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.

if the crown fits...

yes, we have other children besides ben but caleb is "too cool" for pictures lately - other than the ones on the baseball field and sarah is starring on rob's blog monday...

here they are, the 2 friends playing "Pretty Pretty Princess" board game.

ben collected the earrings, necklace, ring, bracelet and crown....i'm not sure if that means he wins or loses :)

of course, millie played along - do you think dogs need therapy?

tug of will, i mean war

i'm not sure millie understands ben is not her puppy. then there is ben, who thinks millie is his toy.

these two really seem to be big friends...works for me, at the end of the night they are both exhausted.

and yes, ben picked out his own pajamas...aren't they cute.

summer is slipping away...

yes, terrible pun but i gotta go with what i've got.

and, believe it or not, ben does not like going down the slip and slide...now, if it were in the middle of the street or something more dangerous i'm sure he'd try it.

(and in case you are new to the family blog....the 3 on the left are ours)

knock some sense...

ben dented the coffee table with his head the other day. he is very proud of his bruise / bump.

amazing the difference between the 1st and 3rd child when it comes to injuries. caleb SCREAMED the same if he stubbed his toe or fell out of a tree.....ben gets more upset about the fact that i pick him up to check the damages than the actual injury.