Easter BBQ and Egg Hunt

Our clients and dear friends Melanie and Justin invited us to to spend Easter afternoon and evening with them at Melanie's parents farm for an egg hunt and bbq. The weather was awesome, mid 70's with a light breeze. Melanie's parents farm is huge and they have so many things to see and do out there. They have a duck with chicks, a large goat, huge geese, a man made mini lake with a dock, a go cart track, and custom trucks, tractors, wagons, and cars. Steven liked the lake best because it was full of tadpols, goldfish, and millions of minnows. There was not one mosquito in sight and we were their well into the evening. I found out that is the purpose of the millions of minnows. Makes sense now. There were hundreds of plastic and real eggs and enough food to rival the largest buffet in Vegas. Here are some pictures of our fun day at the bbq.

Steven in his favorite shirt these days "Parents for Sale...Buy One, Get One Free".

Mini Lake full tadpols, goldfish, & minnows. Steven spent hours catching tadpols in a cup. This is the floating dock in the middle of the mini lake.

Tennis area. All of these trees have peeling bark and it was perfect for hiding the easter eggs.

Melanie looking for Trixie and Peaches. Who are they you ask? It is these two little girls.

Melanie's neice along with both of her grandma's collecting easter eggs.

Our Babies

It is our pleasure to introduce Sequoia and Sierra. They are now 8 weeks old and full of fun !!!!!

Sequoia being held by Steven 03/29/08.Sequoia on Scott's lap looking for trouble. Just so there is no confusion.....this is not my hairy leg !!!.

Sierra trying to take a nap 03/29/08.

Again so there is no confusion.....This is not my hairy leg. :)

Two new additions to the family

Well it finally happened last week. Mom and dad brought Steven back from the coast for his dr. visits and while they were here mom and I found the most adorable kittens. They are six weeks old. They were to be named T-bone and Ribeye, however, we ended up with Sierra and Sequoia (thank you mom for helping out with this one). We are still having internet issues here at home so once we get that corrected I will post all sorts of things including pictures.

Have a great day !!

I Hurt

Did I mention that I HATE Moving?
Oh my gosh, this was the weekend from hell. I thought that moving would be less stressful and easier on the body if we hired some movers to do it. Well it might be a little less stress but not less work on the body. Holy Cow. We have been busting our buns to get everything all taken care of over here but it is taking a lot longer then I anticipated. My brother in law came over yesterday afternoon to BBQ tri-tip and ribs for us and the friends and family he invited to our home. I wasn't ready for a house full of people, but the break was nice.

I can see that the yards need a loving hand so once the house is put together, I will need to get busy in the yard. I think next week we will invite little 76 year old Carmina over for dinner. It was way sweet of her to rent her big ole home to us for less then we were renting our other one for and she will allow us to have pets. Which will consist of two kittens and two Chihuahuas. Our puppies were born last week however they went to someone else so we need to wait and search for two more. :( The mom only had two puppies and we were second in line. For some reason I can't seem to find kittens anywhere in this town. It's spring, shouldn't they be popping out all over the place......sheesh.

Oh Well back to unpacking.

Get the cigars ready

Our new additions will be born in the next 24 hours wooohooo. Mom went into labor this morning and now we are in the waiting phase. In the mean time we have hired the movers and we have been packing like wild people and assisting with the cleaning of our new home. It was a big ole 1800 square foot dust ball. Did I mention that I hate packing? We should be done with it all soon and then we get to unpack...that would be my second least favorite thing to do. :)

oh well....back to American Idol then bed.

Very blog worthy....Enjoy

Ponderisms

Can you cry under water?

How important does a person have to be before they are considered assassinated instead of just murdered?

Why do you have to "put your two cents in".. But it's only a "penny for your thoughts"? Where's that extra penny going to?

Once you're in heaven, do you get stuck wearing the clothes you were buried in for eternity?

Why does a round pizza come in a square box?

What disease did cured ham actually have?

How is it that we put a man on the moon before we figured out it would be a good idea to put wheels on luggage?

Why is it that people say they "slept like a baby" when babies wake up like every two hours?

If a deaf person has to go to court, is it still called a hearing?

Why are you IN a movie, but you're ON TV?

Why do people pay to go up tall buildings and then put money in binoculars to look at things on the ground?

Why do doctors leave the room while you change? They're going to see you naked anyway.

Why is "bra" singular and "panties" plural?

Why do toasters always have a setting that burns the toast to a horrible crisp, which no decent human being would eat?

If Jimmy cracks corn and no one cares, why is there a stupid song about him?

Can a hearse carrying a corpse drive in the carpool lane ?

If the professor on Gilligan's Island can make a radio out of a coconut, why can't he fix a hole in a boat?

Why does Goofy stand erect while Pluto remains on all fours? They're both dogs!

If Wile E. Coyote had enough money to buy all that ACME stuff, why didn't he just buy dinner?

If corn oil is made from corn, and vegetable oil is made from vegetables, what is baby oil made from?

If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons?

Do the Alphabet song and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star have the same tune?

Why did you just try singing the two songs above?

Why do they call it an asteroid when it's outside the hemisphere, but call it a hemorrhoid when it's in your butt?

Did you ever notice that when you blow in a dog's face, he gets mad at you, but when you take him for a car ride, he sticks his head out the window?

Wow, Get a Load of This

COULD YOU PASS THIS TEST TODAY?

What it took to get an 8th grade education in 1895...Remember when grandparents and great-grandparents stated that they only had an 8th grade education? Well, check this out. Could any
of us have passed the 8th grade in 1895?

This is the eighth-grade final exam from 1895 in Salina , Kansas , USA. It was taken from the original document on file at the Smokey Valley Genealogical Society and Library in Salina , and reprinted by the Salina Journal.

8th Grade Final Exam: Salina , KS - 1895

Grammar (Time, one hour)

1. Give nine rules for the use of capital letters.
2. Name the parts of speech and define those that have no modifications.
3. Define verse, stanza and paragraph
4. What are the principal parts of a verb? Give principal parts of "lie,""play," and "run."
5. Define case; illustrate each case.
6 What is punctuation? Give rules for principal marks of punctuation.
7 - 10. Write a composition of about 150 words and show therein that you understand the practical use of the rules of grammar.

Arithmetic (Time,1 hour 15 minutes)

1. Name and define the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic.
2. A wagon box is 2 ft. deep, 10 feet long, and 3 ft. wide. How many bushels of wheat will it hold?3. If a load of wheat weighs 3,942 lbs., what is it worth at 50cts/bushel, deducting 1,050 lbs. for tare?
4. District No 33 has a valuation of $35,000. What is the necessary levy to carry on a school seven months at $50 per month, and have $104 for incidentals?
5. Find the cost of 6,720 lbs. coal at $6.00 per ton.
6. Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7 percent.
7. What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft. long at $20 per metre?
8. Find bank discount on $300 for 90 days (no grace) at 10 percent.
9. What is the cost of a square farm at $15 per acre, the distance of which is 640 rods?
10. Write a Bank C heck, a Promissory Note, and a Receipt.

U.S. History (Time, 45 minutes)

1. Give the epochs into which U.S. History is divided
2. Give an account of the discovery of America by Columbus
3. Relate the causes and results of the Revolutionary War.
4. Show the territorial growth of the United States
5. Tell what you can of the history of Kansas
6. Describe three of the most prominent battles of the Rebellion.
7. Who were the following: Morse, Whitney, Fulton , Bell , Lincoln , Penn, and Howe?
8. Name events connected with the following dates: 1607, 1620, 1800, 1849, 1865.

Orthography (Time, one hour) [Do we even know what this is??]

1. What is meant by the following: alphabet, phonetic, orthography, etymology, syllabication
2. What are elementary sounds? How classified?
3. What are the following, and give examples of each: trigraph, subvocals, diphthong, cognate letters, linguals
4. Give four substitutes for caret 'u.' (HUH?)
5. Give two rules for spelling words with final 'e.' Name two exceptions under each rule.
6. Give two uses of silent letters in spelling. Illustrate each.
7. Define the following prefixes and use in connection with a word: bi, dis, mis, pre, semi, post, non, inter, mono, sup.
8. Mark diacritically and divide into syllables the following, and name the sign that indicates the sound: card, ball, mercy, sir, odd, cell, rise, blood, fare, last.
9. Use the following correctly in sentences: cite, site, sight, fane, fain, feign, vane , vain, vein, raze, raise, rays.
10. Write 10 words frequently mispronounced and indicate pronunciation by use of diacritical marks and by syllabication.

Geography (Time, one hour)

1 What is climate? Upon what does climate depend?
2. How do you account for the extremes of climate in Kansas ?
3. Of what use are rivers? Of what use is the ocean?
4. Describe the mountains of North America
5. Name and describe the following: Monrovia , Odessa , Denver , Manitoba , Hecla , Yukon , St. Helena, Juan Fernandez, Aspinwall and Orinoco
6. Name and locate the principal trade centers of the U.S.
7. Name all the republics of Europe and give the capital of each.
8. Why is the Atlantic Coast colder than the Pacific in the same latitude?
9. Describe the process by which the water of the ocean returns to the sources of rivers.
10. Describe the movements of the earth. Give the inclination of the earth.

Notice that the exam took FIVE HOURS to complete. Gives the saying "he only had an 8th grade education" a whole new meaning, doesn't it?

Also shows you how poor our education system has become and, NO! I don't have the answers!