Wednesday, October 17, 2012

On and on we go…

A few weeks ago Monkey tested for his next belt in karate. IMG_2588IMG_2589

After the testing session, they were encouraged by their Senior Sensei to stick with things, stay strong, and to take on more responsibility and respect. It was an honorable talking to.

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The kids were then presented with their belts.

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Then the following Monday, someone else started their lessons. Can you find him?IMG_2719

I’m sure this Sensei loves the fact that the Dunbar boys don’t know how to tie their own belts, and evident enough, neither does their mom.

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With Monkey’s new belt, he was promoted to the next level class. Combined with the fact that Bogie has now started his lessons, we are at the dojo quite a bit. Which means homework is done at the dojo twice a week.

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It also means we started full-contact sparring. Don’t worry, he’s ready.

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Oh, wrong kid. Okay, here’s the right one. The one above is pretty much ready as well. He knows how to kick, punch, and block pretty well. That’s the perk of being the youngest brother.

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Monkey was having a blast out there.IMG_2904

How many fighters have you seen with smiles on their faces the whole time? This was a good match which gave him a lot of confidence. In his second match, he got the wind knocked out of him and was on the ground face down in a fetal-position for-quite-a-long-time. But he got back up and kept right on going. I was really proud of him. And man o man is it hard to see someone else hitting your baby. IMG_2910IMG_2923

Friday, October 5, 2012

The Realness of Life, even at the Gas Station

Yesterday was a bizarre day.

It was payday!! Yippee, because we love payday and Target is way more fun on payday. But even before I made it out of the house I paid all of our bills online… which is a bummer. Anyone ever feel enthused after paying all of their bills? And of course this month my car tags are due. Tags are not a fun bill on a practically brand new car. Enter sad face.  And after I paid all that I could online I looked at the bottom line and thought, “How can this be?” Where did all of the money go? Please tell me I’m not alone on that one.

Anyhow, the cleaning ladies came bright and early. (Now don’t get in a tizzy, my MIL pays for the cleaning ladies, God Bless her.) But for us that means that we have to be out of the house an hour early. Which doesn’t go over well for certain little somebody over here. Which makes for a stressful morning for mama bear. Anyhow, we got to Starbucks (hey, it’s a cheap and fast breakfast) and as we are giving our order I look up and Monkey shakes his head and says, “I think I’m going to throw up!” and then of course, just about convulses in front of everyone in Starbucks. I grab him and shove everyone into the bathroom. Luckily for us, he made it in time to do his business over the toilet. Poor thing was shaking from head to toe, so there I am holding his whole body up, whisper yelling at the other two NOT to touch a thing. When he is finally done we wash hands and then get in line because everyone is complaining that they are hungry. The way the Barista treated us, you would have thought we had leprosy. I was ticked and at the same time trying to put on a smile. My kids were still hungry and we were already there. I got our order to go.

After eating we had to get gas because of course the light was just about to come on. So I drove across town (down hill) to the cheapest ghettoest gas station ever. I’m about to start pumping gas when a young lady comes out from the mini-mart and starts screaming. Seriously screaming! Not like she’s hurt, like she is about to kill some one. She starts yelling at someone in her car, “She says I didn’t give her a BEEEEEP-in $10 bill!” Then she goes back into the mini-mart and is screaming foul words like a sailor at the poor cashier. (I’m totally just watching this as my car is filling with gas.) Then another lady gets off the car, which I’m presuming is her mom and she goes inside and starts yelling too. Oh, my, word, the apple does not fall far from the tree. I could not believe I was watching this. I just kept thinking if I watch a crime I better grab my phone, but I don’t want to open the door because then the boys will know something is up. It was crazy. They both come back out and are still yelling. It’s 7:45 in the morning. Finally, this man walks over with his debit cards and says, “I’ll give you $10.” And he puts ten dollars of gas in her car. I truly think he was an angel. As I was driving away, I thought, “How come I didn’t think about doing that?” Even after my bill-paying woes ten bucks wasn’t going to break the bank.

I was just so thankful at that moment. I had enough money to put $80 worth of gas in my car.(Before gas prices sky rocketed in the afternoon) I was headed to Target to buy things like lotion, and deodorant, and toothbrushes for my kids. Nobody is going to be hungry this week. Later on, I went to Costco and bought boxes of “lunch snacks” i.e. junk food, as we like to call it “convenience food.” I even texted Mr. Dunbar about some absurd purchases I was hoping he’d okay. He didn’t.

I don’t know, ten bucks was an absurd amount of money to that woman, left me thinking about it all day.

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Thursday, October 4, 2012

Buffalo Pizza

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Made this for dinner a while back. It was really good and it was gone before I knew it. Trying to find something to make for dinner other than the usual chicken? This was a hit for my guys.

Buffalo Pizza Recipe:

1 pizza dough ( I got the Pillsbury right next to the biscuits in a tube thingy)

1-2 cups mozzarella cheese (I just cut up about 8 cheese sticks)

1.5 cups shredded cooked chicken

1/3 buffalo sauce (bottled near hot sauce)

3 stalks celery

ranch dressing

1. Prepare pizza dough as directed on package.

2. Combine shredded chicken and buffalo sauce in a small bowl.

3. Cover pizza crust with mozzarella.

4. Add chicken to the top of cheese and then bake.

5. With about 3 minutes left, remove and top with ranch dressing to your tastes.

6. Finish baking. Once cooled for 5 minutes, top with sliced celery. Serve. IMG_2259

You could of course add blue cheese crumbles for a more traditional taste.

I also didn’t know how the chunk would like the buffalo sauce so at the very end of the pizza I just added plain shredded chicken with cheese. It was all gone.  Like real quick.

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Wednesday, October 3, 2012

The Last 5 Minutes

 

These are the kind of shots you get when you get to your son’s soccer game with only five minutes left. Ah well. Bogie is doing so well. And after this game he is really bumping up his stamina.

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Tuesday, October 2, 2012

About 5 times a day

 

You can find the two of us in the bathroom brushing teeth. This kids LOVES to brush his chompers. All the time. 245247254257252

Taking care of those pearly whites. I just hope it pays off next time we see Dr. Crystal.

Monday, October 1, 2012

When you hand someone else the camera

I got to go out with the girls on Saturday night for some good laughs, good food, and good times. We asked the waiter to take our picture… here is what we got.

IMG_2574HUH? Okay, Case, open your eyes, ummm where’s Lisa?

IMG_2575Yup, got the guy reading his menu in the background, but still no Lisa.

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I didn’t want to be in this shot anyway.

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Okay, we’re just about to give up now. We’ll just take our own shots.

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Love these girls!

Saturday, September 29, 2012

34 on the 26th

Well I turned 34 this past week. It was a busy, normal, sweet day. I woke up and watched Downton Abbey. Just found out Season 2 was available on Amazon for free for Prime Members.  Whoohooo!!! I was in the middle of a DA Marathon and was happy to drink my coffee and watch my favorite Lady Grantham harass everyone at 5am on my birthday.

Anyhow, an hour a half later this guy was screaming “MOOOOOmmmmmm” from his crib. Not the best shot but look at those little bottom fangs. Love that kid.IMG_2417IMG_2421

I got little letters from my guys. Bogie decided to use glue instead of writing, it was every where. Joy.

IMG_2500 After dropping the big boys off at school Chunk (who really needs a new nickname) and I went and picked up Mom. Then we headed out for a little shopping and lunch.  I meant to take a picture but I got new face products because my mom is a firm believer of what you do with your face in your 30’s will really affect the way you look for the rest of your life. Mr. Dunbar calls it poison, but alas he likes the way I look.

Chunk wanted this bookshelf.IMG_2427IMG_2436IMG_2438  I guess there should be a picture of me from the day. My hair is getting crazy frizzy these days. Time for some new products.

IMG_2482Mr. Dunbar had taken me out to pick some stuff up for my birthday on

Sunday and we just happened to end up at this store. IMG_2511IMG_2516IMG_2520

But he did even better. He got off work early, with white roses that smell divine, and sent me off for a massage. IMG_2522IMG_2525

It was real nice and just what I needed. I got lots of calls and texts from family and friends. It was real nice and now I’m a whole year older. How can that be?

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Seriously?

Can someone tell Autumn its time for her to show up in Southern California?

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Just finished a science class that was a LOT of work. Took up nearly every second of my day when I wasn’t running these boys of mine all over town. Now its on to Chemistry… fun stuff.

Lets catch up soon.

Mrs. Dunbar