What is a monkeybox?

When I was a little girl, we had a pet monkey named Amanda. My Dad worked in the produce business, so each night he brought home that days culls in a big box - spotty cucumbers, pithy apples, limp celery, moldy oranges and the like. We called it a monkeybox. It was really just trash, but my Mom would take each piece of fruit and trim it, pare it and cut it up to make a beautiful fruit platter for Amanda. Even though it was deemed trash by one, it still had life left in it and was good for the purpose we needed it. That's how I live my life - thrifting, yard saling, looking for another's trash to be my treasure.

Tuesday, September 06, 2011

Sixteen

The Bean is 16!
It seems like only yesterday he would get his blanket and a bottle and fall asleep. 

Hours spent holding his Pooh.  He never liked Pooh cartoons, or Pooh toys or anything else Pooh.  Just that Pooh.  (We still have him - he's part of the family).
He used to lie in his playpen and read his squeky book over and over.  Now he reads a thousand page book in five days flat and sends Mom running all over town looking for the next book.  (If only he would learn his Kindle is immediate satisfaction....)

He used to let me hang out in the bathrrom while he took a bath.  Now the door is locked. 
Of course, that is fine by me. 
He used to put on a crazy mix of clothes and call it good for the day.
Now he has good fashion sense as long as it has skulls on it somewhere.  I miss those Pooh slippers.
Gone are the days of siting behind the wheel, moving the steering wheel to and fro pretending to drive.  Now, comes the real permit, the real license and freedom from Mom.  :(
(This is one of my favorite photos - sitting on Daddy's Grandma's tractor)
Gone are cheesy smiles and silly poses. 
Well, maybe not completely.
Happy Birthday Bean. 
Mom loves you as much as she did the day you came into my life. 
You are smart, loving and such a wonderful kid. 
Thanks for being MY kid.

Love, Mom.

11 comments:

  1. Dear Bean,

    Hapde Burfday to you! I swear it was just yesterday you and your mom were digging out some of your old trains to share with Jack. How is it possible that you are a big 16?

    You are well on your way to adulthood, may it be a wonderful journey.

    Sarah

    P.S. I would prefer a paper book to a kindle any day. There is nothing like the feel of the pages as you are whipping through them, is there? Besides, I like to measure my progress as I see the pages pass from the right to the left!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Shara, The Bean and my son share a birthday. He is 24 today.Happy Birthday to them both.
    Debra

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a sweet post! Happy 16th Birthday Bean! Gosh they grow up so fast! hugs, Linda

    ReplyDelete
  4. HAPPY BIRTHDAY T.B.!
    Go get that license so that you can chauffeur your Mom around to on 'saling' adventures ;)
    (after a day of riding with a 16 yr old you may need that RED CAT!! - it would make the saling more interesting!!)

    HAPPY HAPPY DAY BEAN!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I have to tell you that while looking through those darling photos, I was struck by what a HAPPY boy he appears to be! What a wonderful, genuine, engaging smile he has. I just couldn't help smiling myself when I looked at his sweet face!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Happy Birthday to the Bean. What is his real name? LOL Been following your blog for quite some time (sorry for lurking), and have never been able to figure that out! And how did it start? My son is 23 and he never went anywhere (except school) without Pooh. And yep, no Pooh cartoons or "stuff", just the bear. He's so old and worn now (no, not my son, his Pooh.) Ha ha.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Happy Happy Day to the Bean!

    ReplyDelete
  8. oh they grow so fast Happy Birthday Bean! my baby will be 28 this time next week yikes! how can that be?
    Cathy

    ReplyDelete
  9. Not possible! He can't be nearly grown yet, where does the time go? He's still supposed to be little.

    I don't do Kindle, either. Books are meant to be paper and to be held in the hand. But too each his own, I guess. I am glad that he reads and enjoys it so much, so many of my daughter's classmates she went to school with won't read for any reason at all.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Awww...what a cute & loving post! Happy Birthday Bean! :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. What a sweet post! And he was a mighty cute baby and kid. Hope he has an awesome birthday and doesn' keep his mom up late at night while he is out driving with his friends. Oy. Happy 16th birthday, Bean!

    ReplyDelete

I love my comments. I'd love to respond to everyone, but if you don't have an email address tied to your ID, please sign your name so I will know who you are! It makes it nice to know who is saying what. Now, leave a comment! Please? ;o)

I Can See You!



Look at my Visitors!

Fellow Junk Followers