9.11

As a tribute to the signifigance of this day, September 11, eight years ago; I thought I would share something with you all. Because even in remembering a time of great destruction and sorrow for our country, Frank-o can share a good laugh amongst us all.

Now I give you, Frank-o's nightly prayers:

"For the name of the Father, the Son, the Tolee Spirit (Holy Spirit), AMEN!"

....Sign of the Cross

"Say Amen, Mommy!!!"

{amen}

"Dear God, thank you for my Mommy, and my Daddy, and my Bruffer (Brother), and my Ssssister....wait, wait, I don't have Ssssister, oh yea.

{no, dear...you don't have a sister}

And for No More's Ark (Noah's Ark), and my teachers, and my friends, and for the shoulders (soldiers). Ummmmmmmmmm, AMEN!"

"Say Amen, Mommy!!!"

{amen}

"For the name of the Father, the Son, the Tolee Spirit (Holy Spirit), AMEN!"

....Sign of the Cross

"Say Amen, Mommy!!!"

{right, amen}

Blog Hop - Time to Laugh

It’s been over a week now and I still believe this is worth having another laugh:

Just let me tell you what this handsome devil said the other day……

:: allow me to preface the story for those that don’t know, we currently have our house on the market and have been showing it to prospective buyers regularly now for almost four months ::

{as I’m tidying up the house just before a recent showing, Buck-a-roo says to me…….}

Buck-a-roo: “Momma, when we sell our house...we’re gonna get a new house, right?”

Me: “Yes dear.”

Buck-a-roo: “Well, Mom, can our new house be in Bethlehem??”

Me: “I don’t think so buddy!”

Still makes me chuckle!!

Join in the laughs, by clicking on the links in the MckLinky Blog Hop below…..

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Most recent winners: Fairy Blog Mother All winners
New to the Blog Hop? Find out how to join the fun here...

.grasshopper.

Buck-a-roo: "Mommy, come see.....look what I found, it's a grasshopper!"

Me: "I'll be there in a second...I'm almost finished clipping my coupons and I don't want them to blow away with the wind out here. Mommy's seen many grasshoppers before."

Buck-a-roo: "I'm gonna kill it Mommy!"

Me: "No, Buck-a-roo, don't kill it! Grasshoppers are good bugs that {er, hhmmmm} eat other bad bugs, like mosquitos."

Buck-a-roo: "Well, come see NOW Mommy!"

Me: { *^%#, OMG!! On second thought, let's KILL that monstrous thing} DADDY BUCK!!!!!!

Believe me when I tell you that these pictures do not do this ginormous grasshopper justice. It is fitting that (s)he sits atop the WARNING found on the child's kickboard that (s)perched himself on this morning. I promise you this creature, God's creature, was 4 inches long and 2 inches tall. And, I double-promise you that after being tortured by a 3 year old with a battery powered 4-wheeler and a 4 year old with a massive metal dump truck for 20 minutes and eventually succombing to the string of the weed eater powered by Daddy Buck, this innocent creature is now perched at the Pearly Gates now.

Out of the mouths....

If you haven't done so already, you should read this post about our recent trip to the LSU baseball game. It gives the details of our boys getting their baseballs autographed by several of the LSU baseball team members and is the prelude to this conversation that I overheard Thursday afternoon just before we left for Buck-a-roo's Tball practice....

Buck-a-roo: "Frank-o, are you coming to my Tball practice today?"

{well, of course he is....he isn't gonna stay home alone....anyhow}

Frank-o: "Yes!"

Buck-a-roo: "Bring your baseball and I'll sign it for you since I'm a baseball player and you can't play yet"

{I suppose your third day of 4 year old Tball practice definitely constitutes hitting the Big Leagues and is autograph worthy}

the ridiculously, insanely, overwhelmingly LONG post

I haven't posted since Wednesday...busy days, busier evenings, long nights! Buckle your seatbelts and hold on tight, this is gonna be a doozy of a post...


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Allow me to preface the paragraph that follows, by saying, that Daddy Buck and I had the day off (well, I was on-call) together on Thursday...


I was raised in the deep south in the great state of Louisiana in a family that worshiped the outdoors. From sports, to fishing, to hunting, and everything in between. My grandfather, father, brother, and husband are avid hunters. From deer, to turkey, to ducks, to doves, to elk, and everything in between. With this upbringing, it's hard to believe that I had never fired a gun. Not a rifle, not a shotgun, not a pistol, or anything in between. That is until this past Thursday! My dad has tried for years to teach me, take me, coerce me...if not for the sport of it, at least for self defense and personal safety. Daddy Buck finally won the battle and I agreed to go to the indoor pistol range and finally "bite the bullet", if you will.








Here's what I have to say about it...I did it (after tearing up and almost backing out), I was decent at it (fired 6 shots from 20 feet and hit the target ALL 6 times), I was NOT a huge fan of it.





Daddy Buck, on the other hand...recreational hunter with a military hunter background, need I say more?




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After the pistol range, lunch, and grocery shopping, we got the boys so that we could enjoy the outdoors and our spring-like temperatures before Daddy Buck and I left for "date night".


Frank-o has finally become proficient at riding his bicycle that Santa Claus brought as evidenced in this video clip (pause the music player at the bottom of the page):






And, just for kicks...enjoy a laugh on me at this video clip of my two sweet, lovely, innocent boys attempting to run me over (take note that Frank-o has the hiccups from laughing so hard):






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Daddy Buck and I had "date night" on Thursday...dinner at a nice, quaint, local Italian restaurant and then we met another couple to enjoy the music of an 80s cover band.






Our neighbor snapped this unscripted series of pictures as we were leaving using the continuous picture-taking mode on my camera.






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You didn't think I would overlook my two weekly Friday blog carnivals, now did you?? Better late than never...



Flashback Friday







These pictures are of Frank-o in February 2008 the day of his surgery to have tubes placed in his ears.





Why choose these pictures for Flashback Friday?


Speaking of surgery??



Remember that my boys were scheduled to have surgery (again) this past December and it was cancelled when Frank-o got sick the day of the surgery.....it has been rescheduled for February 12 and has become a wee, tee, nintsy little bit more extensive!! It will be tonsils, adenoids, and tube in ears for BOTH boys. senile, loony, exhausted, teary-eyed, whiny, short-tempered, sick, cranky, hungry, drugged, cramped...are all words that come to mind. Pray people, pray like wildfire!






Favorite Things Friday








1. Our ENT....because, hopefully within the next three to four weeks, she is going to drastically improve the quality of life that exists within our family. Less runny noses, fewer ear infections, better nights' sleep....who could ask for more?



2. My Parents....who came in town this weekend to visit the boys and I while Daddy Buck made a short weekend trip to Mobile, AL to visit his uncle. They are always a blast when they visit. I love them and my boys adore them!!



3. Birthday Cake....today was my nephew's birthday party (more on that to come), so it's fresh in my mind. Bakery fresh in my mind with lots and lots of frosting!




Head on over to The Boren Life for more Favorite Things Friday entries (even though it's Saturday night now)...


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Since I just mentioned my blogging pal, Tiff (The Boren Life), I should also mention that she has bestowed upon me my very first blogging award/honor, Hug Me Hug You!

Though, this "ecru IT" with his "HUGS banner" whigs me out a little....I greatly appreciate the recognition and I will follow through with paying it forward:

This award is given only to those who have said or done things that make an impact as well as provide comfort to others. It is given to those who induce positive emotions in others, while leaving them with the warmth of knowing that they too are special.

Hugs everyone:

1. Trish @ The Blondin Five

2. LeAnna @ Our son....Patrick

3. Amy @ Savage Stories

4. Mandi @ Monistere Maddness


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ARE YOU KIDDING ME???




I am stoked, pumped, fired-up, honored, and downright bedazzled that my boys picture that I entered in this week's Kids' Faces contest at i Heart Faces was featured on their blog.


Check it out here....It seemed to me that the Top 10 winners that were chosen were all taken by professional photographers with the exception of maybe one or two, so I was stunned to even be amongst the "not-so-honorable, accessorized, honorable mention" picks!


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Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Brock, Happy Birthday to you!!

Monday is my nephew's 2nd birthday and as I previously mentioned, we enjoyed his birthday party and CAKE today!!






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Tonight at bedtime....I read, "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" to my boys. The special detail to this tidbit of information is that, it was my book from when I was little that my mom read to my brother and I complete with three stuffed three bears hand-made by a family friend. My mother brought it to my boys and I this weekend.






Thank you "just plain ole" Maw-Maw!!!


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Out of the mouths--

Frank-o as we are passing Daddy Buck's work en route to church last Sunday morning..."Daddy, there's YOUR school!!"

Buck-a-roo as attempts to explain to me where milk comes from...

B-A-R: "Mommy, do you know that cows make milk from how we potty"
Me: "I didn't know that Buck-a-roo"
B-A-R: "Yep, the farmer pulls their potty-thingie and milk comes out!" "That's where chocolate milk comes from!"
Me: {alrighty then}


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And that, my friends, is the 4+ hour post

"GoodNight"

brotherly love, husband-ly love

Several of you emailed me and commented on this post, that it was amazing how Buck-a-roo and Frank-o were sleeping peacefully together. I thought I would elaborate on this and show with more pictures that they also...

read books together

watch TV together

make "silly faces" together

"look cool" together

and genuinely love each other

Now, now, don't be so naive as to think that they never bicker, whine, argue, hit, punch, kick, slap, bite, or all-out scream at each other....it's just I'm quick to the camera when they are getting along. Maybe I should take a few snapshots of their next "running-dog, llama-spitting, snake-hissing" fight....or maybe I won't and keep pretending (at least on this blog) that that doesn't ever take place!!

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"pack and overnight bag for you and the boys...more details to follow"

This what the text message, that I received from Daddy Buck yesterday morning around 900am, read...

I did as I was instructed and proceeded to drop the boys off at my MIL's around 530pm and met Daddy Buck at his work just as he was getting off.

Daddy Buck then drove towards downtown

valet parked and checked in to this concierge level hotel room

where these roses were awaiting me

we dined at a swanky, upscale sushi (funny that neither of us eats sushi!) restaurant, Tsunami

we had drinks afterwards and stayed up way too late just chatting

we had an uninterrupted-by-children night of sleep

we read the Sunday newspaper over breakfast this morning before checking out of our hotel room...

it was a much-needed, cherished overnight "hometown honeymoon"!

Score 1, 2, or maybe even 3 for Daddy Buck!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you...

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And, now...

Deep thoughts to ponder and possible words to live by spoken by an old, wise prophet:

"Money is expensive"

or maybe just an "Out of the Mouths" moment compliments of Buck-a-roo.

like father, like son! like mother, like son?

Buck-a-roo is the spitting image of his dad...from his eating habits, demeanor, likes/dislikes, and as of today, haircut!! He hopped into the barbers chair this afternoon and said, "Mr. Jerry, shave it like my dad's!"




And there you have it. That's as close to shaved as I will allow a 3 y/o's hair to be. {Gotta love the red & green Christmas candy choker}




This kid, on the other hand, is much more like me....eats anything that doesn't eat him first and would sport long locks of hair to run his fingers through, if only his dad (fine by me) would approve.





**please note the fact that Buck-a-roo is using a knife and a fork to cut his waffle all by himself. he was most proud and insisted that I photograph his efforts. please do not note that fact that my child is eating a waffle (or having a little waffle with his massive amounts of syrup) for dinner

I will leave you tonight with an "Out of the Mouths" courtesy of Frank-o...

Following dinner (bar-be-qued sausage and Pringles for Frank-o, if you must know), Buck-a-roo and Frank-o were wrestling, a little too much post-eating. Frank-o apparently belched/hiccupped/vomited? in his mouth (I know that's gross, right) and said "Mom, I tooted in my mouth!" That kid, that kid!!

Flashback Friday

Since I have been on such an overall kick lately, I came across these pictures of the boys from two years ago wearing {that's right, you guessed it} OVERALLS!!








Speaking of overalls, allow me to end my "Flashback Friday" post with an "Out of the Mouths..." tidbit from Buck-a-roo:


Buck-a-roo: "Mom, I wanna wear my eyebrows to school today"

Me: Hmmmm, "Buck-a-roo, you are wearing your eyebrows"

Buck-a-roo: "No, I'm not!! I wanna wear my eyebrows today and I want Daddy to get some eyebrows too."

Me: "Buck-a-roo, you are wearing your eyebrows and Daddy is wearing his eyebrows too. {as I point to my eyebrows on my face} We always have our eyebrows on!!"

Buck-a-roo: {as he makes a gesture...throwing something over his shoulder and fastening something near his shoulders} "No, mom, my eyebrows that do this!!!"

Me: "Buck-a-roo, do you mean OVERALLS??"

Buck-a-roo: "YEA, eyebrows!!!"


So as not to dissapoint, there will be (Lord willing and the creek don't rise...as my grandmother would put it) a weekend wrap-up post on Sunday evening detailing the highlights of our weekend. Hmmm....work party for me on Friday night, LSU vs. Alabama football game on Saturday, baby shower for me on Sunday afternoon, visit to Bass Pro Shop for pictures with Santa on Sunday evening. Whew!!!