Life as it has been....lately anyhow

Ok, I'm going to try to make this somewhat reasonable length so that no one gets too bored. lol but here's a little of what we've been doing. (BTW, this is my second post today, I DID post Friday funnies, so if you missed those, check on further down in my blog)

Swimming:









Daddy was none too happy about this new discovery of jumping off the swings into the pool. Yeah. I had told them no because I didn't want them missing the pool and cracking their head open on the ground. Well, as I was sitting there reading (and paying no attention, smack my hands, yes I'm a bad mom) 10 feet away, they were swinging when I heard the water splash. I look up to see them both with huge smiles on their faces and excitement. So I started paying attention and snapped a few photos and video(which unfortunately encouraged them too). They've been spending lots of time in the pool and mysteriously, they are still pasty pale white. Hardly a trace of tan. It's so odd. They just don't tan at all! They haven't burned yet either, so I suppose that's a good thing.

Next we have...Crafts!!




10 points to anyone who knows what this is!! lol





As I said before...Darn you Martha Stewart!!!! These little craft packs were for 4 year olds. Ummm, yeah. I could barely get them to work and look halfway decent, my 5 and 8 year old surely couldn't!! They got too frustrated, so I let my little guy do 2 out of 4 barnyard pompom animals and my big guy do one pipe cleaner animal. I will say, this was definitely NOT one of my more favorite summer activities!! lol

Then there has been this, also not so much fun for mom activity....playing in mud every single time it rains. Which has been quite often lately. And if you don't have rain? Make your own mud.





I didn't get the pictures where they were covered head to toe in mud, twice in one day, because I was too livid and my hands were doing other things to little hinneys. Yeah. You would think they would have learned their lesson after the first time, but no. I try to keep my cool as long as mud is concentrated on hands and feet because I know they are having fun, but head to toe? No.

We also went to quite a few of the programs at the library. Every Tuesday was story time and a craft. The crafts usually were based off the subject of the book that day. They ranged from origami dogs and butterflies to little worry dolls made out of paperclips, fabric and yarn. They also made little space ships. Then they also had other programs such as Magic or Science? (think Bill Nye the Science Guy) and lego building. So that was always fun and took up an hour at a time. They also showed WallE one day which was nice because I hadn't seen that. It also got the kids reading (and me reading more myself and to my little guy) for the summer reading program. It ends tomorrow. I'm not sure if I won anything, I got an entry per book that I read and they are giving away $25 gift certificates to certain stores around town. Then at the end they do a drawing for a meeting with an author. I'm not sure the specifics on that though. And then the grand prize drawing is two airplane tickets!! Can you believe the library giving away something like that? I don't know the specifics on that either, but I thought that's cool. I'd be happy with a $25 certificate though. The kids got little prizes as they went along their reading path. Their reading was measured in hours, not books, so after so many hours they would get different prizes such as stickers, noise makers (yipee) a little book, etc.

For some good news, my husband got "the call" from his older son (19 yrs old). He has some questions. We haven't heard from him in about 3 years after an incident that happened that really upset my hubby. "The call" was the call about questions he had about things his mother says his dad has or hasn't done over the years and he wants to know from my hubby what's all true and what isn't. Can I just say WOW?? Some of the stuff we are finding out she's said about my hubby makes me want to run to an attorney and file a defamation of character lawsuit against her. But whatever, we are just happy he is finally seeing the light and isn't under her spell anymore. I could say lots more, but I'll just say it's a happy time. We will be meeting his fiance (yes, he's engaged now) probably in a week or two when he can save enough money to come to see us (he lives a little over an hour away and I told hubby I'd like to take them out to dinner or something). So yay for that!! He's been calling hubby every day since Wednesday when he first called.

Then, I've got two job prospects in the works. Cross your fingers one of them pans out. Money is definitely drying up quicker now that hubby isn't working as much because he's going to school. I had an interview over the phone the beginning of July and then went for skills testing a week later for the county housing authority here. That would be a great job with high starting pay and excellent benefits. I had an interview for a different job yesterday and I felt it went really really well. The only thing I believe holding anyone from hiring me is my ex boss. I don't know if there's a possibility he's telling people something bad when they call to check. I don't list them on my reference sheet, but that doesn't stop people from calling prior employers. And attorneys are sneaky little craps when they want to be. So if I don't get either of these jobs with the strong interview results I've had, I'm having someone pretend to be a potential employer and call to see if he might be saying bad things about me, and if he is, I'm reporting him. So, hopefully, by the time the kiddies start school, I may be gainfully employed.

Ok, that's enough for now. I'll post about fort making, the lead line show and the beach (I still have to download my pictures for the second show and the beach) maybe sometime this weekend or early next week. I may have zoo pictures to add in by then :)) Have a great day.

Finally Friday Funnies!!!!

Ok, getting back on track with "normal" life, lol, here are some friday foonies for my favorite friends :)

Who Wants to Be....A Millionaire?
A contestant, Sally, on "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" had reached the final plateau. If she answered the next question correctly, she would win $1,000,000. If she answered incorrectly, she would pocket only the $25,000 milestone money.

And as she suspected the Million Dollar Question was no pushover. It was, "Which of the following species of birds does not build its own nest, but instead lays its eggs in the nests of other birds? Is it:

A) the condor
B) the buzzard
C) the cuckoo
D) the vulture"

The woman was on the spot. She did not know the answer. She had used up her 50/50 Lifeline and her Ask the Audience Lifeline.. All that remained was her Phone-a-Friend Lifeline. She hoped she would not have to use it because . . . her friend was, well, a blonde. But she had no alternative. She called her friend and gave her the question and the four choices.

The blonde responded unhesitatingly: "That's easy. The answer is C: the cuckoo."

The contestant had to make a decision and make it fast. She considered employing a reverse strategy and giving any answer except the one that her friend had given her. And considering her friend was a blonde that would seem to be the logical thing to do. But her friend had responded with such confidence, such certitude, that the contestant could not help but be convinced.

Crossing her fingers, the contestant said, "C: The cuckoo."

"Is that your final answer?"

"Yes, that is my final answer."

"That answer is Absolutely correct! You are now a millionaire!"

Three days later, the contestant hosted a party for her family and friends, including the blonde who had helped her win the million dollars.

"Jeni, I just do not know how to thank you," said the contestant. "How did you happen to know the right answer?"

"Oh, come on," said the blonde. "Everybody knows that cuckoos don't build nests. They live in clocks."
_________________________
Grandma Still Drives

Grandma is eighty-eight years old and still drives her own car. She writes:

Dear Grand-daughter,

The other day I went up to our local Christian book store and saw a 'Honk if you love Jesus' bumper sticker ..

I was feeling particularly sassy that day because I had just come from a thrilling choir performance, followed by a thunderous prayer meeting..

So, I bought the sticker and put it on my bumper.

Boy, am I glad I did; what an uplifting experience that followed.

I was stopped at a red light at a busy intersection, just lost in thought about the Lord and how good he is, and I didn't notice that the light had changed.

It is a good thing someone else loves Jesus because if he hadn't honked, I'd never have noticed.

I found that lots of people love Jesus!

While I was sitting there, the guy behind started honking like crazy, and then he leaned out of his window and screamed, 'For the love of God!'

'Go! Go! Go! Jesus Christ, GO!'

What an exuberant cheerleader he was for Jesus!

Everyone started honking!

I just leaned out my window and started waving and smiling at all those loving people.

I even honked my horn a few times to share in the love!
;
There must have been a man from Florida back there because I heard him yelling something about a sunny beach.

I saw another guy waving in a funny way with only his middle finger stuck up in the air.

I asked my young teenage grandson in the back seat what that meant.

He said it was probably a Hawaiian good luck sign or something.

Well, I have never met anyone from Hawaii , so I leaned out the window and gave him the good luck sign right back.

My grandson burst out laughing.

Why even he was enjoying this religious experience!!

A couple of the people were so caught up in the joy of the moment that they got out of their cars and started walking towards me.

I bet they wanted to pray or ask what church I attended, but this is when I noticed the light had changed.

So, grinning, I waved at all my brothers and sisters, and drove on through the intersection.

I noticed that I was the only car that got through the intersection before the light changed again and felt kind of sad that I had to leave them after all the love we had shared.

So I slowed the car down, leaned out the window and gave them all the Hawaiian good luck sign one last time as I drove away. Praise the Lord for such wonderful folks!!

Will write again soon,

Love, Grandma
__________________________
To Be Old:

OLD people have problems that you haven't even Considered yet!

An 85-year-old man was requested by his doctor for a Sperm count as part of his physical exam.

The doctor gave the man a jar and said, "Take this Jar home and bring back a semen sample tomorrow".

The next day the 85-year-old man reappeared at the Doctor's' office and gave him the jar, which was as Clean and empty as on the previous day.

The doctor asked what happened and the man explained, 'Well, doc, it's like this--first I tried with my right hand, but nothing. Then I tried with my left hand, but still nothing.

'Then I asked my wife for help. She tried with her Right hand, then with her left, still nothing. She Tried with her mouth, first with her teeth in, then with her teeth out, still nothing.

'We even called up Arleen, the lady next door and She tried too, first with both hands, then an armpit, and she even tried squeezing it between her knees, but still nothing.'

The doctor was shocked! 'You asked your neighbor?'

The old man replied, 'Yep, none of us could get the Jar open.'
____________________________
and last but not least in honor of the state of this lovely economy (which because of, I still have no job...) I give you:
Top 12 Indicators the Economy is Bad

12. CEO’s are now playing miniature golf.

11. I got a pre-declined credit card in the mail.

10. I went to buy a toaster oven and they gave me a bank.

9. Hotwheels and Matchbox car companies are now trading higher than GM in the stock market.

8. Obama met with small businesses - GE, Pfizer, Chrysler, Citigroup and GM, to discuss the Stimulus Package.

7. McDonalds is selling the 1/4 ouncer.

6. People in Beverly Hills fired their nannies and are learning their children’s names.

5. The most highly-paid job is now jury duty. (LOL - I'm supposed to go for jury duty August 10th and 11th)

4. People in Africa are donating money to Americans. Mothers in Ethiopia are telling their kids, “finish your plate; do you know how many kids are starving in America?”

3. Motel Six won’t leave the lights on.

2. The Mafia is laying off judges.

1. If the bank returns your check marked as “insufficient funds,” you have to call them and ask if they meant you or them.

Hope those brought some laughter to your life this wonderful glorious friday. I went to the beach with the boys today. I will attempt to make a post this weekend with pictures of everything I wrote about on Wednesday (I think it was Wed.). It didn't work out yesterday. lol

Forever and A Day

Ok. I'm back, and with a vengeance. hehehe. Just kidding. I've had some minor health issues and have been spending mucho time with the wee little ones and doing one of my favorite things, aside from spending time with the kids and horses. (my girl is now only taking two tries to get the left lead, yay!!) Reading. So I'm starting to slowly get back into things and catch up on everyone's blogs. My eyes start crossing though, so it's slow going. lol Must be this old age thing beginning to creep up on me :)

I will have a friday funnies again this week and hopefully before then I'll do a post on some of the things the little guys have been keeping me busy with :) To list a few:
- going to the library twice a week for their programs (which tomorrow is the last day of, sadly)
- Tater has been in two horse shows for lead line (he LOVED it and it was super cute)
- They've been swimming like little fish while I sit and read and enjoy the sun (when not on medication which made me fry and blister quicker than if I stuck my hand in the oven, so I had to sit in shade quite often)
- They've done some little crafty things I found (damn you super smart martha stewart! I don't know what 4 year olds she tried these crafts on, but I ended up having trouble with them!!)

and some other little things.

So, there's some stuff in a nutshell. Hopefully when I get more time I will do a more detailed post with some pictures of the above things. Hope everyone else is having a good summer and relaxing! And I'm going to keep trying to catch up. I hope no one thinks I'm ignoring them :) I'm not and eager to get back into the swing of things.