Best joke

I was reading Reader's Digest today (my favorite mag) and came across the funniest (but still true) joke I have heard in a long time. I thought I would share it with all of you!

A banker approaches the Pearly Gates sweating and struggling with a heavy suitcase.
Saint Peter greets him and says, "Set the suitcase down and come in."
"No way!" barks the banker. "I have to bring it in."
"What could possibly be in there that's so important?" asks Peter.
The banker opens the suitcase to reveal 50 gold bricks.
Peter's jaw drops: "You brought pavement?"

Man, I must have laughed for 30 minutes! Pretty funny I thought.

Finally Arrived

Well, we have started on our summer vacation through the North American continent and so far we have hit 6 states and been really close (like 2 miles) to 3 others. It briefly crossed my mind to drive the couple of miles to mark those off on our list of states, but then came to my senses and decided we needed to be out of the car asap. No detours.
We started in Oklahoma City for hubbys brother's wedding. It was at the OKC zoo and it was beautiful. We spent the day at the zoo (7 hours) with the kids and then my sister watched them while hubby and I went to the wedding. Gorgeous wedding and bride. The boys now have a new Aunty Leah and they are very excited about adding her and her parents to the family lineup. They only live 2 hours away, so hopefully we will see them more in the future. During the wedding Leah's dad prayed over the couple at the beginning and that was one of the most touching things I have ever seen. What a fantastic way to send them off. After was the reception and dancing and it was a good time. Weddings are a great reminder to start everything anew. There will be pictures posted in the future. My camera is at home with hubby because I forgot to charge it before I left.
The ride from OKC to SD was great. It took about 13 hours, but it went by quickly with the car jam packed with 6 of us. We stopped to visit good friends from FL that moved to SD last year. The boys were very excited to see Jay and Savannah and a dose of Jenna always does wonders for me. We went to a few attractions while we were there. Reptile Gardens was really fun and C loved petting the snake. He kept asking if he could hold it, just for a little bit. R touched them, but was more excited about the bird show. They asked for volunteers and Jay was picked so after that, R was all about wanting to go up and help too. He got the opportunity at the end to hold a dollar bill and let the bird take it out of his hand. He really enjoyed that.
We also went to Storybook Island and all the kids went round and round on the train ride. We thought we were going to get rained out, but it sprinkled enough to scare most people away and then the park was ours. good times
R real birthday was on Tues and we celebrated with swimming and cake and pinata. The hotel that my sis stayed at had a water slide and the boys LOVED that. I went the first couple of times with them, but they had to take turns. After a few times, R was tired of that and decided since he was 5, he could do it himself. Well, he did and there was no stopping him after that.
We left Wed morning after another round of swimming and that trip went fairly well. My mom had met us in Rapid City, so we had 2 cars to go home in. That was good. My sisters kids weren't feeling all that great, so she took them and I rode with mom and set off. The only hiccup on that trip was when we thought we were following my sister, but after a better look, realized it was a different silver impala with Utah plates, not ND ones. Thankfully, it only added about 15 min to the trip. We got in around 5 o'clock and the kids were very ready this time. After a good night sleep, they have been playing outside all day, found a caterpillar and enjoyed flipping each other off the hammock. I have mowed the lawn in my pjs and still not changed out of them. It's been a great day!
Oh, and for those of you who have any interest, I have seen and held in my hand and it is here beside me....the new catolog for Stampin up. Don't you love just connections!

campout

We had the opportunity to go camping at Lake Texoma over the weekend with our small group at church. I say small group, but really there were 208 people! It was so much fun and R got to go tubing for the first time and now wants a boat. A green boat, not a red one (like the one that pulled him). My hubby in all of his dreaming tells R that they can do that a little later in life. Umm, yeah, after we get a truck to pull it and closer to the water and over my fear of the boys drowning (my reoccuring nightmare when I was pregnant with both boys) and yeah, so pretty much never. We flew kites one day and played at the park, we went to the beach and the boys went in the water. Oh, and I definitely lost the mom of the year title this year. I totally forgot that because C has tubes in his ears that he is not allowed in non treated water (without earplugs). We had never really had this issue come up and we only had to be careful for the first week. Well, 5 months of not thinking about it, and I truly spaced it out until another mom asked about his tubes and how they were going! I rushed to go get him and he only went in up to his waist, but just as I got to him, he did get splashed and sure enough, yesterday morning woke up with a fever and his left ear was hurting. I took him in and ear infection it was! I am very thankful though that it happened now when we could take him easily to the dr instead of on vacation. Now the only thing I have to do is keep his medicine cool as we are in the car and the hotel in OKC. Shouldn't be too hard (hopefully!) The boys also reveled in the bugs! They discovered rolly pollys and they saw a dead snake. Very exciting in their world. They actually came to tears over whose rolly polly was whose. And R got in his first real fight. There were a couple of boys (7 and 8 years old) who wouldn't let him in the rockbox the way he wanted to and so they ended up rolling on the ground fighting. By the time I got there, I was pretty peeved, (not at R for the most part, but at the stupidness of it.) He had to come and stand by me for awhile and as I explained to my dad and brother (who are proud of him), he didn't get in trouble for standing up for himself, but he needs to take the other path if there is one. In this case it would have been to come and get me or go in on the other side. And the other boys got a pretty stern talking to from me also. It is ridiculous that being 3 years older, they couldn't do the right thing. I think they were surprised that I said anything to them. And so, I am glad to know that R can at least defend himself to some degree, but a little bit sad that it has already had to happen. Well, except around his brother who is pretty constantly being a bully, unless someone else is picking on his big brother. It is pretty cute to watch C defend R and vice versa. It is really along the lines of I can do/say anything to my family, but you'd better not. Even if it is just repeating what I had said! Well, we are getting ready for the party tonight, so more pictures to come. Are you enjoying them?

3rd bday pictures

We had C's 3rd birthday party on May 31st. We kept it small and had his 2 close friends over and his cousins and brother completed the bunch. It was just perfect for him. It was pretty hot, so they jumped on the trampoline, ate, jumped, opened presents, jumped, ate cake...I feel like I have already written this once? Maybe I have. I can't keep up with what I blog. Anyway, a great party. Then on the 3rd (his real bday) we went to the water park with his best friend and they played there all afternoon. I think he really enjoyed himself, but R was thinking it was time for his party because we are having it (tomorrow) at the same water park. It should be fun...if the weather holds. And if it doesn't, 40+ people in the house with no entertainment sounds like a great idea!! Don't you want to join in on the fun? At first it was looking a little daunting if that was going to be the fall back plan, but hubby and I have joined forces and ideas and it will be a great party rain or shine. Check back for more pictures!

And now that I have published this blog, I was able to check and yep, this is pretty much a repeat of another blog....sorry.

The finished backyard....until the grass grows

Are the pictures working? Yes they are !! I am so excited. Did you see my cheap laborer in the background? (She posted something on her facebook about feeling like a cheap Mexican worker...I bet they get paid more than she did!!!)Once again, if you come to my house you usually have to work for your supper! But the backyard looks way better already and grass was beginning to sprout today. R was pretty upset about that, but it has been raining quite a bit and he now has more on his prayer plate than God turning the grass into dirt again....he wants it to be sunny for his bday party tomorrow. It is pretty sweet to see him turn to prayer to help him with his dilemmas. I'm going to try to download a couple of C's bday pictures now.....

Pictures will come one day!

Did everyone love all of those new pictures? Oh right, I couldn't get it to work! This is so frusterating. Everytime I try, it starts uploading and then right when it should be done, it stops and says that it can't. And hubby hasn't had enough free time lately to get it done for me. So, I'll try again today.
We were up early and have already been out shopping. We went to get stuff to decorate for R's party on Thursday. We are doing it at the splash park and it should be loads of fun with minimal work. (always the best party) R has chosen Madagascar 2 as the theme and things are pretty cute to go along with that. The only thing I am stuck on right now are the goody bags. Besides the fact that I don't like them at all because they are filled with either junk, candy or both, I feel like they have become a necessity in the bday business. R also wants to do a pinata which totally goes against my kids don't need candy, much less a bag full of it. I haven't decided if I am going to break down on that at all. I think hubby and I are going to have to discuss that. And there are going to be 24 kids at the party and I don't know if everyone would get to hit it before it splits....oh the problems.....not really, but....
So as I am rereading what I have written, it sounds like I am in a pretty crabby mood...how odd. I don't know what my problem is...Collin is fully potty trained. This weekend he just decided that he was going to be a big boy and is excited about it and is off and running. I guess he just needed to turn 3. We had a great time camping and it was fun to see people outside of the "church" environment. (we went with our sunday school group at church-208 people all together) R's party is coming together and besides the fact that his best friend is going to be in California and not at the party, (due to my sister not wanting to leave her husband earlier.....or my bad planning) everyone else is excited for it. So I guess, I have no reason to be crabby and I need to snap out of it....okay....done! (If only things were that easy, but you know, maybe they are. I already feel better!)

3rd birthday

I guess I did these in the wrong order, but on Sunday, we had a small birthday party for C. He turned 3 on the 3rd. It was a great time and he woke up from nap to cars decorations and walked around saying, "Oh....my....goodness....oh.....my....goodness....Do you see the cars? There is Lightning!....Oh...my....goodness..." It was pretty cute. Then he saw the trampoline and that was even better. He was really excited for that.
The kids all jumped and then ate lunch, then jumped and opened presents, then jumped and had cake. They had to alternate inside and out because it was quite warm on Sunday and they were turning a bit purple with all the activity. They had fun anyway. I often think it bothers the adults more than the kids.
So the trampoline was a combined gift for both the boys from my parents and when I told C who it was from, he kept asking where grandpa (sorry grandma, you know it is different when we are home) was. He didn't quite get that he could get a present from people who weren't there. But then when they called, he didn't want to talk anyway. He just wanted them here.
Melio made the cake and it was delicious...even the dyed green color that it ended up being! (she was trying to make yellow cake, blue because blue is c's favorite color.) So sweet and good!
Sue brought some very delicious sugar cookies decorated like Thomas, Handy Manny tools, hello kitty, princess dresses....they were so cute and a huge hit.
So now that one bday is done, there is only R's left before we leave! We are having his at the splash park on the 11th. He is really excited for it. The only problem with that was we went to the splash park yesterday for c's real bday and R thought it was time for his party. He figured it out though and we looked at the calendar and the countdown is on. Enjoy the picture, maybe, it seems not to be working and my patience is thin for electronics! There will be more to come when hubby does it for me to catch you up on everything.

Finally done

Well, the last few days have been full of grunts and groans from me and my poor aching back and muscles. The boys put most of the dirt out this weekend, but there was still 1/4 left sitting in my driveway with nowhere to go. After 3 days of almost hitting it with my car everytime I backed out, I had had enough. I called Heather, my gym rat friend, and said we were going to be late, I was just going to knock out this last little bit. Well, she called back about 2 hours later and said she was going to go. I told her I would meet her there, or if I didn't make it, she should come and rescue me from my driveway. Well, knocking it out didn't quite happen. More like it knocked me out. When she got to my house, I was just finishing up....4 hours later. So the next day was full of smoothing the dirt out and planting grass seed in the front. Today I finished putting up the bricks, (except for the ones that have to be cut) and planting the back circle. But let me tell you, now that it is all done, it was WAY worth it. It is almost like having a complete backyard....if only the grass will grow now.
While I was planting the seed in the back, R asked me what I was doing to his sandbox. I said I was planting grass seed to cover the dirt. He didn't like that because he wanted to keep his big sandbox. I said we would get a new place to dig. Then I went up front to take the shovel back and when I got back, R said that he had just prayed "that God would turn the grass back into dirt." He also said "Then I said Amen. So God is going to turn it into dirt." I told him that God likes growing grass and He had provided a new place for digging under the trees. One that offers shade from the Texas sun. He seemed to like this answer and then asked if he could have his tire swing made soon....it sounds like a great project for hubby when we are gone. I am going to have pictures really soon.....
203 rylands