Ode to Monkey

A few weeks ago, I had school and Caden's school was closed, so we called our bestest babysitter ever, S, and she agreed to babysit. She has 3 wonderful kids - I'm convinced they do no wrong - and they're usually happy whenever we let them babysit Caden.

Stan picked him up and said that he had a great time over there as usual and he even brought home a souvenir - Monkey. Now, we have bought Caden bears and other stuffed animals, but he has no attachment whatsoever with them - only Monkey.

He sleeps with Monkey. He watches movies with Monkey. He even eats with Monkey. Every Friday at his school, they have 'Show & Tell'. He's taken Monkey ever since he got him. Stan lets him take Monkey in the truck with him on the way to school & he'll leave him in the truck when they get there. Not so this past Wednesday. He would NOT leave him in the truck! Thankfully Ms. Beth said that he could bring him in to school that day.

So thank you S & little L for giving Caden Monkey! Our lives would be so empty without him, and we love him so much!!

This is how we work

Our weekends lately have consisted of much basketball.
Well, maybe not mine so much - directly - but my life has definitely had to shift because of it!

Case in point, Friday nights. I go straight home from school and Stan & I pick Caden up together. We then make the all-important stop at Wendy's to ensure that our boy's stomach gets full of food as soon as possible, and then make the trek to the school to set up for Upwards basketball the next day.

Caden eating with Monkey, whom he has taken to 'Show and Tell' the last 5 Fridays! He also took him to school on Wednesday when it was NOT 'Show & Tell'


That's when the workin' starts according to Caden. He LOVES to work and if his daddy is doing something, he needs to be helping him. Stacking chairs and pushing the dolly is better than going to the park for this kid!


After the work is done, there's always a bit of playing that needs to be done.

This is our family's Friday entertainment. I'm more worried about the end of Upward season than I was the end of football season! Here's a great picture of my 2 most favorite boys in the whole world.

Remembering

Yesterday I went to the funeral of my first cousin once removed (he's my mom's cousin & I'm her kid - hence the 'removed' part - I think!)

He's a little older than my parents and he'd been in ill health for about a year, but I was still surprised when I found out this weekend.

In honor of my 'Uncle' Kenny, here's what made him unique.

He called a handful of girls 'George'. Until yesterday, I thought I was the only one, but alas, that is not the case! 'We' made the preacher's speech as he said there was a very special group of girls who could say they were known as 'George'. That made me happy.

He judged sandwiches by how messy they were. He would put a big glob of mayonnaise on the bread and then slap a tomato on it. A really good sandwich would have the juice flowing down his arm. EWWWW!!

He was driving somewhere with his radio turned up very loud when a policeman pulled him over. He turned it down, pulled over, and waited for the cop to come up to the window. The cop came up and apologized for pulling him over saying, "I'm sorry sir. I heard some loud music, but it must have been some kids who pulled off the road." Kenny LOVED that story!

On a sadder note, he could not attend funerals. He would go, and then drive around and around the church where the funeral was being held. When he was in Vietnam, his friend was killed and he got a picture of the friend in his coffin in the mail. From what I hear, he was never able to go to a funeral after that.

He wore overalls everywhere and was just a laid back, casual guy. One thing that was said over and over again at the funeral was that if you needed him to do anything, he dropped whatever he was doing and helped you out.

The funeral was very simple and moving. Being a vet, he had 2 members of the military there and watching them fold up the flag and present it to his wife, Pat, was nice. What was even more moving was watching the Vets who were there tear up when Taps was played.

After the funeral, we all piled back in our vehicles and headed over to the First Baptist Church. In typical southern fashion, there were 2 tables loaded down with food. It was so nice seeing family I hadn't seen in years. There's just something about being with family (even the crazy ones - and some of them are looney!) that is just so calming.

I would be doing just fine and then something would happen and my mom would start to cry and then I would lose it. You can't NOT cry when your mama's crying!

So anyway, to a really sweet guy who never had a bad word to say about anyone and enjoyed the simple things in life - you will be missed and you are loved tremendously.

Update Post

It's been so long & I truly apologize to anyone who is still checking this. Hopefully I haven't lost too much of my fan base.

Anyway, here's a rundown on my life the past couple of months.

If people who have no intention of going fast would stay out of the fast lane (or at least avoid driving the exact same speed as the person exactly beside them) I would be a lot happier. Me and my anxiety medication would thank you.

Moody people need to get over themselves.

Administrators who say "data" and "TAKS" and "benchmark" make me want to spank them. Seriously.

The next 2 weeks of Upward need to run smoothly. For everyone in the Aalbers household's sakes. If you receive an email from my husband, ANSWER IT! Do not make my husband call you and the 30 other poeple who did not respond to said email on a Thursday night. He is already giving up one whole day of family time. You don't get Thursdays too. A simple "I can ref" or "I"m not available" will suffice.

Not to name names but a certain contractor with the initials GW has attained "Awesome" status in our house. Seriously, he can do no wrong in any Aalbers' eyes.

If anyone has a good product to make your nails stop cracking & splitting, I would appreciate a shout-out.

Freshmen students need to be observed 24/7. You cannot rush out of a computer lab with 16 freshmen left unattended because your pea-sized bladder is about to spill. If any administrators are reading this, no, I did not do this personally.

Juniors rock. There is something about the 16 to 17-year old psyche that I love. God bless the 11th grade.

Caden likes peeing in his pants. And really, how can I argue with him? He doesn't need to stop playing or eating in order to go to the bathroom. The kid's going to be 4 before he uses the potty.

To the cop who made me turn the other way when I was physically unable to get in the turn lane of my choice because you were directing traffic into it? I don't care for you.

Dirt piles do not belong in driveways longterm.

Chace Murphy is back doing the news on Candy 95 in the morning. Everything is all right now.

If your child takes 30+ minutes to open presents on Christmas morning, you have bought said child too many presents.

Big boy beds are easier to go to sleep in than toddler beds.

Caden's favorite song right now is "Wipeout" from the 1950s/1960s.

I really don't like shaving my legs, but I dislike that prickly feeling when I get into bed even more. I suppose Stan does, too.