Gone Fishin'

We may have been "sitting at the dock of the bay." as the song says but we were for sure not"watching the sun roll away waisting time..." 
We were catching some fish! We had a number of bites and near misses. After a moment of frustration we agreed it was time to  ask the Lord to assist our efforts to move from fish waiting to fish catching. Sure enough He did.

Nathan caught an 11 inch brooke trout and Caleb caught a  15 inch rainbow trout.  We grilled them up for supper.  It was some good eats! 

I am loving those 10 dollar spiderman fishing poles.  Those trout didn't give up without a fight. Those poles were bending but not breaking.

David turns 11

We had a quiet family celebration for Davids 11 th birthday. I am amazed at how fast time is moving now.
He begins middle school soon. Before I  know it he will be 18.  I am so pleased with his heart towards others and how his character is developing. He makes his momma proud. 

11 years ago.......

At this time 11 years ago, I was watching Wheel of Fortune, waiting for my contractions to get stronger. Now I am running off to a youth baseball game. 

11 hours later I was introduced to motherhood with the birth of our first son.  Seems like yesturday.
I will sleep better tonight......

New Cast for David

It is 4 weeks since David broke his arm. Today he got.the.monster cut off. A new and MUCH smaller and lighter cast was made for him.  He has 4 weeks in this cast and then he will be fitted with a splint.  He will wear the splint for 4 weeks.  That takes us to the middle of August.  At least this cast is manageable.  No more sling is needed and he can move his elbow a little. He still requested no pictures be placed on the blog.

Strawberry pickin' and making jam

Our annual trip to the strawberry fields for pickin'. 

 A few changes from years past. 

There was a lot less eating and a lot more pickin'.  Good for mom's back.  My helpers actually helped.

No one needed a change a clothes. No one got stung by a bee!

A successful pickin' experience indeed.

We loved Miss Amy's  delicious strawberry jam last year so much we decided to try making our own.

It was a lot more simple of a project than I thought.  Here is to hoping the jam turns out good..... Maybe if you get on my nice list I will give some to you.

Caleb plays "My Heart Will Go On"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0EhCO9j9yQ&feature=youtu.be

Broken - everything is broken!

David's arm.
The van.
The renters dishwasher.
Now my phone.

If it comes in three's, then I got someone elses share!

A day for the girls

This is my niece Megan.

Isn't she beautiful!

 I drove up to Appleton this past Saturday to enjoy a little "girl" time with her, my mom and my sister in law Laurie.  We spent the day making cards and chocolate covered candies. 

I marveled at how quiet their house is. 

We enjoyed a soup and salad feast at Olive Garden and no one spilled on my clothes!

It was a great day.

Lake Emily - our first camping adventure of the season

Memorial Day weekend we ventured to our beloved Lake Emily. 
I am always amazed as to how skilled John is in packing all that STUFF into our van. We need a hitch a trailer and a maid. Poor Maddie had just enough space to lay down.  If she sneezed, she would've hit the seat bar. Lol. She was happy to be that close to her boy, Caleb.

Before getting to the campsite we needed to load up the van and head to the UW hospital for David's broken arm.   He had a followup xray appointment.  He is healing fine, but not fast enough for David.  His cast is Gigantic! It is bicep to palm and is very heavy and awkward.  Poor guy.

After the appointment in Madison, we had the great fortune to have the van break down.  So we find an auto repair shop, get everyone and the dog out of the van and "camp out" on the grass of a BP gas station with hot dogs, chips and lemonade.  Not exactly the camping adventure we had in mind but so is life. 

A few hours and several hundred dollars later, we were back on our way. 

We arrived at Lake Emily in time to enjoy the beautiful rain and thunderstorms. ARGH!

The next morning was clear for a few hours and I enjoyed the nicest hike with our beloved golden retriever.  She was on her electric collar so she was delighted to run free.  We went EARLY and encountered 2 separate snapping turtles lounging in the mulch and sand.  Boy was Maddie surprised.  She thought they were rocks.  HA. Best laugh I have had in some time.  I don't think the turtles or the dog enjoyed the encounter nearly as much as I did.  Later the boys decided to go "turtle hunting" upon hearing of Maddies misadventure. Thankfully for the turtles they were no longer in there. Our philosophy is if you kill it you have to eat it.  'Can't imagine how turtle would taste. Blah... :)

The afternoon brought more rain so we "camped out" in our van and watched Captain America with the cousins.  Thank you Brenda for bringing your portable DVD player.  A few hands of uno, a trip to the laundromat for dryers and the movie and we were back in business.

As a reward for staying thru the rain, we had the most beautiful Sunday at the beach.  We put a plastic bag over David's cast (no easy task -  did I tell you it is gigantic?!!?), blew up some inner tubes, descended down the 70 plus stairs and played the day away.  Even David got to float around a bit with his plastic covered arm resting on the tube. 

I know this is the stuff the boys will remember.  It makes the 12 loads of wet laundry and sleeping bags, the van repair, and the golden retriever all worth it.  I am holding on to that fact with each check I write......