Does This Count?

Drina, I know I’m supposed to blog something this week. Does it count if I just say that and leave?

Ok, maybe not. To be honest, I’ve thought about blogging at least a dozen times in the past week, but all my ideas require pictures. I can’t remember how to work James’ new fancy-pants camera (nor his fancy-pants photo editing software), so I have to wait until he does it for me. So anyone who wants to complain can go talk to him.

Ok, actually, I haven’t even asked him to provide me with pix yet. I keep forgetting.  (James, if you’re reading this, would you please provide me with some blog-sized pix?  )

But I can tell you that the kids did well at fund-raising for the Bike For Life. They each won the grand prize in their category. Margie came home with a new bike that might fit her by the time she’s 20. Baba also won a bike but traded with the second-place winner for an iPod Shuffle. The iPod winner was a young boy who didn’t appear to know what to do with a digital music player but knew very much what to do with a brand-new bike. And Baba is further along in his quest to become World’s Youngest Teenager. Win-win.

Grasshoppers

One of Baba’s school assignments this morning was to write a news story based on an event in a book he’s recently read. He chose to write about McBroom’s Wonderful One-Acre Farm, and I thought many of my readers would enjoy it:

Grasshoppers attack local farm

This summer, a swarm of grasshoppers attacked McBroom’s farm. The hoppers ate everything that was green, even the green house. They did this because for some reason they had become very hungry. Besides eating the house, they ate the green peppers that McBroom had grown, so they had to go to a lake in Montana. McBroom found out that they drank the lake dry.

McBroom does have a plan to survive. He’ll be staying at his grandma’s house until his new house that he’s building is finished (and, of course, he’s not going to paint it green). Luckily, none of the family members were wearing that color.

To find out if the swarm is coming your way, go to www.knews.com. If they are coming your way, make sure you get rid of all the green things that you can. If there’s something you can’t get rid of, there are a couple things you can do. You can paint it a different color, or you could put sheets over it.

Daily Fishing Report

Yes, again with the fishing, better get used to it.  This time we have Margie and Junior catching their first fish:

That’s one proud little face, huh?

The Great Northern

Warning: this could quickly turn into a fishing blog.  Baba was beside himself this afternoon upon pulling this out of the lake:

I hope to post Bike For Life news within the next day or two, so stay tuned.

Finally Fishing

Baba’s been dreaming about fishing all winter. He did manage to get out for a couple of unsuccessful ice fishing ventures, but the “real deal” to him involves standing on the end of the dock casting and reeling. James and I gave him a fishing book for Christmas this year, and he must have that thing memorized by now, having devoured it cover-to-cover at least a dozen times. Several times a day I’m treated to a lesson on where, when and how to catch the biggest and most elusive fish.

With the advent of Wisconsin fishing opener over the weekend, Baba’s finally getting his chance. Last night James took the kids down to the dock for a couple hours of fishing. Baba remained behind after the others had left, throwing his line into the water well past dark. He was rewarded with a total of six fish, with representatives from the bass, walleye and crappie families. Even better, in my opinion, he learned to remove the fish from the hook himself!

View the album here.

Margie Turns 6

I missed the actual day because we were busy celebrating late into the night . . . but our princess turned six yesterday! Her big brother stayed up the night before making Happy Birthday signs and planning a special breakfast for her (Malt-O-Meal ). She wanted to decorate her own Dairy Queen cake, so good thing Papa and Mimi have connections.

Margie was especially excited to have Grandma and Grandpa K present at her birthday party. Thanks for driving over (and hope you found the new blog)!

View the entire album here.

A Study in Deserts

Yesterday during rest time, Margie came to me with a picture she had copied from one of her art books.  But rather than quitting there, she built on the idea with her own creative touch.  Here’s the first installment of her project (her original contribution):

She asked, “Mom, if the desert looked like this, how would you feel?  Happy or sad?”  I admitted such scenery would most likely have me feeling sad.  Then she pulled out the second picture (this is her copy from the art book):

“But wouldn’t this make you feel happy?” she asked.  Indeed, it does.