sisters...

i think the last time we had our picture taken together was.....well, a very long time ago.

NOW photo taken at mom's wedding reception: me, bettina and anya.
THEN photo sometime around 1975ish?: bettina (our horse dixie) me, then anya.

nice to know that my highlights in my hair still match (although they cost more now...)

what goes down...

well, we had so many people ask about our drive back to texas that i assumed everyone heard this story. of course, a picture is worth a thousand words...and a few dozen pieces of macaroni and cheese.

just 2 hours away from home we stopped to eat dinner and, as you can see, ben had some macaroni and cheese. well, this is what happens when you don't chew. it WAS a brand new car seat...

isn't it nice that we stopped to capture it on film...we're saving this one for the high school graduation.

sleep number...

well, no more complaining that we 'need' a king size bed. this is a picture of rob's accommodations in peru this week. when the kids saw this they kind of laughed - they were thinking what i was thinking..."guess dad won't be able to sleep in."

rob is able to e-mail us and said that it is hard to sleep with all the noise of the roosters and other animals. i am thinking of teaching ben how to crow while he's gone.

the other picture is the view from the church where they are staying. rob is trying to e-mail pictures for the kids all week so i'm sure i'll have more to post later.

happy birthday

today is my dad's birthday...and if he ever checked the blog he'll see this group shot from his birthday party! the cousins had fun being together...i don't have any cousins so i always love it when the kids get to be around each other. (can you tell we're in texas....caleb has on his dallas stars jersey and his university of texas hat!)

first paying gig.....

more pictures from the wedding weekend....caleb played the piano and sarah played the violin at the ceremony. it was very sweet. ben just played the audience....he loves a crowd! the reception was at the barn and the kids loved being able to run.

which one of these....

ok. perfect picture to sum up ben's personality....the kids were all dressed up for my mom's wedding and i thought it would be a great opportunity for a nice group shot. oh well. at least they are in focus (kind of....)

95 degree pumpkins....

every year we've been out to a farm to get our pumpkins (usually in sweatshirts and jackets....) and this year was really HOT! it definitely didn't feel like fall but we still did the corn maze and tried to snap a few pictures in the shade. ben especially enjoyed trying to see the animals....i took the picture of him climbing the fence just a few feet away from the "do not climb the fence" sign.

good-bye....

our maggie died this past thursday....i think ben misses her the most. he has a stuffed animal that looks just like her and keeps asking for 'maggie' - so i bring him his stuffed dog and he'll tell me, 'no, BIG maggie.' she was almost 12 and the house seems very quiet....well, not QUIET, but less loud.

pajama day!

Ahhh, don't you wish we had a universal pajama day. A day where you could run errands in your pajamas. The kids had a spirit week at school (crazy hat day, pajama day and school t-shirt day) and they took it very seriously. Ben HAD to wear a hat in the carpool line for crazy hat day. The week ended with Sarah being sick so we had pajama weekend. I'm hoping the school will have no whining day, clean your room day and be nice to your siblings day next year.