The BOY'S Grad Photo 2010

Updated version for DAWN

Home Is Where The Heart Is

I just thought I would let you know I am home safe and sound.  I have lots of catching up to do, I missed you all.  Berries got a new crown!  I will check in on everyone as soon as I unpack all my GOODIES!  I hope everyone had a great weekend.

Fast Lane - The Slide

I Pronounce myself QUEEN OF THE BERRIES

THIS IS MY CROWN.....if somebody else can be queen of dung beetles, I am now queen of berries. This little gem was in my strawberry patch!

Parents are People by Tim Hawkins

The Wife Song

Tim Hawkins - The Government Can

Kids' Rock by Tim Hawkins

Tim Hawkins - A Homeschool Family

Tim Hawkins - Corporate Worship Songs

Tim Hawkins on Bananas - Playground Mishaps

Yo

Alright girls here's the 411:

 Last week, I told cow how great I thought he was for bringing home the bacon, but if he didn't start hanging around long enough to enjoy a BLT every now'n again he could just (insert half hearted threat here) and that was that.

Much to my surprise (and relief) Cow relented.  And after some heavy (time consuming) negotiating I scored (in my custody battle for the farmer/rancher/fireman) a weekend every other week until cotton harvest. He gets to work just as many hours as he can squeeze into those 12 days and then for two glorious days he is mine (and the sprout's) all mine. Girls this is unprecedented. I can hardly believe it, but I have actually just enjoyed one of those weekends and it was SWELL. Will it last? I sure hope so.
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I have been blogging, just not proofing or publishing. Time has been short and I still insist on keeping up with y'alls blogs if I am going to blog at all. I've also (what were they thinking) gained a few more readers so keeping up with blogs is getting more difficult (how do you all do it???) but so worth it. You guys make me laugh, think, and occasionally get a little choked up.

Not to mention the inspiration that I get from the crazy things you guys come up with. I am 95% through with the my little den, love it, and I'm debating if I should go ahead a publish pictures now... or push forward until I've finished that 5%?

Thanks to all of you that have asked after me, posted pictures of funny pig faces and signs about surprising Cotton. You're emails and comments have been so good to read.

I miss you all, but hey...I guess this post means I am officially BACK!
So look for me at your places, okay?

(But not today...it's Tuesday for Pete's sake.)

Signs that it is time to go HOME..

 

There is that, then the fact that I am getting so hot and bored that even motorcycle riding sounds fun. (It wasn’t fun at all, especially the speed bumps)

And, I keep getting pictures sent to my phone that look like this…

with messages from Murphy saying that he misses me.

Tuesday can’t come soon enough, I miss my boys.

Have you ever gone to a party where you were the present?

 

Tomorrow, I am getting on one of these

which I hate and going to Arizona. Again.

I am going to surprise my dad for Father’s Day. He thinks that he is picking up his father-in-law at the airport. Won’t he be surprised when I saunter off of the plane?

While I hate flying in itty bitty planes, am not a big fan of heat, & have never been away from Art this long in the almost 5 years we have been together….I am excited.

I wish that I could say that it was my idea, but it wasn’t. I can’t thank his wife, someone that I prefer to refer to as a friend as opposed to a step monster, for emailing last week and sharing her idea.  It also sort of helps that she is paying for it:)

Just do me a favor, don’t tell Murphy. Or my dad.

 

Excitement

Oh something very interesting happened yesterday... I was driving, and my van started singing like a kettle on the stove. AND THEN PLOOOOSH a volcano of fluid flew up out of my hood. I left a trail of fluid all down the road until I found a place to stop. Then it spilled all over the parking lot.

It was all very exciting. The kids call the van "The Ghetto Van" for good reason. You know it is really ghetto when the mechanic tells you to buy a new vehicle rather than come to him every six months.

Say, where did everyone go?

Painting with oil based paint is going to my head girls...you had better watch out!!!

Besides , where is everybody??? Things are a little boring around here don't you all think?

Me I am painting up a storm to actually post something useful on my blog......I need fresh air and ginger....this paint junk makes me feel sick...

PO'd

GROWLLLLLLLLL

This is the second time I have planted my peas and the birds are eating them before they even sprout. The weather is sucking big time and nothing is coming up....no spinach , no corn barely any carrots......what the flip?

and that is all I gotta say about that!

Fun With Photos

I was blog trolling last night and I found a fun way to play with photos on My Desert Cottage.  In fact I had so much fun, I am going to use a photo of the kids and give it to Mr. M. for Father's Day.  Here is a picture I made last night for fun.

I did the pencil drawing on this site photofunia, have fun playing with your photos.

Oh Boys

Look what I found, just for the boys.  It is wool and covers just a little more than the one Blossom had in mind.

Now wouldn't Butt Head  Stupid Butt look good in this one.  Can you imagine how itchy it would have been to wear wool.  Anyone for the POOL.

I'm black baggin' it, girls!

I LOVE seeing these leave my house. It makes me a happy, happy girl... I mean, really.

Ya know I clean for therapy- I LOVE the order & calm that result from cleaning the house, especially when my world is out of whack. Now, this does not mean that my house is always clean. (Although, it should be, considering what I have been going thru lately- right Cotton B?!) Its nothing like that. I'm just sayin' this is what I do when I need to feel some control over what is going on around me. Well,,, even better than cleaning is getting rid of stuff! This time of year, when we are done school & have lots of carefree days ahead... I attack the house! So far, since last week, I have given away at least 15 bags full of clothes, shoes, bed sheets, books, puzzles, toys, videos, dishes, etc. Whoo hoo!!! So, right now, I am one happy girl! My goal is to completely empty out the basement, so I can paint the block walls & set up my scrapbook studio/kid's school room down there. It may not get done until next year (there is a LOT of junk to get thru first) but it WILL get done, one black bag at a time.

Let's TWEET!

Okay gals, I have no idea what twitter is all about and really don't care to learn...but, for tonight...what are you all up to?

Let's TWEET Chick Chat style!!!

Customer appreciation for great legs.

I was in the bank line up today when I hear loud and clear "GREAT SET OF LEGS YOU GOT THERE" The lady in front of me turned to me and laughed.....I turned around because I know it was not me with the great set. Here is this 75+ year old woman eating a green cupcake (customer appreciation day) talking loudly to the 20 something teller handing out carnations to outgoing customers. I think she absolutley mortified the young girl, who was wearing a short skirt and high heels and did indeed have a great set......I listened to the conversation go on...(who couldn't?) She was yaking on and on about young ladies not settling down to have children, but go on get a career.....let me tell you that was the most entertaining bank line-up I have ever been priveledged to be apart of...and I will never forget the statement loud and clear in a raspy voice "Great Set of Legs you Got there! " The green cupcake was pretty yummy as was the pink carnation!

What Not To Do While On the Computer

Today I learned a valuable lesson. Do NOT sneeze with coffee in your mouth, especially while typing on computer keyboard.

I came home from garage saleing, and my computer was randomly deleting files because my keyboard malfunctioned.

Immediate call to Mr. M. the computer guy, I love him, he says "go in the basement and get the extra keyboard and call me after you hook it up.  If still not working I will bring home a new one." 

Obviously it works or I would not be here.  And all I wanted to do was look up the words to the chicken dance, I just can NOT get it out of my head.  Well no time for that, I have to go back and pick up all my bargains, had to make two trips.  I love town wide garage sales.

Coffee Chat

Ladies, I thought I would let you know that I am doing an interview with Blossom today in Coffee Chat on my blog.  I am drawing names out of a hat to see who is next.

How not to move.

Do not attempt to have your children help you pack. View this as your opportunity to divest your household of it's vast assortment of broken Breyer horses and Playmobil pirates. This is best done without witnesses.

Don't move things you don't like. It's not going to have a place in your new place any more than it does in your current place. Bless* someone else with it.

*I always love how home ec gurus use this word, as if giving your ugly plastic placemats to your unsuspecting sister-in-law is really a blessing...bwahahahaha....


Don't buy 4 or 12 gallons of mismixed paint just before your husband comes back from a trip and leave them where he can see them and has the opportunity to ask "why in the !@#$% are we buying that just so we can move it?". I'm just sayin'.

Don't go to Costco and spend $50 or $200 just before your husband comes back from a trip and leave the stuff where he can see it and has the opportunity to ask "why in the !@#$%$ are we buying that just so we can move it?". I'm just sayin'.

Do not plan your move to a vacation destination over the Fourth of July holiday weekend, unless you have superhuman strength and can carry your china cabinet yourself.

Do not tell your dog you are moving, unless you want her to come down with a cold and an ear hematoma and need a trip to the vet, but you only have one car and your husband has it out of town, because you did not want to move two cars so you sold yours prematurely.

Do not count on fellow bloggers to help you choose your house. They can't decide either.

Do not count on fellow bloggers to reliably choose the appropriate cocktail to medicate your stressed nerves during your move.

Do count on fellow bloggers to post disturbing pictures of unnatural (?) acts that distract you from what you're supposed to be doing.


but most importantly....

Do count on fellow bloggers to help you keep your perspective, your religion, and your sense of humor, if not your sanity.

Amens.

Girls...I'm calling in a favor...

Nothing shocking is about to happen, but I needed to get your attention without alerting the boys that occasionally cruise "Chick Chat" (as Stupid Butt calls it).

Would y'all do me a solid and click on TS's (The Non-Review) on the sidebar and vote for your favorite girlie drink? 

Here is the deal... If you would be so kind as to NOT actually vote for one of the candidates and cast your vote for 'write in' candidate...Mimosa Breeze...I would be forever in your debt.  Just act like you thought it was one of the options or not...just say you haven't had one in ages or say that they are so Twenty ten and you're sipping on one right now...I don't care! Just be yourself, well, yourself voting for a Mimosa Breeze that is.

(Yeah, no such thing, we made it up.)

WET NURSE ANYONE?

This little FREAK in the above picture, who is now 1 year old is driving me mental!!!!!!!!!!! I will tell you why in a minute. See that picture of the poor mama cat? She looks like she is ready to dart and run away from those dang kittens sucking the life out of her. I know how she feels.

It has been long nigh, at least 14 years since I nursed my precious babies. These days though I feel like I have to run for cover or find me a thick scratchy turtle neck........You wanna know WHY? That dang Romy has me cornered everytime I sit at the computer. She jumps on the desk and crawls on my chest to suck my neck........my skin is raw. Now you all know the real reason for my lack of posts....I am a wet nurse to an attack sucking cat, who uses my neck as her teat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Get me outta here....I can't take it anymore. It is like chinese torture....I sit and laugh while she nuzzles or at least I used too. Not no more. I wanna take the next exit outta town.

That is until I met this woman..............................OMG . Please not the monkey.... this had me laughing so hard....look at that womans face! Why is a woman of her age still nursing???? What is wrong?? Is this where I am headed??? I always like nursing but obviously not as much as this woman....and would you trust your infant to a woman who nursed a monkey?

Monday.. no no it's Tuesday!!

And thank the good Lord for that eh?  So.. goood.. Moooooooorning!

Should be a bright start to the month of June my dear dung beetles..

the skies here are heavy with clouds, the air seems more sultry with the darkness outside and I can hear my summer novel calling me back to bed. 

But alas.. never fear.. Ms. Pewpie Beetle is here!

Let's make June a month to remember as I have oodles of ideas that we as a group can do... ..

~ round robin exchanges

~ raise funds by doing some collectively

~ worthy cause aider, contributor, kibitzer - most would know my druthers.

The board is open for suggestions beetles.. let's do this thing!

ps.. for those who are balking.. in the sweet words of Whitney Houston "Kiss my ass"