First day of school- 2012

Its hard to believe that school started 3 whole weeks ago!  We've got a 1st grader and a 4th grader in the house. Unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate much and it was the hottest week of the year so far (topping out at 118 degrees one day)  meaning indoor recess. It was a long first week for the kids AND the teachers I'm sure!

 

 Heck yes!! School:)

And she just had to be a part of the photo shoot too. She's getting so big, I can't believe it.

Big Lake... The finale

Boy, this post has taken me FOREVER! My apologies...

So Day 5 was THE DAY we'd been waiting for. The Day we were renting a speed boat (or a row boat with a trolling motor, SPEED BOAT sound so much cooler to a 9 year old!)  All the guys went out in the morning. And check out what they came back with:

 Tanners catch (with... LOTS of help from Dad)

 Chasetin caught 2 this big, coming in at 15 inches.

 Grandpa's was the winner at 16 inches long

 The crew!  We had a serious fish fry that night.

 I can't tell if she's happy or grossed out here. ??

So later in the day I had to have a turn too. I paid $40 smacker-oo's for a fishing license and I WAS GOING TO CATCH A FISH dang it!!

 Unfortunately, I kept catching these little buggers.

 So, after my 5th craw-dad, I was starting to get ticked, when low-and- behold, I thought I had another one and there was actually a fish on my line. Now scroll up and look how big my boys fish are... now look at mine. That's why I have such a cheesy grin in this picture. Cause I was laughing my butt off at how small it was!!

And here are just a few more from the rest of the week. We went on lots of hikes and did a ton of exploring. 

 Have you ever seen a more beautiful (filthy) face??

 Sienna loved piggy backs. EVERY WHERE we went!!

And this was a little lesson in blogging for me. Don't wait a whole month to blog about your vacation. The details start to get a little foggy!!

I'm so excited! Kadie over at Seven Alive is giving away one of my quiet books today!

Check it out:)

Guess what came in the mail...

Last night my door bell rang at 9pm, Scott opened the door to find a very tired UPS man, telling us he had a very large package for us. Scott gave me a bit of a glare, the look said "What the heck did you order???"  But I didn't order anything. It was a box from my dad, weighing in at 108lbs!!

This is what was in the box:

The most awesomest TOY BOX ever!

 And to give you some perspective on the size, here it is next to my beast of a 2 year old:)

Inside were some of my Prom Dresses my mom found in the back of her closet. I laughed when I saw them, cause I wore those like 13 years ago. The best part though- one of them fit, the other 2 that had to zip over my ribs, didn't quite fit but that's what having 3 babies will do to you. So that really brightened my spirits, apparently all this running I've been doing IS making a difference.

Thanks Dad, you're the best:)

Big Lake- Day 3 & 4

Day 3 was Sunday, and we have a no fishing rule on Sunday. (Nearly killed Chasetin cause he STILL hadn't caught a fish!

My face here says "Um... I think there is a weight limit on this thing!!!"

 

We lounged around all day, and then in the afternoon did a scavenger hunt, I found it HERE. It was so stinking fun!  We paired up and then headed into the forest.  My “treasure not on the list” was an old pair of fishing shoes. Scott’s was an old tent. Conveniently,  the tent was really beat up, but it’s poles were in perfect condition and the same size as ours.  We were missing one right over where the kids were sleeping and so we popped it right in.    I was also lectured by all parties involved that we cannot find an ACORN here because we don’t have oak trees. Honestly, that never even crossed my mind!

After the scavenger hunt, it started raining. And it didn’t stop till the middle of the night. That’s what was kindof funny about Scott finding that tent. I would have potentially had 3 wet little ones if we hadn’t found that extra pole. “The Lord shall provide” became our theme of the day!

This child could have colored Dora ALL DAY!

After about an hour of rain (and being confined under our tarp) we decided to go for a drive. We found some deer out enjoying the rain. 

 

And then we drove over to Black River to see the destruction of last years “Wallow Fire”  it was very sad to see how much was burned, but also promising to see how much has already started to grow in just a years time. 

Stay tuned for Day 4... It's a good one:)

I need to rant for a minute...

You don't mind do you?

So this won't sound very CHRISTIAN of me, but I think that that idiot that shot up that movie theater in Colorado (I won't even give him the pleasure of googling his name, cause I can't remember it off the top of my head) should just go to HELL... and frankly, I'm sure that's where he's headed.   It was a terrible tragedy, and naturally I was horrified for the vicitims, but really it didn't effect me here at home... or so I thought.

A week later we are in a movie theater getting ready to watch ARTHUR CHRISTMAS (I know, in July- I didn't make the movie schedule!)  they are playing Christmas music and we're all just hopping in our seats. Except for Chasetin... he seemed down and kept fidgeting. I asked him several times if he had to pee, to which he said no.  Finally he leans over and says to me "Mom, was that shooting at the Batman Movie in Arizona?"   And that's when it hit me... He was TERRIFIED to be in that movie theater.   I told him no, that it was in Colorado and crazies like that don't live here (made him feel better at least!)  But then he says, "What do we do if someone comes in here with a gun?"  To which I told him, to lay as flat and still as he can on the ground and pray like you've never prayed before!   It made me so sad! This was a conversation that I should not have had to have with my 9 year old. What kind of world are my kids growing up in??  Seriously, this guy has inflicted physical pain on too many people, but what about the emotional terror he's inflicted on the rest of the country?  Have you heard about the people who are arming themselves just to see a movie?  It's just crazy.

Ok... Rant over... days 3-5 of Big Lake are coming soon, I promise!