A BIG Catch!

Lee, his mom and his dad went out fishing and pulled in a big catch! They had a great day and even a small injury! No fishing trip is complete without an injury - you know. I am told that the injury happened before the beer was opened but who knows if that is true. Lee got his line stuck on the train tracks near Hwy. 11 and when he yanked on it it came flying back and struck him in the gut. He was really thankful it didn't come flying back a little lower than his gut.

There is something manly and caveman-ish about fishing. Empty coolers full of ice in anticipation of the catch, smelly bait to lure the catch, waiting for it and then wrestling to reel in your catch with pride about bringing home the bacon to provide for the young'ings (whether or not they like to eat fish). It is real drama! Did they bring a camera this time - when the catch was the biggest ever? NO - What were you thinking Lee ... I have to have a new blog page! Ha ha ha (The photo's are from the camera phone).

Lee cooked the fish on the BBQ. It was delicious!

Lee doesn't get to go fishing all that much with his dad. Just a trip every couple of months. I look forward to the day when Cooper enjoys fishing with Lee as much as Lee enjoys fishing with his dad. (I will instill in Cooper the importance of remembering to tote a camera for mom's blog page though)

Bite Me . . .

Allie has experienced her first war wound from Cooper this week. Her first of many I presume!

This is how it went down . . . we are all tickling each other on the fun-est (I know that's not a word) bed in the house - mom and dad's big bed and having a ball. Laughing, giggling, snorting good time then I see it . . . Cooper is going to give Allie a kiss on her cheek - odd timing but "oh how sweet'. Then Allie is crying loudly, screaming, sobbing, and then Cooper starts to cry too. What has just happened??? Then I see that the kiss on the cheek has teeth marks. Yes, we were having such a good time Cooper got so excited that he bit Allie on the cheek. After a short explanation, some time in his room and "Sorry Allie" we were back at having a fun day. I couldn't help to think this all was a bit funny until a few days later when I was tickling Cooper and hanging him upside down that he buried his head into my arm and bit down on me. Well, now it's not that funny. We are now exercising extreme caution when we are having such a grand time. LOOK OUT!

Work is Play for Today!!!

You know the stage - the stage when kids have more fun doing grown up work than to play like a kid. I think this stage re-emerges throughout our lives. My little Coope is in this stage and has been such a huge help. For me chores around the house can get a bit frustrating and overwhelming but now I simply seek out chores for Coop and I to do together. His happy little heart is contagious and now those old chores don't seem so monotonous.

Iadmit that I now seek out helpful things for him to do. He feels so proud to just be a copy cat. Anyway when I was a kid my mom made it so fun to do grown-up chores. You can never start too early right? His favorite chore is feeding Duke our dog.

Have we broken a dish or two? Do the chores take a lot longer to do? Yeah - but the enthuistic help is worth the mess and the time. Lessons in gravity and "be careful" will pay off someday too! I'm anxiously awaiting the day to introduce Cooper to the weed wacker. Ha Ha!

Halloween Fun

It has been so fun sharing with my kids the marvels of the season. Cooper is just now the age to actually know what a pumpkin is. Now he spots them all over town. "Umpkin, Umpkin" is what I hear several times a day. This was our little pumpkin project this year!

We have made "Umpkin Cookies" for the neighbors and took the wagon to deliver them. I think I decided to do this not out of nice-ness but selfishly because Cooper and Allie just look so cute in that wagon. Cooper never wants to ride he thinks it is his job to pull Allie.
We had "Trunk or Treat" at church a fun halloween celebration. I dressed up as a fisherman, Cooper was a fish and Allie our beautiful mermaid so sad but Dad had to work!

We got to go trick or treating around the neighborhood as a family this year - What fun!

What a Day - Race Day -

This past week Cooper, Allie and I met up with our church friends the Brown's to participate in "Race For The Cure" (for breast cancer). It was a rather early morning as we drove into New Orleans to get to the starting line but we made it. This race was an ambition that Carrie and I talked about in the spring. Her mother-in-law is currently going through treatment and my grandmother was a breast cancer survivor in the 70's - we did it for them!

Cooper, Allie and I enjoyed a fun day after the race in City Park. What a beautiful place to race, play and spend some time beneath the huge oak trees. It was a day we really missed Daddy who is so good at pushing the stroller and my favorite companion.

A few questions I copied from a friends recent blog post. We're supposed to answer with one word but a few of mine are phrases. I added a few __ or __ questions to the list for fun!

The questions are as follows:

1. Where is your cell phone? ???(good question?)

2. Where is your significant other? Gulf of Mexico

3. Your hair color? CA-Blonde

4. Your mother? newlywed

5. Your father? heaven

6. Your favorite thing? family fun

7. Your dream last night? too tired to dream

8. Your goal? show compassion/mercy

9. The room you're in? kitchen nook

10. Your hobby? waterskiing

11. Your fear? prison

12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? wherever God wants me

13. Where were you last night? home

14. What you're not? sarcastic

15. One of your wish-list items? a personal chef or trainer

16. Where you grew up? Atascadero (CA)

17. The last thing you did? made soup

18. What are you wearing? wedding ring

19. Your TV? big

20. Your pet? Flutter-The-Fish

21. Your computer? frustrating

22. Your mood? Energized

23. Missing someone? Daddy

24. Your car? "Black Beauty"

25. Something you're not wearing? lotion

26. Favorite store? Ikea

27. Your summer? Changes

28. Love someone? Carlson Crew

29. Your favorite color? white

30. When is the last time you laughed? hours ago

31. Last time you cried? When Friends Move Away

32. Soup or Salad or Sandwich ? Soup

33. Indoor-sey or Outdoor-sey? Outdoor-sey

34. Diet or exercise? Diet

35. Email or Phone or Letter? phone

36. Car or Truck or SUV? Truck

37. Ice Cream Cone or Bowl of Ice Cream? Bowl

38. Make it or Buy it? Make it

39. Video or Digital Camera? Digital Camera

40. Trick or Treat? Treat

Birthday Bash

We just celebrated Lee and Cooper's birthdays with a Boys Halloween Birthday Bash. Lee will be working for Cooper's real birthday and we've never had a big party for any of Lee's bithdays so why not combine them and have twice the fun. Many of our friends and family dressed up which made the night so memorable! After a treasure hunt to find pumkins hidden in the yard and a pumpkin cat and bat craft we ate cake and opened a few gifts. The mosquotitoes came out with a vengence and chased us all in the house by 7pm.

The best part of the night was hanging out with our friends and family. Cooper really didn't know it was his birthday. He just thought it was really fun to have lots of friends over to play. He does know the answer to the question, "How old are you?" A resounding, "2" he'll say and hold up his two index fingers but he really doesn't know what that means quite yet. We are just loving raising his little boy and try not to lose the big picture of simply finding the joy and seeing the gifts God gives us everyday.