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Thinking About 2013 - read please!

12/29/2013

As we are heading soon for a new year here at SunShine MonkeyShines, I have been spending some time reflecting on the past year, so many things shifting and changing in my life every single year. Wow...!

****I am very pleased with the progress the book “Living With Monkeys” has made as the first book in the series. “The Baby Book” is continuing to sell well.

    I am so glad that I focused and was able to get it out. I wish to take a moment to thank all of you that helped me do this.

****The feedback that I am receiving about the book is that it is very helpful and that it is giving people lots of good information to think about as they are moving forward in their process of getting a monkey.

Others that already have monkeys are mostly agreeing with my thoughts and suggestions about the issues that the book talks about, such as safety, vets, and the important programming decisions. All of the comments that have been made make me so happy that I finally finished the book and was able to get it up and running on www.livingwithmonkeys.com.

****(SPECIAL INFORMATION) As the year is ending and a new one is starting soon, I am excited to move forward with many creative projects and to begin planting more seeds for my future manifestations.

    I practice “Seed Faith” which of course, is where you learn to plant the seeds first, and keep them watered and fertilized (that means keeping them in a place for growth). Then I do the last step which is just as important as choosing to plant the seed. I turn loose of the outcome of those seeds and allow God to bring the increase - if - it is in my best interest. So easy, once you know how to do it.

****The true gift in this “Seed Faith” thing is knowing how to use our mind and the special gift of our freewill, and then choosing to use our faith to let what needs to happen just happen.

    I thank all of you who choose to read these blogs every week. You are part of a seed that was held in a place for growth (in my heart) for a very long time.

****(RED LETTER THOUGHT) I am wishing you very good last few days of 2013 and also encouraging you to plan to be a person in 2014 who will practice “Seed Faith.” With God we can do some awesome things!

Thank you – for blessing us with your purchase of "Living With Monkeys" - Mary Lynn and the monks!
Don't forget to order your copy of "Living With Monkeys" - "The Baby Book." while you are visiting us here at: www.livingwithmonkeys.com

Christmas Time With The Monks

12/22/2013

****(SPECIAL NOTE) I just wanted to wish everyone a wonderful Christmas. There is so much to be thankful for in our lives. Just knowing what the reason for the season is gives us a special gift that keeps on giving to us every moment.

I have been very busy during this Christmas season and my monks have been so patient and easy to live with during this time. As I was reflecting about this, I remembered writing a blog in September about a party that Pixie and I attended to celebrate a friend's monkey's second birthday. In that blog I talked about how every monkey was perfect for each of their caregivers. Tonight I was thinking about how very perfect my monks are for my own life.

My monks have been wonderful during my time of sewing and working on my creative projects. This Christmas I have been busy sewing. I love to sew outfits for not only my monks but for many other people's monkeys too.

****My troupe of “Toddler” monkeys, who spend lots of time with me in my kitchen area of my house, are so contented as they watch me run the sewing machine, press seams out with the iron and all of the other things that I must do when I am sewing.

    During my burst of “creating,” it is hard to spend time with the monks and do the creating at the same time. When this happened in the past it used to pull on my guilt strings, but this last “creative time” has been totally different. As I was sewing this season, I decided to keep a closer eye on the monks throughout the entire time.

(QUESTION TIME) What has made it different for you this year, Mary Lynn?

    Even though I am sewing just a few feet away from them, I have been able to see they actually understand that I am not present for them to entertain or stimulate them. They know definitely that I am busy and focused on my project and believe it or not they are simply choosing to enjoy playing and entertaining themselves for many hours on end.

****When you are raising a baby monkey in captivity, it is very important to allow it to learn not only how to be a monkey who is using baby toys to play with, but also to let it learn it is a monkey who can explore and learn how to entertain itself

        A balance with these two things is very important to get a well adjusted, grounded monkey who can be happy with or without you and your undivided attention. As I was raising Silly Willy, I tried to spend as much time with him out of his playpen as he spent in it.

****Everyone's lifestyle is very different, so this means that every monkey is going to be programmed very differently in order, to fit into our individual lives.

****(SPECIAL NOTE) When we start comparing our monkey to other people's monkey we my even start hearing ourselves start to say, “Oh, that would never work for me!”

Get your copy of the down-loadable book called “Living With Monkeys” The Baby Book at:

www.livingwithmonkeys.com so you can learn how to choose good programming for your baby monkey.

Try to be non-judgmental of how another person's monkey lives and acts, even if it is different from the way we choose to raise our own monkey. It is normal for things to be done differently in each monkey home.

Let's get started on understanding the true concept of raising a monkey in captivity. We all wish to have a happy, well adjust monkey living in our home.

This is a must read type of book for monkey caregivers. Go to www.livingwithmonkeys.com and remember you can follow us on     Facebook too!

Merry Christmas
from Mary Lynn and the monks of
SunShine MonkeyShines.

A Story About Silly Willy That Happened Today

12/15/2013

(STORY TIME) Today we were off visiting a little girl for her 5th Birthday Party and there was a special energy in the air. I talk about the monkeys being great energy readers but today I was the one reading the wonderful excitement in the room as we opened up the show umbrella and started getting set-up for our presentation.
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There were 25 children gathered around our show area eager and ready to see the first star of the show so I went behind the umbrella and turned my back to the audience to get Silly Willy from his show cage. The moment that I felt his hand in mine I knew he and I were going to have some extra fun for the party.

After I had him diapered I quickly went behind the stage area where a curtain was hanging for the churches, plays and special events. The Curious George Music was playing, and the next thing I did was to let Silly Willy's head stick out from behind the curtain. I did this not just once but two times. The excitement in the room was just totally over the top after that so I then walked to the front of the stage area and introduced Silly Willy.

Right after Silly Willy had finished his educational part of the show, I turned around and sat down on one of the show stools where I put him on my lap. As I am now reflecting on what happened, I realized that I am still not sure why I did what I did. It had to be the excitement, or who knows what I was thinking at the time.

As we sat together on the stool, I reached to get Silly Willy's special treat bag and handed him the bag. Of course, he was excited to get his treat for his wonderful performance of swinging with his tail for the excited audience. Suddenly I let go of his tail and allowed him to only be tethered with his belly band that had his show lead hooked onto my bracelet.

****This was the first time ever that he had been allowed to feel this kind of freedom during one of the shows.

He went wild right in front of the audience and me too! He jumped from my lap with his mouth full of treats and jumped right onto the umbrella which is always behind us during our shows.

Suddenly the umbrella doubled down with the weight of him, and he bounced from it back to the stool next to mine. I was in shock, I guess because he did this three times before I was able to get him settled back upon my lap. The audience was wild with excitement by now when I was finally able to bring him back under control.

I got a glimpse of the umbrella in the corner of my eye and saw that his last (out of control jump) had almost flattened the SunShine MonkeyShines's umbrella.

(QUESTION TIME) What did you do next, Mary Lynn?

Well there was so much going on, you know. I was doing a birthday party show, I had the show umbrella bent over, maybe even broken, and I had a very naughty little Silly Willy on my hands. Did you know he was smiling and showing his big teeth too in his excitement. He knew in that moment he was the star of the monkey show, that's for sure!

****So, I did what any monkey caregiver would do...

I instantly got up (of course, holding his tale firmly in my hand) and walked around to fix the umbrella, which had folded one of the plastic spines into another one; and then I walked around to the front of my show area and I looked at the audience and said, “Let's settle down everyone because I have a real problem right now.”

You could have heard a pin drop instantly after I had said those words so I continued to say, “Silly Willy is in real trouble for doing that to my umbrella.” I asked the children quickly, “Do you know what I must do to him now?”

They said together, “Yeah, you must spank him!

****Everyone started laughing at that idea.

I shook my head and said, “Oh no... not that. Oh no! I must do something much more than a spanking. I must give him "The Big Look!”

The children together asked, “What is that?” I looked at the birthday girl and asked her, “Doesn't your mother ever do that to you?” The little girl's mother called to her daughter and changed her face instantly to give her own version of her very special "Big Look.” The birthday girl then looked at me and said, “Oh, yeah, you mean that look and pointed to her mother.”

Everyone's laughter was so much fun to enjoy but I still had a very big problem to handle with my very special monkey. I still had to give my very bad little Silly Willy his very much needed “BIG LOOK.”

He looked me squarely in the eyes and saw that look! You know that look that says it all. He instantly put his thumb in his mouth and became a changed little monkey, right before the eyes of all that were there. Everyone started saying, “Oh look he is so sorry. He even put his thumb in his mouth.”

****I decided in that moment to sit back down and turn loose of his tail one more time, just to see if he had learned his lesson.

He sat there just like a angel and I let him show the children what a good little monkey he had changed into being, by only giving that all important very huge “Big Look.”

(QUESTION TIME) What is the moral of this story, Mary Lynn?

Get your copy of “Living With Monkeys” at: www.livingwithmonkeys.com and learn how to use your tools – they really work great!

Rules and Regulations

12/8/2013

Two friends of mine were interested in finding out what the rules and regulations were to take their pet monkeys into the state of Florida for a wintertime vacation. Wow! I was shocked to learn the changes which have been made with Florida's Department of Fish and Game.

I read the newest documents on their site and still was a little unclear about the changes so I decided to call the office and of course, a polite voice from the other end of the line answered all of my questions quick an easy.

In today's world of primate ownership, it has become very important to do research ahead of time if you plan to take your monkey into other cities, states or even businesses.

(Question Time) Why Mary Lynn are you so shocked by all of the changes in the rules?

Yes! I am totally in shock that in today's world, it is okay to take dangerous canines everywhere (you know the ones that kill children and maim thousands of people every year) but it is a crime to take monkeys (whom have never killed any adult or child) everywhere.

Twenty five years ago when I became licensed to own and exhibit monkeys, the rules and regulations were meant to protect the monkeys. Now the changes are meant to take our personal freedoms away, and single out monkey owners because we are simply monkey owners.

We as monkey owners must decide what we are going to do every moment of every day while we are visiting our families or enjoying our vacations. We must then make sure we put it on a detailed itinerary and send it to the Florida Department of Fish and Game.

****(SPECIAL NOTE) The yearly travel plans that you and your family do every year is another thing that you must remember to check-upon before you decide to become a new monkey caregiver.

You may find that the states, cities or places you frequently visit have rules and regulations against your taking the pet monkey that you plan to get.

Go to www.livingwithmonkeys.com and order your down-loadable copy of 'The Baby Book' in the five part series of “Living With Monkey.

This book should be your first place to start your decision making process about having a monkey as a pet.

****Read this book for helpful information about living with monkeys.

****Read “The Baby Book” because it has many wonderful ideas to think about and try out with your own baby monkey.

****Read this truthful book about having a monkey live with you.

****Read this book to see why your monkey chooses to do the same negative things over and over again.

Thinking About 2013 - read please!

Christmas Time With The Monks

A Story About Silly Willy That Happened Today

Rules and Regulations

Mary Lynn's Blog

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