Have a Good Day

I have a daily habit/obsession. I read the newspaper everyday. If I don't, my day doesn't seem to be organized. I also read the obituaries and usually call people when someone they know has died. I figure since I read the whole paper, I might as well read the obituaries too, right?? Well, today I saw the obituary for a friend I had in Jr High and High School. She wasn't a close friend, but a friend that I have fond memories of. Of course, I called my friend Toni to share the news. We both agreed it hits too close to home.

So I realized that today has to be a good day, and tomorrow has to be a good day and all the rest of our days need to be enjoyed. So today I enjoyed being with my kids, playing Mario Party on Game Cube, rollerskating and playing cars. I even enjoyed Spongebob, which I usually tune out. Here is a quote from Sandy the Squirrel, that I found was strangely appropriate for today. "Sometimes it is time to hang up your hang-glider and just watch the sky." Who knew Spongebob could teach me a lesson.

Oh My ....

All kids say funny things, some kids say naughty things. Josh says funny and naughty things. His favorite thing to say right now is "Oh My Crap." The first few times I thought it was cute, and realized that I probably say "Crap" to often and I need to watch myself more closely. I thought it would only last a couple of weeks if I didn't give him any positive reinforcement. When I realized that he hasn't moved on to another phrase, I try to replace this one with another, more acceptable phrase like "Oh my goodness gracious" (a little long) "Oh my gosh" which is a little too boring for him. The funny/naughty thing is that he says it CONSTANTLY. For example, I say, "Josh, Rachel is coming over to play!" His response is "Oh my Crap!" Even, "We are going to McDonald's" again, his response is "Oh my Crap!" So I apologize to Kristen, who is his preschool teacher...I have tried to fix this issue all summer long and it has not resolved itself. I have to admit that I haven't shown myself to the Nursery leader in church, I don't even want to hear how he has corrupted an innocent child. Oh My Crap...

Friends Win

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They started signing up people on Aug 3rd, as of today Aug 11, there are over 1000 members. It has a great comission structure for all of you that have a great blog following!!

Last Vacation Shots

We went up to the White Mountains to the cabin. Here are some shots at Heber overlooking the Mogollon Rim...Arizona is beautiful!!





Swimming in our pool...






Josh riding the Quad...by himself in Grandma's backyard.

Vacation Over

Today is the first day of school and I was a little nervous for Brett to go to school. Don't know why, I thought I would be celebrating with lunch and errands. But, as I watched him walk to the neigbors for the carpool ride, I flashed back to my first day of second grade.

I remember wearing a dress, and I was in tears. I did not want to go. I was sick to my stomach and scared to death. I remember begging my Dad to let me stay home. I was sure that tears would work for my Dad and I would be able to never go to school again. I remember him talking to me trying to convince me to go. I think he must of made some sort of deal, because my next memory is of me saying "ok" and getting into his car to take me to school.

Brett was so willing to go to school today, to meet his friends from last year. He asked me if I could take off his necklace that he was wearing. I told him that it was okay if he wore it, but make sure that he did not play with it. He said, " Mom, I better find out what the classroom rules are before I wear it to school."

I am glad we didn't have drama this morning...we're lucky ;0

Brett 2nd Grade
(Okay, I only had one shot at this photo before he was running down the street to catch his ride)

Cancun

At our hotel, Avalon Grand ( Picture is a little foggy because of the Humidity!)
Wow, our first time in Cancun and it was a blast!! I was actually more worried about the airplane trip than the week stay in Mexico. Luckily, I had packed a bag of tricks that worked great on the first leg to Houston. Once we arrived at Houston, we had a 2 hour layover. Josh spent most of the two hours running up and back on the people movers in the airport. Mike and I took turns running after Josh, while the other kept an eye on the luggage. Finally, we hopped on our plane to Cancun and Josh was out like a light as soon as our flight had taken off and he stayed that way until we landed!



We met Grandpa Barney at the Cancun airport, he had flown in an hour ealier and they had lost his luggage. Turns out his luggage was not found until three days into the trip...yikes! Pretty soon, the whole gang (Mike's sister Lynda and her family came too) and we were off to the hotel. When we arrived at the hotel and walked in to the room, Josh exclaimed, " I want to go home now!!" Sorry kid, you are here for a week :)

Once we were all settled we staked out the hotel and did some exploring to get our bearings. If you haven't been to Cancun, it is basically the Las Vegas strip on a gorgeous white sand beach. It is very American, with no need to speak Spanish or change your Dollars to Pesos.. There are restaurants like Chilis, Ruth's Chris, Outback and Bubba Gumps and of course McDonalds and Starbucks. Most of the tourists take advantage of the all-inclusive style, so they can eat at the hotel for their meals. We did not have all inclusive, so we made the bus ride (65 cents) to Walmart about 15 to 20 minutes away in downtown Cancun to stock our kitchen.

The kids enjoyed the pool and the beach of course...that was their favorite thing. They basically swam in the morning, got out to have lunch, then back to the pool and the beach. They were in paradise!



This is our personal beach!! Nice...



Brett "wasting away"



(Infinity pool at the hotel. That is Mike and Josh raising their hand :)

We had an incredible time visiting the Pyramids. Brett and Josh tagged along to Tulum where the Pyramids are on the coast. They enjoyed seeing the big Lizards running around the pyramids...too cool.



Josh and the Lizard posing. Click on the picture so you can see the lizard up close!



Tulum



Pyramids on the beach!

Lynda and I went to "Chichin Itza" These are the big pyramids in the Yucatan. They won't let you climb the pyramid anymore, because they are campaigning to make it one of the 7 Wonders of the World. That was fine with me ;) Here are a couple of pics.



Chichin Itza



One thousand towers with Chock Mol on top of the pyramid. He was the messanger to the gods (you can see him as the "U" shaped figure in the middle on top of the structure.



This is the Sacred Sinote. This is were they would sacrifice the Virgins to the Gods. This is a fresh water hole that is so cool. You can actually jump off in to the water. You can see these fish that looked like mini sharks swimming around, so I decided not to jump.



Should I Jump???



These are a couple of random pics



Eating at Bubba Gumps



Eating in downtown Cancun - only 2 people got sick from eating the mystery taco sauce....



Ride on the Bus to Walmart...



Visiting the Mayan Resort on the Mayan Riviera...Beautiful



Cab Ride Home!!

Visit from the Tooth Fairy

Brett was showing the family that he had a tooth that was loose one Sunday night. His Uncle Jared who is a dentist wiggled it and said, "Do you want to loose that tooth right now?" Brett kind of looked at him funny, then Grandpa Barney pulled out a dollar and said, "Brett, I will give you a dollar if you let him pull it out right now..." That is all the prodding that Brett needed. He took that dollar and let Uncle Jared do what he needed to do and within a few seconds, Brett pulled out his tooth. Every one clapped and cheered. Uncle Jared told Brett that the tooth fairy gave $20 for the first tooth so Brett immediately put the tooth in a baggie, and went to bed the moment he got home. The tooth fairy came and brought $5. Maybe the tooth fairy only gives $20 if the child's Dad is a Dentist!!