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.

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.

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.

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.

complaint department...

someone, who shall remain nameless but still married to my neighbor, complained that I hadn't updated my blog lately. well, I'm sorry Mr. Have One Kid And No Dog, let me be sure and supply you with what's going on here...like you don't already know.

Rob spent the weekend with the kids, the vet and the guy at the drum store...that should give you a hint as to the happenings at my house.

• now were are broke but the vet isn't, everything is coming out ok....if you know what I mean.

• we are now really broke but we're assuming caleb's world wide tour will cover any expenses we may have down the road. just keep your ears open for the drumming pianist...it'll be a big hit, i promise. i'm sure simon will just love it. if not, there's always paula...

• ben is starting to love baseball...his batting practice lasted a really long time today...until all the water balloons were gone. that's when i started my sweeping practice.

• sarah is continuing to get taller every day, which is just great...she's already outgrown her 2nd violin. "no thank you sir, we'd rather buy, not rent, she'll be playing this one for at least 2 years..."

• now we don't have enough money to buy a new scale, mine is obviously broken...

so there. nothing too exciting to report but I thought I better post something...I would hate for "someone" to stop reading my blog... that would cut my audience in half!

oh say can you see...

we have a hundred july 4th pictures...but this is just a sampling of the American spirit we put out every year. it's great, it's over the top, could be considered obnoxious, but we have so much fun we really don't care. of course, it did take 3 or 4 days to get the blue off ben's scalp...

talk about a ride...

we always go to atlanta for july 4th (in fact, last year caleb asked "why don't we have fireworks in nashville...?" because we've not been here to see them that he can remember) i thought that was funny...

anyway, we spent a day at six flags - ben saw thomas the train (an all-time family favorite around here!) and it didn't rain so it was a perfect day.

FACTS FROM THE TRIP:
ben rode his first real coaster - for kids 36 inches tall
sarah rode her first BIG kid coaster for kids over 42 inches
caleb didn't throw up...and he rode everything!
one $13 free-refill plastic six flags cup can feed family of 5 + cousins ALL day

we have a lot of pictures. the video is of sarah's last ride of the night. the park was closing and we decided to ride one more coaster...sure enough, no one was in line, sarah and her cousin sat in front and they let us ride it 4 times in a row...that was really cool.