Our Monkey Life

What Have I Been Up To...

2011-08-23T11:28:00.000-06:00

It has been a while, and for that I apologize. This will be (for the most part) a picture post, letting you know what I (and the monkeys) have been up to this last little bit. I am hoping to get back into regular posting tomorrow.

First off, the weekend of the 12th through 14th, a bunch of friends and I went to Starvation Reservoir to hang out and play on my friend Shane's boat. We had a blast!

Linda and Scott

Jerome, me, Shane and Big Red

Say cheese...

Goofing off

Shane is "da man"

Then, last weekend, the 19th through 20th, my work participated in the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life. Jerome and the kids came along with me, and we camped out at the park. It was lots of fun.

Dallon was pulled on stage by the magician.

He loved it!

Kristi and Loretta

Myself and Sarah... Super corny.

Our work raised the most money for the event, and I am definitely hoping to help out again next year.

And last but not least... Yesterday was the kids first day back to school. This year was a little rough on them, due to the fact that they moved the school boundaries in our area, so they are going to a different school this year. Emily is now in 6th grade, and Dallon is in 4th. Sigh...

I love these monkeys!

Other than all that, life has been crazy and my head has been spinning. Things are finally starting to calm down now, though, so that's good.

What have you been up to?

Apology

2011-08-18T10:39:00.000-06:00

Hey there all you Monkey Manics. I had to hop on here real quick to apologize for the lack of fun this week. I have had a pretty crazy, not so great week. Details not necessary. I have not had much time nor had my head in the right spot to post much this week and I am truly sorry. Please don't go anywhere though, because things are getting sorted out, and I hope to be back to full speed soon. Thank you for your understanding!!

Answers To Your Questions

2011-08-12T08:55:00.000-06:00

As I promised, here are the answers to your questions. If you have any more, feel free to ask.

Kateri from Just Life: Take Two asks:

1) What made you start blogging?
Great question. I started my blog originally as a way for family and close friends to keep up with what was going on in me and my monkeys lives. I have some family and friends that are not that close, and they loved seeing what we were always up to. I still keep them updated through the blog, but I have MORE fun with it now too.

2) How has your blogging helped you in real life?
Blogging is a good way to get things off my chest and communicate with people... in a way that we may not do otherwise. It also helps me to know that the people that are reading may be close with me... but may not even know me, and that makes it easier to say what I want to say most of the time. Also, I am not a creative person... at all. I am the only child my parents had that has NO creative bones in my body what-so-ever. All of my siblings are creative, and can do crafty, fun stuff, me... not so much. This blog is my creative side coming out, it is my one claim to the creative side of life. Make sense?

3) If you could take one thing, and one thing only, to a deserted island, what would it be, and why?I always love this question... For obvious reasons, my answer would be a boat. But I am going to assume that you are not giving that as an option. If this is the case, I would take a book. I love reading, and if I am going to have to be on this island for a while, I might as well have something to do.

Mommy Magpie from Magpie Collective asks:

I would like to know, why monkeys? Why not platypuses or octopi? Hedgehogs? Flamingoes, manatees, meerkats? You can't have magpies, those are mine.

This picture is just one of MANY reasons why. Ever since my son was old enough to maneuver himself, I have called him monkey. I swear, if he didn't look so human, I might actually think he is one. :) Therefore, monkeys stuck! Awesome question, though!

BDD from Big Daddy Diesel asks:

- When are the Facebook updates post coming back, they are my favorite?
They are one of mine as well, but it seems that my FB friends have wised up. I am not seeing much to go on these days, but I am still keeping my eyes open and hope to be able to do a post soon. Just for you, though, because I like ya that much... here's one I found the other day. "when you make it to the exit of that labyrinth they call an Ikea store, they should give you a piece of cheese or something"

- When are you gonna buy that bike? Sign up for a race? You can do it, trust me, I wont say it will be easy, it will be worth it If you push me much more, I will have it before you know it. :) I have been checking out different bikes, and pinching my pennies, so it really shouldn't be much longer. Yay!
As for a race?! HA! I think I should probably get the bike first, and get some riding time in before I attempt that, but yes, YOU have inspired me to do a race... so I WILL do it. Thank you so much for the confidence!

- If Barbie is so popular, why do you have to buy her friends? Hmmm... this one is a thinker. I think it is because without her friends, she is not popular?! Maybe?! Honestly, I don't have a good answer for this one, and it is starting to make my brain hurt. If you know the real answer, please let me know before I die... ;)

Thank you to everyone that participated. This was fun, and I may do it again... in time!

Amazing

2011-08-11T09:18:00.000-06:00

Today's post will be short, but very sweet, at least in my opinion. I have been following this story on the local news stations website the last few days, and I have to say that it truly touches me. Not all news is bad news, it would seem.

This is a picture of Charles "Dale" Ostrander as he is being pulled from the ocean after being pulled under by a riptide. I am in awe of this little man.

Read the story... Please. It may just change your day!

Sometimes, miracles do happen. My thoughts and prayers are with this boy and all his friends and family!

Don't forget, today is the last day to get your questions in.

Please find a way on the right to follow along with us!

Photo from Ksl.com

Wordless Wednesday: Oh, you're eating?! Say Cheese, then!

2011-08-10T11:47:00.000-06:00

Don't forget to get your questions in before Friday!

Be sure to follow along with us. :)

Your Turn

2011-08-09T11:00:00.000-06:00

So, this is not something I normally do, but I am handing the stage over to you today. I am curious to see how many people actually read my posts, and also wanna have a little fun. So, I decided to copy a friend, Big Daddy Diesel (who got this idea from Irondiva) and see how it turns out. I am hoping for a good response to this one.

Here is how the game is played. You can ask me questions... things you want to know about your favorite monkey (me, of course... Lol). On Friday, I will post your questions and my answers. Also, if you have a blog, let me know and I will post a link to that too. :)

Let's all have fun, and be respectful, because this is (to a point) a family friendly blog.

Now it's your turn... what do you want to know about me?

While you are here, take a minute to pick one (or all) of the ways on the right to follow along with us!

Monday Musings

2011-08-08T11:30:00.000-06:00

It's Monday again, and Monday Musings are back. I know how much you have all missed them... or not, but it doesn't matter either way... cause they're here. Lol.

I didn't have many to share this time around, my brain has been functioning at half capacity lately, it seems, so please don't judge. Thanks, we appreciate it.

* First things first, I need to wish my adorable nephew a happy birthday because he is 3 today. He brings so many smiles to our family, and I can't imagine not having him around. Happiest of birthdays I-man!

* Why is it so hard to figure out where our next camping trip will be?! Seriously, I live in an area where there is certainly no lack of places to set up camp and take it easy for a few days, but this has been a week long process trying to figure it all out. Ugh!

* The other day my monkey son asked me if I have ever invented anything. First of all, the answer is no. Second... why not? I am so not creative, but there HAS to be something I can think up that would totally make life easier, no? I think the key is, though, to make something that has to be disposed of when used, but that people can't live without, so they must keep buying it... you know... like toilet paper. Need to get my brain working on this one.

* Recently when my alarm goes off I feel like chucking it across the room. Is this normal?! Why can I not, for the life of me, get myself out of bed at a reasonable time. I am pushing the limits of the amount of time I allow myself to get up, showered and ready for work, and it is not fun to race against the clock... I'm just sayin'.

* Kids are truly amazing beings and I really could learn so much from them. The other day as I am watching my niece play, she is laughing and having an absolute blast doing... somersaults! Really! She thought it was the greatest thing and I am sure she could have found pleasure in it for hours. Why can we, as adults, not find so much pleasure in the simple things like that? Sigh! Lessons learned, my friends, lessons learned.

I am sorry, but that's all I have for today. I hope you all enjoyed!

What are your best musings lately? Please share!

While you are here, please find a way to follow along with us using one of the methods on the right hand side!

Say what?!

2011-08-05T10:05:00.000-06:00

It's Friday again. This week seems to have flown right past me, but I am totally okay with that. I love Fridays, and not just because it is the beginning of the weekend. Fridays are usually a good, calm day at work, and the monkeys are usually in better spirits as well.

This weekend I don't have much planned other than to spend some quality time with the monkeys. I feel like we are always running around, or doing things and we don't get much down time to just relax and play together. So that is the goal for this weekend.

On to the next subject... :)! If you will remember, I recently told you all about my brother and his wife going through the process to become foster parents. They are unable to have children of their own, and the adoption process hasn't been very kind to them either. They have decided to do foster care and hope to someday be able to adopt through this process.

Bob is a hard working, but equally hard playing kind of man, and Ronda has a huge heart and shares it with hundreds of kids... as she teaches elementary school. They both are huge family people. They spend as much time with family as possible, and are always the life of the party. They love kids and have been the biggest spoilers of their nieces and nephews ever since the first one was born.

As I have said in the past, Bob and Ronda would/will make absolutely AMAZING parents. There is nothing they couldn't handle and they will show any child more love than even I could have thought possible. Any child would be very lucky to call them mom and dad.

Last night our entire family got AWESOME news, I mean... beyond awesome, really. Bob called and said they were getting 2 placements... and they were being dropped off in a couple hours. WOO HOO!!!!! This is what they had been waiting for... for a very long time.

All I know as of right now is that they were getting a 4 year old and a 5 month old. I have no idea of the genders or the names. I assume they are siblings because they are being placed in the same home at the same time, but am not certain of that yet.

I know this will be a huge adjustment for everyone involved, but it is one that we are all willing to make. These 2 babies will never go without while living with them, and will definitely be loved.

I am excited to meet the new (albeit, most likely, temporary) additions to our family.

I just wanted to share our exciting news with all of you.

What are you doing this weekend? Do you have any exciting news to share?

DO IT! Pick one (or all) of the ways on the right to follow these monkeys!

Slacker

2011-08-04T08:15:00.000-06:00

I will admit. I have been a big slacker lately. About a lot of things. Laundry (don't worry, it's all clean now), blogging, cooking delish meals every night and so on and so forth.

I think the one thing that gets me the most is that I have really been slacking on taking pictures this year. Last year I took my camera EVERYWHERE with me... and technically, I still do as it has a permanent home in my purse. But last year was different... it actually got to come out of its home A LOT more.

I remember it from time to time and take it out, but as I was going through my pictures in the folder titled "2011" a few days ago, I realized that I don't have nearly enough with the year being more than half over, and that makes me sad. What did I miss out on taking pictures of? What am I not going to remember about this year by ignoring my camera? What will my kids not remember?

So today, I vow to start pulling the camera out more often and taking a lot more pictures. Especially pictures of my kids, even if we are just laying around eating PB&J and ~~not~~ doing laundry. Ha!

I will also stay more caught up on the laundry... and I'll do my best to keep the blog running smoothly... okay, okay... and I will also start cooking better meals for my kids. Actually, that one I did last night. Nothing like some delicious homemade Scabetti (as my monkey son calls it).

So there it is... ~~no more~~ not as much slacking for your favorite monkeys. Change is in the air my friends and I think it's coming to bite my ass!

What are your favorite things to slack on?

Follow us (via the ways on the right) or I will hunt you down... or not! But please do it anyway!

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

2011-08-03T11:17:00.000-06:00

I really don't have much to say today. Even though I have numerous ideas for posts in my mind right now, it is NOTHING compared to all the other things running through my head these past few days. So, in light of that, I will be sharing just a picture today. This is a picture of me and monkey bestie while we were waiting for the midnight showing of Harry Potter 7, part 2. I love this girl! Enjoy!

While I am at it... here's a question for all of you.

What would you like to see me post about?!

Please remember to pick one (or all) of the ways on the right to follow along with your favorite monkeys!

Since When Was Any Of That Your Business?

2011-08-02T09:22:00.000-06:00

I have been seeing an abundance on nosy people lately. Around town, on the internet and... well... basically, everywhere. What is it that makes people think that my life and anything to do with it is their business.

Unless, of course, I blatantly put it out there (as I do here). Then I am asking for the nosy's to come out full force.

Here is my thought... If I don't tell you on my own accord, there is probably a reason. Don't ask and certainly don't try to dig for it. If I find out you are... there WILL be hell to pay.

The hardest one for me to deal with is a certain person that left my life on their own. They wanted out and took the necessary measures. Not to mention, they did it in a way that hurt me more than I had ever hurt before. Once again... THEY WANTED OUT!

This is the person that now wants to know what I am doing all the time, wants to know who I am dating, where I am going for the weekend, how much money I make, what I spend that money on and so on and so forth. They have no right to know any of this information. NONE! When they asked to leave my life, they left with it any privileges of such knowledge.

This is the same person that will ask my monkeys for details when they see them. REALLY?!?! You would stoop so low as to grill children about MY life? Sad, truly pathetically sad! If you want to know... ask me. And when I tell you that it is none of your business, I mean it. Back off, and stay that way!

I am sorry for the rant today, but some things just need to be said. I am sure I am not the only person that struggles with this.

Do you have nosy people as well? What do you do about it?

Don't forget to follow along with us. Find a way on the right hand side... Please?!

Photo found here.

Weekend Re-cap!

2011-08-01T11:07:00.000-06:00

Well, this weekend didn't turn out quite like I would have preferred, and certainly not as planned. That is not, however to say that it was a bad weekend... in any form.

Friday evening, Monkey bf and I were supposed to head to Flaming Gorge to spend some time with some friends for their birthdays. This did not happen. Unfortunately, the bf had to work on Saturday, so plans changed.

Saturday afternoon a good friend had a birthday party for his little man, so I went to that and it was lots of fun. I love when little ones get to celebrate and their faces just light up so bright! So... Happy 4th to Damon!

When Jerome got off work on Saturday, we decided to go on our own little camping trip just the 2 of us. It has been a while since we have had some alone time, so it was very, very nice. This pic is a view from our site.

We headed up to Big Cottonwood Canyon, found a site and had everything set up by 11 pm. Yes, it was that late. Then we started a fire, and just sat and talked til 3:30 am. It was so nice.

In the morning, Jer made me an absolutely delicious breakfast in the dutch oven. Bacon, eggs, spicy potatoes, garlic and pepper jack cheese. Oh my... it was to die for. I wish I had been a lot more hungry than I was.

After breakfast it was time to start packing up. Which means that we didn't get to stay nearly long enough, but we still had a blast while we were there.

I am still a little bummed that we didn't get to go to the Gorge with all our friends, but deep down I am also glad that the 2 of us were able to have some much needed us time. I can't wait to do it again. I loved every minute of our trip.

I hope that you all had a fabulous weekend too, and have an awesome week as well!

What did you do for the weekend?

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Friday Fun Day!

2011-07-29T09:24:00.000-06:00

It is Friday. Finally. Yay! As most of you already know... if you actually read my posts. I am going camping again in just a few short hours. I am so excited.

My favorite thing about camping is being outdoors. I love being outside in awesome weather and just being able to enjoy nature and all it's beauty.

I also love just being away. Not here... in the city. Not at home. Not at work. Just... away! There is nothing that can compare to that feeling.

We will be going to Flaming Gorge with a BUNCH of our good friends. I have never been there. This should be way fun.

I am so ready to play in the water, sit on the beach and tan and just be around a lot of people that I love. This couldn't have come at a better time.

Unfortunately, this is all I have time for today. I do have to get ready and all, so I apologize.

I will update you all when I return, and I hope the most amazing weekends for you all as well.

What do you have planned for the weekend?

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Photo found here!

What I Have Learned This Week

2011-07-28T10:57:00.000-06:00

I want to let you all in on the things that I have learned this week. I think that learning as we go through life is such an important thing. I hope that we all retained what we've learned and can learn to hold onto it as well.

1. Friends are priceless gifts. Each friendship is different and special in it's own way. These are gifts that I never want to lose.

2. Life is really so simple. If we could watch children and take the time to learn from them, we could all retain a little knowledge to not let the small things get to us.

3. Summer is most definitely my favorite season. Okay, so I pretty much already knew this, but it becomes more prominent every year.

4. There is such a sweet relief in letting your feelings out. We all need to stop keeping things inside and just let them out, no matter the repercussions.

5. Life is too short... for a lot of things. The biggest thing for me, however, is that it is too short NOT to love. I cherish every person in my life and love them on many different levels for many different reasons. I am very lucky to get to experience as much love as I do.

6. Tank tops and flip flops are soooooo worth the money. I don't know what I would do without them, and hopefully will never have to find out.

7. I can't stand it when my monkeys don't get along. 'Nuff said!

8. I am addicted to reading blogs. I get very sad when a blog that I read isn't updated for a few days. So... Keep your blogs updated peeps. :)

9. I have decided that I will accept the very same pay for 2 days of work and 5 days off instead of the other day around. Now just to convince my employer to offer that to me. Any suggestions?!

There you go. Just a few of my lessons learned over the past week.

What have you learned this week?

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What Excites Me... Right Now!

2011-07-27T09:11:00.000-06:00

There are things everyday that excite me. And I am sure that all of you have things that excite you as well. I just wanted to let you all into my world a little bit so that you could know what is exciting me at this moment in time.

The first thing is that I am going camping again in 2 short days. A whole bunch of friends and, of course, monkey boyfriend and myself will be heading up to Flaming Gorge to celebrate 2 of our friends birthdays. I am so ready to get away again and be out in the beautiful summer weather.

2 weeks after this camping trip, a bunch of us will be heading back up to Lava Hot Springs to celebrate an anniversary. I loved it up there so much that I can hardly wait the 2 1/2 weeks to go back. I ~~NEED~~ want to go down that river again. Hopefully with less rocks up the a** this time. Haha.

Then... 2 weeks after that... another camping excursion will take place to a place that I cannot remember the name of now. Lol. We will be making this trip with a different set of friends, but I have no doubt that it will still be amazing.

I am tired just thinking about it all. Haha. EXHAUSTED! But these trips are much needed.

Okay, now we've made it through all of the camping trips (or at least those that have been scheduled), you must be wondering if that's all I ever get excited about, right?! No?! Well, okay then, because there is more.

The other thing that I am way excited about is that I am going to get to watch football soon. Yes! I love football. It is most certainly my favorite sport. Not to mention that I just can't get enough of my boys... The Denver Broncos. They are all so sexy! I am ready for it. Been ready since the Superbowl. I may be more excited about this than any of my camping trips... Maybe! :)

What are you excited for right now?

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It's Just Not The Same

2011-07-26T09:05:00.000-06:00

I remember almost all the shows I watched when I was a kid. I remember Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and Sesame Street. I remember how everything was so kid friendly.

Today's kids shows are just not like they used to be... at all. We now have girls that walk around in mini skirts. People falling in love and kissing and having relationship problems. ON THE KIDS SHOWS!!! We have dogs that drive racecars. We have little aliens that save the planet. We have teenage girls that wear wigs so that they can be rockstars and normal teens at the same time.

I realize that not all the shows when I was growing up were true to life, and there were things that may have stretched reality (sometimes more than others). But todays t.v. is so out there that I wonder what our kids learn from it.

People are always commenting on what kind of video games our kids are playing now days, and while I understand their concerns, I also have to wonder about the t.v. that our kids watch nowdays as well.

My monkeys tell me all the time about different movies they watch at their dads, that I most definitely wouldn't allow. They ask to watch Family Guy, South Park and the Simpson's. And while I know those shows aren't entirely bad... they certainly aren't what I would call kid friendly. As my kids get older I understand the need for them to grow and not be so sheltered. But to what extent?!?!

Along the lines of this, I have to wonder what other parents allow their kids to watch when my kids come home saying some of the things that they do. It is getting so hard for me to find things that are on my kids levels, and yet still appropriate.

Do you have this problem? Am I going crazy?

Don't forget to pick one (or all) of the ways on the right to follow along with us!

(Photo found here)

Monday Musings!

2011-07-25T09:18:00.000-06:00

It is Monday! Time for some more Monday Musings. Before I begin, however, I want to say that I had another fabulous weekend, and I hope you all did as well.

Take a moment to look at Max there in the pic. This was basically my weekend. Lounging around, and it was much needed! :)

Off we go:

* Dear lady that asks children to be quiet at 9 p.m. on a Saturday evening of a holiday weekend... Go work in a daycare... for just one day. Then come tell me how easy it is to ask 8 kids to sit and do nothing for hours. Thanks!

* I have fallen in love with Fajita fries with cheese, the way monkey boyfriend makes them. They are VERY delish!

* I don't realize how much I love camping until I have gone on that first trip of the year, and have to wait 2 whole weeks to go on the next. Sigh.

* Feedback from the Monkey Manics: Do I buy a bike, or just start running? I need to do something...

* Swimming pools are THE BEST on a 97 degree day!

* I am loving Amazon.com lately. I may never shop anywhere else ever again. Well, except to buy the things I can't buy there.

* Fireworks are awesome. I wish we could do them all year long, other than the fact that they may get boring after a while of that. On second thought... Let's just keep it to the month of July!

* Lately I have been missing some very dear people that are no longer in my life. It makes me sad to miss them so much, but I am also happy that I can still recall so much of them after so long.

That's it for this round. I hope you all have a fabulous Monday.

What have been your musings recently?

Don't forget to pick one or all of the ways on the right to follow along with us. We follow back! :)

It's So True

2011-07-21T10:24:00.001-06:00

I just wanted to hop on here and apologize for the lack of posts. It is so hard during the summer months with everything going on to be able to get on here on a regular basis. Sigh.

I also miss all of your blogs. I love reading all the posts, but just don't have the time and it makes me sad. I need to prioritize better, I suppose.

So, in light of all of that... I want to tell you all that I will be unavailable tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday. Too much fun planned as it is a holiday weekend here in Utah.

And, I get to go camping again next weekend, so I will once again be out... Sorry. I am so excited though.

I miss my blog, and I miss all of your blogs as well and hopefully shortly here, we will be able to get back into a normal routine. I am looking forward to spending the next couple hours of free time (before I start my weekend fun) reading a few of your posts. So you better have something fun for me. Lol!

With all that being said... I wonder about you, my monkey manics...

What are you doing for fun this summer? Any tips on family summer fun?

Don't forget to pick one (or all) of the ways on the right to follow along with us!

I Have To Wonder...

2011-07-20T10:47:00.000-06:00

Do you ever wonder who you truly are? Where you are going in life? How you got where you did?

I have often pondered these exact things. Not to the extent that I would change much (if anything at all), but just to try and find some answers.

Off to the right, you will see a pic of my monkey boyfriend and 2 of my good friends this past weekend. Goofing off, as we always tend to do. As I was looking through all these fun pics, I started to wonder about how these relationships formed. How I got to the point of having all these amazing people in my life.

I am not going to go into all of that right here, right now, but I want to say that I am very lucky to have them and I wouldn't change the fact that I do either.

I often wonder the same things when I look at my monkeys. How did I get to be a mom when I did, and how I did? It is sometimes interesting to look into myself and actually have to dig deep for answers that should be right on the surface.

I also look at where I am at in my life right now and think about where I am at. Where do I want to be? And how will I get there? These are things that as of now, I have no answers to, but am working on them daily. Sometimes I feel that I am in a deep rut. Other days I feel as though I am making great progress. I know that I can only take it one day at a time, but sometimes that is more bothersome than helpful... SOMETIMES!

Either way, I will keep digging into myself, and make the necessary steps to get me and my monkeys to where I want us to be, where we deserve to be.

Have you done some serious pondering? Any advice?

Weekend Fun

2011-07-18T11:05:00.000-06:00

Hey Monkey Manics! It is Monday, but there will be no Monday Musings today. So sorry. We will try to make up for it later in the week.

Today I just wanna share a few pics of the weekend. I decided to take monkey boyfriend on a little vacation for his birthday with a couple friends of ours. We headed to Lava Hot Springs, Idaho (none of us had ever been) for the weekend and had an absolute BLAST!

Enough chit chat... Here's the pics.

Ready for some tubing down the river

The Chatwin's

Me and my monkey man

So much fun

Happy Birthday!

We all had a blast and have decided that this will become an annual trip for us! I would suggest you all go there if given the chance. Just save the hot pools til after dark! :)

How was your weekend? Do anything fun?

I Am Angry!

2011-07-13T09:24:00.000-06:00

Have you ever gotten angry over something that you know you shouldn't be angry about? Something minuscule, or immature, or just plain stupid?

Honestly, I would bet that we all have. I hate that feeling. I hate that I have done it. And I hate that I feel like I have no control over it.

I actually got pretty upset about something the other day that I know I should have been totally okay with, and shrugged off like I do with most things. But... for some reason, I stewed over it. I let it get the better of my day. I even lashed out at the person that didn't really do anything wrong. Sigh.

This stupid, childish, unnecessary anger lasted way longer than it should have and a few hours later I found myself apologizing.

I need to find a way to control this. I need to find a way to stop it from happening. I don't want to hurt people I care about. I can't stand the feeling of being angry, especially over something petty. Not to mention, I am hurting myself when I let the anger control me.

I really have no one to blame but myself. And that, my monkey manics, is why I need to learn to control this myself. Why me and myself need to have a little alone time to sort some things out.

I am no longer angry at the situation. I am disappointed in myself that I let it escalate as far as it did, but I am not angry. Besides, anger is such an ugly emotion.

So, I found this book, and I am thinking about looking into it. Mind you, I don't have a serious anger problem, I just want to learn to control the few times that I do get angry. What do you think?

I am hoping that maybe there will be some good info in there on ideas to start looking deeper within myself.

Should I have gotten angry? No. Did I? Yes. And now I need to fix it.

Has this ever happened to you?

What do you do about it?

(Photo found here)

It's Not As Easy As I Thought

2011-07-12T10:51:00.001-06:00

I can't lie. Being a parent to a pre-teen is not as easy as I thought it was going to be. Not even close.

When Emily was born, she was such a mellow baby. Hardly ever cried. Never got sick. I felt so lucky to get such an easy baby.

She never hit the terrible two's. She was always calm, and never threw tantrum's or the like. She smiled about everything, and could talk like no one's business (some things never change).

Emily has always been the kind of kid that can easily keep herself occupied. She doesn't need anyone to entertain her, or play with her, and is very happy to sit in her room and do her own thing. She has always put herself to bed, and gotten herself in the shower, hair and teeth brushed, etc.

Unfortunately, we have now hit a rough patch. I figured my little princess would always just sail through life, happy as a clam. I should have known better, but I guess I am just naive.

Emily is hitting puberty, and has started with this attitude that drives me absolutely insane. I love her to pieces, but there are days where I am happy to send her to her room for some cooling off time. She still prefers to do her own thing, which is great, most of the time.

Along with the attitude, she has been caught lying to her father twice now. My children have had it in-grained in their heads, since they were babies, that lying is unacceptable. They have yet to be caught lying to me, but it is also unacceptable to lie to their dad. I am hoping after her last punishment it was enough to teach her that a simple lie just isn't worth it.

So it stands. I am having a harder time than I thought I would, and am stressed quite a bit of the time, but I still can't help but smile and be grateful for the beautiful daughter I have. Now, to get rid of the hormonal attitude. Maybe her sitting in her room listening to her MP3 player will help with that. We will see.

Have you dealt with pre-teens? Any advice?

Monday Musings

2011-07-11T09:13:00.000-06:00

It is time again for Monday Musings, where I list some random thoughts that I have had recently. After reading through my list, please share some of yours. We LOVE feedback!

* Today is my best friends birthday (that is her on the right with me). I love her dearly and hope she has the best day ever. She does read my blog, so if you want, you can all tell Kristi happy birthday too! :)

* It is also free slurpee day at the 7-11. My kids are so stinkin' excited. Loved seeing their faces when I told them.

* Is it just me, or do the short work weeks seem to last longer than the full work weeks?

* Sunburns on the face may hurt worse than anywhere else (note: I said... MAY). Not to mention, the swollen look is not cool.

* I love that my kids love the water. So much so that it sometimes makes me nervous. Still, I love it!

* I am taking a mini vaca with the bf and some friends this weekend, and I sooooo can't wait. Now, how do I get skinny in 4 days?! Lol

* Why is it that it takes 5 days to fully recover from 1 day of being sick?

* There are days where people (in general) drive me crazy!!!!!

* I can't stand being cold. Especially in the middle of Summer. This is madness.

That is it for this weeks edition of Monday Musings. Also, hopefully I will be back to full speed blogging this week, as I think I have finally fully recovered.

What are some of your musings?!

So Stinkin' Excited!

2011-07-07T11:53:00.000-06:00

For those of you that don't know much about my family, here is a quick overview... There's my Mom and Dad (the bestest, if I do say so myself). They had six kids.

First was David, he married Shanon and they have 2 kids, Angelia and Jack.

Then came Amy, who married Doug. They have 3 boys, Tayson, Jaxson and Iverson, and are hoping to have another baby on the way soon.

After that is Bob, who married Ronda (pictured to the right). We will get to them in a minute.

Then Jenny, who married Matt. No kids yet, as they are still newlyweds, but they want some in the future.

Then, yours truly... Me. I have my monkeys, Emily and Dallon.

And finally, Karen, who married James. They gave us our little red head Danielle and hope to have another some day.

Whew. That's the short version.

We are a very close family. We get together all the time and do weekly dinners. We celebrate holidays and birthdays together. It is awesome!

Now, as I mentioned... we need to talk a little about my awesome brother Bob and his sweet wife Ronda. They have been married since June 1999. They are still so much in love, and I love that about them. They have no kids... Yet, but have a dog named Duncan that (for now) is the highlight of their lives.

Bob and Ronda have tried having kids, but unfortunately are unable to, due to medical complications. So, a few years ago, they were approved to adopt. We were all so excited. Unfortunately, they were never selected by a birth mom, and have now gone through the process to be foster parents, hoping to be able to adopt that way. AND... They have been approved. They could be getting a little one any day now.

Bob and Ronda will be amazing parents, I have no doubt about that. They love and spoil their nieces and nephews, and spend as much time with them as possible. I have never seen a more fitting couple to be parents than they are.

I truly hope that their dream of being parents is one day a reality, and I really hope it's sooner rather than later. Through the years, while trying to become parents, they have doled out an amount of money that I don't even want to think of. They are real troopers and deserve this more than anyone I know.

Anyway, I just wanted to share this exciting news with all of you, because I am so stinkin' excited about it. I am going to be getting them a nice gift soon to celebrate, so if you have any ideas on what I could get, please let me know! Also, if you would like to help out, any donations from now until July 15th, made to my donation button on the right, will go to my brother and his wife.

Have you received any good news this week?

I Am Not Dead!

2011-07-06T13:45:00.000-06:00

It's true, Monkey Manics... I am still alive. Yesterday, however, I was not singing the same tune. No, I was not saying that I was dead, but there are moments where I would have felt better had I been.

Our 4th of July weekend was fabulous. I went to some BBQ's, did some fireworks, hung out with loads of friends and took the kids to a parade. Everything was awesome. We all had a blast.

Until about 1:30 AM yesterday. I woke up feeling super horrible, and by that I mean that I wanted to die (not literally, but you know...). Sicker than sick all day. Apparently there has been some kind of 24 hour bug going around our area for some time now, and this stupid, mean bug decided to pay a visit to me. The Jerk. Didn't make it to work, in fact, didn't make it out of bed all day except to go to the bathroom.

My awesome monkeys were so great. They didn't bother me too much while I was trying to rest, and actually got along for most of the day. I am so grateful, I couldn't have handled too much yesterday.

I am still a little out of it, and am still on the mend, but much better now. Just wanted to pop in and say hi, and that I am still alive. We will return to our normal blogging soon... I hope! :)

How was your 4th of July weekend? Let me in on the highlights, please?!