it comes in threes

while stacey was out of town

the microwave decided to blow up

well ... not really BLOW up

BUT ... enough of a blow up that we decided not to use it 

and i had to get creative when it came to reheating a coffee ;)

it wasn't ideal

BUT we already had a new washer on order to be delivered this week

AND we had to call someone out to replace the garage door springs

SO ... why not add to the fun

i now own a microwave with a soften butter and soften ice cream button

a dream come true.

fresh off the boat

alex's TD class ...

as a bunch of immigrants

the bright side

although having a 103 fever

and missing 3 days of school is never fun ...

chewy was happy he had a friend to cuddle with

and i didn't mind having a friday lunch date

glad you started to feel better just in time for free milkshake day at chick-fil-a, ben ;)

chalk club

#groupie

jazz band goes to the MOA

on friday, the roosevelt jazz band got the opportunity to play at the MOA

ben is a part of jazz band this year

he was SO excited

and had been looking forward to this day for a while - 

i'm sure partially because he got out of school

but also because they got to play in the sears court!

they were joined by the royal orchestra for a few songs at the end

THEN ...

they were set free to get lunch with their friends

before heading back to school in the early afternoon

ben ...

you did a GREAT job

i am SO glad that dad and i got to come watch you!

not your average thursday night in the hood

tonight while talking with neighbors

we noticed black smoke coming up from behind the house across the street

at first we thought it was a bonfire

but then decided to go check it out when the smoke kept coming

we were surprised to find a brush fire

the width of 2 houses!

the fire department was very quick to respond

they brought a jeep i didn't even know existed

and drove it right into the fire

it was actually kind of cool seeing how they put it out -

they used the jeep and then several of them had backpacks on

that held water and had hoses off of them

the entire neighborhood came out to watch the show

the girls made sure to grab a few selfies

and the boys quickly jumped in and got a few shots of their own

the firemen did a great job of talking with our kids

and making it an interesting/fun experience

instead of something that could have been scary

thank you blaine FD#3!

celebrating ben

on the night of ben's birthday

he was leaving for a retreat with EBC

we decided to have his birthday dinner a day early

we tried to go to don pablos -

to keep up tradition - 

only to discover that their maple grove location closed!  

he decided acapulco was a close second

so we went there to celebrate him turning 13!

he still got his sopapillas

and his sombrero shot

alex got in on the sombrero action too -

with his tan, he's quite convincing;)

the next morning we woke up and had a quick happy birthday breakfast before school

he made himself some '13' pancakes

and then was off to school

i picked him up after school 

and dropped he and drew off for their weekend retreat at trout

three buses means A LOT of junior highers -

and this was only half of the group that went this weekend ...

YIKES!

hope you had a fun day, ben ... even if it was a little busy!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

resourceful

when you're playing an online game

and you're trying to say 'i'm ready'

but you think the person you're playing with doesn't understand

you might as well figure out how to say it in another language ...

right?!

alex thinks so.

my brilliant idea

when the new ball bin came in to school

i got an instant idea of a new discipline plan idea

our custodian took us for a ride around the school

and we gave a few teachers and the principal a laugh

i'm lucky they let me out ;)