NOT! I had to post this since my friend Canesa's husband was so excited to give me this present. If you know Burt, he loves a good gag & he couldn't resist.

A little background: Canesa & I run with some other friends in the morning. I am notorious for having to use a restroom about every 3 miles (this theory held true as we ran the Canyon this week & sure 'nuff at miles 3, 6, 9, etc...nature called...oh well...). Anyway, after one such morning, Burt commented that we were back early & she let him know why. She didn't think he even heard her since he made no comment (again, if you know Burt, he has a joke for everything. It's what makes us all love him so much). However, Burt held true to his nature. That evening he arrived home with a smile on his face & a gift for ME! A bedpan with some "use in case of emergency" TP...Canesa thought the funniest part was that he spelt my name "Carry". :)

He thought he was soooo clever & funny (which it was). He suggested I set it along the canal so I don't have to run back so far.

Thanks, Burt!

Summertime! Summertime!

I desperately need to update my blog with the whole slew of pics & ancedotes I've been gathering over the last couple of months, but I haven't had a chance. We have been busy, busy, busy with all sorts of activities this summer. The hours have been flying by while we have been enjoying lots of time together doing things like running races (I haven't fully committed to the tri...yet), seeing movie after movie (we are NUTS about movies!!!), participating in all the goodness that is "Strawberry Days", yippin' it up at the Rodeo, going to the library (I LOVE to read! If anyone has any good suggestions, feel free to let me know), swimming at the pool, playing lots of sports (between baseball, golfing, swim team, & football, I'm trying to decide if I am just crazy enough to coach soccer again...we'll see), taking up old hobbies (yep...I dusted off the old guitar...again...) & visiting friends & family. Did I mention we've been busy? :)

I've gone ahead & posted a few things now, but most likely I will do a more proper post later.



Enjoy!

Thinking of you...

No matter what anyone says, there is nothing like getting flowers to brighten your day...especially when it is accompanied with a card that says "thinking of you". I've always thought I was much more practical then the average bear when it came to such frivolous things as flowers, especially since I worked in flower shops in both California & Utah. I am always amazed at how much people will pay for something that will die in just a few days (unless you are one of "those" people that is good about changing the water & trimming the stems...but even THEN, the darn things are going getting slimy & stinky). HOWEVER, when someone is going to randomly fork out the dough for me, well, let's just say I won't shut the door on the delivery guy's face.

Hip! Hip! Hooray for Baby Jake!!!

The long awaited baby brother has arrived!

Baby Jake Ryan Wiseman was born July 3, 2008 @ 11:13 am. Mom had been in labor for over 16 LONG hours before it was decided the little guy wasn't getting out on his own. Donnie was prepped for an emergency c-section & the rest is history. Both Mom & baby are looking & doing great.

He came in at 7 lbs 13 oz & 20 1/2 inches.

He has a ton of blonde hair that his proud mom & dad are already styling in a faux hawk...it is so cute!

Big brother Dyl was able to be at the hospital when Jake arrived. I'm pretty positive that included in the "1000 words this picture could tell" is the phrase..."Dude! Seriously! We are going to have so much fun getting into trouble..."...good luck, Ben & Donnie! :)

Big brother Aidan arrived shortly after with gifts in hand. Since Donnie loves bears, the boys wanted to get Jake a cool bear for his room. Aidan also had a fun time picking out a HUGE balloon & some pretty flowers for Donnie. I love to see my boys so happy & excited.

Today we decided to bring a special treat to the hospital for Ben & Donnie since they were going to "soooo miss Aunt Rachel's 4th of July BBQ" (Dylan cracks me up).

Anyway, tradition has it that on the 4th of July I take the boys to Provo to watch the hot air balloons take off & then we got to Krispy Kreme for some "healthy" breakfast food:) The boys wanted to get Ben, Donnie, AND Jake donuts & hats (you can't forget the hats!). I kept telling Dyl that Jake probably wouldn't have any donuts since he only gets to have milk right now. His reply, "Not uh! Donnie totally feeds him cookies!!! Remember Aidan!?! Remember how she always would feed him cookies when he was in her belly!?!"...yeah...:) Anyway, turned out Jake was sound asleep when we arrived, so we were able to get by the whole "big brother forcing donuts into the new baby's mouth" incident:)

When we were leaving the hospital, Dylan was making laugh at how concerned he was that Dad & Donnie tied up Jake's arms sooo tight & all you could see was his head. I let him know that was called "swaddling" & that babies actually like it.

Apparently that answer wasn't good enough because he kept insisting that his arms were pressed so tight..."like this, Mom!" I thought it was so cute I had to take a pick:)

Needless to say, both Aidan & Dylan are beaming from ear to ear about how COOOOL their new brother is. The best part, they are already wondering when Ben & Donnie are having another one :)

CATCH UP!!!!

Okay, so I am back in business! I hope you can all bear with me as I play catch-up over the next few days. I have a ton of stuff to cover, but this bloggin stuff takes up some serious time...

All of that being said, here we go....

June 17, 2008-- Dylan's 6th Birthday

So I always want to do something special for the boys' birthdays, but this year we were in the midst of our move (okay, we were moved, but had box galore everywhere). Instead, we just seem to drag this particular birthday out for over a week.


Grandma Sherrie always makes a trip out from California to take the boys to lunch & a movie for their birthday. Dylan was so excited & couldn't stop telling everyone about his day with grandma. They went & saw "Kungfu Panda" & then she took him shopping for his present...a HUGE box of Legos!!! Um...okay, let's be honest, pretty much every gift Dyl got this year was some sort of Legos, but he loved every single present. So a special thanks to everyone that got the perfect gift for Dylan this year:)

Also, he is really into "Indiana Jones", so of course his big present was the NEW LEGOS Indiana Jones game for XBox 360. I also made sure I got him a hat that he consistently point out to me everytime we went to Blockbuster:) Of course, let's not forget the IJ books. We argued for quite awhile in the book store over some IJ books (that I had already purchased) that he kept insisting that I could not leave the store without...MOM! I just want them sooooooo much! PLEASEEEEEE!!!!! Needless to say he was so happy to see them when he opened his gifts.

On his actual birthday, we had a pretty low-key night. He got to pick WHEREEVER he wanted to go...Carl's Jr! I think mainly he just wanted to play in the play land, which is completely fine 'cause it's his birthday. We headed over there with the Charlton girls & boy (sorry, I almost lumped the Brockster in with his sisters). We had a good ol' time. Then we headed back to have cupcakes (well, at least lick the frosting & smash some on our faces), build Legos, & play night games with pretty much every kid in the neighborhood.

Dyl was also pretty darn lucky to have a super fun pool party that his Stepmom threw for him. He scored a new bike, a hockey game, & lots of other cool gifts from his cousins.

All in all, he had a pretty cool birthday...or rather week:)

May 30-- The Official Last Day of School...

I always think the last day of school is a little ridiculous here since the kids go for all of an hour or so; however, they love it!...well, 'cept for Dylan. Please note his hair. He refused to let me do it because he was hell bent on not going..."MOM!!!! I graduated yesterday! I DON"T HAVE TO GO ANYMORE!!!!"....yeah...

I had the opportunity once again to be a sponsor for both the boys' classes. Because of all of the wonderful educators in my family, I feel very strongly about giving money to help pay for all those extras most teachers spend their hard earned money on. I so deeply appreciate them & all the wonderful things they have done for my children. Like my mom, eventually, I imagine I will end up in the classroom...hmmm...we'll see...In case some of you didn't know, I was in high school when my mom traded in her stressful career in the financial world for the life of leisure in the classroom...ha ha...that was a joke. Anyway, until then, I enjoy helping when I can.

I also LOVE getting to know the kids.

I have been helping in Aidan's class for the last 3 years, so it has been fun to watch the kids grow.

This year,

Aidan developed...ahem...

quite a following.

I was able to get a pic of some of the girls that loved to come talk to me all about my son...

it's cute now while I know he is still running away from them on the playground.

I'm sure I will be singing a different tune in a few years.

I have to laugh,

when I told Ben about the numerous comments made to me

in regards to

the rather large group of girls chanting Aidan's name while he ran in the race on field day,

there was silence & then a solemn reply...

"You know, Kari, kids are doing things at a younger & younger age these days. I'm just sayin', they're developing much quicker than when we were kids"

...okay, old-timer! Geez! I guess I'll just put back on my rose-colored glasses for a bit longer & pretend that my 8 YEAR OLD is still pretty innocent...now Dyl...we might have to watch out for that one;) Just kidding, I imagine he'd punch a girl before he did anything else...

Aidan & his good pal, Gavin

May 29, 2008-- Dylan's Kindergarten Graduation

I do believe this was the ONLY day that my son was not only eager,

but HAPPY to go to school:)

To quote him exactly,
"This is the BEST DAY EVER!!!!! You want to know why, Mom? Because today I graduate & that means I am DONE! Which is good 'cause I HATE school!!!"

...oh dear, wait 'til he finds out that next year, not only does he have to go twice as long, but they have to actually do homework!

Oh yeah THAT, PLUS he has at least 16 more years to go...nice try, kiddo...

Anyway, here are some pics of the happiest boy EVER on May 29:

Here's Dyl with his good pals, Paul & Rylan...and yes, he is a whole head shorter than both of them. I DO believe he has his father to thank for that:)

Dyl & Mom

Oh Happy Day!!! Dylan was so HAPPY to have Dad & Donnie come to his special day. He must of called them 5x to make sure that they were going to come.