Let Summer Vacation Begin......

The kids got out of school for summer vacation exactly 2 weeks ago today.  Other than the "I'm bored! What can we do?" bit, all is well. Except I forgot how much kids eat. When they are in school, there is still food in my pantry....when they are out of school--you might as well call me "Old Mother Hubbard"!  I was really hoping they would all get jobs for the summer but I guess it is hard to come by gainful employment when you are only 5 and can barely read.  He can write his name so that is a plus. 
   I am posting some random pics from our summer so far......hope you all have a great summer!

The first four pictures are the kids playing with the hose.  Albert had to let the water run because he was working on the irrigation hole. The kids had a blast---way more fun than a boring old sprinkler!

Gabriel, Rollie and Sabien were dragging each other around in the pool.

Gabriel had just flipped out from under his "turtle shell". He was chasing the little boys.

A beautiful sunset from my front porch.

A large full moon from my back deck.

A beautiful rainbow after a morning storm.

This was my project. It was full of weeds and wood chips and gravel. Now I have a clean slate!

(I always forget to post before pics!)

Crazy ominus clouds above our house.

More clouds.

My sweetie, Farmer Al!  :-)

Taking Monkies To The Zoo

I almost forgot....I was one of the lucky parents that got to tag along on the 1st grade field trip to Zoo Montana on Wednesday, May 16th, 2012.  It was very hot but very fun.  I had a great group of kids that accompanied me through the zoo. We got to see a tiger, snakes, bears, a wolf, eagles and we even saw a peacock trying to romance a pepsi machine!  They had a blast feeding the goats and we got to sit on a gopher community to eat our lunch.  Lastly, we hit the gift shop and Gabriel found a new buddy...he named him Reggie! Thanks kids....spending time with you never gets old!

"Zoo Boy" from the news talking about the snake in his arms

Mr. Peacock showing off for the his girlfriend

all the kids flocking to the bus driver, Ron, during lunch. :-)

My cool group--Gabriel, Charlie, Jake and Natalie

The Coolies with eagles in the background

The eagles posing for me

The Coolies posing with the monkey

This peacock was actually showing off to the pepsi machine behind him

Too cute....

Jake was capturing the bears

Gabe and Reggie the Snake

Last Day of 2009

This will be my last post.  Luckily for my 2 fans it is only the last of 2009. ☺  I will be spending the evening with good friends enjoying good food and drinks that will probably cause me to spend the night with my "white knight"....(let's hope not! ☺)  I am thankful for making through 2009 and look forward to new adventures in 2010....but I will never forget the wonderful people that had to leave this world too soon.  I wish you all a very happy and prosperous New Year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!☼♥♦♣♠♥☼

We Are AWESOME!

No matter what our kids and the new Generation think about us, WE ARE AWESOME !!!!
OUR LIFE IS LIVING PROOF !!!!


TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED THE 1930's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's!
First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant.
They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can and didn't get tested for diabetes.
After that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-base paints.
We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, locks on doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we wore baseball caps, not helmets on our heads.
As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, no booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes no brakes.
And riding in the back of a pick- up truck on a warm day was always a special treat!
We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle.
We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and no one actually died from this.
We ate cupcakes, white bread, real butter and bacon. We drank Kool-Aid made with real white sugar. And we weren't overweight. WHY?  Because we were always outside playing ... that's why!
We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.
We had no cell phones, so no one was able to reach us all day. And we were OKAY.
We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride them down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.
We did not have Play stations, color TVs, Nintendo's, or X-boxes. There were no video games, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet and no chat rooms.
WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!
We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.
We would get spankings with wooden spoons, switches, ping pong paddles, or just a bare hand and no one would call child services to report abuse.
We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.
We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.
We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them.
Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!
The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!
These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever.
The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.
We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all.
So if you're one of US, CONGRATULATIONS!
You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids before the lawyers and the government started regulating so much of our lives for 'our own good.'
And while you are at it, share it with your kids so they will know how brave and lucky their parents were.
Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it ?


The following is Jay Leno's quote:
'With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu, swine flu and terrorist attacks, are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?'

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

 Have you ever wondered if the one dollar bills in your wallet were ever in a stripper's butt crack?

If not, you're wondering now. Have a nice day ..

So folks, always remember to wash your hands after handling money
That's my public service announcement for the day. Thank you very much! - it’s only ‘cuz I care!

Have You Gotten Your Flu Shot?

The First Half of this makes sense, but I like the second half better.


Eat right!

Make sure you get your daily dose of fruits and veggies.

Take your vitamins and bump up your vitamin C.

Get plenty of exercise because exercise helps build your immune system.

Walk for at least an hour a day, go for a swim, take the stairs instead of the elevator, etc.

Wash your hands often. If you can't wash them, keep a bottle of antibacterial stuff around.

Get lots of fresh air. Open doors & windows whenever possible.

Try to eliminate as much stress from your life as you can.
Get plenty of rest.

OR

Take the doctor's approach. Think about it...When you go for a shot, what do they do first?  They Clean your arm with alcohol...Why?  Because Alcohol KILLS GERMS.
So.......
I walk to the liquor store (exercise)

I put lime in my Corona (fruit)

Celery in my Bloody Mary (veggies)

Drink outdoors on the bar patio (fresh air)

Tell jokes, laugh (eliminate stress)

Then pass out (rest)

The way I see it...

If you keep your alcohol levels up, flu germs can't get you!
My mother always said,  'A shot in the glass is better than one in the ass!'

Live Well - Laugh Often - Love Much

Random Thoughts For The day

I have received these thoughts before, but I am crediting Autumn (Autumndaesy) for this hilarious (and sometimes true) fodder since she is the one I most recently received it froms!  Thanks Autumn!  Everyone read and enjoy....I am sure that you will find truth to many! (possibly most of them!)

*I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.
*More often than not, when someone is telling me a story all I can think about is that I can't wait for them to finish so that I can tell my own story that's not only better, but also more directly involves me.
*Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.
*I don't understand the purpose of the line, "I don't need to drink to have fun." Great, no one does. But why start a fire with flint and sticks when they've invented the lighter?
*Have you ever been walking down the street and realized that you're going in the complete opposite direction of where you are supposed to be going? But instead of just turning a 180 and walking back in the direction from which you came, you have to first do something like check your watch or phone or make a grand arm gesture and mutter to yourself to ensure that no one in the surrounding area thinks you're crazy by randomly switching directions on the sidewalk.
*I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.
*The letters T and G are very close to each other on a keyboard. This recently became all too apparent to me and consequently I will never be ending a work email with the phrase "Regards" again.
*Do you remember when you were a kid, playing Nintendo and it wouldn't work? You take the cartridge out, blow in it and that would magically fix the problem. Every kid in America did that, but how did we all know how to fix the problem? There was no internet or message boards or FAQ's. We just figured it out. Today's kids are soft.
*There is a great need for sarcasm font. { }
*Sometimes, I'll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and suddenly realize I had no idea what the f*** was going on when I first saw it.
*I think everyone has a movie that they love so much; it actually becomes stressful to watch it with other people. I'll end up wasting 90 minutes shiftily glancing around to confirm that everyone's laughing at the right parts, then making sure I laugh just a little bit harder (and a millisecond earlier) to prove that I'm still the only one who really, really gets it.
*How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?
*I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.
*I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.
*The only time I look forward to a red light is when I am trying to finish a text.
*A recent study has shown that playing beer pong contributes to the spread of mono and the flu. Yeah, if you suck at it.
*Was learning cursive really necessary?
*Lol has gone from meaning, "laugh out loud" to "I have nothing else to say."
*I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.
*Answering the same letter three times or more in a row on a Scantron test is absolutely petrifying.
*My brother's Municipal League baseball team is named the Stepdads. Seeing as none of the guys on the team are actual stepdads, I inquired about the name. He explained, "Cuz we beat you, and you hate us." Classy, bro.
*Whenever someone says "I'm not book smart, but I'm street smart", all I hear is "I'm not real smart, but I'm imaginary smart."
*How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear what they said?
*I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars teams up to prevent a dick from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers!
*While driving yesterday I saw a banana peel in the road and instinctively swerved to avoid it...thanks Mario Kart.
*MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.
*Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.
*I find it hard to believe there are actually people who get in the shower first and THEN turn on the water.
*Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.
*I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.
*Bad decisions make good stories.
*Whenever I'm Facebook stalking someone and I find out that their profile is public I feel like a kid on Christmas morning who just got the Red Ryder BB gun that I always wanted. 546 pictures? Don't mind if I do!
*Is it just me or do high school girls get sluttier & sluttier every year?
*If Carmen San Diego and Waldo ever got together, their offspring would probably just be completely invisible.
*Why is it that during an ice-breaker, when the whole room has to go around and say their name and where they are from, I get so incredibly nervous?  Like I know my name, I know where I'm from; this shouldn't be a
 problem....
*You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you've made up your mind that you just aren't doing anything productive for the rest of the day.
*Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after DVDs? I don't want to have to restart my collection.
*There's no worse feeling than that millisecond you're sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far. (This one is way too true!!!)
*I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.
*"Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this ever.
*I hate being the one with the remote in a room full of people watching TV. There's so much pressure. 'I love this show, but will they judge me if I keep it on? I bet everyone is wishing we weren't watching this. It's only a matter of time before they all get up and leave the room. Will we still be friends after this?
*While watching the Olympics, I find myself cheering equally for China and USA . No, I am not of Chinese descent, but I am fairly certain that when Chinese athletes don't win, they are executed.
*I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Darnit!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What'd you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away?
*I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.
*When I meet a new girl, I'm terrified of mentioning something she hasn't already told me but that I have learned from some light internet stalking.
*I like all of the music in my iTunes, except when it's on shuffle, then I like about one in every fifteen songs in my iTunes.
*Why is a school zone 20 mph? That seems like the optimal cruising speed for pedophiles...
*As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers, but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate cyclists.
*Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.
*It should probably be called Unplanned Parenthood.
*I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.
*I think that if, years down the road when I'm trying to have a kid, I find out that I'm sterile, most of my disappointment will stem from the fact that I was not aware of my condition in college.
*Even if I knew your social security number, I wouldn't know what do to with it.
*en under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, finding their cell phone, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey - but I'd bet my a$$ everyone can find and push the Snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time every time...
*My 4-year old son asked me in the car the other day "Dad what would happen if you ran over a ninja?" How the hell do I respond to that?
*It really pisses me off when I want to read a story on CNN.com and the link takes me to a video instead of text.
*wonder if cops ever get pissed off at the fact that everyone they drive behind obeys the speed limit.
*I think the freezer deserves a light as well.
*I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lites than Kay.
*The other night I ordered takeout, and when I looked in the bag, saw they had included four sets of plastic silverware. In other words, someone at the restaurant packed my order, took a second to think about it, and then estimated that there must be at least four people eating to require such a large amount of food. Too bad I was eating by myself. There's nothing like being made to feel like a fat b@st@rd before dinner.

My List of Firsts

I was reading through some of my old posts and I liked this one.  I wanted to rerun it for fun.......the sad part is that nothing in it has changed from when I first posted it. I know that I didn't travel back in time to change anything but I still hit the snooze button this morning, my husband was the first person I talked to this morning and no one has called or texted me yet......I'm not sure but there may be a pattern developing here......

Who was your FIRST pet? The first pet I remember as a kid was a blue tic hound named Freda. She had BIG floppy ears and was always baying at the moon. I remember one time when she tangled with a porcupine and mom had to pull the quills out with a pair of pliers! Wonder what happened to that dog.....

Do you still talk to your FIRST love? no

What was you FIRST job? My first job I got paid for was babysitting but my first real "had to have an interview" job was at the IGA

What was your FIRST car? The first car I had to drive after I got my licence was our HUGE station wagon. Needless to say, I didn't go out driving much.

Who was the FIRST person to text or call you today? No one yet!

Who was your FIRST grade teacher? Miss Loftus

Where did you go on your FIRST ride on an airplane? To California

Who was your FIRST best friend and do you still talk? I would say Aurora....no

Where was your FIRST sleepover? Don't remember

Who was the FIRST person you talked to today? My husband

Whose wedding were you in for the FIRST time? My oldest sister's (does sitting at the guest book count?)

What was the FIRST thing you did this morning? Hit my snooze several times

What was the FIRST concert you ever went to? Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

FIRST set of stitches and how? I think it was when I cut my finger while trying to separate frozen side pork. I ended up getting stitches in my toe the same day I got the stitches in my finger taken out! Good thing I am graceful!

FIRST piercing? My ears when I was 13

FIRST foreign country you've been too? Does North Dakota count?

FIRST movie you remember? STARS WARS (I remember because I held hands with a boy I liked through the whole movie in a room full of kids and tried really hard for no one to see that we were holding hands under a pillow! ;-)

What was your FIRST bike? I got a reconditioned bike that was painted blue and had a new banana seat that looked like denim.....it was AWESOME! My brother taught me how to pop a wheelie on it but after I fell flat on my back it didn't seem quite as fun!

What was your FIRST computer? A Gateway that I ordered over the phone!

Who was your first roommate? I never had a roommate

FIRST kiss? Same boy from the Star Wars movie....different night

Come One, Come All.....

Yes this was also the title of a post in my other blog, "Are You Smarter Than A Stay At Home Mom?" I am writing this with the hope of getting more readers to join me! Like I said in the other post....it doesn't matter if you know the answers off the top of your head or if you google them, but the fun part is posting them! Who doesn't have 5 minutes to exercise your brain with useless facts? The great part about them being useless is that you don't need to retain the information! This is NOT a test....I repeat....this is NOT a test :-) Please join me and have fun....and feel free to tell your friends!

A Tribute To My Uncle...

Monday, October 27th, 2008 was a very sad day for our family. We lost my Uncle Darrel to cancer. As you know, I usually try to fill my posts with humor and even in sadness there is humor to be found. I would like to dedicate this post to everyone everywhere that was ever touched by Darrel in some way and especially his family.

You know the part of the funeral when the pastor asks if there is anyone who would like to say a few words? Well, like everyone else there, I sat there staring at my hands wishing that someone would say something but mostly wishing that I had the courage to say something. Had I gotten the courage this is what I would have said.....

"This body lying here before us is not Darrel. This is only his earthly vessel that transported his soul through his journey here on earth. His earthly vessel, like all good vehicles, eventually broke down and could not be repaired. He became so tired that even his love for his family wasn't enough to keep him with us. It was the love that he felt from the ones who passed on before him that finally allowed him to relent and let go. Even though his physical self is not here for us to touch that does not mean that he is not here spiritually. Have you ever found a penny on the sidewalk or somewhere random and thought, "I wonder why no one else has picked this up?" The reason they haven't is because it was put there for you. It is a fun way for a loved one to let you know that they are with you. The day of the funeral we had to stop and put gas in the car. When I got out, there on the ground was a penny. I picked it up and knew in my heart that it was from Darrel. For those of you that attended the funeral, you heard Dawn's touching story about knowing the exact minute that her dad had passed. When she told that story all I could do was sit there in amazement. Afterwards, I told her how much that story hit home. At the same time that she was jolted awake by her dad's passing I was having a dream about him and his dad. (my grandpa) I dreamt that I went to visit him in the hospital and they were in the same room separated by a curtain. I felt it to be more urgent to talk to Darrel first so I went to his side. As we sat and talked his frail body transformed back into the Darrel that I have always known. I then got up and went to talk to Grandpa and all he did was smile and wink at me and then I woke up. I knew right then that he was safe and surrounded by love."

When I was young, Darrel, to me, was always the uncle that looked just like my dad and seemed to love to wear slacks. He was the uncle that lived in Buffalo, WY, was married to Aunt Janice and was the dad to Brett, Dawn and Craig. We almost always stayed at their house on the way to visit in South Dakota. When I was older, he used to come to our house almost every Tuesday to visit with mom and dad. (he was always in town that day for his work) I will be the first to admit that my younger sister and I always made sure that we were busy on those nights because they would sit around and "reminisce the old days" and, as teenagers, we really didn't understand or care at the time. Until you are older and/or have kids of your own, you don't really understand a lot of things. I find that the older I get the more important family is to me. When I was younger I never really thought about death. I just figured that everyone close to me would be alive forever. In realization, no one does live forever in the physical world but be assured that we will all see each other again someday.

I did say that even in sadness there is humor to be found, so I would like to share one of my funniest memories of him. This was a story that I heard him tell a long time ago so if you know details that I don't, please forgive me if it is not exact. He said that one night he and Janice were in bed sleeping. He had heard a noise so he got up to check it out. It turns out it was a cat that they had. He came back to bed and turned out the light. Not long after that he heard another ruckus and the next thing he knew that cat came tearing up the bed and running right across his face. He started cussing and turned the light on. He felt something on his face and he soon discovered that the cat had a touch of diarrhea and had drug his tail right across his face! I'm sure Janice had a good laugh that night! As I said, some of the details may not be the same but this is a story that makes me laugh EVERY time I tell it or think about it!!!!

I, for one, TRULY believe that there is life after death and that our loved ones are always communicating with us. As I sit here writing this, my oldest daughter Emily came up to talk to me. I had been thinking about Darrel and Janice's house in Buffalo and I happened to look down at Emily's shirt and noticed the name Buffalo on it! This is a shirt that she wears often (which means I wash it often) and I had never noticed that before! There are always signs.....just be open to seeing them and you will.

Rest in Peace Darrel Dean LaVoy. Keep sending me signs until we meet again....

Can you understand what I am saying?

My last post inspired me to write a tribute to all of you who are able to speak and, more importantly, understand the wonderful language of cartoon/movie lingo! You all know who you are or if you are just beginning to realize your new God given talent....welcome to the club! As I said in my last post I have a knack for memorizing movies, TV shows, cartoons, songs....you name it! Lucky for me my younger sister and one of my older brothers can too....it makes for really fun conversations! I find it funny when people think we are speaking "in code" and all I can say is, "are you serious Clark?" (one of my favorites!) Just last week we were at an anniversary party (an oldies dance) and my sister had her 5 month old with her. In true movie lingo fashion my sister-in-law (truly a queen of this game in her own right) walked up to my sister and said, "Look at you. You have a baby....in a bar!" CLASSIC!! Kudos to you A.D.! (I hope you pick up on the initials A.D. and if you don't -- are you serious Clark?)
At work we put the wrapped meat into trays with our customers names on them. Last week we had one customer, Martha, who had a lot of meat so we came across her name often. Every time I saw it I couldn't help but say Martha Focker. By the end of the day I even had my sister and niece saying it....too funny. I was also in the freezer a lot that day and, (for those of you that don't know -- eyeglasses tend to frost over when exposed to warm air after being exposed to extreme cold), I came out one time and my sister asked me if I could see. All I could think of was, "She'll see it later Dear. Her eyes are frozen!"
So to all my loyal fans....remember to check your shitters and don't go falling in love my R.V. cuz I'm taking it with me when I leave next month! Until next time....
P.S...Be on the lookout -- future posts will more than likely contain more of my favorite lingo!