If you are a young boy… when Dave lifts the bowl and one of the chipmunks farts in his face. They both tried to tell me about that part at the same time. Ugh! Then the rest of it was about the different things that happened. Theodore getting caught on the remote control car while Alvin and Simon fought over the controls… anyway, if you seen the movie you’ll know which parts they liked. It was nice of Cobb Theaters to have some free movies this summer for the kids. CLICK Here to see is one of the theaters and the shows that they had available over the summer. We only made it to the last week. But it was great. Now, to get the kids well and find something else free to do the next couple of weeks.

Nuclear power….

A stranger was seated next to a little girl on the airplane when the stranger turned to her and said, ‘Let’s talk. I’ve heard that flights go quicker if you strike up a conversation with your fellow passenger.’

The little girl, who had just opened her book, closed it slowly and said to the stranger, ‘What would you like to talk about?’

‘Oh, I don’t know,’ said the stranger. ‘How about nuclear power?’ and he smiles.

‘OK, ‘ she said. ‘That could be an interesting topic. But let me ask you a question first. A horse, a cow, and a deer all eat the same stuff – grass. Yet a deer excretes little pellets, while a cow turns out a flat patty, and a horse produces clumps of dried grass. Why do you suppose that is?’

The stranger, visibly surprised by the little girl’s intelligence, thinks about it and says, ‘Hmmm, I have no idea.’

To which the little girl replies, ‘Do you really feel qualified to discuss nuclear power when you don’t know sh.t? ‘

The gym we went to was fantastic. I didn’t have to serve, I didn’t have to clean up, I didn’t have 10 screaming children running around my house. Ahhhh… And the kids had fun. I didn’t get that many good pictures because I was busy hiding in the “Parent’s room” talking. But here is a few that I thought were fun:

Now doesn’t that look like fun? That was just a small portion of what they did. Yep, it was wonderful.

Oddybobo sent me an email about my ‘cake’. I was having a hard time and took some MAJOR shortcuts. Which bit me in the rear-end… because I didn’t add the dye slowly to the icing and was too tired to make more icing… why? Because it came out too dark of a green and I really needed it lighter… nope, didn’t do it. Wonder what all the kids po.op looked like the next day? hahahaha…

Here is what I did:

Found a picture of an Omnitrix and made two 9″ round cakes and iced them in white icing. Yep, it should have been grey… I’m telling you, I was really tired:

I used a plastic knife to carve the outline I wanted in the icing. Then started putting the green icing on first:

I was able to scrape enough white icing from the bowl to make a slightly lighter green for the where the alien shows through like in the watch and then I put green dots in for the 4 circles and proceeded to ice the black outlines. The black circles around the green dots were last. Oh… wait… the attempt to make Grey Matter (the alien) was last. No, it does not even look close.

It worked, it was edible and it was Ben 10. Yes, I did remember to remove the wax paper before taking it to the party. If I had been patient enough, I would have done it with the little stars for the green, made sure it was light enough and probably looked at the Ben 10 Alien Force Omnitrix to see make sure I had the right color scheme. Because depending on which Omnitrix you look at, the colors are different. Sometimes it has yellow on the sides instead of grey or some of the pictures even show black.

For decorating I bought Green plates, cups, table clothes and then Yellow plates, cups and table clothes. I bought 8 1/2 x 11 mailing label paper and printed Ben 10 aliens and Ben 10 on them, cut them out and decorated the cups and bags and whatever hit my fancy.

Ta da.

There is a blog I read called Zen Habits. I have been behind and found THIS OLDER POST to be a wonderful reminder to me… a mom… of the ability to stay a good mom to my kids. This particular post was written by a guest, Vered at MomGrind.

Here is a sample:

5. Be Patient. Raising kids is hard work. Kids are noisy, messy and incredibly demanding. Yes, you will lose your patience once in a while. I do. But for the most part, try to take a deep breath and see them for the small, helpless people that they are. I am not a patient person by nature, but motherhood has taught me to be more patient than I ever thought I could possibly be.

Take the time to go enjoy it.

Well, seems like Happy Dog is hitting old age with a bang. We had the following ‘mass’ removed from his leg and biopsied…

What does this mean? Well if you know medical terms, this will help you:

From the biopsy:

Biopsy: There is a densely cellular, unencapsulated mass of neoplastic mast cells, admixed with mature eosinophils. Thumor cells are round with moderate amounts of finely granular amphophilic cytoplasm and round, cnetral nuclei with finely stippled chromatin and inconspicuous nucleoli. There is moderate anisocytosis and anisokaryosis. No mitoses are observed in 10 hpf.

Microscopic Findings: Mast cell tumor, grade II

Comment: Grade II mast cell tumors are moderately differentiated, and are associated with a low to moderate metastatic potential and a 3 year survival rate of approximately 55%. Recurrence following excision is fairly common in grade II and III tumors.

From the web:
Currently in dogs, mast cell tumors are histologically categorized into grades I, II, and III (Table 1). With surgical resection only, the percentages of dogs surviving 1,500 days after diagnosis have been reported to be 83%, 44%, and 6% for grades I, II, and III tumors, respectively.2 Grade I mast cell tumors tend to be locally confined to the skin and nonmetastatic. Grade II mast cell tumors are generally local, but some can be aggressive with regional node and distant organ metastasis. Grade III mast cell tumors tend to be biologically aggressive, possessing a high propensity for regional and distant metastasis. Although histologic grade remains the gold standard for predicting the biologic behavior of cutaneous mast cell tumors, other prognostic factors include tumor location, proliferative indices, breed, recurrence, c-kit mutations, c-kit staining pattern, and microvessel density.

What does it mean to me? It means “sit and wait”. Considering the average age of a French Mastiff is 6 years and Happy just hit 10 years… I’m glad that it is going so well. And if you look at the link just above, you’ll see most male mastiff’s die from cancer. If you read the ‘general’ writeup in books, it says Mastiff’s live to be 10 to 12 years. Since the link above is to the Dogue de Bordeaux Society and that is a survey of owners… I’m betting they are more accurate. I feel very lucky we have had Happy this long. He is old. Now we just wait. And it has added to an already very stressful two weeks. More on that some other time. Just wish me luck on making a Ben 10 Omnitrix watch for a birthday cake tomorrow. Sigh.

Tater is taking a ‘fishing camp’. They get to keep the rod and reel when they are done. Awesome…

This picture was the only one I got before we heard thunder and had to go under shelter. He had just tangled his line. It had a worm on it. Ewwwwww. I can handle bread, but worms. They are just gooey.

TIPS FROM THE REDNECK BOOK OF MANNERS

1. Never take a beer to a job interview.

2. Always identify people in your yard before shooting at them.

3. It’s considered poor taste to take a cooler to church.

4. If you have to vacuum the bed, it is time to change the sheets.

5. Even if you’re certain that you are included in the will, it is still considered tacky to drive a U-Haul to the funeral home.

*** DINING OUT ***

1. If drinking directly from the bottle, always hold it with your fingers covering the Label.

2. Avoid throwing bones and food scraps on the floor as the restaurant may not have dogs.

*** ENTERTAINING IN YOUR HOME ***

1. A centerpiece for the table should never be anything prepared by a taxidermist.

2. Do not allow the dog to eat at the table no matter how good his manners are.

*** PERSONAL HYGIENE ***

1. While ears need to be cleaned regularly, this is a job that should be done in private using one’s OWN truck keys.

2. Proper use of toiletries can forestall bathing for several days. However, if you live alone, deodorant is a waste of good money.

3. Dirt and grease under the fingernails is a social no-no, as they tend to detract from a woman’s jewelry and alter the taste of finger foods.

*** DATING (Outside the Family) ***

1. Always offer to bait your date’s hook, especially on the first date.

2. Be aggressive. Let her know you’re interested: “I’ve been wanting to go out with you since I read that stuff on the bathroom wall two years ago.”

3. Establish with her parents what time she is expected back. Some will say “10:00 PM” others might say “Monday.” If the latter is the answer,it is the man’s responsibility to get her to school on time.

4. Always have a positive comment about your date’s appearance, such as, “ya sure don’t sweat much for a fat broad.”

*** WEDDINGS ***

1. Livestock, usually, is a poor choice for a wedding gift.

2. Kissing the bride for more than 5 seconds may get you shot.

3. For the groom, at least, rent a tux. A leisure suit with cummerbund and a clean bowling shirt can create too sporty an appearance.

4. Though uncomfortable, say “yes” to socks and shoes for this Special Occasion.

5. It is not appropriate to tell the groom how good his wife is in the Sack.

*** DRIVING ETIQUETTE ***

1. Dim your headlights for approaching vehicles; even if the gun is loaded, and the deer is in sight.

2. When approaching a four-way stop, the vehicle with the largest tires always has the right of way.

3. Never tow another car using panty hose and duct tape.

4. When sending your wife down the road with a gas can, it is impolite to ask her to bring back beer.

5. Never relieve yourself from a moving vehicle, especially when driving.

6. Do not lay rubber while traveling in a funeral procession.

*** TWO REASONS WHY IT IS HARD TO SOLVE A REDNECK MURDER ***

1. All the DNA is the same.

2. There are no dental records.

I got this in an email and it made me smile:

The funny thing, vw, is that in spite of the euphoria one feels upon entering paradise, cloaked in miracles, surrounded by angels, love, and unimaginable beauty, it gradually becomes all they know, commonplace, ordinary, and then, shockingly… invisible.

Yep, I’m talking about life on earth.

Yippee Kai-Ye,
The Universe

Then I realized how much Tater has helped me make my world not so ordinary… as he opened presents from Mamaw this morning take a look at that huge smile:

and I couldn’t get him to look at the camera, he just wanted to look at the Ben 10 stuff…

It is going to be entertaining this weekend, when he gets the money from his other grandparents and has his birthday party. Oh boy… I don’t know if I’ll be able to handle it. GRIN