{spud power}

This should really say "STUD POWER"!!

Sorry Jake, but when it is within my power....I shall embarrass you!

{backside bunkers}

A while back I told you about excursion to a barn fire that I snuck into. Well, my sneakiness and love of all that roams the earth in bunker pants, paid off!!! You see, I made lovely copies of those barn fire photos and gave them to George to give to the fire chief. Next thing I know, I'm the official Richmond Fire Department photographer with an ALL ACCESS PASS!! I even have a cool little helmet and vest I get to wear.

So what are my duties as official Richmond Fire Department photographer? Taking gratifying shots of bunker pants.... I mean fires, yes fires and such. I WILL NOT FOCUS ON THE BUNKER PANTS. I WILL NOT FOCUS ON THE BUNKER PANTS. But seriously, LOOK..............................

Fire??? What fire??? I just see a HUNKA, HUNKA BURNING LOVE!! (not the yawny dude)

I'm ill. I need help. I'm going to have to quit as official RFD photog. I'll never get a decent picture of anything except.......

So, when the chief had George ask me if I wanted to take pictures of their upcoming MABAS mock drill with over 20 fire departments in attendance, what do you think I said??? Yer darn right I said YES. I even convinced George that I absolutely needed a zoom lens with way more zoom than lens!!!

In all honesty, it's very cool and it's even cooler to see the pictures posted on their website. You can see them here: http://www.richmondfire.com/press.htm Just scroll down a bit to the MABAS 5 Training Drill. I exhibited some self control and took pictures of the other boys in bunkers too.

So as I was relaying this story to my friends that evening at a BBQ and becoming slightly flustered as I described the many, many bunker pants that were everywhere I turned, my dear, dear friend Laura titled my blog entry for me! So BACKSIDE BUNKERS was born. Now I must go before I short my computer out due to the amount of drool that is escaping my mouth. But just one more.......

ahhhhhh.

{field of dreams...gone bad}

9:57 am last Tuesday

Jake: Mom, can we build the Field of Dreams in the backyard now?

Me: Well, only if you come up with a more original name.

Jake: What do you mean? That is an original name!!

Me (to myself): Of course it is, why would an 11 yr. old have any idea that there was a movie by that name....oh about 19 years ago!! Geez, did I really see that in a movie theater? Am I really that old? When did this happen?

Jake: Mom, are you OK?

Me: Of course I'm OK, why wouldn't I be?

Jake: I dunno, you looked weird. (Don't you love the bluntness?)

Me: Thanks Jake.

Cue phone ringing.

George: Hi honey, I forgot to tell you I told the boys they could build a baseball field in the back. Just tell them to be careful with the tractor.

Me: (Still hung up on the Field of Dreams/age/old thing). George, did you tell the kids about the Field of Dreams movie?

George: Why?

Me (to myself): Why can't he ever just answer the question!

Me to him: Just wondering.

George: Of course I did! I always wanted a Field of Dreams in the backyard.

Me (much happier now): Okeedokee! I'll keep an eye on the tractor excursion.

So off we all went: Jake, Jason (Jake's friend who has deemed himself son #3) and Gavin to get the tractor. Me to get dressed.

"But boys, PLEASE BE CAREFUL. Gavin, you're the oldest so you are the driver." Still not sure about the safety of it all, I ran upstairs to throw on some outside clothes. As I finished, I heard the tractor going and took this picture from my balcony.

Looks fairly harmless, doesn't it? Well, let me tell you something right now, I think some boys are devoid of a certain common sense gene. Why you may ask? Well, literally seconds after this picture was snapped, the tractor stopped. I assumed they had reached their destination. Still not trusting that they could complete their field without my knowledgeable input, I made the trek out to the back of the 5 acres. What did I see when I got there? The boys standing around trying to figure out how to get the tractor "unstuck". Yes, the common sense boys had driven it right into a muddy puddle. I stood there for a minute and started to chat with my IVs (Internal Voices).

IV #1: Well, you should yell. Seriously, what were they thinking?

IV#2: Well, you should yell. Seriously, what were they thinking?

IV#3: Well, you should yell. Seriously, what were they thinking?

IV#4: You have your camera, take some pictures then help them get unstuck and make it a "moment".

So for the next hour, we all worked together to get it unstuck! This was about 50 minutes into the process. We really were getting ready to give up!

Then out of nowhere, it worked and we were "unstuck". I had them pose for their victory picture. "Moment" captured, no harm done except to our clothes and shoes.

Here's what they tried to drive it through.

{it's 10 o'clock}

do you know where your kids are???

It would seem that there is a malfunction in the internal clock in my children. Why is it that at this very moment (11:06 p.m.) as I'm trying to focus on writing a funny entry, Courtney has entered my room for the third time just to "chat". Seriously, I'm here ALLLLLL day long her!! Oh and George is on the other side of me talking about "bonus baseball" ..... huh? All I want to do is to finish one blog entry, just one. So OK, there is a moment of silence and I think I might actually get through this.

As I was saying malfunction in interal clocks....

Courtney & Mikayla decided to take a swim in my bathtub at 10p.m.

Jake & Gavin got the "serious munchies" at 10 p.m.

AHHHHH!! Gavin please unplug that toaster. Like the SuperHero I am, got there just in the nick o' time! No, not really, he had already unplugged it.

And of course, the biggest child of them all came home from a meeting ready to finish installing the toilet in the guest bathroom at, you guessed it, 10 p.m.

Summer.... you gotta love it!

Addendum: While I was typing this in, my ADD took over and I decided to at least attempt to put the dogs to bed. Perhaps then everyone else would get the HINT!! Apparently the only hint taker in the house is the Blue Blood- Sir Max himself. Sorry Max, that's my spot!