Gumball Trees

Princess: Oh no!!! When I took a sip of my drink, it made me swallow my gum!
Dad: Hmmmm, Mom, should we rush her to the emergency room?
Mom: Eh, let's wait to see if the gumball tree starts growing first.
Dad: What flavor of gum was it so we know what to look for?
Princess: Blueberry.

Later, at bedtime Dad kisses her cheek good-night.
Dad: Mmmmm, you taste a little like blueberry.
Princess (with nervous disbelief): Oh, Daddy!

Half hour after being put to bed:
Princess: I need a drink of water.
Dad: That'll make the gum get hard.
Mom: You know how water makes plants grow faster.

Where, oh where...

have I been? Haven't blogged in an eternity. We have been B.U.S.Y. I tell, ya!! July has just been a whirlwind. We've actually done several Take Off Tuesdays and other adventures that I haven't posted. I am having major camera issues.

July 4th weekend--Family Reunion in Tennessee. Had a fabulous time! Great to see everyone again!

July 7th--Take Off Tuesday was to the Cincinnati Zoo (one last trip before annual pass expired) to see the exhibits we missed on Mother's Day and revisit the favorite exhibits. Then on to vacation: Great Wolf Lodge.What a needlessly expensive odyssey that turned out to be. But the kids did have a great time on the water slides--they didn't want to stay as long as we figured, and they didn't like the special wolf-den/bunkbed room! Also, snuck in a visit to the Aquarium before that pass expired and did a fun Duck Boat ride on the Ohio River.

July 14th--Take Off Tuesday was to the Old Kentucky Chocolates factory here in town. I won't bore you with more pics since Andrea posted her's from when she came to visit us.

July 16th-- Alexander became a teen-ager. He asked, in lieu of a party, to take him and 3 friends to Six Flags (thanks to my Mom for coming and keeping my sanity in check!) I figured it would be a nightmare, but the day went EXCEPTIONALLY well! THe boys had a great time and were overall, very well behaved; turned the neighbor's son into a roller coaster junkie.

July 21st--Take Off Tuesday was to the Valley View Ferry again, but 4x better since 4/5ths of the Funaholics went too!

Had an amazing visit with the Funaholics on July 22 Part A and Part B, as well as July 23rd!

July 24th--Left on a jet plane for Vegas, Baby!!! Had lunch with 2 of my great-aunts. Craig & I met up with Laura & Ash for a joint celebration: Our 7th anniversary and Ash's birthday. Blue Man Group was my favorite activity, but I am DIEING for my Ferrari delivery!!! The gear shift fits PERFECTLY in my hand!

July 27th--Al, Craig and I got to see the International Space Station fly by at 9:50pm!

Havin' Fun!

Guess who's at my house? And they're livin' up to their nicknames! And if I was smart, I would've taken a camera with me to the ferry yesterday.

My new Teen-Ager!

Happy Birthday to Al!!!!! I can't believe he's already 13!


His newborn footprint measures a hair over 3 inches. Now he wears a men's size 8 shoe!

Close Attention To Details

Obviously a phrase that no longer describes me.
Picture taken at the eye doctor's office and
I never noticed until someone pointed it out to me.

Weather Girl

From a couple weeks ago: I was watching the Weather Channel waiting for Local on the 8's when this came on the screen and Princess said, "Oh good, it's only going to rain twice today!"

Happy Anniversary!

It's our 7th anniversary today-- 7/7!!! Love you, Sweetie! It's been 7 awesome, funny, busy, great years! And very much looking forward to our weekend getaway!!!
Just 57 more years to go!











There's Craig's niece Lindsay, Al (a week shy of turning 6), Craig and I, Craig's brother-in-law Doug, my brother Jesse, Laura (with CEM baby bump), Mark, Marissa, Staci.

Good Taste

Gman: Daddy, what that sign say?
Craig: Sweet Tea for sale for one dollar.
Gman: Mmmmmmmmmmm. I. Love. Dollars.

This little piggy.....

This evening:

Princess: Do you know why we have 5 toes?
Me: Nope, why?
P: The big one is the daddy toe, next is the mommy toe, then the Al toe, then me, then the little baby brother toe.

Memory Lane Monday (#16)

Memory Lane takes us way back. Remember when my house looked like this......a week ago?
When it was being swallowed hole by those monster bushy/tree things. And if we hadn't kept trimming them, they'd be twice that size!!!












And today, it looks like this!!!











I discovered a nest the day before the landscaper was to come. It was up too high to see in it, so I held my camera up above to take a peak inside for eggs. The landscaper had started work before I could discuss options.

R.I.P. little red robin :-(











PS---Now when the Funaholics come to our house, they'll know which one is ours!

Take Off Tuesday--KY Edition #3

OK, OK, since we had to postpone Take-Off Tuesday due to sickness this week, we'll call this one "Fieldtrip Friday". I have NEVER seen one of the kids that sick---that didn't require hospitalization anyways. But Gman is pretty much back to normal. He couldn't speak above a whisper for over 3 days, & his voice is still a little squeeky.

Tonight, we went to Kids Night at Long John's/A&W. Al didn't don a pirate hat---cramped his style. Princess hooked her arm and said "AAAARRRRGGGGGHHHHH!" What a difference 7.8 years makes, eh? (FYI--I worked for LJS/A&W when they first started combining them into one restaurant. I was the Construction Coordinator. The one in the International mall in San Diego? Yeah, that was my project! Did a bunch in TX, too.)











After dinner, we went to the Free Friday Flicks at the park, the show was Madagascar 2. They had a moon bounce for the kids (I love when I catch them holding hands!) And facepainting...Gman's is supposed to be Wal-E, like on his shirt. We got home at 11pm, both fell asleep in the car....we'll see just how permanent that ink is on pillowcases tomorrow.






















Al did not want his picture taken, so I had to be slick. Kind of like I had to be this morning........when I caught him watching TV................wearing a spandex book-cover on his head. But as he said, "I look tiiiiiiiight! Don't you think I look tight?"











Yes, Al, I do.

Dear Mom, Please send $$$

Only in Kentucky........So this guy, I'll call him McFly, is in need of a quick $1400. So McFly allegedly gets an idea!

McFly allegedly calls up mom and allegedly says something like this: Mom, these guys are holding me hostage. They said if someone doesn't meet them at the gas station and bring $1400, they're gonna rough me up.

So mom calls the police and they go into undercover sting, commando operations-mode at the gas station.

McFly allegedly shows up to pick up the ransom---McFly's all alone.
No kidnappers ANYWHERE.

For the real kicker......why didn't McFly call dad?
.
.
.
.
.
.
Yeah, Daddy's unavoidably detained.....on death row.
Some apples just don't fall far, allegedly, do they?