Summer of the Boy

We are a Re-Tread, a combined family, the real Brady Bunch. He has 3 kids and I have 3 kids. Then we got married and their were 8, four girls and twin boys. The first three years we had all of them full time except for an occasional JC weekend (Joint Custody or Thank Jesus Christ) but as they grow and become self obsessed, dramatic......I will stop before I say too much, Tweens, they start to try living at Mom's or spending more time at Dad's. So, needless to say, summer time is a weird schedule with the kids. The oldest girl is in Boston visiting family and keeps in touch by twitter and facebook. Weird I tell ya. The youngest is Grandma's buddy and flitting around to all her social events, and the middle girls are with their mom doing God Know's what! I won't even get into that. Lately I have been outnumbered by boys; John (Hubby) and Cale and Brennen (my twins) and the neighbor boy is staying with family up the street for the summer so he has joined the fun in bringing dirty boy stuff to my life. Super Weird!

So this weeks pictures have been outdoor boy fun. Playing on the slip n slide they won for reading 5 books. I know! Already! I am so proud. The bucket of crawdad's making noise in my kitchen. Don't they live outside in a creek? Do they suddenly need air conditioning? And the great Bass tournament. Well, three boys on a big pond with fishing poles and a canoe. I have been told to stay away so they can be boys and mom doesn't go nurture them. Me? Do That? Well, at least I'm going to pack them snacks and a water jug.

Marriage Secrets

I don't know the secret to marriage. I am probably not very good at it compared to my parents. They have been married forever and I don't remember ever seeing them have a blow out. When I was younger age 4-10 my parents did competitive trail riding. They would take their horses my brother and I and compete in a 50 mile trail ride and me and my brother would get to explore amazing places. When I was 10 this is all I could think about. I was now old enough to compete in the junior division and it was all I wanted to do. As I got into it more, my mom competed less. I didn't understand. We had 3 horses. I remember asking my mom one time why she wasn't going to compete this weekend. I was early teens now and she said she didn't really enjoy it that much. It was such a shock. They were a team. She was so happy doing it. She told me she did it for Dad so they could have a hobby together. I think that is one of the smartest marriage tips I ever heard and I wasn't even at an age I thought I would use it.

That is why I have a picture of a fish today. My husband likes to fish and we have a fishing boat and more fishing poles than I have knitting needles. He is at a time in his life that he feels guilty fishing, that he should be working, but sometimes I encourage him to get away. If you knew me before you would be surprised to hear about me fishing. I did it in the pond growing up, so I am not a total NEWBIE. And I have my own conditions that make it more enjoyable for me and make me wine less. I don't tell him this. Just like my mom. I take my knitting and a small battery operated light, a pillow, book and I have my own fishing pole and it is Pink.

He likes to catfish so that is night fishing in strange places. Saturday night we drove an hour and a half to Warsaw and fished by the dam. All night. Except I have a pillow, so I throw my line out, knit a little and go to sleep. I woke up around 5am and it was beautiful and quiet and my husband was sleeping restlessly. So I gave him my spot, oh yeah, I also pack a collapsible camping mat and my down sleeping bag. So he moved into my spot I covered him up with the soft sleeping bag and he slept on. I sat in the chair and watched the cranes and the fish flipping. There were so many that I couldn't stand that we hadn't had a bite the night before and the lake was going crazy now. There is one more thing that I bring that makes it better. I fish with worms. He doesn't think they will catch much, but that isn't my goal. I can put worms on my hook by myself and not bother him when he is in the heat of it. So I put my worm on and cast my beautiful pink fishing pole. Every time I cast it I would get nibbles and have to put another worm on. It was fun. Then I caught one. That woke him up, kinda. So to show my commitment to this marriage I even took the baby catfish off the hook by myself so he wouldn't have to get up. My first time. And this cute little guy swam off happily. Thanks mom.

Schools Out?

You are not going to believe this!  The 5 kids at Catholic school are out today because of a water leak.  So, to make it even more unbelievable, we let Caitlyn skip school too.  It really helped getting the house clean.  Of course, it was messier because they were home, but they were pretty good about it.  I think we are going to pack up and go fishing.  

Last weekend was JC weekend (Joint Custody or sometimes thank Jesus Christ they are gone)  and John and I loaded in the truck with the boat and grabbed the neighbor couple and went North to the Nebraska, Missouri border and went fishing and mushroom hunting.  It was wonderful.  We found around 60 mushrooms and fried them over a camp fire.  I got a picture of the largest one.  It was bigger than a beaver.  I caught a drum fish with my pink fishing pole.  It was purple.  

I have been working on cottage style furniture and a couple gourd birdhouses.  I will post stuff shortly.  Gotta run and go fishing with 6 kids and a crazy husband on a Tuesday!  Weird.