Catching up on pictures...

The boys were in charge of working up the fields around house this year.

We're going to be surrounded by sweet corn!  

I can't wait!!!

Helping with hay

This picture makes me giggle every time.

I was looking for Erik and couldn't find him.  I looked out the window and there's my farmer checking out the crops.  

He was actually looking at the berm and trying to decide if he needed to mow it but those pants, the hands on the hips, the gloves in the pocket...

Once a farmer, always a farmer.

On your marks...

Isaac and Mason showing off their amphibious pets.

Kade and Owen drinking slushies bigger than their thighs.

It's hard to tell but they are both in a leg of giant underwear.

Yes, they are sticking their fingers out the middle.

Seriously.  Boys.

Waiting patiently for slip n' slide kickball to start.

Our first patron to the 2nd Nutty Bar!

It took long enough but we FINALLY have the boys convinced that it's just as good to fish from the boat as it is from a dock/shore.  Man, these boys do something one time and they refuse to believe that there's any other way to do it!  Never thought we'd have to drag them onto a boat but we did, and it worked!  

Now, if we can just get them to be a bit cleaner when it comes to worms, seaweed and fish slime...

First time going out in public since March.

They didn't fight the masks!!

Look at the ears on these boys!!

We held out as long as we could, mainly because the boys just played so well with each other we didn't want the dream to end.  It usually takes them a couple days, after playing with friends, to get back into rhythm with each other.  However, it was time to get back to reality (as much as we can anyway) and that means having fun with friends!  

Mason showing off the new sunglasses he got from his teacher

Charlie got out his tackle box and these fishing nerds spent an hour looking at all of his gear.  

Boys are so weird.

Mason and Gunnar

Kade and Blake (Gunnar's brother)

My birthday celebration:

posing with the cake I made myself and strong holding Mason into posing for a picture.

Then I spent the evening watching these two reeling in the bass.

They sure do know how to treat a lady on her birthday!!

It's impossible to find pools these days.  Thankfully grandma and grandpa had one from last year and the dollar store had one left.  Not sure how long these blow up contraptions will last but they've entertained the boys for hours this summer already!

Sure enough, we finally get a fishing boat and 1. the water is too high causing a no wake zone and 2. the boys would rather fish from the shore anyway because that's where the little guys hang out which means more action on the line.  Just can't win!  Also, 1. I just realized that we take way too many pictures of the boys' little fish and 2. I also just realized the boys wear basically the same shirt every day.  I swear I wash their clothes!!

Don't let those smiles fool you, they were arguing and driving each other nuts just 1 second before and after these pictures were taken!

Unfortunately Kade never got a turkey this year but not for lack of trying!  He got up every Friday, Saturday and Sunday (sometimes Monday and Tuesday too) at 4:00 am to hunt.  He was definitely determined and persistent (2 words to perfectly describe his personality).  Hopefully his luck changes next season!

Projects!

I always have a running list in my head, and on paper, of what projects I want to get done around the house.  Of course there's never any time to do them...until now!  We are hammering out projects left and right these days and the boys are getting in on a few too.  We're so productive, we've (Erik) has taken our (Erik's) skills on the road!  I was a little worried I'd run out of things to do but the more time I have to think, the more time I have to come up with new ideas.  So, I can safely say we'll never run out of things to do.

This is the laundry room.  Some day I'll post before and afters.  

This room has been mainly completed for awhile, except for the door under the sink that the towel is mounted on.  That FINALLY got finished and installed (after 6 years of nothing there).  It finally looks like a finished room!

Erik has been helping build a lean-to for the mini horses.  They're moving out to his sister Erin's place.  Here the boys "helped" by staying out of the way and getting SUPER muddy on the 4 wheeler.

And here Mason actually did help!

Cutest carpenter I've ever seen.

We did some updates to our kitchen (still not finished) and took out some cabinets.

I decided to paint them and utilize them in the basement as a bar area.

Erik caught me in action sanding the countertop.

The finished product!

Still needs some decorations to make it complete but we can cross that off my list now!

I'm sure Erik is dying to know what's next on his list!  (He's not)

We made it!!  We're done with school!!  I can't say it was pretty but we're all still talking to each other.  I also can't say the boys came out smarter than they were in March when they left their teachers, but they're definitely not dumber so I consider that a solid win in my book. 

Kade still has a couple things to finish up before Friday when the official last day of school is but we no longer have to plan our day around school work for Mason, which was our biggest struggle.  His 1st grade teacher will have their hands full when that little man heads back into school.  Uff da.  Like I always tell him, "He's lucky he's cute!!"  If every single lesson revolved around fishing, getting dirty and just overall "boy destruction", he'd be considered a genius!

Kade's still hunting that elusive turkey.  Every Friday, Saturday and Sunday I wake him up at 4:15 to head out and every time he's come back empty handed.  He's hunting in the woods next to our house so Erik and I sit out on the porch and listen to him and Grandpa calling them in.  It's pretty entertaining but we still haven't heard a gunshot.  Poor kid.  I will say his determination and dedication, at 9 years old, is pretty impressive.  Fingers crossed he gets one before June.

Baseball has been canceled for the summer.  Camping is still up in the air, although even if campgrounds do open up, I'm not sure we'll go.  We've got it pretty good out here in the country.  So, we decided this was definitely the summer to buy a fishing boat!  They've taken it out on the water a couple times with no luck, good thing Mason has just as much fun pretend playing in our driveway!

Not surprisingly, Kade is a pretty good pitcher.  He's been practicing a little bit with Erik giving him pointers.  Hopefully next summer we'll see a lot of strike outs with him on the mound!

Mason posing in front of Erik's latest project completion.  

A firewood holder.