Beautiful

Talk about one of the longest days in history. I woke up at 3:45am Saturday to get everyone ready and out the door. We got there about noon and the day began. The wedding started at 5:30 and was so beautiful. My niece and her man looked so happy. It was such a beautiful wedding and I hope more than anything that they are always as happy as they were then.

My other niece pulled the brides baby girl down the isle in this cute little wagon filled with flowers. I thought that was such a great idea.

Toot pretty much stayed in the middle of it all. She stayed in the room with all the girls before the wedding started.

She also had a real hard time staying away from the cake. She was totally being encouraged to have a little taste by a few adults.

This is all of Benny's immediate family.

So it all turned out really great and they now have plans to get their life on track. I really think they are determined to make this work and I pray for the best. It's all up to them now.

Decisions, decisions!

We have a few decisions around here to make and we (actually I) are having a hard time in making them.
There are really only 2 that are up in the air. Benny knows what he wants (rather what he thinks we need) but I am on the fence. Actually, one of them I am totally against and am just trying to figure out how to convince him.

First thing. Benny wants to sell the camper so he can buy a motorcycle. He doesn't want a motorcycle for play (that would just be a plus), he wants it to drive back and forth to work. His office is 70 miles from the house and that takes a lot of gas in his truck and my pathfinder. If he had a bike, we would save TONS on gas money. And, since we live in Texas, he could drive it most of the year.
My problem is, I love having the camper AND I know that next spring he will need it when he has to go back to Louisiana to work that shut down. See my problem. I don't know what we should do. Seems like an easy decision to make, but it's not for me.

Second thing. He thinks I need to go back to work. He has decided with a motorcycle and me working part time, we could do good. The thing is, he usually works 2 shut downs a year and makes a ton of money. The last shut down I didn't save any because we bought a camper, a boat, and horses. Now during the summer, he only works 40 hours and that has always been doable to pay our bills but now we have more bills AND we just got medical insurance that cost $500 a month (that covers med, dental, and vision).
Also, Toot will be going everyday to pre-school which is twice as much as we paid last year and Smiley will be going two times a week which is a payment we didn't have last year. Now, he is not sure if he will even work a shut down this fall because they need him in the office so much. That right there is a major cut in his annual income.
My problem is, I don't think me working part time would even be worth my time. That would mean I have to put Smiley in school everyday and double his tuition. We had a plan that I would go back to work when Smiley started kindergarten and I like that plan. I am not ready to be a working mom. I want to still stay home with my babies. The only thing I got going for me is that NO ONE is hiring around these parts and I would be very picky about my hours. Only 8am - noon and no weekends. I refuse to work more than that. I will be the one picking up my babies from school (they get out at noon).

We have to do something because what we are doing now isn't working out so well. I need to get us on a strict budget, save our asses off during shut downs, and maybe still sell the camper. I don't know. Such hard decisions. What do yall think?

Blah

That is how I have felt for about the last 2 weeks. Not bad (except when I was sick) not good, just blah. I haven't had any energy. I been so tired lately.
I don't know what it is. Mental or physical or both. I don't know but it's driving me crazy.
Which doesn't help.

I guess I am just in a funk and am having a hard time getting out of it.
Did get some great pics this weekend I want to show you but I gotta wait for my mom to get them to me. Lake pics. I am so proud of Toot. I will explain when I have the pics to go with it.

Sexist or respectful

Benny always drives when we go anywhere. There is never even any discussion about this. He just gets in the driver seat and I get in the passenger seat.

He does ALL the outside chores and I do ALL the inside ones.

He works while I stay at home and raise our children.

He always opens the door for me when we are out and about.

At restaurants, most of the time, he orders for me. At bars, he always does.


If we actually sit at a table and not a booth, he usually pulls my chair out.

He leads me around the dance floor and not the other way around.

He will always stand up for me no matter what even though I can do it myself.

Did I just set women back 50 years? No. It's not that I can't do those things, it's that he respects me enough to do them for me. My husband is just a southern gentleman that believes it's great to be the man of the house with his wife right by his side. And ya know what, I love it that way. Know what else, we are totally raising our sons to do the same.

Scruff

When I first met Benny, his job required him to fly out every Monday and return Friday. He worked for a HUGE company that made water treatment equipment. Benny's job was to go around North and South America making sure the equipment was installed right, train the employees on how to work said equipment, and rub elbows with the big wigs at the company. He dealt a lot with Kimberly Clark. Anyway, because he had to rub so many elbows every week, he was always clean shaven, nice jeans and starched shirts.

Times have changed. When we got together, I told him I like a guy with some scruff on his face. For him, it's about day 3 or 4 that I love. I just think it is so damn sexy. Of course, it you look at previous pics, he went a little overboard. That's ok though, he is still very sexy.

Well, right now, he is rockin the scruff on his face AND head. Yes, he is letting it grow out. When he has a few days growth, his cowboy hat, a smile and a wink, that just makes me giddy. And a few other things. *wink wink*

A little if this and a little of that

Just some randomness for ya.

I watched a show last night and I couldn't tear myself away from it. Benny actually said, "No wonder you went to school to be a drug and alcohol abuse counselor". It was "Steve-O, The Demise and Rise". I like Steve-O. I think he is insane and so funny. But, he was OBVIOUSLY very drugged up for the last however many years he has been on TV. I think it is wonderful he has made it over a year of being clean and sober and hope he continues to do good. I was also great to see that he could still be crazy and funny without the drugs. And yes, I am one of those that watches Jackass and Jackass 2 over and over.

In a town about 2 hours from here, they had a protest with the black panthers and skinheads. The KKK decided against a rally so it was about 200 black people vs. 15 white people. They had the cops standing between them with their shields and everything. OK, this all seems very weird to me. Lets see, we have the black panthers, skinheads, and the KKK. Really? Why? I understand that the black people in this town are pissed because nowadays EVERYTHING is race related against them (being sarcastic). But why would the skinheads or KKK care. I don't get it. Life has got to suck when your world revolves around race. Do the Black Panthers and KKK just sit around and bitch about each other all day? Sounds fun (more sarcasm). The town I live in is about 50/50 black and white and has made national headlines for things that got turned in to racist activities. It wasn't the people of the town that turned it in to that though. It was the NAACP and the media. We didn't have protests and rallies and the shit got handled right. I guess the people in my town aren't as ignorant as others.

I feel a little better today. Now I am just really dizzy and weak. I hope I am all better by Friday because we have family coming into town to visit. For one night, I will have my cousins 5 year old son staying with us. I am sure Toot and Smiley will have a blast. Little Man will be staying with my mom that night to stay away from all the craziness I am sure will happen. Smart kid.

I am loving the weather we have had this week. It's hasn't reached 90 degrees all week!

And lastly, Benny bought me some fancy chocolate last night because he felt bad for me. It is soooo freakin good. He is the best husband EVER!!!

ABC's

I feel like shit today so I thought it would be a good day to steal the meme that Carrin did the other day. Here it goes.

A-Age: I just turned 28 in April and no, that is not why my name is April.
B-Birth date: April 13th
C-Chore you hate: Washing dishes and mopping. I would rather clean the toilets then do those!
D-Dog's name: Booger, Danny, Lady and a new one named Gordo. Gordo is a yellow lab puppy that adopted us about 2 weeks ago. I guess he is staying seeins how Benny named him.
F-Favorite color: Red
G-Gold or silver: I like white gold which actually looks silver. My rings have white and yellow gold in them.
H-Hair color: Not pretty so I bleach it.
I-Instrument: Can't play anything at all which is sad because I took guitar lessons for 2 years.
J-Job Title: Mom
K-Kids: 3.
L-Living arrangements: I live with Benny, the kids and all the animals.
M-Monkey or Moose: Umm, I guess monkey because my kids act like little monkeys.
N-Nicknames:Yes, I have one my Dad, Mom and brothers call me. Oh ya, TMM calls me it too!
O-Odd thing about you: I can wiggle my pinky toe without moving any of my other toes.
P-Pet Peeve: Stupid people.
Q-Quote from a movie: "Just because I talk slow doesn't mean I'm stupid" Jake Perry from Sweet Home Alabama.
R-Right/Left Handed: Right
S-Siblings: 4 older brothers. Yup, I'm the baby and the only girl!
T-Time you wake up: Whenever a kid wakes me up.
U-Underwear: Not usually.
V-Veggie you dislike: Cooked green ones. Can't eat em. Really, any cooked veggie except corn.
W-What makes you run late: Benny. People actually tell him to be somewhere an hour earlier than they tell everyone else because he is ALWAYS late!
X-X-Rays: Mostly my face. Which really sucks!
Y-Yummy food you make: Chick-n-dumplings. Learned from my mom.
Z-Zoo Animal: The tigers. Especially the white ones.

Well, that was kinda boring wasn't it. It seemed like more fun when Carrin did it. Oh well.

Craft it forward...

So a while back I agreed to do a little 'Craft it forward' thing over at Family of Shorts. I really must have not been thinking that day because I am not crafty AT ALL. But, I agreed and received my stuff from Amanda today. Thank you girl. I love it all!! Here is all the goodies I got.

3 candles - Cinnamon, floral, and fruity: (I love smelly candles!!!)

Red star: (I love this and what she wrote in the card about it! She said "I thought of you in Texas when I saw this star and chose red since it is your favorite color". So sweet.)

Photo album: ("for summer adventures" Now I need to get some pics printed!)

Chocolate Masque: (I know it's gonna make me want to eat some chocolate)

Smoothing sugar scrub: (I'm gonna be sooo smooth!)

Anti-stress bath soak: (How did you know I NEEDED this?!)

So now I get to pass on this contest to all of you! The first part of this little thing was easy but there is a second part. Here are the rules...

1) Be one of the first THREE bloggers to comment on this post.

2) You then agree to share your snail mail address with ME (my email is in my profile) so I can send you a small gift handmade by ME!

3) When you receive your gift, you then blog about this game & link back to my blog in that post.

4) And most importantly, you ALSO AGREE to "craft it forward" (or just pay it forward if you'd rather) and send a small gift to the 3 people who comment on your blog post...

If you would like to do this, let me know. Also, because I am not crafty AT ALL, I will be paying it forward unless I get another wild hair and then I might just craft you something. Hehe, ya right!

Baby bunnies

We didn't do much 'fun' stuff this weekend but we did do a lot of stuff that just needed to be done. The kind of stuff that gets put on the back burner because doing fun stuff is just, well, more fun.

Anyway, we were working down in Benny's shop and heard some squealing. We both jumped up and looked for the dogs (we knew what the sound was). I saw Booger (black lab) with something in his mouth and RAN to him yelling.

He had a baby bunny in his mouth. I got him to drop it and I scooped it up real fast. Thankfully, it was ok. Then, he started sniffing around so we watched where he went and when he stopped, I ran and yelled at him again to get away.

He had found a rabbit hole with 2 more little babies in it. We scooped them up and put all three in the bed of Benny's truck. While the kids watched over the bunnies, we rounded up a box.

My mom made a little rabbit sanctuary a few years ago and that is where we take the baby bunnies we find (this happened every year).

So, with bunnies in box, we head to my moms. We let each kid release one.

Even though Benny hunts, we are big animal people. Benny wont hunt or kill anything unless we are going to eat it. He doesn't hunt just to go kill shit. Hell, we even ate his roadkill! LOL

Hope everyone had a great weekend. Also, if you didn't read my post yesterday, please scroll down one and read it.

Be thankful

Friday we went over to my parents house and something happened that just shocked me.

My dad is a Vietnam Vet and he started talking to Little Man about the war. Little Man is VERY interested in military weapons and wars and all that goes with it. They talked about it for hours. I have never heard so much about my dads time over there as I did Friday. If you know a Vietnam Vet then you know that they don't like to talk about it and my dad is no exception.

While they were talking, they were looking at pics my dad took while over there and through a book about the war. The most upset I saw my dad was when they saw a picture of the protesters. My dad was spit on and screamed at and called very ugly things because he served his country. How shitty of those people!

Well, we are in the midst of another war. A lot of people are pissed about this. I don't care how you feel about the war but you should ALWAYS be thankful to the soldiers. They put their lives on the line for US. How dare anyone say anything negative to or about them. You should only thank them and pray for them.

Here is a post about Tyson Serles, a soldier that was badly injured in a road side bomb. Here is a little of what was written, "Tyson had been critically injured in a roadside bombing in Afghanistan. Sadly, the entire group of soldiers he was traveling with, except for his Sargent, were either killed or critically injured. Tyson bravely tried to pull his fellow soldiers from the wreckage and witnessed one friend take his last breath." This man deserves all the thanks in the world and our prayers. So if you feel up to it; send a card, a prayer, and/or a thanks. The info on what happened and how to contact him is in this post. Please hit it up.

My dads favorite quote:

"Freedom has a taste the protected will never know."