Teach a kid to fish....

I have been thinking lately that the kids are getting old enough to go fishing. To be fair, they both had an opportunity to fish in the pond behind my Mom's house when we were living with her a couple of years ago. However, Liam was so little, it really didn't hold his attention and Elizabeth was far more interested in squeezing the little bait minnows in her hands until they were quite pulpy (can anyone say Lenny?).

So, today at Target, I bought the kids their own cheapo fishing poles thinking maybe we would go down to one of our little lakes sometime and throw in a line, or that having the poles might give the kids something to do if we were out camping.

The kids had a different idea... the brand new fishing poles were all they could talk about, and I knew I was not going to hear the end of it if we didn't at least go try them out today. I was able to talk a reluctant, hard-working husband into a little early evening trip to the "fishing hole". So, I packed us a lite dinner and we stopped at the market for some bait (night crawlers - yuk! and some fluorescent glittering marshmallows that are apparently supposed to taste like shrimp, okay - as long as they don't end up in MY hot chocolate).

We set up at one of the little lake "fingers" where they have installed little shelters with picnic tables, actually a very nice set up. Robert managed to get the worm on Elizabeth's hook along with a bobber and some weights. He cast it in for her and gave her instructions to sit and watch the bobber. I was still setting up the chairs and getting drinks so I didn't take any photos, and I didn't have anything but my camera phone with me anyway because of course I forgot the regular camera at home.

Robert hadn't even had time to pick up Liam's pole to start setting it up for him, when Elizabeth yells out. We look over and her bobber is going crazy. Robert tells her to yank on it and start pulling it in. Can you believe what my 5 year old daughter pulls out of the lake after 3 minutes...

It had to be about 5 pounds of beautiful rainbow trout. The line was cutting into my fingers as I was trying to get her to hold it up so I could take a picture. Of course, she got all girly and scared on me and wouldn't get near it.

We had every intention of playing catch and release, after all I do not eat fish, and I would rather not cook it either. But the poor girl had swallowed the hook good and was losing eggs all over the place. Robert said we had to take it, because it wasn't going to live if we put it back in the water.

So, I had to take all of our dinner stuff out of the cooler so we could put this fish in it. Blech! And wouldn't you know it, we didn't reel in another fish for the rest of the hour we spent there.

The kids had a great time though, they both cried when we had to leave, and as they were getting in bed tonight they kept asking when we get to go fishing again. Robert even admitted that he had fun, even though it was more work then he bargained for, especially after he had to come home and gut the fish so he could freeze it and take it to work tomorrow to give it to someone who will eat it.

Silly Boy

I don't even remember why he was crying. I was trying to get him to cheer up by taking his picture. He is usually such a ham, that just seeing the camera (or the camera phone, in this case) will make him smile. I told him to smile, and he looked at me and then did this. I took the picture anyway because his overreaction just made me crack up.

How about a kiss?

Too Funny! This is a lollipop, he has the sucker part in his mouth.

Earth Day

Yesterday was Earth Day. The kids and I went to a Mom's group event hosted by our leader and founder, Melanie. The kids had a great time playing and snacking, and then we had a seed planting activity. All the kids were able to plant their own little garden to take home. We have an interesting mix of yellow squash, green onion, beefsteak tomatoes, and sunflowers. I will take some photos if we get any growth. I don't have any good photos of Liam from yesterday because once he was out playing in the yard, he was like the Flash... he didn't stand still long enough to get a good photo.

Right of Passage

Today we went to the mall and had Elizabeth's ears pierced. She was so sure she wanted to do it, and she was a real trooper she didn't even cry. She loves her new daisy shaped earrings that have her birthstone color in them.

My little baby is getting so grown up!

My Little Pirate

Pirates Ahoy

I am figuring out how to send photos directly from my phone. It appears to work.

No Scrapbooking

I went to a crop at my friend Nicole's house last night, and I am pleased to say that I did absolutely no scrapbooking. I spent the entire evening chatting, eating and laughing. I did not even open up my supplies and paper. And I am 100% okay with that, I had a great time!

Park Day

Thursday after I picked up Elizabeth from school, I took the kids to the park for awhile. I like this park because it has wood chips instead of sand. Which seems cleaner simply because we don't take quite as much of it home with us.

A couple park photos


After the park, baths were in order. This is a cute one of bubble boy.

Decoupage

This was my first ever attempt at decoupage. I am posting it because I didn't take any new photos today and I just wanted a photo to post. This is a wooden tray that I made for my Grandma Bonnie for Christmas the year she went on a summer trip with my Dad and Step mom. I think it turned out cute, but I never did get the knack for the decoupage.



So today I drove to Victorville to help my brother return his U-Haul truck. He just moved into my neighborhood and I think it is pretty cool. It is going to be a much better commute for him to go to work, and we are probably guaranteed to see him and his family more often.

I also spent a frustrating portion of the afternoon trying to remember how to use the embroidery sewing machine that my mother has loaned my indefinitley. I only use it once in a great while for any kind of sewing, and I use it even less for embroidery. So, I was on the phone with her several times today trying to get the thing to do what I wanted. I managed to an extent, but I will be calling her tomorrow for some more tips.

Socks and Butterflies

Two days in a row I have something to post. Whoo Hoo! I am going to start carrying my camera with me everywhere just for the heck of it.

This morning while getting ready to walk out the door to catch the school bus, I grabbed the camera to take a photo of Elizabeth's socks. Why would I take a photo of socks, you may ask? Because my Mom took the time to hand crochet a special edging with beads on to her socks per my specific request (what a Mom, huh?)

This is one pair.

And of course as soon as Liam saw me pull out the camera to take Elizabeth's photo, he wanted in on the action. I took this photo just to appease him, and it turns out to be one of the best photos I have taken of the pair of them in a while. Go figure!

We also freed our pet butterflies today. My friend Nicole had gotten us two caterpillars last time she went to the Kidspace Museum (they have an annual butterfly thing). By the time I finally got around to picking them up from her house, they were already in the chrysalis stage. So we made them a butterfly box home, complete with page protector windows. Sure enough, after about 7 days, they broke open and we got to watch the miracle of transformation, or whatever it is that they do. It was pretty neat, and the kids just loved it. Listening to Liam talk about the butterflies and their chrysalis in his little three year old voice was priceless.

We took the butterfly box to the local park and managed to safely release the butterflies even in the practically gale force winds. Elizabeth was even able to let one sit on her finger for a few snaps of the camera before the wind whipped it away. Both butterflies seemed to do fine, and we wished them well.

Gotta Love the Eighties!

One of my Mom friends, Nicole hosted an eighties themed Bunco party last week. We had a really fun time dressing up and listening to 80's music while we took goofy pictures of ourselves. We didn't actually finish playing Bunco, we were all ready for bed by about 9pm. (Oh, the life of Moms).

Just a few photos.

My new goal

I recently had my computer crash and I lost several months worth of photos that were not backed up. While this is unfortunate, I actually had very few that were worth saving. I just need to track down a couple of photos that other people have (family and friends) of things like Halloween and Christmas.

To get to my new goal... I want to try to take photos everyday, even if it is just a few shots. Something to remember the time.

Paper Doll

This is a poor photo of the paper doll I created with my new cricut cartridge - Paper Doll Dress Up. This cartridge is going to be a blast!