Yesterday was Katie's birthday. My "baby" has turned 11 years old. It's so hard to believe that my very shy, very curly-headed toddler has grown into a friendly, not-so-curly-headed, sweet young girl. I try to convince her she's still Mama's baby and she tries to convince me she's not a baby anymore. :)
Though yesterday was her "special day" to be sure, we actually celebrated today. As with all family birthdays, the honoree gets to choose the birthday meal. Katie's choice? Nope, it wasn't pizza...or hamburgers...or anything like that. She wanted pork roast, fried potatoes, and collard greens! :) No junk food for this gal. And for her birthday "cake", she didn't want cake at all. She wanted
Strawberry Koolaid Pie. (That made it easy for me...it's a super easy recipe!) Instead of vanilla ice cream, she got Klondike bars!
All of her birthday gifts fit inside this cute little bag this year. What'd she get? She got money (her request...she is a saver!), a Walmart gift card (from her sister), two big sketch pads (she is quite a little artist and LOVES to draw!), candy (sweets for the sweet), beef jerky (loves it), and a new watch (really wanted one). She also got the day off of school, and Jacob even helped her with her chores. How's that for a treat? :)
I'll close with a few pictures of the birthday girl!
We had so much fun, in spite of having to come back early. As long as somebody else baits my hook and takes the fish off when I catch one, I could fish for hours. But I just canNOT bring myself to touch a worm or any other slimey thing that goes on the end of a hook. Poor Matt spends more time baiting my hook than fishing! :) He loves having his picture made too...can't you tell?
Ok...now for the fun part. Ask me who caught the biggest fish. Go ahead. Ask away...you might be able to pull it out of me. In fact, you can even ask me who caught the ONLY fish. Well, allright then, since you're so insistent...I'll tell you. It was me. I caught the fish....not just any little bitty fish either. He was 15 inches long. Ok, so you've seen bigger catfish than this! I am still quite proud of him. :)
It was a beautiful day to be out on the water!
If I'm going to be outside for any real length of time, I've got to have my hat on. The gnats this year are as big as turkey buzzards (well, almost) and pesky as can be! They swarm around your head in droves! Anyway...here's Matt discing up the ground....
Matt bought new hoes for the girls, and they were oh, so excited! hahaha! Rachel especially was overjoyed....
When we first started putting the potatoes in the ground, the dogs were coming along right behind us and picking them up! We put a stop to that right away! :) Here's Katie girl hard at work...Spud stayed right with her once he figured out you don't eat the potatoes yet!
Where was Jacob during this exciting project? He was cutting the grass. Lucky him. :) Tater planting day is always a big deal around here. I'm always glad to get them in the ground. After all, who doesn't like tatties, eh Gary? :)
In other news, we are on the countdown with school!! Just 23 more school days left! We'll be doing a few achievement tests, finishing up books, and making a few more preparations for Jacob's college courses coming up in the fall. If we don't take any days off here and there, our last day should be May 6.
Tomorrow is my birthday and I have been abundantly blessed with lots of nice gifts!! My sweet son knows how much I love smileys. I needed a new coffee cup, and he thoughtfully combined my love of smileys with my need of a coffee cup and this is what I got!!! I love it! Isn't it happy?
