Fishing and Odds n' Ends from May

So I have vacation pictures ready to be posted, but these were too good not to post first. And if I don't post them now, I never will. So, these are actually from, May 2017.

On the last day of school, I typically take the kids to get lunch, then ice cream and since it's a half day, we get to just spend the afternoon together.

Last year, as you know, was Maebelle's last year of elementary school. Therefore a group of 5th graders met for lunch and hang out time at the park.

Orion decided he wanted to fish.

Fishing it was, (not surprisingly). We were just a little over a out week from vacation and he was super excited about fishing in Wisconsin. He wanted to get all the practice he could.

Success!

One great thing about Orion is when he fishes, he takes care of everything. Start to finish. I don't have to do anything. I don't have to touch a worm or a fish, or think about the hole in it's face.

  

Getting good pictures of the Cedar Puppy has been difficult. He's so black and so white, that it's typically either too dark or too light, I feel like.

Actually, I have not tired all that hard - like, not with my camera and outside light. Usually, I'm trying to take a selfie with him on my old iPhone 4 because he's doing something cute. : )

But this day, with my actual camera and nice round cloudy daylight, the light hit his fur just right for me to get some detail! Yay!

I like that the hole in the bark of the next one actually looks like cut wood inside. You don't really see wood grain looking like that on the tree. Well, maybe you do, but I don't.

Maebelle has been picking up the guitar a little here and there recently.

Well, less lately since she's playing the stand up bass for school. But she still remembers the guitar chords, which is wonderful.

And here's Orion sanding on a bow he made. I think he's planning to use this bow for his Halloween costume. Well, either that or let Maebelle use this one and he'll use a different one.

And that's my real motivation for getting caught up. You know this is October, right? One of my favorite times to take pictures each year is pumpkin patch and carving and such. Sooooo, I need to get caught up quickly so I can be ready for pumpkin pictures!

peace

Spring Arrives (yes, I'm a few months behind)

I can't believe it's been so long since I last posted a blog! So this one takes us from snow (unfortunately, one of the few snowy days we had this winter) at the beginning of March, through the welcoming of spring at the end of March.

Orion was preparing for our journey to Wisconsin long before we actually took the trip. He continually got his fishing equipment out to make sure it was in order for months in advance of our trip.

Orion loves to make Lego creatures and give them as gifts.

This crabby-looking fellow sat in our kitchen for months before I asked him to take it back and return the pieces to his collection.

The only way he would do that was if I took pictures of it first to preserve it forever. : )

The beginnings of spring are arriving! Redbud trees are one of my favorites!

And the hostas. Hostas always entrap me when I have my camera with me.

They just have such beautiful greens and such lovely shapes to the leaves as they are in the first few days of life above ground again.

These redbud flowers are a bit more vibrant than the first ones. The purples and pinks of the delicate flowers are more saturated and more pleasing to my eyes.

Maebelle completed her last year of elementary school at the end of May. So I have taken a few more pictures than normal of her. They're to come very soon.

Also, we took a wonderful week-long vacation to Somo Lake recently, so hopefully I can get those up before winter! ; )

More Birthday and More Wetlands

The last of the birthdays for the Hamlin Holiday season - Zac's.

Zac was so amused by the drawings on the outside of his gift, he took a picture of it to share right away! : )

Good work Orion!

Orion's card, below, was a hit!

Oh, and pandas are real.

For the inside of the package, Maebelle, Orion and myself each drew a portion of an owl. Orion drew the owl body and scene around it, which is what Zac is looking at below. Orion's was sketched in pencil and included a mouse in the owl's claw and evergreen trees in the background.

Maebelle drew the middle, which was half of one wing spread out. Hers was very colorful and geometric. This is where we attached the actual gift.

I drew the end of the wing that Maebelle had begun. Mine was a colored pencil drawing that was intended to be somewhat lifelike. Don't know if I accomplished that with my limited drawing skills, but it worked.

It was really fun to create the owl book-thing that held the gift. The actual gift, which was just as fun to obtain, was the stained glass owl feather.

We had it made for Zac by #thenishglass, a local glass artist here in the Lawrence area. Zac had admired some of his work at a local boutique. However once I got there to make a purchase, they were no longer carrying consignment work.

The lovely woman at the store that day told me who the artist was and I reached out to him directly. He was so great to work with. And he did a FABULOUS job! If you ever need unique stained glass piece for a reasonable price, check him out: #thenishglass.

Maebelle found a gift for Zac in addition to what we did for him as a family.

A nice tiger's eye pendulum.

Aaaaaannnnddd, here's the feather!

And our dirty screen. : )

Oh, this sweet, sweet boy.

The green of this plant is so beautifully vivid.

It came from my Grandma and Grandpa's house. And now sits on our back porch (when it's not 30 degrees out) on a cute little bistro set we have from them.

One of the most comfy spots in our house now:

Back to the wetlands.

Every weekend.

We found a new spot to begin our wetland journeys. This path provides a grassy, treed walk, with little to no wind, as opposed to the open watery walks we had been taking.

I could stay in this place forever. You can hear the water bubbling from the below spot.

It's just so magical.

Peace