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

Maebelle, Maebelle, Maebelle

Maebelle and I did a project for my mom for her birthday where we transferred a picture onto a wooden block. It was really fun! The picture was of Maebelle and these are the others from that evening that I love.

Just. Wow. 

I absolutely cannot believe how grown up she's acting and looking these days!

She's playing softball this year. Last year she played baseball on the team Zac coached and Orion also played on. She was the only girl that played baseball in that age group. So this is a whole new world for her. She's really been enjoying it!

Pensive? Damn, she was going for thoughtful. (10 Things I Hate About You.)

This is the evening of her 5th grade recognition.

The "I think I just stepped in gum" pose:

She had her hair in braids during the day so that she could take them out and have crimpey hair during the ceremony. : )

Fun on (and jumping off) the log!

Here she is right before walking down the aisle to her seat for the recognition ceremony (or graduation, as she called it).

Ms. King reading the names, Ms. Becker handing the certificates.

**tears**

The 5th grade teachers put together a slide show that included kid pictures of everyone. Maebelle thought the one where she drew all over herself with Grandma in Alaska would be fun since she basically was a living art canvas for the whole year.

The best part about the slide show was hearing the kids reactions to their peers' pictures. You could tell they loved them. Every single picture got a reaction from the whole 5th grade class. It was heartwarming.

All. Smiles.

Where I grew up, there was only one middle and one high school in our district. Therefore you were only adding kids to the whole class with each change. 

For Maebelle, most of her friends will go to different middle schools than her, and likely high school as well. This made this evening exceptionally special for her. In fact, her and her friends had so much fun together the last few weeks of school.

Lastly, Maebelle and Ms, King. One last time.

Told you it was a lot of Maebelle. Next will be Orion fishing on the last day of school.

Then...VACATION!!! : )

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