Suzuki Sally...Better Slow Your Suzuki Down

My baby is no longer a baby. 

She's a toddler now! 

Monkey turned one year old over the weekend.  It seems crazy to me that a whole year has already passed.  People sure aren't kidding when they say that time flies once you have kids!

We had a few friends and family over to celebrate and Monkey had a great time. 

She was a little timid at first with the cake, but it wasn't long before she dove right in!

Her favorite present was a motorized four wheeler that her cousin gave her.  She's been toolin around the house on it ever since!

Happy birthday to my little nugget.  We love you and our family wouldn't be complete without you!

Green Shoots

What a difference a year makes!  Over 70% of corn has been planted in Illinois and that has been done in just two weeks.  Great job farmers, and a big thanks to Mother Nature for cooperating this year!

Toon Tuesday

Monkey's New BFF

From the bottom of my heart, I apologize to all my readers out there for the lack of content recently.  All five of you.  I've been busy.  Too busy, in fact, to even write anything for today.  I did want to take a minute to show you Monkey's new cousin and best friend.

Monkey meet Rosalita.  Rosie for short. 

It was love at first sight!

Wordless Wednesday

Good habits start early, right? 

Monkey loves to play in the sink while brushing her teeth.  And that drool dangling off the toothbrush?  I think that's something only a mother can love!

For more Wordless Wednesdays, click here!

Toon Tuesday

These both made me laugh out loud, so today folks, it's a Two-for-One!

Believe it or not, I have had thoughts about the unnecessary dairy overlap...

Good Samaritan Stops Bank Robbery Attempt

Thanks to the right to carry in Michigan, this man was able to stop a bank robber.

It's time to thank a hero for stopping a suspected bank robber. The man stepped up to help protect his city."It's up to us as citizens to say hey, enough's enough," said Michael Farrow. "We can help out."

At 10:00 a.m. Monday, a man is accused of passing a note to a teller at the National City Bank on Woodward, and then grabbing the cash and running out the door.

Good Samaritan Michael Farrow saw him running down the street and decided to get involved.
Farrow has a CCW and was carrying a gun when he told the man to stop and get down.

"He actually thought I was a police officer at the time," he said.

Police arrived seconds later, taking 49-year-old Robert Lee Chandler into custody. He is a parolee, who police say has an extensive criminal history. The suspect will face charges.

Farrow's two sons, who were with their father at the time, also helped out.

"They recovered the money blowing down the street. So, that was their job," Farrow said. "I'm showing them how to be true Detroiters, true citizens despite if they're in Detroit or outside Detroit. It's if you see something wrong and somebody's doing something wrong, don't look the other way. You know, help out."

In exchange for a job well done, Police Chief Warren Evans gave Farrow and his sons a certificate of appreciation, thanking them for doing the right thing and helping keep Detroiters safe.

Detroit Police tell us that this suspect has already served time for bank robbery, and they are very happy to have him off the streets.

For more Armed Citizen stories, click here.

Tree Hugger

Maybe I'm odd, but I have an emotional attachment to trees. Not like I'm-gonna-chain-myself-to-it-so-you-can't-cut-it-down kind of thing. But more of a warm, fond feeling for those trees of my youth. The ones I used to climb with my siblings, or sit in while I read a book, or tied a rope around so we could swing to our hearts' content. And then there are the ones that have just always been majestic.

Look at that thing! For much longer than my entire life, that tree has been out on a hill in our pasture, just chillin. In case you can't tell from the photo, it is huuuge. I would need a ladder just to get to the lowest limb. And it's generally awesome. Even stark nekkid in early spring. I just may chain myself to it.

Wordless Wednesday

A Satruday afternoon cruisin with a pup.

April Showers Bring New Babies

I love spring.  I love that it's finally warm enough to go outside without a coat.  I love that everything is turning green after being either white from snow or brown from mud and dead grass.  I love that tractors are getting in the fields.  I even love the dirt and dust that they stir up.  But what I love most?  Is this...

Calves!  They are the cutest little buggers.  Their curly hair, wet noses and boundless energy.  I love them. 

What do you love about spring?

Dear PETA

Today's post comes to you from the great Bill Flick of The Pantagraph fame.  I read Mr. Flick regulary; I have since I was in fifth grade.  I remember even taking a class trip to The Pantagraph when I was in sixth grade and the only part that excited me was getting to meet Mr. Flick.  I'm sure if I dug around my parents' home I could still find the paper plate that he signed for me!  The column he had in Sunday's paper just made me love him all the more.   

Dear PETA: Please Pass the Tartar Sauce

So PETA, that world-famous group of folk who ardently defend animals against all dangers, including many efforts that are downright stupid, is at it again.

Maybe you heard the story on the news or read Scott Richard-son’s column in this paper.

In an “urgent” letter sent Monday to the Bloomington-based offices of the Illinois High School Association, the group is demanding that (warning: this is not a joke) the IHSA end bass-fishing as a sponsored activity because …

• “Fishing is a blood sport that causes physical and psychological suffering upon fish.”
• “Fish have sensitive mouths (and) removing a hook results in painful injuries to (their) lips, throat, mouth, and/or face which can easily become infected.”
• “Some fish are cut open while they are still conscious …”

The assertions by PETA go on for more than a page, and reaction has been varied and widespread.

Outdoorsmen, like Richardson, are in a furor naturally, citing how PETA’s “facts” are suspect.

At IHSA headquarters on McGraw Drive, officials say they have received a copy of PETA’s concerns but not planning immediate action.

In Springfield, education leaders are considering the claims but apparently also eye-rolling, since fishing has gone on for centuries.

And me?

I guess I am left with a question apparently not yet asked:

Haven’t these PETA folk ever had a fish sandwich?

Why aren’t they picketing Red Lobster?

What do they eat on Fridays during Lent?

How do they think fish end up on a plate? By hypnotism? By special invitation? By taking a wrong turn at Oakland and Mercer and accidentally just swimming into Long John Silver’s?

The PETA concerns state further, “We believe that people, where they can be compassionate, should be, for all animals.”

This spawns even more ques-tions:

How fast do PETA people drive their cars?

1 mph? 2 mph? Surely not up to 3 mph, right?

Insects, after all, are animals too, and each year, my windshield alone probably squashes 100,000 insects. I kill insects right and left, especially in summer. A picture of my windshield is surely on the “Wanted!” board down at PETA headquarters.
What about spiders in the basement?

Or termites in the wall?

Are we to believe PETA folk humanely catch them and politely walk them all back outside?

Same with mice.

If PETA thinks catching a fish is torture, what about the poor mouse in your basement that — whack!!! — gets it in your trap?

As a Humane Society official put it on TV the other night, after the IHSA story broke: “They‘re intent is honorable. It’s their actions that can be absurd.”

I also am reminded of how all animals on the planet are occasionally treated unfairly, sometimes directly in the very defense that PETA tries to uphold …

If, as an example, a sad-looking dog shows up at your door late one wintry night, obviously tired and lost, you might give it some food.

You might let it in.

There’s a chance you might even get out an old blanket and let it stay the night.

But go to the same door on the same wintry night and instead find a strange man standing on your stoop, tired, looking for food and wanting to come in, and what do you do?

I know what you do.

You call police!

My bet is any PETA member would, too.

These overly obsessed PETA folk, there’s something fishy about them ….

IGOLD Video

For those of you who weren't able to attend IGOLD this year, here is a great video I thought I'd share.  Even if you were there, it's worth watching!  And a big thanks to the Illinois State Rifle Association for putting it together!

Wordless Wednesday

I walked in the kitchen the other day and this is what I found. 

I think it might be time for us to finally put those cabinet latches on.

How Much is that Doggy in the Window?

During Easter dinner Monkey tried to make a break for it.  I don't think she realized it was a glass door and she wasn't going to be able to go through it.

Her reason for wanting outside so badly?  Well number one, it's outside.  But an even bigger draw was because there was a big puppy dog out there that she wanted.

After realizing she couldn't just walk through the door, she tried to open it.

No luck.  Someone come help me please!  I want that puppy!

If no one is going to help me, I suppose I'll settle for just watching him forever.

Bird's Nests

I made these little treats for Easter and the kids loved them!  So easy and super cute, I suggest you make them for a nice spring treat.

What You'll Need:

• 8 cups Chow Mein Noodles
• 4 cups Marshmallows
• 1 stick butter
• Candy Eggs

What You Do:

Melt marshmallows and butter on stovetop.
Mix in noodles until evenly coated.
Place in muffin tin and indent with fingers into a nest-like shape.
Once cooled, place 2 or 3 candy eggs in the center.

Musings

I don't have anything to say.  If you read my blog regularly, you might not be all that surprised.  But if you know me personally, I'm guessing you are in shock right now.  Possibly your heart has stopped. 

It's alright though, it does happen to me occasionally.  Maybe I should go ahead and get out the defibrillator.  Seriously, are you going to be okay?

I've just been really busy at work and at home and my brain doesn't have much more space.  Right now I don't have much more than random musings going through my head.  So without anything exciting to write about, I thought I would share a few with you. 

• Why do salads always taste so much better when someone else makes them?  I can use the exact same ingredients and it can still be lacking just slightly.
• When the media talks about manifestos, it makes me wonder....do you have to kill people for your rantings to qualify as a manifesto?
• When radio stations play a quick sample of a few songs, one of them is one you really want to hear. But the next full song they play usually stinks big time. Why is that?
• If Oprah puts her name on something (i.e. a book), why do we automatically think it must be good? But then we test it out for ourselves and are sorely disappointed.
• Why can't we just keep Daylight Saving's Time year-round?
• Don't all cars these days come with cruise control? WHY do so many people refuse to use it on the Interstate?
• How on earth did Easter become synonymous with giant bunnies and colorful eggs? Seems a little trippy to me.

If you have the answers to any of these questions, please feel free to share your wisdom.  And if you have any random thoughts running through your own head that you want to share, I'd like to hear them!