Who's that girl??

Yes, I know, it has been a while. I haven't blogged in WAY too long. I'm going to go ahead and confess that my Reader is WELL above 1000 unread's as well, so if you've been feeling neglected lately, it's completely my fault.

Well, for my first post in ages, I thought I would get you all up to speed on what's been going on in the Sunshine household, with PICTURES!!!

This could take a while.



The Tiger Cubs toured Mrs. Baird's Bakery in Ft. Worth

We had a funeral. Pop passed away in January. It was a very rough time for Budman and the boys. We're hanging in there, though.

Mater had a stomach bug and fell asleep in his toast. He's feeling MUCH better now.

The Tiger Cubs took a tour of the Fort Worth Star Telegram printing operations.

Monkey, Mater and I took a trip to the Zoo in Waco with Copper's Fox, the Tater tot and our parents.

I have to share this video - it was SO funny.

Monkey entered his first Pinewood Derby for Cub Scouts - Recognize anyone??

My Valentine's Day present!!

I got a new haircut!!

We dog-sat for my MIL. I took this video of her dog, Shadow playing in our backyard.

Monkey went to his first Blue & Gold Banquet for Cub Scouts
And tomorrow is Monkey's 7th Birthday. He is having a party at a local pizza place, and I will share photos soon.

I have a few stories that I'm trying to keep in my head, I've been wanting to blog for a while, but as you can see - things have been pretty busy here.

I also promise, I will be catching up with my reader as soon as I can, hope you are all doing well.

Eternal Sunshine

Stop by to visit Copper's Fox, she's got a funny story about my nephew, Tater-tot, and Mater.

Also, don't forget about my friend Holly, Anglophile Football Fanatic. She's donating her November ad revenue to Food for the Poor. Every click counts, so do me a big favor, and help her out!

Day TWO of her giveaway is today, and people, it is awesome. There will a giveaway every day this week.

Please head on over to her place, and enter her contest.

Avast, me hearties!

Ahoy, ye land lubbers!

Today is International Talk like a Pirate day!

By now, I figure everyone knows what this is about, but if not, check here.

I was reminded this morning when our local traffic reporter, Monty Cook from WBAP, did his entire traffic report in pirate talk. Budman and I were cracking up and it was pretty impressive. I wish I had a recording of it...

So, blah blah blah, talk like a pirate (which obviously, I'm not any good at). If you need help, here's a pirate talk how-to.

My pirate name is:
Bloody Jenny Bonney

Every pirate lives for something different. For some, it's the open sea. For others (the masochists), it's the food. For you, it's definitely the fighting. You can be a little bit unpredictable, but a pirate's life is far from full of certainties, so that fits in pretty well. Arr!

part of the fidius.org network

Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com.

==========================

In related news, I heard a story on the radio this morning about the Grandbury (TX) High School Pirates. Some woman has complained to the county commissioners, because the Booster Club wanted to put up flags around town before a football game.

Since Grandbury is home to the Pirates, these flags have the Jolly Roger on them. Sounds reasonable, right?

Not to this lady. She claims they are "Satanic", and the city will be risking "the wrath of God" by displaying these flags. Never mind that this isn't a county issue.

I am sick to death of people getting offended over stupid stuff!

Pirate flags? Really?

Is there not enough wrong with the world that you can't find anything else to be offended about? Fight racism, sexism, crime, vandalism, poverty, child abuse, injustice and genocide, but leave the poor high school mascot alone!!

Besides the fact that she claims that this flag is "satanic", my quick research attempts this morning turned up no evidence other than the fact that the flags were used by pirates to intimidate their victims. This claim is laughable.

*******

Whew, got on a little rant there, didn't I?

Sorry, but this kind of crap just really chaps me.
Besides, it's my blog, so I can rant if I want to.
(Don't worry, I won't sing the song - even though it's stuck in my head now)

*******

Now this is my kind of pirate... ;)

Yummy!

Works in progress

I'm working on several posts, but can't seem to find the time to get them finished!

• I've got one about the kids, and discipline, and such. Hopefully (for you!) it will be entertaining.

• I'm fighting the urge to weigh in on politics. Hopefully (for you!) I will be able to hold off. But, dang, people are pissing me off!!

Instead (since I can't seem to finish anything these days), I will tell you a little about my weekend. My favorite part of this weekend, (besides the fact that it was the weekend, and I did next to nothing... but not totally nothing, because we had lots of company, and I had to clean toilets becuase 14 year old boys don't know that "Clean your bathroom" means to actually scrub toilets and sinks and such. Grrr.) was Sunday, when Budman (for whatever reason) decided that he needed to take me out dancing that night.

Thankfully, I managed to talk him out of it, so he insisted that we spend the evening dancing together on the back patio. We have a CD player out there, so we spent all evening digging through our collection, and dancing. Pretty soon, everyone came out to the back porch and the kids were dancing with my step-mom, but then my dad came along to dance with her, so Budman and I danced with the kids, until they had enough, and we went back to dancing with each other. It was fun, and silly and sweet - and I really loved it.

And although I always feel a little hokey dancing in our yard at first (Yes, we have done this on more than one occasion), I start to think that it's probably a good thing that the kids see Budman and I spending time together doing mushy stuff (Not TOO mushy), and that they grow up knowing how much their parents love each other, because they see it on a regular basis, and being included when we do our silly stuff.

Monday, I stepped outside for a minute, and Mater ran out with me, turned on the music, and asked me to dance with him. I guess we made an impression...

I know this isn't terribly well written, or even concise, but it's been floating about my head for a few days, and at some point, you have to write it all down, ready or not, just to make room in your head for new crap. So here - you get it "as is".

Have a terrific week.

Oh, The Google searches I'm going to get...

I know - two posts in less than 12 hours... No, I'm not sick, but thanks for asking!

I have been meaning to post this one for a while, but I've been hesitant, because I can only imagine the crazy search terms that will bring perverts people here... However, Catwoman recently posted this (You MUST read it, go ahead, I'll wait) so I decided to suck it up and just post the story already.

A few weeks ago, Budman sent me this link. (I feel I must warn you, this site can be a tremendous time suck, so let's try and stay focused on me and MY story first, Mkay??) I thought it was funny, and gave it no more thought. When he came to pick me up from work that evening, however, this thing

was in the car, in my seat... Purty, ain't it??

"Oh gawd, you bought one?? I just thought you were sending me another crazy product idea." (He loves to do this. I don't know how he finds some of this crazy stuff.) Turns out, he and his boss had stopped by the hardware store at lunchtime - Men - and he saw the chicken sitting there innocently, picked it up, and when he saw what it did, he had to have it.

So, the chicken came home with us.

Monkey and Mater were very curious about the chicken. They really love that their father likes toys as much as they do. (except when they bring home a cool happy meal toy, and he steals it, but I digress)

Here's the point where I must show you what it does - PLEASE, if you are at work, or have a sleeping baby, husband or dog, and don't want them to wake up, turn down your sound. (Actually, it's not quite as loud as I thought it would be...)

Naturally, the boys then wanted in on the fun.

ALL.EVENING.LONG. I was bombarded by the following statements coming from my little darlings:

I want to choke the chicken!

Mom, can I choke Daddy's chicken?

Is it my turn to choke the chicken??

No, you can choke the chicken after I'm done!

I LOVE choking the chicken!

FINALLY (long after all the talk of choking the chicken had gotten old) it was bedtime. The boys each begged to be allowed to choke the chicken one more time before they went to bed, and as they were heading up the stairs exclaiming things like "I want to choke the chicken again tomorrow" and "Choking the chicken is FUN!", Monkey cried out "That is the best thing ever!!"

To which his father replied "Almost, son, almost

awesome. Thanks, Honey!!

(And what is UP with my gratuitous use of parentheses lately?)

Conversations #2

Part of Absolutely Bananas' Make me Laugh Monday



Monkey to me this weekend after showing off his awesome basketball dribbling skills:
Monkey: I did that for freedom.



Mater: Mom, can I tell you another secret?
Me: Sure.
Mater: Yours butt is bigger than Daddy's
Me: Thanks, Mater.


Monkey, one morning as he and Mater are in the bathroom going potty (After a particularly impressive pee.)
Monkey: Mater hasn't gone yet - That's ALL me!

Weekend Update

**EDITED to add: I tried not to make this post sound whiny or as if I were complaining. I'm not, really, sorry if it comes across that way...**

Ah, this was a busy one. Budman left my camera at work, so I have NO pictures of our Easter frivolities.

Friday, Budman was planning to replace the alternator in my car, so I took his truck to get Easter baskets for the little ones, and eggs for coloring. As we were leaving Albertson's, his truck wouldn't start, so the boys and I headed back in to call him to come get us. Since my little car had a faulty alternator, and most likely wouldn't have been able to jump the big truck, he had my father come with him. Unfortunately, the battery was still showing a charge, and the alternator seemed to be the problem. ARGH! So, both boys, Budman, and I all rode home with my father in his pickup (NO BACK SEAT!) Thankfully, we were not far from home, but I was VERY uncomfortable with the arrangement.

Saturday morning, the alternator that Budman put in MY car was not working, (and we still didn't have the truck back) so I had to borrow my step-mother's car to take the boys to my mother's for our family Easter egg hunt. Budman put the old alternator back in my car, and went off to help his brother build something.

We had lunch at my mom's house, and then Easter egg hunting with all my cousin's kids. Seems there's a lot of sickness going around these days, so we had a skeleton crew this year. My mother has 6 siblings, I have MANY cousins, and out of the 8 or so of us that live in town we usually have around 15 kids each year. We only had 10 this time, still quite a few... Monkey & Mater were VERY well behaved, I was so proud of them. Funny, don't you just LOVE getting your kids around other kids - just so you can see that yours aren't so bad after all?? Budman, worked all day with his brother, and came home late, falling asleep on the couch instantly, poor thing.

Sunday, we headed off to get his truck from the Albertson's parking lot. Turns out, it wasn't his alternator, only the battery (weird, they even tested it at the auto parts store, and said it was fine.) Anyway, the new battery did the trick, and we brought the truck home. When we got there, Grammy was loading the boys in the car, to go get Papo J; he had run up to the corner store, where the BATTERY died on his Jeep - it wouldn't start, and she needed to go rescue him. LOL! They're all convinced I'm a jinx! I pulled the boys from the car so we could get the eggs colored for our Easter Egg hunt that afternoon with my cousins from my father's side of the family. Budman volunteered to go get Papo J.

We kinda had to laugh at all the car issues this weekend. I told Budman that we should just be thankful they all happened now, while we still have tax money instead of some week when we can't afford it. That's normally our luck!! Besides, he said it was finttin for Easter weekend, since his truck died on Friday, and we fixed it on Sunday (;-P I told him that was sacrilege!!)

Anyway, Uncle K and his gang were coming over for lunch, but were running late because they had car trouble (LMAO!!) then Easter egg hunting and off to the airport so that we could pick up Possum. We got home just in time to put the little ones to bed, and off to sleep ourselves not long after.

Why are weekends so tiring? Why do I always expect to get rested up on the weekends? I should know by now resting up is what work is for!

Conversations

Monkey to Mater Saturday evening (sitting in the living room floor):

Monkey: "Wonderful weather we're having, huh?"
Mater: "No, it's farty weather, 'cause I just farted." (Running toward the front door) "I'm gonna send it out into the world. Here world! Smell this!"


After Monkey's shower that same evening as he was getting on his PJs:

Monkey: "Mom, I like the way you put on my shirt" (Big hug)
Me: "Aww, you're sweet. Mmm, you smell handsome" (he always has to wear Daddy's cologne after a bath)
Monkey: "Thank you. Really, I mean that."


As we were discussing how important it is for him to be good at school everyday:

Monkey: "I wish I had Mater's brain."
Me: "Why, honey?"
Monkey: "Because his brain always tells him to be good"


Mater: (as he hops on his bicycle in the driveway) "Talifornia, here I come!"


Mater: "Mom, will you play 'Rock, Paper scissors' with me?"
Me: "Sure. Ready? Rock paper scissors! Oh look, scissors - we tied!!"
Mater: "Let's do it again. Mom, will you pick paper this time, PLEASE??"