Ploodles, Fire dogs, Hamsterds, and the Crickets

Hello, it's been a while since my last post and Rob is leaving for SD tomorrow. The kids are okay, and looking forward to school starting but not nearly as much as I am. As for the funny title of my post today, these words all come from Katherine. A Ploodle is a curly dog that Katherine says won't make her and Daddy sneeze and maybe we can get one on our very last assignment before Daddy retires. A Fire dog is a Dalmation, from 102 Dalmations (the sequel) which we watched on movie night last Friday. The little Dalmations are fire puppies. A Hamsterd is what kind of pet Katherine has, two of them to be exact. And the Crickets are Mommy's favorite band, formerly known as the Beatles. Their pictures are all over our favorite booth at Fuddruckers and the girls like to ask me questions about them. Ah, children.
Ben is doing a little better, and seems to be coming out of some of his fears. Rob was able to cut his hair last weekend with the clippers, which is especially good since he'll be gone for five weeks and Ben really needed one. He didn't fuss like he did last time we tried. He's also over his fear of the bathtub, running water and kiddie pools. We haven't tried a big pool in a while. He was not happy about going on an elevator at the dentist's office the other day, but only whined and didn't have an all out tantrum. Yesterday at school they took him on a bus trip around the parking lot to prepare him for a field trip they're taking to the mall later this week, and his teacher said he only whined a little going up the bus stairs, and then was fine. So, maybe there is light at the end of the tunnel.