I'll bet y'all thought today's premier soccer action was the game between Italy and France, didn't you?

Well, you'd be wrong.  The BIG game was the one in which my Benjamin Bunny played this afternoon. 

Here he is, waiting his turn on the field.  The team's comprised of 4, 5 and 6 years old boys, and he is one of the smallest, you can see. 



He's such a hoot when he kicks the ball, immediately searching out Mama and Daddy to do a bit of gloating:



No one can fault him for expediture of energy, heaven knows.  Away he goes!



Here he is, waiting for the action to start.  See how small he is compared to the others?



Bethie, Granddaddy, and Uncle Dmitry looking on:



Also present was Bryson, who preferred to play in the kiddie area a good bit of the time:





Here he's just being a giddy critter.  ;^)

Tell you a photo I missed, doggone it!  When the game was over and the kids were lining up for the obligatory hand-slap, Benjamin managed to get in the wrong team's line!    Everyone was torn between laughter and shouting "Benjamin!  Not THAT line!  The other line!"  It was really very funny, bless his heart.   He  figured out his error, BTW. 

Guess what I've been munching?

Dark chocolate M&M's! 

Found 'em at Wal-Mart just now. 

Perhaps someday the dark chocolate Reese's Peanut Butter Cups I missed
the first time will reappear, thus sending me straight into chocolate
nirvana. 

Sometimes the LORD has a puckish sense of humor.

Charles just called.  He got his orders!

In September he's to report to the USS Dallas. 

Increasingly it appears that mainstream new media outlets such as CNN.com and ABC.com are taking leaves from the books of the National Enquirer and other shockaroo-style "newspapers", based upon the stories to be found on their sites.

Case in point:  I just visited ABC.com where this was found in the Top Headlines section:  Chunk of Indian Man's Skull Falls Off.

There's also a prominent link provided to access PHOTOS. 

Now why on earth would I want to see photos of some poor schnook's skull falling apart, huh?  

What with the storms bumbling around the area today, we just stayed home for the Fourth.  The van's still in the garage, even.

But that's okay.  Made chocolate ice cream and tacos for dinner.  ;^)

This evening Dmitry and Taylor took a couple of packages of those snap things out to the back porch to set them off:

No matter how I tried, I could NOT get the flash to show up.  Darn camera.  Tried to use manual settings to take photos of tonight's
fireworks, but it was a dismal failure.  Can't think what went wrong!  I followed the instructions, best I can figure out.  After three pictures I went back to Auto without the flash:

Hope everyone had a great Fourth!

If you can't see other's fireworks, then by golly, create your own fireworks display.  

Happy Independence Day!

The annual Concerts in the Garden fireworks displays, which are visible not only from our front porch but from the dining room, are drawing to a close, and as usual I've been on the hunt for the perfect photograph.

Hope everyone's Fourth is both safe and happy!  

This afternoon was Brianna's birthday party, held at the Holiday Skatium in either Richland Hills or North Richland Hills, I can never tell the difference.  Here's the birthday girl - wearing her official Birthday Princess crown, you'll notice - zipping along:

However, the real brainwave was the big box of long, skinny balloons.  Here's Matt blowing up one:

Guess who got it?

Jessica and Jason share a quiet moment together:

Doesn't last, of course.  Balloon duty calls in the form of "Aunt Jessica, would you make me a dog?" from Benjamin:

She gives good dog. 

"Little" Kirsten - who, being 13 years old now, isn't so little anymore - helping Bethie skate:

Pizzas and balloons make for a fun party:

Brianna on the left, one of her school friends in the middle, and Bethie, with Don, Kirstin, Bryson and Benjamin in the background:

It was a terrific party!  

How often have you been behind a car whose driver is driving too slowly for the traffic, drifting into others' lanes, sitting too long when the light turns green, etc. only to find the driver is talking on a cell phone? 

I believe this completely: Cell Phones Make Drivers as Bad as Drunks

By participating, the researchers gained insight to what makes
people think they can drive safely while using a cell phone or when
drunk. They're now advocating for laws to address the growing problem.

An unexpected finding: While some of the participants crashed in a
virtual vehicle while sober and chatting, none of them crashed while
drunk.

The study supports previous research that has revealed the risks of using cell phones and also hands-free cell phones behind the wheel.

"We found that people are as impaired when they drive and talk on a
cell phone as they are when they drive intoxicated at the legal
blood-alcohol limit," said Frank Drews, an assistant professor of
psychology at the University of Utah.

Previous studies have suggested as many as 2,600 people are killed each year in
accidents involving drivers on cell phones. About 10 percent of drivers
say they sometimes talk on cell phones while driving, and that figure
is growing.

A recent poll revealed that two-thirds of Americans would support a ban on using cell phones while driving. A separate poll found 28 percent of cell phone users say they sometimes don't drive as safely as they should while talking.

Lesson:  DO NOT TALK ON THE PHONE WHILE DRIVING!!!

If you think I'm talking to you, then I probably am.  

27.

That's the number of years we've lived in our house.....twenty-seven today. 

We'd only intended to be in it maybe five or six years, but somehow we
just stayed, filling it to the brim with kids and cats.