Gone Fishin'

Well, this evening was a momentous occasion for our family. Hud and Han went fishing for the first time! There is a nice little lake in our neighboorhood, and we heard that the fish were biting. So we packed up the kids and headed over. Hud caught 6 fish and Hannah caught 4 in less than an hour. Most of them were small bluegills and bass about 5-8 inches long, but both of them ended up landing a good sized channel catfish. Han's catfish weighed about 2 lbs and Hud's weighed about 3 lbs. For those anglers out there who are wondering what the fish were biting on, we used "haw gogs," otherwise known as tube steaks, coneys or hot dogs. The pictures are of the first fish Hud caught, and Hud's large fish. Han's first fish was the big one and then there's a shot when they both landed one at the same time, and a few other shots.

Dear Anonymous,

I've added a counter to my blog, and have had almost 150 hits in the past week. This is quite surprising to me, as I was thinking only my family and a few loyal blog addicts were reading it. (Maybe that is still true... maybe my mom hits my blog hourly. She's addicted to my blog, and my kids!) Anyway, I have opened my comments section to allow anonymous comments from anyone of you who want to quickly leave your thoughts, opinions, well wishes, or donations. I'd love to hear from you, especially if you faithfully read about our crazy days. In closing, I will leave a random picture for your enjoyment.

Scrapbooking gone mad

This weekend we will be celebrating a joyous occasion as our dear friends Kyle and Carly get married. Carly has been living with us for the past year-and-a-half. She's been a true blessing to have in our home, and we love her a lot. Kyle went with us on our first trip to Asia, and has been a close friend ever since. Han is pretty excited about her role as the flower girl, and is ready to wear her pink princess dress and "thwow flowuhs." Hud will be wearing his first tie ever (pink no less), and carrying his fishing pole down the isle with rings on the end. He sounds game, but who knows what will happen when everyone is watching them! Russ will be looking rather dapper in his pin-striped charcoal black suit, with periwinkle tie, as he fulfills his role as a groomsman. I must say he's getting rather good at the role! (he's been in about 10 weddings) After helping with the decorations, and bouquets for this outdoor wedding, I will be getting the kids ready for their big debut, and trying to keep them from ruining their outfits, or chickening out of their important job. Here is a piece of art I made for the bride and groom. It's pretty much a giant scrapbook page done on canvas.

Surprise Baby shower

During the week of VBS, I started baking cakes for a good friend who is having a baby. Since her and her husband are moving, we had a going away potluck and surprise shower for them. The potluck was to say, "goodbye" to them, and some other friends of our who are also moving. I made the cake for the shower. It was a lot of fun to make, but kind of cut it close on time because I worked Thursday and Friday nights at the hospital. It was definitely a full week.... vbs, work, baking a cake, and hosting a potluck/shower for 50 people. The kids took advantage of the pool while we were there.

Busy Week!

As you'll see by the new posts, that we've had a pretty busy week! I volunteered to teach the craft class for Vacation Bible School. The kids had a lot of fun decorating flip flops and making letter plaques that spell their names. Here are a few shots of the mess!

Grandpas

As you can see, we also have a Super-dee-duper "Gumpa," and a stupendous Pa Paw. (Next time he comes to see us we'll show you his picture too!) But in the meantime, here is our Gumpa.

World's Best Dad!

We tried to make Russ feel very special on Sunday, because he really is one of the best fathers around! The kids and I made homemade wrapping paper with their hand prints and made cards. Then we woke Daddy up with presents and breakfast. After church, we went to Dad's Restuarant for lunch. We all took a nap, then had our neighbor and some good friends over for bbq ribs. It was a lot of fun!! We're sure thankful to have Russ as our leader in this house! He's the reason for many, many, many of our smiles! And we love him a lot!

Willie's Garden

When I (Les) was young, we had a book called Willie's Garden. It's a cute story about a boy who plants a strawberry plant, and when it flourishes, he decides it needs a friend, so he plants something else. When it grows, he adds another.... until he has a garden so big that he has run out of land and has to build a bridge across the river to plant more.
I never dreamed this would happen, and I hate to admit it, but I think I've become a Willie. (Much to the chagrin of my only hired help, er, I mean husband!)
This week I talked him into extending our flower bed in front, to be big enough for a tree. He was appropriately willing, but quickly got excited when we went to the nursery and found a new tree, called a Rose of Sharon tree. This is special, because Russ' mom, Sharon, had a Rose of Sharon bush that was given to her by some of the ladies in the SS class she taught. Now that she is in heaven, it's been sentimental for us to plant a Rose of Sharon at the homes we've lived in. This tree is beautiful! It will get almost 15 feet tall, and be full of these gorgeous pink flowers with red centers. "What more could a person want?" (except maybe a few friends for the tree! hee hee!)

Baby Einsteins

This week the kids' "teachuh" came to see them. She is from the public school system and comes once a month with fun learning activities. The kids love her! Well, this time she brought shaving cream. Next time I will have us do this activity outside, as you can see, it got pretty messy! They appear to be kids who "color outside of the lines!" What artistic genuises! Ha!

Unka Dosh and An Dana

Sorry to all of you faithful readers out there who have been sitting by your computers waiting for me to update my blog!! Rusty and I spent a week at a camp orienting the student work teams that his organization has chosen. The kids went to see the grandparents (all 4 of them), and then my parents brought them home. My sister and her husband, Josh and Jana, flew in the same day for a week-long visit. We've been having a lot of fun! We've been to parks, the zoo, restaurants, stores, and the blow-up pool in our backyard. Enjoy the pics, especially the ones where Hud is sporting his "smile-for-the-picture,-Hud" smile.