Hoodwinked

My 5-year old is the con artist. I am the mark. I have fallen for a "long con" that is the oldest scam in the book.

I have been so proud of him for the past month. Each day, after Mila leaves for school, he disappears into his room. I hear the familiar clumping of toys being tossed into their appropriate bins and I smile to myself. After a while, he comes out and announces, "Mom, I cleaned my room!" and I go to inspect. Sure enough, it is always spic and span (what does that even mean?) He goes off to play and I pat myself on the back for being an awesome mom by making my son work. I have even bragged about him to my friends.

Today is Friday, which means that he is allowed to play XBox. Basically, he's waited all week long for this day. So the stakes are pretty high as far as the whole "cleaning the room" end of the deal goes. As I went in for my regular room inspection this morning, I noticed two things: 1)The toy bins, normally overflowing with Mystery Inc. characters and Storm Troopers, were only half-filled at best, and 2)At the foot of the bed, various arms and legs were poking out as well as some book pages.

I bent down to quickly snatch up the half-hidden objects and upon sweeping my hand under the bed, I was surprised at the amount of obstacles that stood in my way. I decided to take a quick peek under the dust ruffle. Well, much to my horror, what I saw was about six inches of space JAM-PACKED with toys, books and stuffed animals. There was not an inch to be spared! It looked like some crazy, freaky dump-site for plastic corpses. Also, he sleeps in a queen-sized bed. Yeah. So basically, he has been playing shove-o-rama for an ENTIRE month!

I have gotten out about half of the "buried treasure," but I am going to need a broomstick or something to retrieve the rest. He is so busted.

As for me, how could I have been so blind? I can't believe I fell for the whole "Mommy-I-love-you-so-much-I'll-do-manual-labor-for-you-every-morning!" act. Well, it's not going to be so easy in the future--now I'm jaded. That kid's not getting anything by me!

Now I just need to work on getting more details on Mila and her "boyfriend"...

A Bit 'o' Fun

Our show on Monday night was so much fun! Orlando was charming as ALWAYS and so much fun to hang out with. In the first half, we improvised a Shakespeare play, and it was one of our best ever! The costumes, sets, and background music were gorgeous, and everyone played their parts to a tee. I had a blast! For the second half, we transformed into Irish peasants for a musical. It had a few little quirks but was still enjoyable. And challenging! Did I mention I had to play two characters? Yep, a mother and daughter that looked exactly alike. (Thanks for that, Mac!) It was good times. And the audience was SO wonderful! Thanks to everyone who came!

P.S. Lisa's "bundle" in the first picture is none other than her real live beautiful baby Margaret. I begged her to do the show and, being the awesome woman that she is, she obliged! Thanks to Lisa's mom, who was on baby duty during the show!

Sticky rice, much?

Lucy

Lane

15 months

Darby O'Thrill and the Little People (does that sound like a band name?)

Don't you think it's kind of sad when a day comes along that is supposed to be a holiday, but it feels like every other day? St. Patrick's Day is kind of like that for me. I mean, I have to admit, I've never had an experience like this on that day. (In my opinion, that has to be the funniest St. Patrick's Day story EVER. And I will always remember it because it happened to my friend Patrick.) So I wear my green and try to feel festive, but let's be honest, if you're not into heavy drinking, there's not really much else to this day.

Until now.

The Thrillionaires have decided to take matters into their own hands and make THIS St. Patrick's Day one to remember. We're bringing in the ultra suave, super dapper Orlando Seale from across the pond to join us for a rip-stomping Shakespeare play and all-out Irish fun. The show will begin at 8 pm at the Covey Arts Center in Provo. This performance also marks our two year anniversary as a troupe! You do not want to miss it! Go to www.coveycenter.org or call 801-852-7007 to buy tickets. Leave me a comment if you want to be on a "coupon guest list" that gets you in for $3 off the $10 ticket price. See you there!

For those of you who think I'm the creative one in the family...

Please watch this little movie that my husband and his twin brothers made for their dad for Christmas one year. It is truly remarkable to me that it came from the blood, sweat, and tears of two future dentists and one future lawyer. Job well done, boys. I never knew you had it in you!

P.S. Much like Pixar, Ben has included a special, "tasty" surprise after the credits!