Missing Tate.

Jonathan was at work and I heard the all too recognizable sound of impact and then the yelp of the dog. Tate had found his way under our back fence and onto the road where he was hit by a car. One of our golden retrievers died last week. He is missed, especially by Jonathan and Adam. They spent countless hours playing in the backyard. It was always Dad and Tate against Adam and Buddy. But we are thankful to still have Buddy. Here's a few pics of playtime in the yard with just little Buddy.

Happy, Happy #3

Happy, happy birthday little Matthew. Oh we had such fun plans... pancakes for breakfast, storytime at the library, play outside at a brand new play ground in town, meet dad for lunch at Burger King, family time at home, hot dogs for dinner and a Mickey Mouse cake with candles, ice cream and presents. The best birthday a 3 year old could ask for.

It went more like this... Good morning Matthew! Happy Birthday you are three years old! Help mix a cake and put it in the oven quick before breakfast, mom pulls you off the counter and thinks hummm, you feel a little warm. Andrew wakes up and mom changes his diaper. When Mom gets back you are in the middle of the kitchen floor lying on your blankets. Mom feels again and the fever is hot. Don't feel like breakfast just a sippy with chocolate milk (it is your birthday after all), watch a movie burning with a burning fever, head to the doctor to get another dose of antibiotics for strep throat, drug ya with enough ibuprofen to get to Burger King for lunch, get home just in time to vomit from the back door, through the kitchen, across the carpet into the bathroom and almost to the toilet. Dad begins the clean-up while mom waits at the pharmacy to fill the prescription. Mom gets home to find Dad wishing we would have never taught you to go to the toilet when you feel sick... oh how much easier it would have been if you stood still. Medicine, popsicles, books and movies... that how your birthday went.

BUT THE DAY AFTER YOUR BIRTHDAY... was a party! We pulled out Mickey Mouse which by now having waited two days to be eaten has been poked, licked, tested, tasted, and all but blown upon. We opened gifts and ate cake and sang your happy birthday song. For your birthday you received: circus Backyardigans, play-doh, $10, a Diego DVD, pj's, and a chain saw. (Thanks G&G Jenson and Olsen) Feeling much better you were able to enjoy the haul you made and couldn't fall asleep until the wee hours of the morn because you were so excited to wake up to be able to play with your new toys. Mom had to finally hide your chain saw from you so you would go to sleep.

Little Matthew we love you. We love to watch you fix anything and everything in the house with your bucket of tools. We love to watch you jump up and down anytime you get super excited. We love how your curious mind NEVER stops being curious. We love to watch you play and pretend with Adam. We little Matthew love you.

Ice Fishing With Ma

When we woke up in the morning it was 3 degrees below zero. By the time we left the house we had gained a degree all the way up to negative 2. That's how our ice fishing trip began. For over a month we had known about an ice fishing trip that our nature center was providing for families to participate in. I told the boys and Jonathan about it and we decided it would be a fun family activity. As the Saturday of the trip drew closer I realized that it was the same day that Jonathan was going to be at scout camp... in other words, there was no way he would be going with us on this little fishing trip. I didn't think I wanted to go alone with the boys but about a week before the trip Adam started praying. Matthew had been sick with strep throat so he prayer every meal, morning and night that Matthew would be better so we could go ice fishing. Little Adam REALLY wanted to go. He also began praying that he could catch more fish than anyone else that was fishing that day. My hopes of getting out of it greatly decreased as I realized I was the only hope this little boys prayers were going to be answered. So... at 6:00AM I arose bright and early to check the temperature, -3. I bundled up the boys and we went to pick up a babysitter for Andrew. She came with us to the nature center and stayed in side with him, while I took Adam and Matthew fishing out on the ponds. It was cold, educational, and memorable. We were fortunate to have some help with the ice agar and getting some holes drilled. The boys thought it was incredible to be able to fish through a hole in the ice. It was so cold that the fishing line kept freezing in the water and we had a hard time keeping it moving up and down. The boys thought it was amazing. Adam was particularly intrigued at how "sticky" the ice was. Every time he tried to walk on the ice his boots were sticking to it. He didn't realize it was so cold that his boots were actually freezing to the ice with each step he took. Matthew got cold, so he went in with the babysitter and I kept fishing with Adam. We fished and fished and fished, but caught nothing. There was not a soul left on the ice. Every, man and his son had gotten cold enough to give up, but not Adam. I made him go into the nature center to warm up his face for a bit and asked when we got inside if we could just go home. He emphatically said, "I am NOT quitting!" So I put my hat and gloves back on and we headed back out to the ice to fish, and fish, and fish, still to catch nothing. After several hours I convinced him no matter how many holes we drilled and how many grubs we baited, and times we moved the line up and down the fish just weren't going to bite. My biggest convincing factor to literally peel him from the ice was that Dad would be extremely sad if he caught a fish ice fishing without him. Adam decided Dad would be pretty sad to be missing out so we were FINALLY able to call it quits and go home. So there you have it. We fished, we froze, and technically since no one else caught a fish, we caught more than they did because we lasted longer than the whole bunch of 'um.