Monkey and the Chicken Prayer

Here is a funny story about Monkey, but first let me give you a little back ground on the story. Monkey is a BIG eater. He loves to eat and he will eat anything. Since he was really little, he called every kind of meat chicken, no matter what it was ( chicken, deer, beef, pork, elk, etc). When it was time for dinner, he'd say, "Oh, good, we're having chicken." Or "Please pass the chicken" when we were having steak. Now that he's older (and I THINK he knows not all meat is chicken) we still give him a hard time when he asks for a hamburger or some sausage, we'll say, 'oh, you mean you want some chicken?'

So a couple of weeks ago while Hunter was hunting, Monkey was saying his prayers before he went to bed. During his prayer he said, "and please bless Hunter will get some chicken for us to eat." I had to force myself not to laugh during his prayer. When he was done both Martin and I burst out laughing and teased him about how Hunter was hunting in the woods for chickens, big scary chickens with horns. Monkey was laughing along with us, and he said, "I didn't mean chickens, I meant Deer chicken!" Yes, Martin and I laughed even harder.

So the last couple of weeks, we have been having "deer chicken" for dinner.

Bloggin' blahs

I have had the bloggin' blahs. Have you ever had them? The past four weeks or so have been insane. I can't even describe them to you or begin to. So, without the story, just know we are alive and doing better. Hunter is currently Hunting (go figure) and I have been holding the barn down by myself. He will be home Saturday or Sunday and I CAN'T WAIT! I love my husband and love him to be happy. I know that going hunting is what he lives for, so I cheerfully help him get ready to go, pack for him, shop for him, bake for him and kiss him and send him on his way. HOWEVER: I miss him a ton. He does so much around here that when he is gone there is a big hole in our family - nothing feels right or goes right. Don't get me wrong, the kids have been great. They have helped out, they haven't fought (much) and have just been really great. All seven critters were here this last weekend and we had a great time together (including Porcupine who did homework for 7 hours on Saturday!) It is just a testimony that we have Mom's and Dad's for a reason. It takes both to make the family work.

In about 4 or 5 months you can ask me about our crazy few weeks... I might be able to talk about it then without having a panic attack. (it was nothing real serious... just a lot of things at once and I didn't feel like blogging it!) So hopefully we are back now and I'll try and remember to take pictures and keep you up to date with life on the Funny Farm!~

An afternoon with the Horse and Lizard Family

Saturday after Monkey's soccer game, the critters and I loaded up and went to Horse's house. They were watching the Lizard kids while Ma and Pa Lizard were at the Temple. We went to a big shop by his house, swept it out and the critters road little John Deere Tractors around while I sanded on my piano. Some of the critters went back to the house with Mare and watched Nacho Libre. Horse, Liz 1, Monkey and I stayed at the shop and played tennis. It was pretty fun and we only lost a few balls in the insulation, but Horse was able to dig them out.

After a yummy taco dinner, we went outside and played a lively game of soccer. I was very thankful the "soccer field" wasn't very big. I got winded running around Horse's front yard.

Even Lemur played... in moms arms. He thought it was pretty funny when we'd run after a ball and he'd be floppin' all over the place as I ran.

SOMETHING FUNNY: We were playing Loaded Question and the Question was "what are 2 of your heroes?" Liz 1 wrote down "Dad and Nacho Libre." We all had a good laugh over that one. :)

I was happy/sad when Horse called me tonight and said that they are moving to the Ranch next week. I am happy for them because he can start working on the Ranch and build the dream there, but it has been nice having a little/big brother close by. We don't get together as often as I'd like, but it was fun having him and Mare and Colt close by. Sometimes they'd come over Sunday afternoons and we'd play ball, or they'd stop by when they were in town and say hi and have dinner - or we'd go over there and bum potatoes and onions and he'd help me with my piano. I've never lived close to a sibling before and it's been pretty fun. I think there is something to the "good old days" when families didn't live so far apart. In my dreams my family all live together on a huge farm/ranch in the mountains. Hey, I can dream, can't I?

Just Like Dad

Lemur loves his daddy's hats. When daddy leaves them laying around the house, Lemur will get it and take it to him and want him to put it on his head.

When Lemur goes for a ride on dad's shoulders, he pulls dad's hat off and hands it to him. This was the first time he tried to put it on his own head!

Notice the bruise on his forehead... that one is from climbing on his truck on the tile and falling on his head. The next day he fell off the front steps and smacked his head in the exact same spot. You should have seen the goose egg!

A climbing Lemur

The other day I was working away (typity typity type) and I look over my shoulder to see Lemur on top of the keyboard. He had pushed his truck that Aunt Rainbow Trout gave him for his birthday to the piano, climbed on it, then up to the bench and on to the keyboard. I think he wanted to touch the horse in the picture above the shelf. He is always pointing to that picture and grunting at it. I guess he wanted to get up close and personal.

So then I look over (not 2 minutes later) and Lemur has pushed his truck over to this shelf and climbed on top of it. From there he played with the globe and turned the light on and off. Notice he is only standing on one foot!

I put the truck in my closet and then Lemur decided just to climb into the laundry baskets and throw the rest of the laundry around the kitchen. He is such a climber that we now live with the table benches on top of the table, I took the bar stools out to the shed, the step stools park on top of the counters and all the other chairs are upside down or out of reach. Then, of course, I see him climbing up the book case....

Bee's Birthday... she's 10!

Happy happy birthday "bee" dear!

Ooops, I put the pictures in the wrong order, sorry. Anyway, this is how the cake started. I remember my mom made be a "beautiful lady cake" when I was about 10. She made an angel food cake and put a barbie doll in the middle of it, then shaped the cake and frosted it to look like a dress. It was so beautiful! Bee thought it sounded neat and wanted one too, but she wanted chocolate bundt cake which was too short for a barbie, so we used her ceramic ballerina. It was a very, very, very big dress, but turned out pretty cute. Bee and Martin decorated it.

Bee had a couple of friends come over after school to play for a few hours. They enjoyed cup cakes and push ups. We had Bee's birthday cake and dinner and presents on her real birthday on Sunday.

Leapin' Leumurs!

So Hunter and I were in our barnroom watching General Conference and Lemur came in to terrorize the room. He stood up on a little trunk that is under the window and leaned against the screen until it... popped out, of course. He had to climb up and get a better look.

He climbed up and down and up and down...

.... and yes, he even stood up, and he didn't fall out the window like I predicted he would. Talk about giving a zookeeper a heart attack!