Jackson's hockey practice went well yesterday and he's got another one today. Mom did good dressing him BEFORE we left the house. Jeromy got some shots of him on the ice as well. He loves it so much.

Ready and excited to go.

Sealing up the water bottle.

With some nudges from Cooper. He always has to be up against someone, Cooper that is.

I know, I'm his mom but he is so darn cute I could just eat him up!

Ashley is heading off to Fall Camp for the weekend after school today. We had to get some shots this morning because we will miss her so. After this shot was taken, Jackson said, "Now do one like this!" And posed. This was the pose.

He was so excited about this not only because she listened to him but because her braces are showing a tad. She doesn't like to show her braces in her pictures at the moment. I remember those years, and understand. Hopefully when all this orthodontia work is done, she won't grow up and marry a "Tim the Toolman Taylor" that will knock her teeth out on the dance floor. :)=

Ashley's choice silly face.

Hunters are still at it. Dad and Uncle Al came home the other night with a small buck. They are hunting right now and hopefully will have some success this morning. More pictures to come on that note. For now, here are a couple of shots I took by the lake earlier this week on a still, foggy afternoon.

On my way home I drove on the new bridge for the first time. It was eerie in a way as I'm sure a lot of you experienced the same scenario the first time you took it as well.  It looks nice though.

Jack started hockey practice last Saturday. Unfortunately, maintenance problems with the school ice arena so have to use one out of town and the only practice time we're getting is on Saturday and Sundays during deer hunting, oh well. He is so excited.

And apparently I was too because my poor boy was dressed the wrong way. I got some strange looks from the other parents. I even asked one dad for help, thanks, but no thanks kind of deal. Pads on the inside mom. I knew that, but I was spazzing about rushing out of my deer stand to take him in, then back out again.

I swear Jackson, it won't happen again. I will try my best to keep you from being the dorky little momma's boy. But can be very hard as your mom, herself is a dork. And your father, well, you don't stand a chance really. Poor you. You did an awesome job buddy!

Our camp is called that because that's what we say when we cheer each other on when someone has come home with their tag filled.

"Did you get one?!"

"Hooves In The Air!"

Bill had these made up for each of us with our nick name on the back. He said when he was having the hats made, the guy taking his order questioned him to make sure he wanted the deer upside down. "Yeah buddy, hooves in the air." Jeesh, the nerve of some people.

So far, Bill and Jeromy are the only ones that have shot a buck. It has been a tough season, but time is not up yet.

SO BIG! Like sixteen years old big! This is so Ashley. It doesn't matter how old she gets, her sense of humor has stayed the same. She has always been such a goofball. You have to watch out for her.

One of the many Ashley stories.

Somewhere around kindergarten Ashley lost a tooth. It happened as she was sitting on the toilet at my mom's house in the city. She was SO upset because she had flushed it. Now the Tooth Fairy would never come because she didn't have a tooth to put under her pillow. So, she wrote the Tooth Fairy a note after I had a talk with her about the magic the Tooth Fairy can do. It read something like this.

Dear Tooth Fairy,

I dropped my tooth in the toilet.

You can find it in the ocean.

Love,

Ashley

Unfortunately, for many, MANY years, the Tooth Fairy had a hard time coming to Ashley's pillow on the nights she lost her tooth. She always made it though, sooner or later.

Happy Sweet 16 Ashley! We hope you have a great day!

Cooper. What a little lug, although he's not so little anymore. He's about eight months old now and is still such a baby. He likes to play dumb too. He'll grab a dog toy and head over to something he would like to chew on but shouldn't, lay down and chew on the dog toy while we are watching and wait until we look away. Two seconds and he's dropped the dog toy and grabbed something like a hairbrush, a doll, my tennis shoe, my decorative balls off of the coffee table, a plastic bowl, a cup, so far no homework. He melts our hearts though. And the way he looks into our eyes with his innocent sad eyes. He's a sweetie.

We'll bust him sometimes chewing on some of the examples I just gave and tell him, "Cooper No! Get a dog toy." Before we are done with the sentence, he's dropped the non-chewable item and is chewing the dog toy as if he never did anything wrong. So cunning.

He is also such a love. But can get in the way sometimes as he likes to lean up against us. For instance yesterday, I was finally painting the walls in the kitchen and came close to hitting the floor a few times as he just wanted to snuggle up near me. I sent him to the basement not only for that but because he wanted to lick the freshly painted walls. Jeesh. It all ended good but later noticed paint on his ear, which must have transferred to Jackson's shoulder and hand. Charly is hoping the paint will come off Cooper's ear in a bubble bath she wants to give him tonight.

Puppies.

I am so happy to say that after eight, LONG, PAINFUL, SHAMEFUL years, I am so proud to be American again. Wha-hoo!

About a month or so ago, Jackson came home after school and said, "Hey mom. Do you know I-rock-Obama?" His class had been discussing who the two candidates were that were running for president. About a week later he came home with this in his backpack. I thought it was so neat. When he sees a picture of them on tv or the internet he says, "There's Mcain and Rock-Obama!" I don't remember talking politics too much in grade school, especially in kindergarten. In fact, I don't think my brother and I were ever told who my parents voted for. I remember voting being a personal hush hush kind of deal except for the bickering between neighborhood kids making their claim on who was better sometime around the Jimmy Carter days.

Presidential childhood memory.

Somewhere around the fourth grade, president Reagan was shot. Each one of us in my class wrote a get well letter to the president. I remember feeling so nervous about it. The pressure of using the right words to make the president of the United States feel better. I recall my letter to read something like this.

Dear President Ronald Reagan,

I am so sorry that John Hinkley Jr shot you.

I hope you get better real soon from John Hinkley Jr shooting you.

I wish that John Hinkley Jr never shot you.

Sincerely,

Kim B

Not one of my strong moments that's for sure. Our class ended up getting a thank you card with a presidential seal on it.

I hope that my kids educate themselves when it comes their time to vote. Jessica. Educate, educate, educate themselves on the candidates.

Be positive who you want to vote for. Not for who the church tells you to, not for what your classmates tell you to, nor your co-workers. Not for what you thought you gathered from the ignorant commercials that are slammed back and forth on the tv, not for the inconvenient calls flooding through your telephone at the last minute. Bottom line, the education starts long before election day and it's up to each and every one of us to decide what is important not only for ourselves and the ones in our backyard, but the whole United States in general. Educate. Break outside of the bubble and get out and find out who and what is America, you may be surprised. What can YOU do for this country, not just yourself?

On a less serious note, I thought this get out and vote flag that Jackson made was so cute because it is so Jackson. He knows which way the letters go but I can tell he rushed through this project just to get it done. He has absolutely NO desire to color, paste, or write. If the teacher could somehow incorporate hunting and fishing into the mix, he might just take his time a tad bit longer. Until then, I think Jackson holds the record for the fastest coloring student in the north.

We voted a month ago. We vote with an absentee ballot where we live. I miss my sticker. And this year, I miss my free cup of coffee.

Another Jackson quote.

Let's see, how do I begin. I better mention first that the kids have had the "where did I come from" talk and were told the facts with all of the questions they asked. Luckily we didn't have to go into every different aspect as they were happy for the moment with the simplicity of information given to them.

So, since then, Jackson will refer to himself as an "egg waiting in heaven" in conversations pertaining to events that happened before he was born.

Yesterday afternoon, Jackson, Jeromy, and I were having lunch together in town while waiting for Charly to be finished at preschool. We sat in a booth that overlooked the main street in town and we happened to be straight across the street from the store of the company that Jeromy and I both worked, and actually met. Jackson commented on the silly mannequins in the window display. We told him that we used to work there, what our jobs were, and that we met there.

Jackson said, " Oh, so that was when I was still an egg?"

Jeromy chuckled and said, "Yeah, you were still an egg swimming in a river."

Jackson's reply, "Ha, swimming in a river. You insult me!"

Jeromy's reply, speechless, a second later, "I insult you? Where'd you get that?"

Scary to think how Jackson may have a talent to pull the wool over Jeromy's eyes in years to come. Kids are a lot smarter than people give them credit for. Scary. So scary.

Charly's

Jack's O' lantern

Ashley's

Jackson = Storm Trooper

Ashley= Bat Girl

Charly= Snow Princess

Jessica = Pirate

  Jess was dressed up for work.

if I had a little bit of computer talent, I'd put a turtle neck on her and some black pants.

Ashley would get some pants too. :)

The snow melted the afternoon before Halloween. The weather was wonderful yesterday and it was a beautiful night for trick-or-treating. We woke up to frost again this morning so the kids lucked out yesterday.

Mom's rules and regulation speech on trick-or-treating. And then Shrek was so good to come by and conflict with everything mom had told the kids about being safe and using their manners.

Thank goodness they listened to mom anyway.

It was a good Halloween, except for this guy.

Tissue anyone? So gross.

In case you're wondering, they're gummy worms. And

no, we didn't let him eat them. Wouldn't want to

make you jealous. This picture was taken by Jackson.

Pumpkins! And Candy! Rat soup mixed with shrew!

Look over your shoulder!

Tricksters are sure to find you!

I know, I need to start reading books at a higher level.

This is Ashley this morning before she headed out the door to school. She is going to be Bat Girl tonight. She is going over to a friend's house for a party with an hour of trick or treating, then back at the house for spooky movies and treats.

One of the things I love about living up north is you are never too old to trick or treat. Well, you don't see actual adults, but the teens still dress up and head out. And you don't see or hear about horrible pranks (minus Jessica's Halloween trick a couple years back on a teacher) or older kids stealing candy from the little ones. Everyone, all ages, almost all religions, get decked out for Halloween.:) Just plain fun. So much fun, that I've avoided the Haunted Hayride in fear of the of the guy from the Texas Chainsaw finding me and finally catching me! So spooky.

Hoping to get some good shots of all the kids in their costumes this year.

Hope everyone has a safe and Happy Halloween!

Snack after ballet class.

Yesterday morning. Charly was headed to preschool for her Halloween party. She gave her teachers dissectable, edible frog and a heart. She was so excited to give them to each teacher, she was hoping it would freak them out. Silly girl. I think they were surprised.

We still have snow. I guess appropriate for Charly's Snow Princess costume but I can handle it melting and coming back in a month. She originally said she wanted to be Padme dressed in white. Now she's telling us she's just a snow princess. This disheartens Jackson as he was set on being a storm trooper and Charly being Padme. Don't worry, the force is still with her.

Deep Thought By Jack Handey:

If a kid ever asks you how Santa Claus can live forever, I think a good answer is that he drinks blood.

We woke up to three inches of snow and very slick roads. It's kind of weird to see some green grass in places with snow slightly covering the ground. It was a pretty morning though.

Jackson and Charly were so pumped to see snow. They told me to hurry up and start making the ice in the front yard fro our ice rink. Jackson can not wait much longer to play hockey. We hear, at least six times a day, "Oh, I really wish it was time for me to play hockey." Or, " Mom? How many days until I can play hockey? I want to play so bad."

We got his gear all set. We haven't got his pads and gloves from the team yet but what he does have, he takes out of the bag a few times a day to check it out. His bag contains, helmet, mouth guard, hockey skates, jock shorts with athletic cup in place, a new roll of yellow tape for his new black and yellow stick as he's decided blue is not his favorite color anymore, yellow is. Here is his helmet.

Finding the right helmet was kind of hard because for such a little guy, he's got somewhat of a large melon. Who'd a thought. We'll get more shots once he has his complete uniform. He is SO excited.

My mom and Jackson were looking at the Outdoor News together one morning. Jackson pointed to this picture below and said, "Hey Granny! This girl looks just like you. But she's just a little bit younger."

She's just a little bit younger.

Sometime during all of the hunting festivities, my mom was sitting outside while the kids were playing around in the yard. My mom looks at Jack who is just sitting at the picnic table rolling something around between his fingers and studying it very closely. My mom noticed his tackle box sitting on the table close to him and thought maybe he had hooked himself or something.

She asked him, " What ya got there Jack?"

Jackson said while not even batting an eye in a nonchalant manner, " A slug"

Jeromy walked up to give his two cents thinking he was up one on his boy and said, " Are ya gonna eat it?!"

Jackson replied, "Nah Dad. I don't want to make you jealous."

We never did get snow yesterday. Some ice sprinkles for about fifteen minutes and we were done. Beautiful sunny day today if you don't mind forty-five degrees. We love it though.

I'm really not sure if we will get snow or not. I can wait just a while longer as I am behind on everything this year. Today was the first time this season I heard we may get snow.

Jack wanted me to come outside and take a picture of him popping a wheelie. After several tries, this was as good as I could do. Good job Jack! Bad job mom.

"Are you getting it mom?" One of these days I will Jack.

Charly is still plugging away with ballet class even though she's in the painfully shy stage. Her instructor asked me if she can actually speak. Eventually she'll speak to her I guess. Her instructor understood as she was very similar at that age. At least I get to sit with the other parents now and I'm not apart of the class itself.

Charly wanted to show off her new leg warmers too. So fancy.

Last week I went to the Dr after having hard chest pains for half an hour. I had quite a few tests done and everything came back normal, even though I was afraid I was having a heart attack. I'm glad everything looked fine though. I've been stressing a lot this year. So much going on and so much to try and get to. I feel like I'm on a suicide mission alone just becoming a hockey mom while dotting the I's and crossing the T's to try and get into nursing school before the year is over. Everything will pan out, it always does. Anyway, maybe my little scare was just a wake up call to chill out a bit. I was very glad my mom was here though. She drove me and took care of the kids until Jeromy brought me back home.

Mom is doing very well. Still tired at times but still fighting to be a survivor. She wasn't looking forward to heading in for chemo again this week as she thought it was kind of nice having a break for moose hunting. If my memory serves me correct, this is the tail end of her fourth month in chemo. She's looking forward to seeing the end of her six months and hopes the cancer is gone for good. I can't say it enough, thank you so much for the warm thoughts and prayers. It means so much to us.

Moose camp came to an end last weekend and everyone left Monday afternoon. Bob was not able to get a chance to fill his tag. He hit it hard though, he was out every morning and afternoon. It was a good time though. I was not able to fill my bear tag either. Another day, another animal I suppose. I hope to be successful this deer season anyway.

Cooperation at moose camp.

While Brian cracked the whip. Just kidding.

Wet wood. Not a good thing.

After Brian shot his moose opening morning, he became Bob's, "moose camp B----", if you will scuse de french. Light the fire! Sweep the tent! Cook me chicken pot pie! Cinderelli! He sluffed this particular day. Poor Bob.

Below are some hunting and fishing recap pictures from last year. And mom finally unloaded her pictures while she was here so she should be good for the next year or so. Silly momma.

Me no Jane.

Me big bertha of northland. Uffduh. Me hunt big animal.

He shoot small animal.

Fishing on Big Stone.

Very windy day. We all pretty much ended up pink by sundown as we didn't apply the sunscreen. Youch.

Jeromy and I swapped fish for the pictures. He's getting tired of me always beating him with larger game. Spaz Man.

Turkey hunting teaser. Mom always has wild turkeys coming into her yard every year. This last spring, she counted twenty.

Until later.

Hunting continues. Bob is still working hard for a moose. Hoping today will be his lucky day. Bear hunting is coming to an end soon and I'm hoping that I will have filled my tag by then. The weather hasn't been cooperating with us so well either.

This is the "shitter". The boys have managed to accommodate themselves with all the comforts of home. Someone is always thinking. I love it.

We got the majority of the butchering done on Brian's moose yesterday and ended the night with a five star steak dinner. Thank you Brian!

We also got some sad news yesterday as well that my great uncle passed away, just two months after his son. It has been a hard year for my dad's side of the family. We haven't been able to get together much in the last ten years as families grow, get older, move away and so forth. The majority of my childhood we'd get together at least once a year, every February for sure, for a snowmobile weekend. I can't remember how many snowmobiles were running the trails all together but I'm sure we looked like a giant train coming through town. Not to mention how many Bolducs stayed in one house alone. Very good times. I will cherish them forever.

Uncle Wilmer, you will be sadly missed. But I find comfort in knowing that you're on the other side with Johnny.