The Fishin' Hole

I was introduced to fishing by my husband, Trevor. When we were dating, I learned it was something he liked to do on occasion.
I remember the very first time he told me he loved me. We were pic-nicking on a blanket by the water, after having spent a lazy afternoon fishing. I don't think we caught anything, but I very much remember him turning to me and saying, "I think I love you".
And the week before we were married, he had a bachelor party. A fishing bachelor party. Yep, he and his buddies grabbed some poles and went fishin'.
Luckily, it is not one of those things that dominates his time, but I am glad that he knows how to fish and has taught the rest of us a thing or two about it. Monkey A has no problem baiting a hook, catching a fish, and taking it off the hook herself. (I still make Trevor take mine off for me.) I am glad that it is something all our kids enjoy.
We made a day out of it on Memorial Day. We just decided we would pic-nic by a small pond that is in my brother's neighborhood. It was very low-key, no one else was around, and we spent the day casting and reeling with some luck. MA caught a couple of tiny fish, and a nice sized bass. MC caught a little fish, and a huge carp that broke her hook at the last minute before getting it fully out of the water. Trev caught a large carp also. MD tried and tried, but luckily the fun was in the casting because she didn't catch anything. We learned that the fish in that pond really go for egg salad sandwiches and cooked shrimp. We shared our meal with them, and I guess in return they gave us a bit of fun for the day.
Fish on!

thirty-something stuffs face

(my blanket flowers)

This weekend we celebrated my birthday!
I had tournament weekend again for tennis, and was quite happy that I won both my matches. Our team will not be going on to the finals, but I was just happy that I played the way I wanted to. And how cool was it that our friends, Jordan & Liz, showed up to watch me play one match, and our brand new neighbors, Justin & Joanna came to watch me play another one!
We went to a really nice restaurant for dinner with our good friends, Casey and Justin, and thoroughly enjoyed the food and the company. Casey & I got the sole and Justin and Trev got the chicken with dumplings. We all agreed the chicken and dumplings was a huge hit, and we all would order that meal again. Their meatballs with verde sauce was so good too!
(trev's b-day surprise dinner)

Sunday was amazing. Trev surprised me with an even more amazing meal for my birthday. I came home to find the table set, and on the smoker grill was a most delicious array of food!!! There were chicken legs, lobster claws, butterfly prawns, scallops with mushrooms and baked potatoes on the smoker. In the oven was my favorite vegetable dish that my mom usually makes - made from scratch by the man himself. All of us stuffed ourselves, and everything
was cooked to perfection. I was amazed. Thank you Trev, it was truly wonderful. You could tell from the nap I promptly took after filling myself.

Trev also surprised me with a birdbath for our garden. We have been working hard to make some new islands in our yard, and as you can see they are still in progress, but I am excited to plant around the birdbath now. I posted a picture of my shade garden too, since it is filling in so nicely this year. Too bad the dogwood had stopped blooming last week, because the color was so beautiful with the rest of the plants.
All my sibs called me, and it turned out to be a wonderful, relaxing day.
Oh, and the roses are starting to bloom!
I couldn't ask for more!

Mother's Day

(click on the cartoon if it is too small to read)
I have been going back and forth on whether to post any thoughts about this Mother's Day. I guess I decided I will despite the fact it might make me look like an ungrateful mother!
This is what I said to Trevor at 1:00 church on Sunday, and I think it might clue you in to how my day kind of went. I know it sounds horrible, but I leaned over and whispered, "I am not sure I really like Mother's Day." He gave me that look that you are making right now, like how could I say such a thing. I explained that I guess on this day, I just have these expectations that the kids will all bring me their cute homemade gifts with kisses and hugs and maybe a letter telling me why I'm a special mom. But MOST importantly there will be peace and love abounding in our family on that day. No fighting, no arguing, trying their best to let mom know it's her special day. Believe me, I do know it is not good or realistic to have expectations!!!

Well, it wasn't all bad. Trev brought me breakfast in bed, which was a great start. Then all morning before church, there was constant bickering. I mean worse than usual. Horrible, actually. There were no gifts on Sunday, because I realized that they had given me the things they had made at school already, the week before. I recall MB coming home on Thursday, walking in the door, and handing me the homemade paper flowerpot card with real seeds in it (loved it) as he walked past me. MC made me some flowers in a vase which was so cute, and she had given that to me I think on Wednesday. MA casually told me Sunday morning that she had written me a card at school for Mother's Day but had accidentally left it there, and she would get it for me Monday. I still haven't seen it. So yes, my kids did make me some cute things, and though I sound ungrateful I am not. I think I am just a little disappointed in their...approach? ...timing?... I really don't recall a hug or much more from MA the whole day, and I think I got a hug from my son in the morning but then it was kind of like they forgot anything else. The little girls were great and MC made me a huge daisy with sweet words about me all around it. That was a highlight, and she thought of it herself!
We made it to church, where I was hoping to unwind from the not-so-great, noisy morning. I whispered the above comment to Trevor during the 2nd speaker's talk. This was the man who did a good job, but made us go 20 minutes over because it was so long. I had to do sharing time in primary (a 20 minute presentation/lesson for all the kids), so I kept wondering how I was going to do it with the time left. Then during my sharing time presentation, MD constantly was interrupting me from her seat in the front row...this is in that voice that kids think is a whisper, but is actually not..."Mooooom! I'm huuuungry!" "Moooom, did you bring me any graaaaapes?" "Mooooooom! I'm reallllly tired, I want to go hooooome!" "Mooooooom! Do you heeeeear me????" Needless to say, I was a little frazzled up there.
After church, Trev made all of dinner which was wonderful, and he surprised me with a garden cart I was wanting. Thank goodness, because I hate to admit it but I was afraid he may have forgotten, and my day so far was feeling so... well...ordinary.
It wasn't a bad day, but it really wasn't an extraordinary day either. I love my kids. I know they love me, but this experience did make me think that I may need to teach my kids to be a little more thoughtful and responsible. I'm disappointed in myself because... did I not teach them to be thoughtful and caring? I am thinking of having a family night or at least a family discussion on how we can show people appreciation and respect (and how not to argue especially on Sunday.) I think when the kids were younger, they were excited and sweet and Trev would help them make it a special day. Now that they are older, I think we both expected them to think for themselves, and well...they kind of didn't. Wow-I really sound ungrateful!!!
Anyway I think the best part of the day was my mom and dad coming over and enjoying their company for a while. I love to celebrate my mom cause she is just so great! Maybe my kids will appreciate me more when they are older. I know I appreciate my parents so much more now that I am a parent and know what they have done for me and how much they love me!
Thanks Trev for all you did for me on mom's day, and Happy Mother's Day to my mom and my mother-in-law. I hope all you mom's out there had a great one!

My girls

Last week we got to celebrate my girls!
Monkey A turned 13. We've been calling her a teenager for about a year it seems, but now it is official, hormones and all. She is good and sweet, giving and kind. She can be fiery and goofy all at the same time. She has a crush, is a crush, and is good at making our eyes roll.

Monkey C turned 8 and got baptized! It was a very special day, and she was a little glowing light all day long with her ever-smiling face and reverent attitude. Here is a little snippet from her journal...

"Yesterday I had my baptism. It was very exciting. I could really feel the spirit of the Holy Ghost. But the water was cold. At first it felt warm on my feet, but then when I got up to my waist, it was freezing cold and the outfit stuck to me. It was a long but great day. Oh, and it was funny because when I got out of the water I had a reallly big yawn. But I didn't want to yawn in front of everyone, so I waited until I was out of the water fully to yawn."

24 Things About Me

Tagged by Kimi

4 Places I Go Over and Over
:: The Court Club
:: The Ballet Studio
:: Fred Meyer
:: Church

4 People Who Email Me
:: Kristi
:: Toni
:: Becky
:: Mom

4 of my Favorite Foods
:: Fried Chicken & potato salad
:: Homemade lasagna
:: Brownies with nuts
:: Fresh Strawberries

4 Places I Would Rather Be Right Now
:: On the tennis court
:: Hiking with my whole family somewhere beautiful like Mt. Rainier with the sun shining and all those colorful wildflowers surrounding us.
:: In Hawaii with my husband, enjoying the fresh breeze and watching the whales surface.
:: Disneyworld with my family.

4 People I Think Will Respond {This means I tag you}
::Kristi
::Nicki
::Jill
::Mara

4 Movies I Could Watch Over and Over
:: Sweet Home Alabama
:: Transformers
:: Sleepless In Seattle
:: As Good As It Gets