nuthin...

well, i sit here procrastinating...wanting to upload new pictures but my "thinga-majig" doesn't match the "plug in deal" on my camera's "output thingy." how's that for 5 years of college.

so i'm just posting so those of you, i mean both of you, who actually read this blog know that i'm ok, just busy, slightly unorganized and also completely incapable of finding the right "doo-dad" for my camera.

since my last post we have been on a "date with elmo" (which ben LOVED!), had a really good Thanksgiving (thanks to gobblegobble.com - best turkey ever) and one "Christmas morning" (my mom and grandpa bill were in town.) i now need to clean the house for "Christmas morning #2" - dad and karen are coming.

i am working on this year's Christmas card...the first design didn't make it past the judges (i.e. rob's many opinions....) but i am well into the 2nd and final design (regardless of the final score from the judges!)

i got the fancy new blog tree from my friend's blog (bronie - sorry, no finders fee)...so enjoy.

fiddle...i mean, violin

here is a picture of sarah before her recent violin group recital. she looks just like rob (if he wore his hair in a bow...) thankfully another dad in our music group is a photographer so he took pictures for all of us. she played several pieces - her favorite one being the fiddle stuff - "Boil 'em Cabbage Down". yee-haw.

sideline seats

another flag football season over...at least we ended up with a better record than the Kansas City Chiefs will probably have. This is the first game (the last game of the season) where I could actually take pictures instead of tackling Ben in the end zone the entire game. Next year we have the possibility of 'real' football - full pads, full tackle, full schedule...not sure who will chicken out first...me or Caleb.

little big news...

it's officially - official. not sure how to word that but...rob's new adventure with friend and former boss from Word Music, David Guthrie, is ready to go. you can listen to their first kids' musical on-line for free...and check out the cool logo and book cover (shameless self promotion).

and yes, ...caleb has a solo (#15 'Life is Good with Jesus...the first solo "i give my life to you...." that part.)

www.littlebigstuff.com

i'm going to try and be cool and put a link the website...i hope it works.

when the cat's away...

well, this is what happens when you leave town/work for 10 days...this is, or was, rob's office. i can't even type...i'm still laughing.

he's home

well, rob made it back safely...no pictures to mark his crash and burn once he hit the bed. we celebrated by eating at our FAVORITE place...SATCO! the kids are both dragging stuff to school tomorrow for show and tell.

el shrek

how funny that rob found shrek in peru. disney is EVERYWHERE....scary.

caleb got a gold medal today at school...still not totally sure how his name got pulled but who cares - he's happy. the weather has been unbelievable this week so we've been outside as much as possible. that's it for now...less than 48 hours til rob is home - the kids are definitely counting!

candy hangover...

we survived halloween. the weather was perfect and i sent both the older kids off with friends...it was the easiest year yet! ben stayed home with me to pass out candy...he spilled 3 millions nerds all over the den. i ate more candy than i gave away to trick or treaters. all in all, we passed out around 11:00 pm and were not late to school this morning....so life is good!

update from peru

rob has been able to e-mail daily (which is amazing to me...how simple it is to communicate these days no matter where you are) and he actually called this morning. the kids were ELATED! ben was still asleep but he must have heard me tell the kids "dad's on the phone!" because he started yelling "i wake - i wake mommy!"

from rob: "My talk went well and people really understood what I was saying. We served them communion which was amazing. To look into their face as we served them the elements ... they stood and we walked from person to person—actually stood to form a cross—the chairs were set up with the aisles to form a cross. It was pretty amazing. They were wiping their eyes as we served and told them, Dios te bendega, which means, God bless you. When we were finished, I gave the benediction and used, “Depart now in the fellowship of God the Father ...” and when I got to, “By the goodness of God you were born into this world,” I caught myself thinking about God placing them in Peru at this time—extreme poverty, struggle, etc., and why not me? I’m getting a much bigger picture of God."

rob is looking cute with his scruffy face...he hasn't gotten sick but several from their team have been (everything from exhaustion to stomach "issues").