Ok lemme see if I can do this without props...
Dice are pretty much everything in DnD, aside from the RPing which doesn't have the dierolls and whatnot. You roll the appropriate die to do just about anything that requires any amount of effort that has a chance for failure. (Pushing an extremely heavy box: strength check, roll a d20 + str modifier. Climb a drainpipe: climb check d20+climb skill+dex mod or something.) Simple enough...you have to play to really start grasping this, I can't explain it much better.
The stats are reflections of your characters abilities. Strength is how strong he is, dexterity how agile, charisma how charming. These affect how your character is able to interact with the DnD world in which you play. A weak character, for example, couldn't carry a huge load, a character with low charisma couldn't seduce a countess for information...things like that.
those are really basic explanations, and I could've missed things...someone who plays a lot could you look these over and add on/modify them? But these are the basics Matt...hope it helps.
Curse you stumble button!