final flop...

we filled out our family sweet 16 brackets and i was hoping to take texas to the final game. oh well.

i even had ben prepared for the play-offs! (don't plan on him singing rocky top anytime soon...)

oh the places you go...

if you haven't seen the latest dr. seuss movie (horton hears a who)....go. it's worth the popcorn and a coke. we loved it...all of us from age 2 - old.

to top off the movie we headed to ihop to eat from their dr. seuss menu...as you can see it was a huge hit. come on...who doesn't love pancakes with a lollipop.

we went to a movie
and went out to eat
and out we all went
we all thought it was neat
out out out we all went

the movie was perfect
down to each little who
and what and whatever
in our seats we were glued

but once it was over
we just couldn't stop
so a trip to eat pancakes
with a pink lollipop

we liked the pink goo
and the blue syrup mess
red and blue jell-o
in the sprite was the best

we liked the things we got to do
we liked the movie and the pancakes too
yes, we liked them and so would you

"not so super" hero

we have spent a lot of time talking about our cousins lately because our youngest cousin, baby luke, is still in the hospital. when we were visiting with them in atlanta we played a lot of video games and i'm proud to announce to cousin hogan...you have inspired a new guitar hero!

ben loves "playing" this video game (guitar hero) and he definitely thinks he's just like hogan and caleb.

(just what we need, another music major. can't wait for more of those .05¢ checks. good thing we have a basement that ben can move back in to when he's out of college and out of a job.)

shoot

tonight was one of those nights where everyone fell asleep EVENTUALLY, no one started off in THEIR own bed and i had to move a few stragglers in order to find my own pillow.

because we have tomorrow off from school we watched a movie and then tried to get everyone to sleep. well, truthfully, i tried to put ben to sleep before the movie, but failed miserably. all that to say when bed time rolled around (later than usual) everyone was too tired to really put up a fight - talking about me and rob. the kids all picked a bed and finally passed out.

i didn't have a problem until just now. i tried to move caleb out of our bed. tonight i realized he's no longer my little boy - and that's an understatement. i got to really laughing as i "wrestled" him in the right direction and tried to "pick" him up once he landed diagonally across his bed.

i know he's getting older, growing taller and all that...but tonight was it, he crossed the line.

and then i realized...i can wear his old t-shirts, his old shoes - well, if i wanted to, and remember the days when you would let your kid win at basketball? gone. i can no longer carry him to bed and he is easily tall enough to ride in the front seat of the car. he was watching the ncaa tournament and not disney channel last weekend.

this is a clip of him at batting practice last week...i thought "he looks so cute playing ball - i'll grab my camera"...and now i realize as i watch it again...wow, he's not so little anymore...

shoot.

one, two, wheeeee!

it's spring break so we took the day to "break" since we are staying in town all week. we headed to the park for some walking (pretend hiking) and we were hoping the kids would run off some energy. we jumped out of the car, ben grabbed sarah and caleb's hands and you could see he had a plan....

"one, two, wheeeeeee!"

boy, some things take you right back to childhood. everyone did this growing up...it's nice to know some things don't change when it comes to kids. (puddles, bugs, sticks, swinging, driving your brother and/or sister nuts, anything that has to do with potty, laughing until milk comes out of something other than your mouth, stickers, crayons...)

oh, i'm not trying to sell you on us being the perfect family today...far from it...halfway up the hill i bossed caleb about holding the dog leash, ben slipped and fell, sarah...hmmm, sarah just made caleb mad (which made sarah happy), rob convinced us that he found a "trail" that led through some trees...i'll let you guess how that one turned out.

we had our moments...some good, some not so good, but that pretty much sums up our parenting. i'm hoping the kids will remember the "wheeeeeeee".

my answer to Rob's helpful hints

so, if you visit rob's blog you'll notice a lovely picture of dishes in our sink (my apologies to my mother-in-law). this is my answer to rob's idea of cleaning the kitchen.

now if i could just figure out how to wrap those swiffer cleaning things around Millie's paws we'd be in business!

art major + music major

there are so many things wrong with this i'm not even sure where to start...

yes, this is a check for .05 cents.

no, it is not a misprint.

here is most everything (edited) that ran through my brain when i opened the envelope...

1. do i seriously drive to the bank and cash this?...gas is $3.00 a gallon
2. how much do stamps cost?
3. i SHOULD drive to the bank and cash this (or should i say coin?)
4. should i ask the bank teller for all pennies?
5. our poor mailman has the flu...i hope he doesn't find out he just delivered a .05¢ check
6. how do you tithe 10% of 5 cents?
7. i'm assuming this is after taxes
8. so this is what my dad was thinking when i told him i was dating a music major in college

and yes, i deleted our mailing address from the scan...i was worried someone might come and steal our riches.

all .05 of them.

i've got to start playing the lottery.

monday is over...whew.

copyright infringment

i'm just saying...i think Cartoon Network owes us a little percentage of the royalties.

Your News First...

first grade that is...today was the first grade program, "wild and wacky weather." perfect for this week in nashville since we started wearing shorts on monday and it's supposed to snow tonight.

sarah had the part of the news caster...they covered all four seasons and ended with an all out boogie to "I'm Walking on Sunshine."

if you are wondering, she learned her princess wave from dad...

parade of fools

i always knew sarah was a leader...this takes the cake (and the wagon and the sled and the basketball and her little brother). the best part was, which you can't see, sarah put a jingle bell bracelet on ben's right arm and told him to shake it and cheer while she pulled him. sure enough, that's exactly what he was doing. he's going to make a great husband. ha.

yes, the goggles were the only form of safety gear issued for this ride. ben could have fallen off the sled and busted his head but at least he would have been able to see the ambulance coming.

rush more...

sarah had an American project due. oops. "we" forgot.

i happened to check the messages that morning and heard my friend asking if the kids were supposed to write a few sentences describing their American project ... panic.

i turned on my calm voice and quickly told sarah we had to have craft time before school. she LOVED that.

play-doh + lightbulb box + 15 minutes = Mount Rushmore

she was proud of her art work.

i was proud no one melted down.

ben was proud of his all his play-doh spread out on the kitchen table (until he realized it was going to school with sarah).

all in all i think sarah's Mt. Rushmore project was pretty appropriate ... after all, that's what i do day to day...rush more.

you bet...

yes, i cropped myself out of the picture and this is why ...

i was feeling pretty good about myself today, i worked out, did plenty of laundry, didn't yell at the kids (yet), finished up a school donation project, didn't have to clean up any potty accidents from the dog or the two year old, finally went to the dentist and also picked up one more freelance design project.

yep. it was monday and i was clipping along just fine ... then ... i went to school to drop off some stuff and run carpool and sure enough, there SHE was — american idol superstar Carrie Underwood (or as one of the first graders asked...."excuse me, did you say your name was Carrie Underwear?")

Carrie's sister is a teacher at our school so she stopped by to read today for "read across america day" ... all made up and looking pretty cute ... and there i was, looking like i just cleaned out the garage (which is exactly what i was doing an hour before this picture).

of course ben wouldn't stand next to her so I HAD to stand next to her holding ben. that's my hand. i didn't look that cute ... in fact, now that i think about it ... i probably didn't smell that cute either.....hope she thought it was ben.

am i really that vain that i would crop myself out of this picture ... you bet.