Binky Go Bye Bye

So there's a Binky Fairy and supposedly on your 3rd birthday she comes and takes your binky and then you don't have it anymore. Yeah, well, Binky Fairy knew better than to come near my binky so I'm still rocking it.

But the other day when Mom and Dad got done with work I decided, on my own, that I was going to throw my binkies in the garbage.

It. Was. Time.

So I gave the lid a lift...

Held them over and...

Down the hatch. As you can see, thought twice about it after I let them drop into the muck down below. But that was it, nothing I could do about it, they were gone, in the garbage and we weren't getting them back.

So that night the rubber hit the road, I made it happen, vamoos binky, I passed the test, that binky was a candle in the wind, if you love something set it free, every cloud has a silver lining (wait, that last one might not apply)...

Um.... dug it up before bed, just can't live without it quite yet.

Don't judge me.

Planking Alert

Okay, so planking is all the rage these days, it's literally an Internet phenomenon that some say started in England and now kids all across the nation are planking and posting photos on the Internet.

Here's the Wikipedia definition:

• Planking or the lying down game is an activity consisting of lying face down in an unusual or incongruous location. The hands must touch the sides of the body and having a photograph of the participant taken and posted on the internet is an integral part of the game. Some "plankers" engage in the activity by planking only their upper body and feet while leaving the back suspended.

So Mae and I do these moves all the time in our living room and Miss Stace took some pics because she had already heard of the Planking Phenomenon...

Then next thing we know, everyone is planking. We'll start the pics out innocently enough with this kid on a tire...

Then this chick starts to take it up a notch...

This guy takes us to almost the point of speechless...

And then "Fat Man On Fish" brings it home.

I mean, seriously, what's next?

Note To Self:

When Mom says you're taking a shower, you can fight it all you want, but you're taking a shower. She will go so far as to pick you up and walk you into the shower to clean you... with her clothes on.

Whoever said "Don't mess with Texas" must have thought Mom's name is Texas.

Apples & Trees

So I learned a new phrase today, and it goes like this - "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

Oh, and you might want to dip your toes into this water over here but be careful, this ain't no kiddie pool.

Let's start things off with some happy banjo-picking, Dixie Chicks-style, which is where I learned my air guitar skills...

We'll move into some pop rock with a little Scissor Sisters...

And we'll wrap things up with some angry and intense bluegrass. Ritchie Sambora... eat your heart out.

Fish In A Barrel: Week Ending July 17, 2011

I always see these "Week In Review" items everywhere I go... in Rolling Stone magazine, on The Daily Show, on Sunday Night SportsCenter... so I thought I'd give one a go. But I'm going to give it a different name - don't really have any idea what it means but I'm calling it "Finley's Fish In A Barrel" and here it goes:

Mae decided she's going to eat her cereal with a fork from here on out. Went as far as to use two, straight chop sticks style. You wouldn't believe how well it actually worked. We're considering changing her name to Chu Shin Yao, just have to get it past Mom.

Went to Little Red Schoolhouse with all my cousins. Hannah drove us there. She's only 12 but when we got pulled over I talked us out of a ticket. Not really, Nana and Aunt Suzy actually came, too. This picture is funny because it looks like exactly zero of us is having a good time. We did, though, I swear, it just didn't show here.

We played a game called "How many crackers can you stuff into your mouth at once?" In this shot you can see that Mae got three in there. Paled in comparison to the 22 that I stuffed in.

We walked to the park and looked for trains, which is probably Mabel's second favorite thing to do, right behind walking to the park to look for dogs.

And lastly, I capped the week off with a solid ice cream cone, a big one, vanilla with sprinkles. Got it all over my shirt and shoes, it was awesome.

So there you have it - Finley's Fish In A Barrel. I kinda liked this segment so you might see more of it.

Monster Maesh

I know this is a really short one and probably not even worth posting, but Mae insisted that I post these photos to let you know she's been spending some time in the weight room. She can almost bench her weight, which is 19 pounds these days.

Next time you see her please make her feel good by saying something like, "Wow, Mae, been throwin the 45s around the gym, I see," or "Whoa, Mabel, your lattimus dorsi are really taking shape." I know, really stupid but sometimes Mae just needs her ego stroked.

Natalie Maines... Eat Your Heart Out

Someone better email Natalie Maines and tell her there are a couple new kids on the block. Mabel and I have decided we are the next generation of Dixie Chicks.

Yes, I know Mae isn't playing the violin or the banjo but she's my backup dancer and it's not like those moves just grow on trees, ya know.