Saturday, December 27, 2008

remind me....


well, sure enough it happened again. Christmas cards not mailed. I have about 20 envelopes staring at me.....mocking me.

note to self: new years's cards.

here's what they looked like if you haven't received yours yet....sorry. don't hold your breath.

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

sooo cool!



we took the kids to see Grinch in Ice....it was incredible. the entire concept is still mind boggling but the final product was just awe-inspiring. i'm not over-selling it... it was 9 degrees but the kids just kept asking to stay longer. we all were frozen but we've never seen anything like it.

(and yes, i did make the kids hold hands like the who-ville kids.....i thought it was funny. they did not)

the video is of the little slide....it was a huge hit!



Tuesday, December 16, 2008

this!


it drives caleb nuts that i post stuff like this.....we are WAY too close to the teenage years to impose on his "coolness" but THIS is worth the risk.

no doubt ben and millie are friends....ben and sarah are definitely playmates...but ben and caleb don't always find time to themselves. caleb asked ben to "sleep-over" and usually ben is too attached to his own space/bed but he jumped at the chance to "tuck in caleb."

THIS is what it's all about......(remind me later....when i forget).

Sunday, December 14, 2008

what's up




rob started this (let's be honest, it's always his fault)...but he hung up one of ben's monkeys on the bunk bed....and now, we have this.

an entire zoo hanging from ben's bed. brings a whole new meaning to "clean UP your room."

Friday, December 12, 2008

2nd grade...



sarah is in 2nd grade this year...lots of drama. i don't remember being allowed to have drama...i just remember passing notes with a boy in class and having to stay in from recess to clean up toys.

that's me, on the top row, big shock...

thanks to facebook i am actually able to get in touch with a few kids in this class! can you believe that!

ahhhh, 2nd grade.....recess, buying lunch and spelling tests.

(i may need to take this picture to my hairdresser.....i really like the color of my hair.)

Monday, December 8, 2008

finally, a post NOT about my kids...



Are you Martha or Maxine?

• Stuff a miniature marshmallow in the bottom of an ice cream cone to prevent ice cream drips.
• Just suck the ice cream out of the bottom of the cone, for Pete's sake! You are probably lying on the couch with your feet up eating it, anyway!

• To keep potatoes from budding, place an apple in the bag with the potatoes.
• Buy Hungry Jack mashed potato mix. Keeps in the pantry for up to a year

• When a cake recipe calls for flouring the baking pan, use a bit of the dry cake mix instead and there won't be any white mess on the outside of the cake.
• Go to the bakery! They'll even decorate it for you!

• If you accidentally over-salt a dish while it's still cooking, drop in a peeled potato and it will absorb the excess salt for an instant 'fix-me-up.'
• If you over-salt a dish while you are cooking, that's too bad. Please recite with me the real woman's motto: 'I made it, you will eat it and I don't care how bad it tastes!'

• Wrap celery in aluminum foil when putting in the refrigerator and it will keep for weeks.
• Celery? Never heard of it!

• Brush some beaten egg white over pie crust before baking to yield a beautiful glossy finish.
• The Mrs. Smith frozen pie directions do not include brushing egg whites over the crust, so I don't.

• Cure for headaches: take a lime, cut it in half and rub it on your forehead. The throbbing will go away.
• Take a lime, mix it with tequila, chill and drink! All your pains go away!

• If you have a problem opening jars, try using latex dish washing gloves. They give a non-slip grip that makes opening jars easy.
• Go ask that very cute neighbor if he can open it for you.

• Don't throw out all that leftover wine. Freeze into ice cubes for future use in casseroles and sauces.
• Leftover wine??????????? HELLO!!!!!!!

Thursday, December 4, 2008

type casting

sarah's teacher is pretty creative...which is a great fit for sarah. they do a lot of reader's theaters to encourage more reading. sarah got to choose her role and she picked the part of the donkey...

caleb's exact words, "well that's just perfect."

Monday, December 1, 2008

that time of year...








caleb had waaaaaay too much energy last weekend so i said "go rake leaves...." and had no idea he would do it. oops.

so that took the rest of our day.....37 bags later (just the backyard). the kids had fun, i considered it a work out, rob marked it off his list, millie played and i had something to post on my blog....not bad for one afternoon.

caleb asked for the camera to take a picture of the bags - probably to document the work and to use against us later when he needs money for something.

oh, and sarah finally lost her top front tooth (you can't really tell since her other tooth has already grown in quite a bit).

Sunday, November 23, 2008

it's not rocket science...


this is the closest we'll ever get to being compared to einstein...or anyone that smart. this is caleb in his 'professor' costume. he loved being on stage...funny since his sister is the one with all the drama, if you know what i mean.

i can't believe i didn't bring my good camera so this is all i've got...caleb/einstein and sarah dancing...or whatever they did with that hula hoop.

ben loved it and totally recognized caleb in his costume and waved at him for the first 20 minutes of the performance.

the past 2 weeks have been hectic so i have more to post....tomorrow, when i wake up.....from a looooooong sleep.

Monday, November 10, 2008

rock on!

www.littlebigstuff.com

well, if you haven't heard already...you are hearing it now...or you will when you click the link.

rob's 2nd musical is wrapping up and we, like all good americans, totally hired our own kid to work in the studio. yep, nepotism at it's finest.

caleb has several solos (he's getting the hang of it...) and sarah got a few lines again this year. she's very "understanding" about the fact she's too young to be in the studio full-time. yeh, right. she's STILL not over it and at this rate...i think she has enough drama to do every character herself!

even ben is singing these songs so i hope you buy, um, i mean, like it!

(caleb has a solo in #2 - the papparazzi line...and then is also the "bad" audition, song #3)

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

what's mine is....

i ran across this picture from the disney show we went to a while back. i forgot to post it (gee, i don't know why i didn't get around to it!)

we shared the box with a friend of a friend so other kids were there....and one little boy REALLY liked the snack ben had ... so ben watched the entire show with his cup holder closely guarded.

Saturday, November 1, 2008

tricky...


ok. so i'm SUPPOSED to post pictures of the kids in their costumes....yeh, i don't have any.

seriously. rob is still in peru so getting 3 kids in costumes, um, and myself, took a little time considering the following:

1. caleb is too cool to go trick or treating BUT he still needed help with his bling. (he WAS going to be Erkel but decided he didn't LOOK like him...hmmm, wonder why. so he decided to be a rapper...he seemed to have a 'theme' this year.)

2. sarah needed her hair to look like a fairy...she wasn't EXACTLY sure what that was BUT we tried about a dozen hair-dos and don'ts. not sure if she was ever really happy but i'm sure we took out a layer of the ozone with the pink hairspray.

3. ben doesn't like costumes despite the fact he plays dress-up almost daily AND his costume was Handy Manny which required jeans, t-shirt and baseball hat. he finally decided 2 hours into the party that he was ready for his costume.

4. jinkies...my costume was pretty easy. a friend took this picture on her phone to send rob...i'm sure he was really excited to get it. i can hear him roll his eyes all the way from here.

i'll post pictures of the kids when my friends send them to me...they had cameras...i had 3 kids in 10 different directions!

Monday, October 27, 2008

tag...

nice to know we never grow too old for games. i've been tagged (actually twice...but who's counting. i was just tooo slow to post my tag so i'll do it now)

RULES:

So here are the rules if I tag you…

1. Link to the person that tagged you.

• already done (both april and kerry are linked)


2. Post the rules on the blog.

• ta-daah


3. Write six random facts about yourself.

• i can totally make a face that looks just like the grinch. seriously.
• sonic diet cokes...my biggest weakness
• the guys at satco know me by name
• i still crack my knuckles
• i have kissed the host of the bachelor (ok, we were 9...but it counts)
• at one point in my life i could jump my own height

(wow. i didn't realize i was so boring)


4. Tag six people at the end of your post.
(i'm tagging some cool blogs that i love drooling over....because i don't have 6 friends)
decor8
creative thursday
mintandsage (go to their website too...cool pics)
my sister-in-law
my friend martha
another mom friend sonya


5. Let each person know they have been tagged.

• i'll try


6. Let the taggers know when your entry is up.

• okey-dokey

Monday, October 20, 2008

cry baby


for spirit week at school the kids all wore jerseys....of course ben had to wear one too even though he was just staying home with me.

he cried...maybe it's because he didn't get to go to school with the big kids...or maybe it's because he was wearing a Chiefs jersey.

sorry honey.

Saturday, October 18, 2008

these boots are made for...


running the mile apparently.

the last day before fall break sarah dressed for school in boots for their class fall party...totally forgetting that she had gym (and why would i keep track of that, it's not like i'm her mom...)

i was stopped by the gym teacher in the hall after the party...she told me to ask sarah what she did today. immediately my mind raced with "uh-oh" and she just laughed and said, "no, it's not bad, just ask her"

so i did.

she had to run the mile...in her boots.

she did it...like it was no big deal. i guess there is a little texas blood in her.

that's my girl.

Sunday, October 12, 2008

duh...

it's called music city for a reason. tonight we got free tickets to a concert...i thought it was just a choir concert (no offense choir people) but it was so much more.

it was the 25th anniversary celebration of michael w. smith with MANY guests including 3 american idol favorites (phil stacy, melinda doolittle and jordin sparks) plus wynonna judd - she was great and definitely owned the stage! ricky skaggs and amy grant....

i was extremely surprised by the music...i felt pretty cool until....this happened.

we had great seats, down front...very cool. after phil stacy sang rob said outloud to his friend sitting next to him, "wow, that was great. makes me wish i would have voted for him on american idol..." ha-ha.

we were sitting DIRECTLY behind phil stacy's wife. duh.

nice.

and for a side note, we ate dinner afterwards (we HAD to, we had a sitter....woo-hoo) and i saw kelly pickler!!! i wanted to jump up and take our picture together to boost my blog rating but i didn't react quickly enough. if you don't jump and take advantage of the moment at the time or recognizing a famous person you immediately drop from fan to "weird person staring at famous person."

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

silence is golden...

sarah had her fist violin workshop over the weekend. i remember a few from when i was young, they were fun (mostly because i didn't know too many songs so i got to run around a lot)...but i was a little worried that it would be too much of a good thing for her (like stuffing your mouth with marshmellows...they taste good one at a time but too many and you just gag.)

anyway, she loved it...all of it. wow. surprised me!

here is one of the reasons / teachers...not your typical teaching style. it may seem weird to you but after being told over and over what to do and what not to do (by me or rob of course) this teacher just walked up, said nothing and just started 'doing'....and they followed along better than they had all day.

yes, he eventually talked...and laughed...i just thought sitting there, observing the kids, how amazing it was that the kids just set up and jumped right in (and i didn't even have to boss anyone woo-hoo!)

sarah's actual teacher set up the entire workshop and it wasn't until saturday at lunch that all the parents realized we did NOTHING to help...she didn't ask us to bake cookies or anything and the whole workshop was unbelievably organized (so there's your first hint that i didn't help). wow again.

if you can't pick out sarah she is on the far left in the brown shirt - you know, the cute one.


Tuesday, September 30, 2008

milestone


if you have a girl you'll get the significance of this post...sarah can FINALLY fix her own hair. she worked and worked to get these 'ponytails' just right...she wanted them to look kind of messy and tucked in so this is actually the "look" she was going for - it's been a looooooooong road for us.

i did cringe yesterday when she said she wanted to learn how to braid.......by the way, this is exactly what rob would look like if he had pigtails. seriously.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

artist in residence


our kids draw..they love it and sometimes they even use paper.

ben loves to draw. at his 3 year check up the nurse asked him to draw a circle so he did ... a circle with eyes, hair, ears, a mouth, nose and legs, arms...

that brings me to this picture ben drew at lunch. he was VERY proud of it. he couldn't wait to tell the waitress ALL about it, every part...EVERY part. he named each part, the eyes, the ears, the hair, the 2 arms....the 2 legs and the other "leg".

that poor waitress...how do you respond to a 3 year old giving an anatomy lesson during the lunch rush?

we haven't been back to that restaurant yet.

Monday, September 22, 2008

blog wars

long long ago in a galaxy far far away...rob and i argued about "who gets what" on the blog. (it's our own competition...number of visitors, hits per day, you know, the superficial no one else really cares kind of stuff).

because i got the latest blood shed with ben rob laid claim to sarah's debut at church yesterday...

there is no rule against linking....so here she is

unfortunately....she LOVED performing. yikes. we can't afford another musician in the family. we just got another .05¢ royalty check again the other day.

:)

Sunday, September 21, 2008

the rest of the story...

i didn't want to go to press until i had the full story...i had no idea i had such a captive audience.

here's what "supposedly" happened...

sarah and our other daughter/neighbor were playing with ben...they zipped him up in a folding chair carrying bag and were holding him and walking around. of course, he loved it, he had their full attention and could "breathe, mom, we didn't zip his head, just to up above his elbows."

the girls put him down ("please put him down girls, you might drop him and he could get hurt") and when they put him down he tried to take a step...in the zipped up bag. ouch.

that's it, nothing too unusual...except that everyone actually had the same story, even ben.

of course he fell on the playground this morning at church....and i'll give you ONE guess what he hit.

yep.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

join the club...

the new family trait...stitches on the chin. i had them (thanks anya for throwing me in the pool, i almost made it to the water). sarah got her chin stitches a few years ago when she tripped at a restaurant and hit the table. tonight ben joined the club (actually, i guess he's an honorary member because they used surgical glue instead of stitches. i hope our insurance covers "glue.")

ben is such a trooper...amazing. he was so excited when the assistant tried to take his blood pressure with the infant device and said, "man, your muscles are too big, i can't use this one..." ben smiled REALLY big like, that's right.

ben went to bed with his favorite buddy, bobby...after he applied matching spider-man band-aids.

caleb went to bed wondering when it'll be his turn and after rob's day (check out his post) i'm thinking he may be next...

Sunday, September 14, 2008

like mother...

SCENE: ben walking through the hall at church - he spots the bucket of chocolate kisses on the sign-in desk...

ben says (or yells, whichever)
"CHOCOLAAAATE....me, me, me"

I say (in my best parenting voice since we ARE at church...)
"what do you say?"

his reply: "i want TWO!"

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

now and then...


for caleb's 5th (and final grade) at the elementary school we have the option to put a little ad in the directory so of course we did...

i pulled some old pictures and couldn't believe how much he looks the same but different...

and to have the same group of boys in the neighborhood has been the best thing ever!

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Mr. Happy


with caleb and sarah in school all day ben is a little bored...his entertainment is gone.

thankfully our church has a little kid-care going this year and ben gets to go to "big school" just twice a week for a few hours. he has 3 years until kindergarten...3 years til caleb is a teenager, 3 years til sarah hits double digits, 3 years til millie stops chewing stuff...3 years til the house is clean.

this was ben on his first day at "big school"...we got there early, seriously, i did. we played on the playground for a while before class and he got to hang out with kids his age. wow. what a concept!

i know what you're thinking, "he's really dressed up for his first day..." well, his new favorite shirt is Mr. Happy and in order for him to BE Mr. Happy i didn't really fight him on his wardrobe.


Tuesday, August 26, 2008

good clean fun



you know those days when you're trying to get stuff done around the house and you just want the kids to entertain themselves for a little while...well, this is what i get for cleaning the house. i'll never do that again!

clean house, filthy kids.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

cutting it close...


notice ben's recent handywork? yep. right before the wedding ben heard us talking about a haircut and he beat us to it. we disguised it as best as possible last weekend and assumed ben wouldn't stand still long enough for anyone to really notice.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

wedding crashers




we spent the weekend in kansas city. rob's neighbor growing up FINALLY got married (no pressure). they were brave enough to ask the kids to be involved. (even the wedding photographer thought the blonde kids were mine and the brunettes were my sister-in-law's...we still think that's funny.) as you can see the kids had plenty to do while we were waiting...

HERE'S HOW THE WEEKEND PLAYED OUT:

- caleb and hogan lit candles (thankfully, nothing else) and survived wearing a real tux (after much eye rolling)

- sydney and sarah would have worn their dresses all weekend if we let them...they were in the wedding party and greeted guests and passed out programs

- ben was the ring bearer...he took his job VERY seriously and got to the end of the aisle, looked up at the groom and back down at the fake rings on the pillow...then proceeded to rip them off the pillow to hand over

- the kids danced til midnight...seriously, even ben

- sydney caught the bouquet

- caleb caught the garter

- we caught a flight home sunday night

- we're all hoping to catch up on some sleep

Saturday, August 9, 2008

in moderation...

please keep in mind it was his birthday so we let him have full access to the cheese...not a typical treat so he REALLY enjoyed the freedom...obviously a little too much.

if you think you know...you don't. just watch...until the very end.

(germ-a-phobes beware)

Thursday, August 7, 2008

best day ever...







i'm sure you've been worried about me all week...and i thank you for your concern. we kicked off the week with ben's 3rd birthday and i crashed with an ear infection and am recovering slowly. i don't mean to sound like a whiner...but wow, it was bad.

back to ben...ahhh, to be 3 again. his birthday wishes included:

DONUTS (can't blame him)
BOUNCY BALLS (the people at Old Navy thought we were nuts...we walked in with an empty bucket and $4 in quarters...ben thought it was HYSTERICAL!)
SWIMMING
PIZZA (at chuck e cheese of course!)

we threw in a big balloon of his hero 'Pablo' from the Backyardigans and ta-daah. perfect day.

we just finished off his birthday cake yesterday and he was running down the hall yelling "it gone...gone, we neeeeed cookie cake with Pablo on it."

i'm so proud.

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

taking a 'break'




with 3 kids 'employed' here at the home office i KNEW this was going to happen. my desk broke. i'm not sure if it was the amount of dust that finally made the faux-wood give way or the kids climbing on it...

either way we had to finally fix the problem. we decided to clean the office (well, i didn't 'decide' to do that but really just got forced into it...)

we moved the my work space to a niche in the office and made room for caleb's drum set. yep, not enough noise around here already.

anyway, we built a desk. seriously, in our spare time.

here are a few pictures. rob chopped down a tree, split the logs and sanded them down.

ok. not really...but he did size and cut the boards and secure them together so i could do this cool stain and pour a few coats of poly (that thick clear coat like you see at bars...um, that's what someone told me).

well, i LOVE it. i guess now i have to work. darn.

Thursday, July 24, 2008

ain't no mountain high enough...


ok. so rob posted on his blog the trip he's taking, the hike of his life, the mountain he will conquer...blah, blah, macho, blah, mid-life....good idea 6 months ago.

so, here's my mountain to conquer. actually, it's only one of many mountains in the area...very treacherous. i'll be brave and count on my decades of experience in this area to help me through the monotony.

it's not as breathtaking as Colorado (well, i take that back...phew)...and I won't be sending any postcards.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

YES, we wash it...

gee whiz. we may live in tennessee but we do actually wash things...like ben's blanket. way too many comments on the germs people...like i don't have better things to worry about!

fyi...the number one germ collector (according to on-line news) - drum roll please....your purse!

think about it, you carry it everywhere, put it down in and on everything (including the counter or table after it's been on the floor at a restaurant or bathroom.) i just wanted to pass along something for you germ-o-phobes to think about...

happy cleaning.

sorry, i have no picture to post today, i'm steam cleaning my camera.

Monday, July 21, 2008

linus...





blanket goes with us everywhere...even bowling. (i'm sure you are calculating the germs right about now)

i guess it's better than being charlie brown. ben just loves his blanket. it's more like a fuzzy companion...a good friend. ben was MORE than excited about wearing REAL bowling shoes, he asked over and over before the party, "my oooown shoes bowling mommy?"

ahhhh, simple pleasures. of course, they were several sizes too big but no one was going to tell him that.

we finally "celebrated" caleb's birthday...4 months late and went bowling. any excuse for more cookie cake! caleb was VERY patient and knew with funerals in the spring that we were going to celebrate a little late...we were just glad to find some friends home for the summer. most everyone is off to camp or vacation.

not us...we're off to the garage to clean. i'll be sure and send you a postcard.