Sold the Camper

We've had the camper online for quite a while, and Dustin finally got a decent offer this past week. The guy came and picked it up on Friday after work!

Hooking it up...

...and he's off!

~Is it considered creepy that I took pictures of this from the house without asking the guy? Oh, well. He didn't get out and object!

may you have fun

Up until this rainy Memorial Day weekend, we've been spending hours outside each day. Sometimes we come home from work and stay outside until bed, or spend all weekend out in the nice weather, only going in for a nap!

It's looking to be a great outdoor summer!

Dustin has bought the equipment to begin installing underground sprinklers!

First project, our yard!

And with some great assistants!

Always willing to help out!

Getting some good instructions!

And when we are inside, you never know the craziness that will ensue!

Pants-free Friday!

Or towel-head Tuesday!

As well as reading books!

Downward dog

New old train set! Yahoo!

Hopefully, this will be the last of a rain stretch, and we can get outside again soon!

all grown up.....

Samantha graduated from high school on Sunday!

Can you believe it???

Little Sami Jo, who was born when I was in high school.

Sami, who got a Tickle-Me Elmo for Christmas once,

Sami, who once tricked Andrea into giving up a toy by offering another,

Sami, who used to ride her bike up and down the runway,

Sami, who decided to sit on her blanket to help me watch for deer on the way to Rugby, shortly before we hit a deer!,

Sami, who, as a little kid, would fall behind because she was busy holding the door for old people,

Sami, who Dane and Brody just adore,

Sami, who everybody just LOOOVES!

It's a little bit nostalgic for me, even though I'm not her parent.

Since she was born, I have spent a LOT of time with Sam!

When I lived at home, she was around quite a bit. Then I moved to Minot, where I've been just a short drive from her ever since! Over her 18 years of life, we have spent a lot of time together.

When she was younger, she told someone that Andrea and I were her sister-aunts...well, it's almost like a little sister is graduating!

Connor and Samantha

Jay, Sam, Suzanne

the Blessum family!

Samantha and some friends

Katy, Kacey, Samantha

hats I made as a gift for Sam

Andrea, Samantha, Jeremy

the boys had an awesome time running wild at Samantha's open house

Dawn, Todd, Brandon Schock, Sam, and Grandma Schock

2 Catholic School Survivors

Party!

little boys

I can't wait for the boys to get a little older so we can be done with:

~running out into the street, thinking it's funny, not understanding the possibility of getting hit by a car (mainly a Brody issue right now)
~wiping poopy butts
~buying diapers
~getting up at 6:30 am, no matter what time they went to sleep the night before, however, needing to be forced awake Monday-Friday at 7:15 am to make it to daycare in a timely manner
~them not being a well-matched pair for playing and rough-housing
~things taking 12 times longer than they should
~having to pack emergency/what-if items for any and all trips-even to the grocery store (this is getting less and less every day, though!)
~picking on Marby, instead of just being a good, respectful brother
~carseats


However, I want them to stay little like they are now forever because:

~lavendar-scented shampoo and Johnson's baby wash
~them sitting on my lap (not only will they NOT want to later, they probably won't fit)
~chubby feet, hands, cankles
~in a few years, they're going to eat us out of house and home
~their interactions with each other are so cute!
~little things excite and entertain them
~pretty soon they're going to turn into awkward, smelly teenage boys
~they're so innocent
~Dreft laundry detergent
~little socks
~I can still carry them, both at once, if necessary
~they still think it's fun to vacuum, dust, empty the dishwasher, etc
~Dane sings songs
~Brody gets ridiculously excited about dogs
~when they fart, it's still cute and funny (most of the time)
~I can still reach higher than they can
~I can still make up answers for some questions
~they still fit together in one chair
~NAPS

mother's day extravaganza in rugby

well, maybe not an extravaganza, but a trip, at least! the boys and i left dustin at our house to work on projects and fix his ditch witch and headed for the geographical center of north america!

after a quick baseball game with granny! what a great day to be outside!

me and the boys, mother's day 2012

hard to get a good picture when 2 of the 3 people are extra wiggly

still crazy!

brody managed to get just a few minutes alone in the kitchen and decided that he needed to transfer some oatmeal to a new container. granny got out the vacuum to clean it up, which may have been brody's intention the entire time!

cleanin up!

little witch!

granny and a witch

playing in the kitchen

having a bonfire, roasting some weenies!

having fun out at the bonfire

brody found a camera to take a few snapshots!

say cheese

dane is so strong!!!

won't fit in that wagon much longer!!!

perfect weather to spend almost the entire day outside!!! what a great mother's day!

adventures in babysitting, er, parenting!

reading books before bed!

brody loves his bananas for breakfast

helping dad in the garage with a greasy chain

what a little grease monkey!

trying to escape out to the front yard!

reading books during breathing treatments!

dane picked green pancakes for supper

yum, yum, favorite!

brody was banished to the big table where he could be restrained!

a walk through the 'hood

on saturday, we decided to take a walk down the street to our mall....arrowhead mall, to look into getting a haircut for dane, and some seeds for my garden!

we got out the wagon, some snacks, and we were off!

suitin' up!

they took off without me!

enjoying some snacks while also enjoying the view

the mail spot where we now get our mail. it's just across the street and down half a block. doesn't seem too far away, but when you're used to getting mail straight into the garage, this has been somewhat of an adjustment. don't think it's permanent, but i can see why they might not want carriers walking through post-flood areas that haven't really been cleaned up!

looking back down our street. the fema trailer on the right is right across the street from us. they were really getting after some projects on this day! yahoo!!!

about a block down the street.....some fresh guttage.

interesting that it's been almost a year and some of this is JUST coming out to the curb!

a house across from leech park that someone must have bought and is really making some changes to!

a formerly-fenced in backyard. these people used to have an 8-foot fence right up to this lift station.

looking back towards leech park....it's just around the bend to the left

fema trailer!

nasty fence that had a deck laying across it up until just this past week!

pre-haircut. got last minute jitters and tried to back out.

enjoying a little flood book while waiting for dane

digging into what we later realized was his first sucker. yes, we are horribly mean and don't let the boys have candy or almost any sweets. he actually licked the entire thing down to the stick. didn't put it in his mouth and suck on it like the rest of us do. but hey, if he's never experienced it, i guess what did he know?!

stopped at leech park on the walk home for a few trips down the slide!

running over to slide down to dad!

climbing to the top of the swirly slide funspot!

brody made a few trips down, but

wasn't very sure of it!

peekaboo!!!