Catching bugs.

Chicken Wire: 2. Gwen: 3.

OOOOH. That wire is sharp.

"Clare, can you bring Mommy a band-aid?" I muttered over bloody pliers.

"Can I see the cut first?" asked Clare.

And then she would bring my my choice of Strawberry Shortcake band-aids to stop the bleeding. This exchange happened a few times during their rest time as I worked to construct three different chicken wire frames. I found a bunch of them over the weekend at a church tag sale and local yard sales. In an effort to 1. finish a project and 2. get the chicken wire out of the kitchen I decided to go ahead and tackle the project.

In the end I got three done. I used up a lot of rags with my wounds but only had two that still require the nurturing of Miss Strawberry Shortcake.

Sunset tonite.

I knew there was a reason that I went outside to take the recycling to the blue bin.

Four!

Tomorrow (July 20) Wesley turns a magical four years old. Phew. We made it. And for those that know Wesley better than some: the answer is NO. Not yet.

Our plan is to take him bowling (because he's too short for the fun water slides at Jekyll Island Summer Waves Water Park) and out for a lunch of his choice (Zaxby's or BBQ). Later on in the day after adequate rest, we're going to have a family pool outing and picnic supper so he can try out his new toys from Clare.

Mario lovingly picked out a Hot Wheels 4 Lane Raceway for his gift because it was the one that he wanted to try out and we are hoping that Amazon comes through with their promised delivery of tomorrow. I've got grand plans of whipping up some dairy free soy free treats that we can call cake and otherwise we're just going to spoil this little guy rotten.

(And some where in there I'm going to treat myself to something special for birthing him and for being his mama for his third year of life.)

Fishing with Clare.

Step One: Gather bait. We used our cast net to collect lots of brown shrimp in the creek.

Step Two: Wait with fully rigged Barbie fishing pole.

Step Three: Watch with excitement as Mario attempts to get the hook out of the mouth of the American Eel Clare caught. (And sigh with relief that I don't have to get this one off the the hook since I've already undone two of these suckers. Fish are so much better than eel.)

Other things to ponder: where to buy tackle in bulk? why haven't I put together something more sophisicated than a plastic shopping bag for our fishing gear yet? remember to put a dedicated pair of pliers into the fishing bag for hook removal and a pair of gloves too.

The hardest part: not freaking out while reeling in and trying to deal with the eel. One more thing that they forgot to put in What to Expect when Expecting: fishing with girls.

a project.

Clare and Wesley went to VBS this week.

I had my first morning without kids since school got out on May 20th.

My new summer friend Liza came over and we did a project: frames with chicken wire.

Instant gratification and craft love.

Free chicken day!

Play date redefined.

Fun things to do at 8:30 AM:

Invite new friends over for playdate.

Go crabbing on the dock.

Drink coffee and chat.

Catch lots of blue crabs.

Catch shrimp and fish in the net.

Catch eels with Barbie fishing poles.

Race crabs back into the creek.

The Sunshine Festival 2011

We did it again! Another mother/daughter 1 mile run. There is nothing like racing with Clare. I love her excitement, pinning her number on, holding her hand because she wants me to, talking to her during the run, and coaching her through the race.

This time Mario and Wesley went back and forth across the park so that they could be in perfect photo taking and cheering position. Wesley shouted out the best 'Go Clare Go!' as we ran by each time they saw us. She soaked it all in and seeing them made her perk up when she was lagging a bit. Through the whole thing she never walked. She's learning to pace herself (or at least to not to bolt off with those crazy boys at the start of the race) each time.

Finishers won gold medals and orange Gatorade. In a family of no juice I think the orange Gatorade was a major prize! Wesley enjoyed holding on to my bottle with the promise of a future frosty treat. Afterwards our family beat the tourists to Sandcastle for breakfast. Ahhh...Belgian waffles with powdered sugar, my little racer girl was a very happy girl indeed.

Mario and I have a date tonight at 6 PM.

Saturday. 9:30 AM

On tap

Today means that:

Clare has her last day of Gold Rush VBS.

Wesley will spend a morning with me running errands against his will.

Mario is in Columbia again for work.

Mario will be an I-95 holiday road warrior.

The population of this tiny place will increase hourly.

Ice cream is now an acceptable alternative to food.

The pool is off limits.

Beach hours are now confined to early morning.

We have a three day weekend to look forward to with Mario.

Biking is the best transportation.

It is 19 days until Wesley turns four.

Three days until Clare runs in the Sunshine Festival 1 mile race.