Fashion Police

Did you squeeze in your whites & lights before labor day? Did you follow Anna's idea and wait all summer until the day before Labor Day to wear your white dress? Happy Sunday!

Bigger than Itsy Bitsy

Sure glad we didn't walk into that thing

Benny's Bday Bash

The party planner has always been a little last minute with the birthday decorations. These went up around 5pm that day, but we'll cut her some slack since she's planned approximately 82 birthdays for just her kids.

The happy birthday boy. You should see him every other day.Check out the huge steaks! Maybe Sara is not sure which one to pick?Mom made up her own cake/icing receipt and it actually turned out!19 candles this year!Golf balls to go along with...His new putter!Now Wes and Ben have matching putters and no excuse for a bad golf score. Happy Birthday Ben!

Hands Off

We're really into sharing around here There was one missing though..

Procrastinators Unite... Tomorrow

Check out a weekend in the life of a high school senior procrastinator. Let's not be too harsh... we've all been there.

Friday: Assignment is given to make a treat for Monday's class.
Saturday: Relax
Sunday: Relax

Sunday 9:15pm Try to talk future brother-in-law into going to the store to buy food for her

Sunday 9:30pm Buy materials (all by herself) at Kmart

Sunday 9:45pm Mix materials in the FROG so parents don't wake up

10-11pm Bake cupcakes & do calculus home work.

11:20pm Mom wakes up, thankfully not Dad.

11pm-12:00am Frost & sprinkle cupcakesOn the other hand, we'd like to give an A+ to Ben for keeping up with his calculus home work so far. Not only is he NOT a procrastinator (for now) He's a multi tasker. Doing calculus and showing off his work out bod. Calling all single, cute, Christian girls.. any takers?

Excuse me, Cindy Crawford?

Anna missed her senior picture appointment while we were at the beach. Sara stepped in and got some Senior Shots! Flaunt what your Mama gave ya

She had a wicked bathing suit line after getting fried the first dayOne of our favoritesWork it, work it!

Thanks Oswald Lumber

The start of a new school year means just a few things around here...

1) Who gets to the shower first?
2) How long was your shower? Did you save any hot water for other people?
3) What's for lunch?
4) "Mom I need your card to get gas"
5) "Dad I need help with this math problem"

Anna started her last year of high school on Wednesday! Ben started at USC too.
Kait was involved with staff days at the elementary school filled with boring meetings that lasted hours, but it finally paid off when she won a brand new....

GARDEN HOSE! The Baptist church near the school provided lunch for everyone had a bunch of prizes that people could win. Local stores gave school supplies, horseback riding lessons, gift certificates, etc.Oswald Lumber donated about 4 garden hoses & Kait won one!

Don't Drop the China

Sara threw a birthday bash last Sunday afternoon for Wes. She whipped out the fine china for us and we made sure to guard it with our life! We eat from plates that Mom trash picked about 10 years ago. She washed them... a lot. She was a professional trash picker back in her glory days. The old man turned 24 on Monday!

A new putter from the fam. Now there are no excuses for bad golf games.Mr. Oliver was happy to have the extended fam over for a visit.

Work it, Work it

Sara took some time out of her vacation to do 2 photo shoots! One was Kent and Kait's engagement pictures. The other one was Anna's senior pictures (coming soon) There are a ton of pictures, but here are a few. She did a great job and the pictures are awesome! Rainbow flipflops ROCKCheck out http://www.swparkerphotography.com/

The photographer in actionA close up of the ringThe big day is May 30, 2009!

Dear Mom

Dear Mom,

We know you're having fun in Philadelphia. We're glad you get to hang out with old friends, but we want to be your friends too. Basically, we're hanging on by a thread. We caught Anna looking like this today. Obviously the "I miss mom" face.
It's also easier to get away with things with you (Like when Anna spilled grape jelly on the floor, Dad almost had her mop & wax it just to make sure it was clean enough) You're more willing to give us the plastic magic money card too.

We're making it work around here, but we can't hold on much longer. Come home Ma!!

Love, your family

Drum Roll Please

The Chore List* We've been going 3 days strong* List subject to change

Yes Sir

We're not the best house keeper-uppers. We'll admit it most days, but sometimes we'll try to blame it on other things ("Oh, we just got home from vacation") if people stop by. Mom gets stuck with the dishes after dinner. We've gotta give Ben props for enacting the new rules around here. They are typed up and ready to be printed today. It covers the downstairs and all the bathrooms. He said that now that Mom's in school we all have to pull our own weight. This is how it looked the first night after chores. We've tried chore charts growing up, but they usually only lasted a few days... a week at the most. This one might work since Ben is heading it up and he means business. We asked him what happened if we missed a chore. The answer was simply, "You get yelled at". Note to self: don't leave future children with Uncle Ben.

Do you think it will last?

Beach Highlights

We could have a ton of posts dedicated to our week at the beach because we love it, but here are some highlights. Here's the whole group at the end of the week. Fold or stay in?Catchphrase was the game of the week almost every night. It was an even match up with girls vs. boys.Anna & SaraAfter their 4.8 mile run. It was that long only because they got lost.Bubbagum!It's easy to forget how long it takes to play Monopoly. Kait was the winner.Guy on the left is lost in ESPN land, Girl in the middle is working on green beans, Girl in red is detangling hair.We had the opportunity to watch great skim boarding by this totally rad chick. She took the "skateboard" approach. Hang ten! You can never be too cautious.
The boccie boys. Ben & Dad were the undefeated champs.On the last night we cranked up some Grateful Dead hits and tie dyed shirts. Ben working on a groovy design.

Dad was going to skip out and go to bed, but when he heard the Grateful Dead and saw the shirts he couldn't help it-- he had to try it.