Catch of the Day

September 12, 2009
The alarm reads 5:00 am

Noah: Hey Kary! (Pause) Kaarrryyyy!?!
Kary: Yeahhhh...
Noah: Just one more hour until we go fishing!
Kary: Mmm Hmm...

It is Saturday morning. People are supposed to do something called "sleeping in" on the weekend, right? Not in my house. Noah and Blake must have some sort of internal clock that only wakes them up on a weekend early enough to beat both Kary and I out of bed. Is it because we are going to an amusement park? No. Is it because we are going swimming? No. It is because the night crawlers have been dug out of the ground, freshly baked grocery store donuts are calling Noah and Blake's name from a mile away, and the dirty canal down the road has beady-eyed fish waiting for an easy snack...I mean hook? I am VERY sure it is the latter.

The boys love to go fishing! Now, one would hope that they are practicing "Catch and Release" as they take after their mother in the "Hate-to-eat-fish" department. I was under the impression that this was the case, until Kary showed me all the pictures from the fishing adventures. You will see what I mean as you scroll through the pictures posted...in my personal opinion, there is something "fishy" about the "Catch and Release" method going on at that canal. The boys had tons of fun, Kary got to bait lots of hooks with icky, creepy worms and Kyia (the little dog) got to lay there and be lazy.

September 26, 2009
Again, the same scenario plays out...boys and Kary awake at o'dark and early (otherwise known as 6:00 am). The same plan applies...donuts, worms and stinky, smelly fish. The fish are biting and flopping. The dog has dug herself a hole and planted her body in it. Kary has no time to rest as every few minutes there is a fish to be reeled in, a worm to be put on a hook, or a picture of a catch to be taken. This was a day of plenty.

Back to School for an Edu-ma-cation

Mom: "Blake, what did you have for lunch today?"

Blake (age 6): "I didn't eat lunch. I only had, like, ten fourths of my grilled cheese."

Noah (age 7): "Blake. That means you ate the whole thing. Duh."

After a long summer, Blake and Noah returned to Beacon Heights Elementary School for another year of academics, friends, and fun.

The boys learned who their teachers were on Saturday, August 22. Rob and I took the boys to Back to School Day on Monday, August 24 where they were able to check out their new classrooms, meet their teachers, pick a seat in class, and see old friends. I don't know why, but I was nervous about the new school year to begin. Noah and Blake had such wonderful teachers last year, I wasn't sure how I would feel about their new teachers. As nervous as I was, the boys acted as though they were going to Disneyland! They were running, skipping, and talking a mile a minute. I can only do the latter at this point, as I am about to birth a large bun that has been baking in the oven. This posed a problem. I could barely keep up with the boys as they ran into the school, but I managed to have laid out the itinerary before we got out of the car so I knew right where to look for them.

Ms. Buttars class was first on the list. Blake was more than eager to meet Ms. Buttars, who transferred from another elementary school down the road. We filled out her questionnaire, found all the important locations in the classroom and then it was on to Noah's class. Noah ran as fast as he could to his classroom. He was bouncy, all smiles. As soon as he set foot in Mrs. Mortensen's class (she likes the kids to call her Emily), he was too tough for school. That change in personality made me smile and laugh. He was such a good actor, Emily asked if he liked school. If she could have only seen Noah run and jump through the halls like Laura Ingalls on the post-credits of Little House on the Prairie! Noah had his picture taken, chose a seat, explored the room and talked with old friends, while Rob and I filled out paperwork and requests for volunteerism.

School started the next day, Tuesday, August 25. Here are some shots of my "excited-to-be-back-at-school" boys.