Here Little Fishy....

 Thursday afternoon, I was busy doing a little bit of this...

 It's something I do a lot of - reading with the kids.

 Everyone has their favorite books...

 And they all think they need to be read at the same time.  In fact the kid on the right is one of the daycare kids.  I think when I took this picture, each kid - daycare kids included - all had a book in hand.  I call that success.  Never mind the fact that I never got to turn a single page of that newspaper on my lap... :)

 Lots of brotherly kindness going around...

And the eight year old was helping entertain the kids with ring-around-the-rosy that day too.

 

 Anyway, we were busy reading when my husband came home with this little fishy... about a 2.5 pound rainbow trout.  It made us think right away that he needed a friend to help entertain us for dinner. 

So we jumped in the truck and ran to the lake.

 Where I caught his friend (unknowingly in the same spot my husband had caught his) on my third cast - before my husband even got down to the lakeside.

 We fished for about an hour, then headed home to make a great fish dinner, complete with hushpuppies, which my eight year old declared to be the best in the world, thank you very much. :)

 My husband found a spoon someone had left in the sand, and that occupied the three year old for most of the time.  He likes to real in his fishing line right away, and between that and the wind, his little bobber didn't stand a chance at staying out, so we quickly diverted his attention.  Too many rocks there for him to fish without a bobber.  As it was, my husband, eight year old and I each lost a lure in the rocks.

 It was pretty chilly, but worth it.  The wind was blowing across the lake, but when you're catching fish, who really notices the weather? :)

 This is a really pretty spot at the lake for day fishing and picnicking.  There are several tables and outdoor fireplaces and grills - it would be a great spot for a big get-together.  There is sand for the kids and public bathrooms not far away, so it's pretty well set up.  Best of all, it's only 10 minutes from the house.

 My eight year old pointed out that it has a perfect rock for sun-bathing ... which is what he said he was doing here, even though only his face is exposed.  I'm guessing he didn't soak up many rays.

 Anyway, we had a lot of fun.

 And we had a great dinner - with left overs too!  Not a bad pair of fish - big enough we had to put them in the sink diagonally.

Getting Great Mail

 If I told you I love my mailman... well, you might just get the wrong idea.  Besides, I don't think we actually have any men working at our local post office.  Anyway, suffice it to say that getting the mail lately has been a lot of fun - always an adventure.  Today, for instance, I received a great package from England with this sweet little card...

 ... and this beautiful embroidery done especially for me :)  I won it from a blog called Poppy Makes back in December, and she offered to make it personal for me - with my favorite colors.  My favorite color combo is turquoise and red, so she dressed the girl in those colors ... and she has dark hair, just like me ;)  How cute is that?

 Here's a closer view.  I love it!!!  I'm going to hang it above my sewing machine in our bedroom - it will go perfectly there.

I mentioned an art book that came today in the last post.  This was also in today's mail - Design it Yourself Clothes: Patternmaking simplified.  I ordered several books on Amazon with the birthday money my parents sent.  I'm expecting two more sewing books and a couple other books.  I was able to get some pretty good deals with the cash they sent.  I'm wanting to learn to make clothes based on the clothes I already have in my closet.  I have some experience and success with this already.  Back when I was pregnant with the eight year old, I made a dress based on one I had from a store - and adjusted it to accommodate pregnancy and nursing.  I want to expand that skill, so that's where I spent my birthday money.

Fun Saturday - My Streak Continues!

 Don't you wish taking a bath was still this much fun???

 We've been using the sink lately, which is really too small, but he has such a good time in it and he's a little more stable in it.  Last night he figured out how to splash... a lot.

 Can you see the water flying over the edge of the counter?  I had to mop - three feet out from the counter!

 Today was a great day for bargains.  Do you like the cowboy hat?  It's not a play hat, but a dressy cowboy hat.  We bought it at a yard sale for $1.  The yard sale was a family we know well, and they had tons of clothes that fit both of our youngest boys, including some sleepers I desperately needed for the baby.  We bought a giant garbage bag full for $20.  We even picked up a couple things for our little niece who is coming to visit soon :)

They even had these two pairs of cowboy boots too.  They are too small for the three year old, but the baby will be able to use them... but not for awhile yet.

 The baby even got to try on the cowboy hat, though his main goal was to knock it off.  This is the only picture I have with it actually on his head, where you can still see his face.  And without exaggerating, I can say I probably took 15 pictures of him with the hat.  (Don't you just love digital cameras?)

 The baby was in a great mood today.  Lots of playing and talking.  He even said his sister's name clearly today and waved at her when he said it. 

 He has a tooth coming in too.  It doesn't seem to be bothering him much, and he hasn't had a fever at all.  I noticed it Friday when he was at the Dr. - screaming.  He has a lot of chest congestion and they wanted to check him out since he had pneumonia and was on oxygen back in October.  He's on an antibiotic now and they are confident we caught it in time.

We also made a trip to the thrift store and found lots of great books.  If you haven't read the LaRue books by Mark Teague, you really need to.  They are funny and well written.  This one is LaRue for Mayor.  A couple other favorites of ours are Dear Mrs. LaRue, and Detective LaRue.  Definitely worth looking up.

 We're always making great finds at our local thrift store.  Today I managed to snag this art book of Charles M. Russell's western art.  (new on Amazon it sells for over $80).  I bought this book, lots of other books and children's clothing, and almost more stuff than my husband and I could carry - all for $8.

 It was a funny coincidence that today I also received this art book in the mail - from Amazon.  I'm slowly gathering up a good collection of art books for school.  They are normally crazy expensive, but if you find them at the right place and time you can get a good bargain.  This one was under $10.

 Okay here's a switch in topics - we went to a fund raiser for some friends who are raising money to go to an national competition for the homeschool curriculum they use.  They had a dinner at their church, along with a silent auction and a raffle.  I must be on a winning streak or something - ha.  I bought these "spaghetti and meatballs" cupcakes -- yes -- CUPCAKES on the silent auction.  How cute is that?  I'm thinking that might be a good cake idea for the three year old's birthday this fall...

 Then I won three raffle items - a $25 gift certificate to our local Chinese restaurant, and a $50 gift card to Home Depot!  I also won a toy but I'm not going to show it here because I'm planning to use it for a gift for one of the boys' birthdays, and my eight year old occasionally reads my blog.  Not a bad haul, eh?  My daughter also won a $20 gift card to a local shop.

I bought this hanging basket of flowers on the silent auction too.  Funny thing was we were at a nursery this morning looking at hanging baskets because they were having a "sale." - HA.  They had big hanging baskets which "started" at $99.  So much for the sale.

10 Months

 Yesterday was the little man's 10 month birthday.  I was shocked to realize when I pulled out the 10-month card that there are only two more cards - 11 and 12 months!  How fast this year has gone!

 By the time I got around to snapping photos yesterday, he didn't want any part of it.  These first two pictures are from yesterday, and the rest were taken today.  He's finally starting to get a little chub on those legs and he feels pretty solid now.

 See?  Much better mood today.  You can see that his pants were riding up here.  I think these are 3-6 month pants.  Most of his clothes are 6 month size now, and 6-9 month.  9 month clothes are still pretty baggy on him, but we're about ready for the transition.

 He was all about holding the sign today... and flapping it around, and fanning himself with it, and trying to eat it...

 He's a pretty happy kid these days.  He loves to be up and around everyone, but will play quietly by himself for hours if you let him ... and if he doesn't see me.  He loves to eat - especially all sorts of fruit.  Some of his favorites these days are pears, bananas, mangoes, and he puts up with strawberries and apples, though they aren't his favorites.  I think it's a texture thing.  He much prefers cooked apples, but we've been having fresh lately, which are a little bit chunky.  I've been wanting to switch him to chunkier food, but he still has no teeth, so there's only so much we can do.  He did eat chicken the other night - blended with a little bit of non-dairy sour cream.  He thought that was pretty good.  I bought him some gluten-free cereal bars - the kind with the strawberry jam in side them - and he LOVES those.  The one thing he definitely is not fond of is potatoes.  He makes terrible gagging faces and shakes his head no, then grins really big.

 So after holding the sign for awhile, he decided he'd rather eat it.

 Literally.  The eight year old was trying to get him to spit out the chunk of the sign he bit off.

 He took a pretty big bite out of it, and was going back for more.

 He has a one-track mind ....

 He wanted his paper back!

 Leaning forward to reach the paper made him discover that he could rock himself in the chair, so that was the new distraction.

Then it was time to kick back and take it easy.  These photo shoots are hard work, you know.

Cuddles and Snuggles and Lots of Reading

 How's this for your own farm?  I bought all these little soft rubber animals on an after Easter sale for the baby (except for the one with wheels that he's putting in his mouth).  The eight year old thinks he has to play with them all at once.

 The eight year old loves to entertain his brothers.  And he likes to read, so he reads to anyone who will listen - or in this case, anyone who hasn't figured out how to crawl yet and is a captive audience. :)  Seriously though, the little brothers (and the daycare kids) love to have him read to them.

 The other night the three year old was being super snuggly.  I think he's finally starting to feel the need for more attention, maybe feeling like he's the odd-man-out with the baby here now.  The baby is 10 months old now, and we're just starting to see the three year old being more clingy, especially when I've had to be gone from him for any period of time, which I was on Friday when the eight year old and I went to Jackson for the homeschool field trip.  He was attached to anyone who would tolerate it.  First me, then his brother...

...then his sister...  He's really kind of overwhelming when he's like this... smothering, in fact.  But I try to sit with him and read five hundred books in a row, or the same one six times in a row.  His favorite book right now is Little Toot - about a little tugboat.  He also loves The Gingerbread Baby (the version by Jan Brett) and The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle.

 Speaking of books, here's my latest solution to keeping them organized.  I ordered a bunch of large book ends with non-skid bottoms.  I was actually shocked at how soon they arrived.  I ordered them Monday just before lunch from OfficeChase.com - a company I had never heard of - and they arrived last night - barely more than 24 hours.  Nothing gets here that fast.  We live in the middle of nowhere.  Anyway back to the books.  I wanted to solve two problems: 1. junk always gets piled on top of the toy sorter and 2. we have a terrible time keeping track of our library books.  The books are all held up with three sets of 9 inch bookends.  Nine inches is a lot bigger and beefier than I expected, but I'm thrilled.  I wanted bookends that would definitely hold up the books, and these do.  The three sets are divided up - 1. my library books, 2. the kids' library books, and 3. some of our favorites we want easy access to.  I use one of the spaces in-between the sets of book ends to hold the books I've finished (and my husband's current read) and the other space holds the board books we don't want to give the daycare kids free access to (our favorites). 

 We have a kid-friendly display bookshelf that holds board books anyone can get to at any time.  Most of the books on this shelf were purchased at yard sales or the thrift store, and I am not so attached to them that I will flip out if they get ruined.  I try to teach the kids to handle books carefully, but accidents happen.  That's why we keep our favorites out of reach - or more particularly, our kids' favorites.

My latest read has been The Reading Promise: My Father and the Books We Shared by Alice Ozma.  This was a really good book.  It's a non-fiction account of how a father made a pact with his daughter to read with her so many nights in a row - every night, at least 10 minutes, finishing before midnight.  They started with 100 nights, but then couldn't quit.  They ended "The Streak" as they referred to it at 3,218 night, when she was 18, the day he dropped her off at college.  They had been on the reading streak since she was 9 (but of course had always read together).  He was a school librarian, and toward the end of the book she tells a sad story of what was happening at his library, with the principle deciding that the focus should be on computers, which led to the eventual removal of all the books from the "library."  It's a very moving book, and one every educator and librarian, as well as parent ought to read.  I know things have become technology based, and that is where most people's focus has turned, but reading is necessary for success in life.  I can't imagine what life would be like without books.  Sounds like one of those futuristic horror novels.  Fahrenheit 451, anyone?