Make way for Ducklings...

2 weeks ago Ty said to my dad, "Papa, I really want a baby duck." So what does my dad do? Goes and orders 12 baby ducks from the local feed store.

Last Friday the ducks arrived and Ty went with Papa to pick them up. He was so excited he could hardly stand it.


And I have to say they are extremely cute!!

The ducks are living at meme and papa's house where they can be outside during the day. We have been out to visit them almost every night.

The plan is to let them go once they are old enough so that they can live with the other ducks that hang around the lake.

I had two ducks when I was about Ty's age that I named Timothy and Susie. They followed me around the yard and eventually we let them go. But every year they always came back to visit. Now my boys insist that Timothy and Susie still come to meme and papa's, but I highly doubt that a pair of almost 30 year old ducks are still around.

So, in a few weeks we will let these ducks go and according to Nick NO ONE IS ALLOWED TO SHOOT THEM once duck season comes around.

Random Pictures...

Monster Truck Madness

And the best part - it was in a hockey arena!!

The neighborhood gang

hiking the Kawishiwi Falls

Buried alive - Tyler style

Hotrod Eric

Ty always ready with a pose for the camera

Here fishy, fishy, fishy...

A whole post dedicated to fish.

Fishing adventure #1

Earlier in April, when the ice was still on the lake Kurt decided to take us smelting. We used to do this all the time when we were in college and had a ball doing it so we thought we would take the boys.

So once it got dark we took off in the truck on the hunt for the mighty smelt.



After hiking through the dark woods to the river, we set up and started searching for smelt. The boys had a ball wading into the water and trying to scoop things up in the net.

Usually when you go smelting you scoop of tons of fish and get buckets full to take home. This was not the case for us. We caught ONE. Yes, I said ONE. But, the boys were excited over their catch anyway.

Nick and Eric got bored after awhile of searching for fish that just weren't there and decided that playing with flashlights was more fun.

On a side note: When we got to the smelting site and starting walking through the dark woods to the river Ty asked me if bigfoot was going to come out and get us. After telling him no there was no such thing my mind started to wander and dream up situations of bears coming out of the woods to get us. Now, if you know me well you know that I am terrified of bears!! So needless to say our little fish adventure turned into a stressful "the bear is coming" adventure for me. The boys had no clue the mom was a nervous wreck, and boy was I glad to get back in the truck!!

On to the next fishing adventure!!

Kurt and the boys trap minnows every year in lucky boy (the name of a couple of ponds close to our house). I love minnow trapping!! We pack up the 3-wheelers, kids, dogs, traps, cooler (pretty much everything but the kitchen sink) and head on up to trap some minnows.

The boys love to trap minnows - I think it's because it involves 3-wheelers, water and mud. What else could you want in life!!

Kurt has to wade out in the water to get one of the traps. I took the boys by myself to check traps last week. I was helping Ty get minnows out of one trap and I looked over and there was Eric stripped down to his underwear wading in the water for the trap. When I asked him why he was in his underwear he told me that he didn't want to get his pants wet and muddy and since I didn't have dad's waders he stripped and walked on in. Unfortunately I didn't have the camera with me on that trip.

Eric is selling minnows to a local bait store and raking in the money. He quit the shopper route with Nick because he says that there is more money in minnow trapping!!

On to the next fishing adventure!!

Now that we had the minnows - it was time to fish!! Kurt, Eric and Nick braved the snow (yes I said snow) opening day of fishing. Ty and I wisely decided to stay home and stay warm.

After the weather warmed up we all went fishing. Didn't catch much, but had alot of fun.

Kurt's mini me's...

Like father like sons...



Nothing else can describe the following videos. Nick and Eric are so much like their dad it's scary!!


Eric's Wheeler 360's

Nick - a waterskipper in training

Back up and running..

Ok, I know 2 weeks ago I said that I would be posting pictures from the last couple of months. Well, I was still having computer issues and haven't been able to do anything online again. But, I think it is fixed (cross your fingers, knock on wood). So get ready, here come the pictures!!

Crying, crying, crying

After a long and busy wedding filled weekend, we settled the boys down to chill out and watch a movie last night. They insisted on watching Marley & Me. We have seen this movie 3 times now, once in the theater (not a dry eye in the house) and twice at home.

So, you would think that by the third time this movie would not reduce me to a blubbering mess at the end. WRONG!! Marley starts getting sick and the tears start to flow!! I love this movie, but by the end I hate watching it. I'm a sappy person by nature, but this movie I think even tops the tears shed when I watched Ghost and Patrick Swazie comes back at the end and finally says I love you instead of ditto.

Kurt came home right at the very end of the movie and stared at me like I had lost my mind. Nick was crying too and I think Kurt thought we had all gone nuts. To prove my point about the movie to him I said that we would have to watch it again some time this week, but I'm not really looking forward to it - will have to stock up on Kleenex before the next viewing.

WHERE IS SPRING??

Ok, did the residents of northern MN do something to upset Mother Nature this year??

It is the middle of May and it's SNOWING!! The temp is 30degrees and did I mention it's SNOWING? The boys wore winter jackets to school today!! Yesterday when they came home from school they were only in t-shirts and it was in the upper 60's. At this rate we will have to wear wet suits to stay warm to go swimming this summer.

Please Mother Nature spare us here and finally bring us our Spring/Summer weather!! You are confusing my 4 year old who keeps asking if it's winter again!!

Ok, enough of my whining about the weather. Hope all of you warm weather dwellers are enjoying the sunshine!!

Where did the time go???

I can't believe it's been a month since I last posted.

Life in this house has been busy to say the least. The nice weather has given us the incentive to be outside more (the main reason I haven't updated). The boys are into bikes, MUD, baseball, MUD, fishing, MUD, MUD, MUD, MUD. The washing machine never stops now with all of the dirty clothes. And I think I need to invest in about 10 more boot driers. It amazes me how attracted they are to dirt, puddles and mud.

Fishing opener was today. Kurt took Nick and Eric out early this morning and we have yet to see them today. Tyler and I wisely decided to stay home and sleep in. When we woke up it was still in the 30's and SNOWING!! It's May 9th - come on Mother Nature can we have a break in this winter weather????

Am planning on writing another post with pictures of the past month's activities including: Nick's 1st communion, a monster truck show, our water fall hike, minnow trapping, fishing opener, and anything else that is on the camera that I have forgotten about. Be prepared for a long post coming up sometime this weekend.

Until then, I am going to go and snuggle with Ty until the older boys come home. He is in snuggle overdrive this week with lots of loves, hugs and kisses and I am soaking it all up. His new favorite game is:
Ty - "I love you mom"
Me - "I love you too"
Ty - "I love you more"
Me- "No, I love you more"
Ty - "I love you to the moon and back"
The moon is replaced by any place the suits his fancy at the time and can include: the lake, meme's house, the minnow traps, the garage, the table etc.
The game can go on for quite awhile as we try to out do each other in the crazy places we love each other to and back.
Very fun.