could it be true?

Since my very first trip to the lakehouse, Eric has attempted to get me interested in fishing. It's not that I was totally turned off to the watching the bobber and the reeling part, but I just wasn't sold on the whole worm/bait thing...plus the issue of what happens if you actually do catch a fish??? So anyway...I decided that I was actually going to give fishing a try....and true try, and see if I liked it or not. It's true...I love fishing! These pictures are only a couple of weekends old and they already make me laugh because of how horrible my form is and how silly I look! Never, ever thought that I could thread a worm through a hook while it squirms beneath my fingers (eww...it still freaking me out). Along with my exhaustive list of qualifications you can now also add bonafied fisher(wo)man? I love fishing.

I am almost definitely sure that you are not supposed to cast with two hands. In the first couple of days of learning I had to use the other arm to force my elbow to stay in and keep my casting arm up against my side. It works, and with my new lightweight pole my casts are father than ever.

this is a ridiculously small blue-gill, but it had to be documented...because it was technically the first fish I caught all on my own.

this fish, however, was my big guy of the weekend. Carter is saying hello to Mr. Bass, whom Eric says is big enough to keep (except we don't eat bass) so he went back in the water to get a little bigger. Wow...bass are strong, this guy fought me all the way in!

that's one long bass

If people concentrated on the really important things in life, there'd be a shortage of fishing poles. (Doug Larson)

pirates, seafood and cheese!

Summer is officially here...and a couple days a week the kids wear their special summer camp shirts to preschool. Think you can guess what the theme is? aaaargh! i'm a pirate!

"it's a pirates life for me at IHC!"
(the kids adore these shirts)

carter has apparently learned "sea---food" from his friend henry, at school. too darn cute not to take a picture of...

we were all being silly, katie was refusing to smile for the camera and let me get a picture of her in her pirate shirt, and I must have been modeling some pretty scary faces because I said say cheese and this is the look I got! Oh no...I never wanted to be that mom. I think I'll just wait for real smiles (see below) from now on.....

I love pirates.

nurture little people, grow big dreams...

Wow. Both of my children have finished their first year of "pre" school. Seems insignificant I'm sure to most people...but to me I am watching them grow leaps and bounds, together, and seperately as well. My Katie has grown into a confident, spunky little girl who has BIG dreams and is fearless in her pursuit. My Carter has changed from what feels like a baby yesterday to a little man, protective of his sister, still loves to cuddle with mama, always eager to please and starting to show independence.

Carter's teacher missed the last week of school because of a medical leave, so we didn't get to take a picture with his "miss michelle," but katie was very eager to take a picture with miss angela. Now that the kids have started summer school and have new teachers, Katie and Carter still talk about their first teachers. Sigh...and another day passes...

dad's day weekend at the lake.

The lake was absolutely gorgeous as always...the weather just right, a slight breeze to cool and the warm sun to relax. It was a wonderful weekend to spend time with Eric and the kids and so much of the rest of his family on his mom's side. Happy Dad's Day to Papa Jay, Grandpa Great and especially our "eric".... we love you!

my infatuation with the orange wall

it's hard to be THIS cool...

dad's day 2009

This year, the three of us girls met my parents for Father's Day at my babiest sister's house for a cookout, a great time looking at old pictures from our childhood, watching Britty and Mark's scuba dive video from Florida which was WAY cool, drinking the lovely Linen Closet Winery Chardonnay from Britty and Mark's very own linen closet (she is by far cooler than me :), playing darts, and just having fun being together. Katie and Carter were with Andrew for the day and Robbie, Jake and Brady were with their dad. It was kind of weird to have the three of us all together without the excessive energy of five children. It was really a wonderful evening. Just a few pictures of our night together. Here's to taking the time to have many more of these moments.

He didn't tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it.

-Clarence Budington Kelland

true.

I am convinced that most people do not grow up.
We find parking spaces and honor our credit cards.

We marry and dare to have children and call that growing up.

I think what we do is mostly grow old.
We carry accumulation of years in our bodies and on our faces,
but generally our real selves, the children inside, are still innocent and shy as magnolias.

We may act sophisticated and worldly but I believe we feel safest when we go inside ourselves and find home, a place where we belong and maybe the only place we really do.

-Maya Angelou (A Letter to My Daughter)

how old are you?

memorial day weekend 2009

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Quite frankly, it would take me a million years to tell all the wonderful memories of this weekend at the lake. It was the first time up for the kids this season, and they were twice as excited as last year. They remembered their life vests (Scooby Doo and Barbie) and Katie, at least, was even more fearless in the water. Carter is still a bit leary of getting too deep, but we're working on it. The kids had so much energy and have probably never slept harder. On Saturday night of this weekend, we traveled to South Bend for Chad and Jo's wedding reception. The kids got dressed up and we took a little break from the water. (That post to come soon). Anne, her boyfriend, Todd and his little boy, David joined us Saturday night and Sunday morning we had a huge breakfast with the addition of Mama Deb and Papa Jay, Grammy and Grandpa Great and Aunt Donna. It was definitely a weekend the kids remember....I get asked constantly, "Mommy, when can we go to the "yake"?" Luckily...we have a trip planned soon! This was a wonderful weekend, and a beautiful day.

let's go OUTSIDE and play!

Thanks Mama Deb and Papa Jay!

Katie and Carter recently became ridiculously spoiled with this amazing gift from their Mama Deb and Papa Jay. It took Eric (with the help of Papa Jay) nearly 4 hours to finish putting it all together. I've never seen so many screws in my life! The kids were a little overwhelmed at first, but quickly turned into the monkeys I know and were all over the place. It's a little harder for Carter to get up on the first row of bars because he's just a little shorter than Katie now (definitely starting to catch up!). I can't tell you how wonderful it is to look at the kids when they are whining and on my very last nerve and say "go outside and play!"
They love it, I love it....we are so lucky.

Carter is not so sure what to think at first...

KJ was up on the bars in a matter of seconds. This girl fears nothing.

I love her [and her curls]

this is when KJ said..."look mommy, I'm a sloth! Sammy the Sloth! At first I was confused...really? my four year old just came up with sloth? What happened to monkey? And her sloth has a name? But lest you are afraid I have a super genius on my hands and am inept to handle it...I was forgetting about Go Diego Go's! episode Sammy the Sloth. I guess this time the tv didn't rot her brain :)

Carter was working so hard.....such a big kid.

Mommy even took a turn and we walked around the whole dome together.

I went inside to finish making dinner and let the kids play. Apparently, after their little limbs tired of the dome, they decided to lay in the rather large hole my lovely puppy Abby has dug in my backyard to lay in when she gets hot. Apparently dirt is cool?? At first, I cringed and thought about the fact I didn't really want it to be bath night and they were getting utterly filthy, but when I saw the look on their faces...I just grinned and grabbed the camera. Yep, today I didn't care that my kids played in the dirt. They were happy...and so was I.

Rogue Art Photography Photo Shoot

How could I possibly say thank you to Amy and Brian Grissom of Rogue Art Photography for the gift of these pictures! I realize there are a million....how is a mother to choose? I love them all! They captured my children in ways no (professional) photographer ever has....from gestures to facial expressions, I've never been so impressed. Thank you for the memories.

"She understood better than anyone else, that in a blink of an eye, you might reinvent yourself. She understood that the person you were yesterday, might not be the person you are tomorrow. But this time...she wanted to hold on to what she had, instead of letting go." (Jodi Picoult)