Gone Fishin' with Mah Boy

Elijah and I finally went fishing today. Slimy worms, slimy fish, and slimy sunscreen are somehow very enjoyable when accompanied by endless shrieks of joy - admittedly some of which were mine. Thankfully noise really doesn't scare the fish. (As Elijah says, "Duh! They're under the water mom...") We caught between 15 and 20 fish - we lost count at some point and can't agree on the exact number.

Here is Elijah with his keepers... truthfully I caught some of the the ones pictured but the biggest fish is his. See if you can figure out which one it is... We threw the "small ones" back.

Elijah may have landed the big fish but I caught a 150 pound woman. By the thumb no less. Beat that, little boy!

I swear they only LOOK evil...

Crazy hair day took a new twist for me as I put what was supposed to be temporary red dye in my light and dark blonde boys' hair last month. (To the best of my recollection this was due to the dire need to appear like a Naruto character of some sort.) Even now, Elijah and Trevor are still slightly strawberry blonde - otherwise known as "pink." I am SUCH a cool mom. After seeing how the aforementioned evil picture turned out, I asked the boys to strike another pose for the camera. These are my personal favorites. Trevor LOVES his muscles and I can only apologize for the lack of sound for Elijah's demonstration of armpit fart prowess. It did not occur to me at the time to take a video.

Happy 16th Anniversary! To ME!

Craig and I are headed out this morning to spend a few days (gasp!) alone together. Our actual wedding anniversary isn't until the 15th but I'll be camping overnight with my 5th grader. This is very reminiscent of the time I spent at my sister Trisha's 8th grade trip just prior to the wedding itself... Somehow, Craig isn't nearly as upset at the timing as he was the first time.

It occurs to me as I am sitting here that it has been several years (by several I mean a decade or so) since we had a picture sitting as a couple. Perhaps we might sneak that in sometime this weekend. I think we are starting to look a, uh, little different than we did back then. Physical appearances aside, even in a picture it is hard (for me at least) to envision us not surrounded by our children. Yet I know, with increasing clarity and alarm, that we are already at the beginning of such things. Isn't it wondrous the way some life changes manage to bless and curse us at the same time?

More Braces and Beautiful Girls

My girls all got their braces on at the same time - actually on the same day along with their Dad in August 2005 - but got them off in a scattered pattern as each of their teeth became ready. Rose got her braces taken off in November 2007. She is, respectively, almost 13 in her before shot and 15 in the after. Sarina was the lucky girl to get hers off first in October 2007. She was nearly 16 before and barely 18 after. Crazy how much they change in little more than two years. I am so proud of my gorgeous girls.

Braces and Beautiful Girls

This week my last little (ha!) girl got her braces off. It has me thinking of how fast a couple of years goes by. I am really enjoying my teenagers and starting to realize that they don't last very long. It amazes me to hear their hopes and dreams for independence and families of their own - even more so when I consider all it is going to take is a few years of perserverance to get there.

Amber, 8/20/05 and 4/28/08

I think this is going to be better than MySpace!

I am really looking forward to getting started on this - so many friends and family are recommending blogspot and as I flip through all their pages, I can see why! I can hardly wait to start sharing more of our lives with you... the good, the bad, the ugly... okay, so not so much of the ugly but definitely the silver linings that often come with. May your own trials be light and in any case may you never have to wait too long to feel the warmth of their blessings!