Catching, filleting, cleaning, deboning . . . and eating!!!

Off they go . . .

Their favorite fishing spot

Well - it was another fishing day for the kids and Daddy, but because the weather was wet it meant that there weren't any people to fight over the prized fishing spot - yay for the kids!!! It was a good day of fishing as it seemed that almost every time they put their hooks in the water they'd catch another fish. They were really picky today though - throwing back the small ones immediately and only keeping the larger, more edible ones (I think they brought home 10!). Yep, you heard me right - they planned on eating their catch today - ew!!!

This is the fishing style of our boy - interesting, but it works!!!

See. . . who know what number this one is!!!

Another of Emma's catches

Don't ask me what they're doing in this one, but they sure aren't afraid of the fish!!!

The catches of the day - otherwise known as "Dinner"!

Navia and I went for the last hour of fishing so that she could try and catch a couple too. It was kinda funny because Brade would just get his bait in the water and would hear "Daddy, I caught another one" and he'd have to go and help out which ever of the kids caught another fish. Navia, being the little one she is, saw Daddy's hook with the huge baited worm on it and suddenly got a HUGEMONGOUS smile on her face, looked up and me, "Mommy, mommy, I caught one - I caught one!!!" Soooo cute. I took a couple pics of her big "catch" and then had to tell her that it wasn't real - poor girl.

"I caught one . . . see!!!"

Yep - too small...

Back home to fry them up!!!

So, once we got home we looked on the internet how in the world to do the whole making a fish ready to cook and cooking it thing (what would we really do without the internet???) And then Daddy began his task. All I can say is that I'm glad that I will not have anything to do with this except fry them.

Frying them was pretty easy - just using an internet fisherman's recipes with cut up fish chunks dipped in pancake batter, etc. It couldn't have been easier! And . . the results are in . . . everyone loved them and can't wait to go out again to catch our supper!!! (oh great - more fish guts - ewww!!!!!)

Not too bad for a first time!

Yummy!

( psst - there are three videos on the side that give a little glimpse into this afternoon)

I think I get an F!!!

I'm sure that you all read this at one point in your life - for me I think it was in Mrs. Abrey's Home Economics class, but here it is again - to remind all of us women why we are glad we live now and how we shouldn't be measured to our moms or grammas!!! Braden is lucky if there is even the thought of what we're going to be having for supper by the time he gets home - hehehe!

The Good Wife’s Guide

From Housekeeping Monthly, 13 May, 1955

• Have dinner ready. Plan ahead, even the night before, to have a delicious meal ready, on time for his return. This is a way of letting him know that you have been thinking about him and are concerned about his needs. Most men are hungry when they come home and the prospect of a good meal (especially his favorite dish) is part of the warm welcome needed.
• Prepare yourself. Take 15 minutes to rest so you’ll be refreshed when he arrives. Touch up your make-up, put a ribbon in your hair and be fresh-looking. He has just been with a lot of work-weary people.
• Be a little gay and a little more interesting for him. His boring day may need a lift and one of your duties is to provide it.
• Clear away the clutter. Make one last trip through the main part of the house just before your husband arrives.
• Gather up schoolbooks, toys, paper, etc. and then run a dustcloth over the tables.
• Over the cooler months of the year you should prepare and light a fire for him to unwind by. Your husband will feel he has reached a haven of rest and order, and it will give you a lift too. After all, catering for his comfort will provide you with immense personal satisfaction.
• Prepare the children. take a few minutes to wash the children’s hands and faces (if they are small), comb their hair and, if necessary, change their clothes. They are little treasures and he would like to see them playing the part. Minimize all noise. At the time of his arrival, eliminate all noise of the washer, dryer or vacuum. Try to encourage the children to be quiet.
• Be happy to see him.
• Greet him with a warm smile and show sincerity in your desire to please him.
• Listen to him. You may have a dozen important things to tell him, but the moment of his arrival is not the time. Let him talk first - remember, his topics of conversation are more important than yours.
• Make the evening his. Never complain if he comes home late or goes out to dinner, or other places of entertainment without you. Instead, try to understand his world of strain and pressure and his very real need to be at home and relax.
• Your goal: try to make sure your home is a place of peace, order and tranquility where your husband can renew himself in body and spirit.
• Don’t greet him with complaints and problems.
• Don’t complain if he’s late home for dinner or even if he stays out all night. Count this as minor compared to what he might have gone through that day.
• Make him comfortable. have him lean back in a comfortable chair of have him lie down in the bedroom. Have a cool or warm drink ready for him.
• Arrange his pillow and offer to take off his shoes. Speak in a low, soothing and pleasant voice.
• Don’t ask him questions about his actions or question his judgment or integrity. Remember, he is the master of the house and as such will always exercise his will with fairness and truthfulness. You have no right to question him.
• A good wife always knows her place

Classroom Showcase

Tonight was 'Classroom Showcase' night at the school. It's when all the parents are invited to an assembly in the gym as the new teachers are introduced and then the kids get to take the parents to their homeroom to meet the teacher and show everything that they've been up to so far this year.


Kaleb's teacher is Mrs. LeGuard and she is really good with him. He loves going to school and really enjoys all his "best friends" in the class - even if he can't always remember their names - hehehe! When we went to his class he was too busy going to the building area to show us what he had done so we had to explore the room and figure it out for ourselves. When we found something and asked him about it he'd just point to it and say, "that's what I did.." and keep on building.

Emma, on the other hand, is very involved in taking us step by step through the room. She had a checklist that started with showing us her desk, then every part of the room, library, and gym and then ended it off with giving us an apple picked at her teacher's gramma's house. She is also the little social butterfly with continually having to say "hi" to all the kids that are doing the "Hi Emma!" thing - even kids not in her class! Guess she is wanting for friends?!

So now one 'showcase' done and one more to come, along with an interview and then the year will be done - yikes - that sounds a lot sooner than it really is!!!

* * * * * * * * * * *

Oh - and as an aside - this afternoon Navia came to me as I was folding laundry and asked it I could fix Emma's bed. I went in Emma's room and found Emma's bed destroyed . . .not just the bedding, but my little munchkin was jumping on her big sister's bed and broke it! Check it out - yep - damage done by a 2 year old! Emma's not too happy about this one!

The little girl split the wood in two, separated the wood in half and ripped it right out of the screwy thing.

They all left me!!!

This morning there is a first in this house - a never before in the history of this family first . . . all my babies left for school and now it's just me in a big empty house - blogging about it because what else am I supposed to do?!?!?

Navia is now going to the playschool at the community centre (just 2 blocks away - yep - convenient!!!) on Monday mornings from 9:15 - 11:15. This morning when I was getting Navia dressed she just looked at me, gave me a big hug and kiss and then said, "Mommy, good-bye, I go to school now." Awww - she was already to go and now it was just me who is going to have to adjust to this. When we got to the school she couldn't wait to get into the class and ran up to Miss Susan and shook her hand and then set her lunch on the table and then Mommy did the unthinkable . . . she had to take pictures - hehehe! Yep, I took her and told her that she couldn't go into the circle until I had taken some pictures and you can tell by them that she was a little impatient with me - oh well - pictures are worth a thousand words!

I peeked in after a few minutes and my little girl was singing and doing actions with a huge smile on her face! Yep - this is what she needed!

So, this means that on Mondays I have an entirely new schedule . . .

* 8:40am - bus stop to drop off Kaleb

* 9:00am - drop Emma off at school (usually biking)

* 9:15am - drop Navia off at the community centre (biking again)

* 9:16am - wait at the centre so that Navia doesn't see me, but I can hear if she is alright or not

* 9:17am - still waiting

* 9:20am - yep, still waiting

* 9:21am - admitting that she's alright and heading home to work on MYC lesson planning stuff

* 11:15am - pick up Navia from centre

* 11:40am - pick up Kaleb from bus stop

* 3:30pm - pick up Emma from school

We're kinda needing to do this so that when Navia goes to Junior Kindergarten next year (yep, you heard me right - NEXT YEAR!!!) she'll be ready for a more formal setting than Sunday School. Yikes - I can't believe I admitted that - I guess they're all growing up!

Now to my empty nest . . . it's soooo quiet!!!


Well - I just picked up Navia from her first day at school and before we left on our bike back home she wanted to send Daddy a video to tell him about her day (she was VERY excited!!!) so this is it - the first day of school in Navia's words . . .

Daddy's Fish Story

On Saturday morning Braden took Emma and Kaleb out fishing again - just for a couple hours (or at least that's what he said). It was a cool morning, but the day turned out to be a nice one, although jackets were still needed.

I called him around noon, expecting him to be on his way home, but nope, they were having too much fun. Kaleb had caught a fish and Emma and Daddy were wanting to finally catch one too so that they could be like Kaleb (hehehe!) Daddy said that in a short bit they'd be home . . . well . . . that didn't happen!

I called again around 2:30pm and found out that they'd found a new fishing spot that was amazing (at least that's what Brade said) I guess Kaleb had caught about 5 fish, Emma finally caught her first fish (which she was ecstatic about) . . .

... and while I was on the phone with Braden he caught a fish - or at least that's what he says. You see - I saw a picture of Kaleb and his fish. I saw a picture of Emma and her fish. But . . . where was the picture of Daddy and his fish???

He said that Emma took one and must have forgotten to save it because it was on the phone camera . . . really??? Hmmm - I think that they might have concocted a story to make Daddy sound that he can keep up with the real fishermen, Kaleb and Emma! But . . . well . . . maybe, just maybe . . . he might have caught his very first fish at age 34!!! I guess you can teach an old dog new tricks - hehehe! Sorry Brade!!! I do love you, I do!!!

Road Trip!!!

Mother, Son and kidlets . . .

This weekend Braden took Friday off of work and we headed down to Stoney Creek, Ontario. We got to cut the trip up a little bit by stopping in Belleville to pick up a keyboard for my studio that I had found on www.kijiji.ca (awesome site!!!).

Grampa Ralph has been in the hospital with a broken hip and Gramma Ralph is still recovering from a broken leg so we were planning on getting down there to see them and then we got an email from Mom (Brade's mom) that she was going to be down there for a Ralph Family Reunion. With Mom only being a few hours away we couldn't pass this up so we decided this was the wknd for a road trip!

We got down there on Friday night and got in too late to see Grampa at the hospital, so we just went out to McDonald's for supper (because the kids say that we always do that with Gramma and Grampa Bailey) and then had a quick stop at Dollarama (because Emma says that this is the tradition - hehehe!). When we got back to Gramma's apartment Uncle Phil was there so we had a visit and the kids got to stay up later than usual - which they LOVED!

Main Street Unionville, OntarioThe pond that was behind the house we were at -
Emma and a newly met cousin dragged Uncle Dan around the entire thing - exploring each little cove.

On Saturday morning we got up bright and early and Uncle Dan met us at the apartment and we took off to the Reunion in Unionville. If you've never been there you absolutely have to!!! It is so cute and the shops - well - let's just say that I'd love to spend a wknd at a B&B there!!!

There was a tree swing in the backyard that occupied the kids for a LONG time!

We were kinda nervous that there weren't going to be any kids for our kids but to our surprize there were!!! There were 2 11 year old girls that Emma had a blast playing with and a 4 year old boy, Zac, that could have been another Kaleb. And then there was even a little boy younger than Navia, Sage, that Navia had so much fun playing stickers and monsters with.

Navia and Sage

It was great for Mom and Braden to reconnect with people that they haven't seen in years - and neat to hear all the old stories of when they were younger. I even found out a secret that I didn't know about my husband. . . When Brade and I were dating and singing with Higher Calling we had sung at the Stoney Creek church where Doug, Beth and Lois and Aunt Madeline came to hear us. I guess he took Beth and Lois aside and told them that I was the girl! Yep - I had him hooked from the beginning!!! Hee Hee!!!

Mom and Beth

Aunt Madeline, Mom, Winna & Brade

We got back from the reunion around supper time and stopped in at the hospital to see Grampa and the kids loved the fact that Uncle Dan brought them chips and pop for supper there - he won their hearts before, but now it was a forever thing!

Great-Grampa and Great-Gramma Ralph with Braden and the kids

On Sunday we visited with Uncle Phil and Aunt Janey at the apartment and then went for lunch with Gramma Margaret at Wimpy's - which the kids loved! We then got back to the apartment, picked up Gramma Ralph and went to the hospital to give Grampa the pictures that the kids had drawn for him and say good-bye.

Grampa, Mom & Gramma

Great-Gramma Margaret, Mom, Braden and the kidlets

We got back late on Sunday night and the kids were yawning like crazy this morning as they were going to school - but it was a really good trip and definitely worth the few yawns of today!

Each child took turns telling Gramma a story - it was really cute!

yep - even Braden got into it - hehehe!

(no stories for me - b said it looked to cheezy - spoil-sport!)

My Princess - National Wide Commercial - COOL!!!

Cynthia putting on the finishing touches on the little princess

So . . . we have a photographer friend who needed a cute little girl for a photo shoot and, of course, thought of Navia (no, I'm not biased - she's just cute - hehehe!) Therefore Navia had to be wide-awake and cooperative for 3pm this afternoon for her photo shot. There could have been a problem with that because last night we (the entire family) went to a friend's house for a BBQ and we didn't get back until 11:00pm - oops!!! But, in all fairness, the photographer friend was there too so he knew that she was getting to bed late.

This morning she slept in (YAY!) and then after church she had a 1 hour nap, so that apparently was all she needed - THANK GOODNESS!!! I woke her up from her nap and spend 2 Dora's (for those non-parent types the translation is 1 hour) curling her hair in ringlets (I guess the client requested that her hair like this).

"Just a little candy now, please. . . "

So the shoot was for 3pm and at about 2:45pm it started raining - rain and ringlets DO NOT mix!!! But she was all smiles and that probably is because of the type of photo shoot it was. It was for the Children's Wish Foundation and the company that makes Skittles, Mars Bars, M&M's, etc. Thus all the kids were dressed in Halloween costumes and trick-or-treating for candy - yummy!!!

Being coached by Ella on how to hold her dress and smile at the same time - cute!

After escaping to the playground Navia is being escorted back to the shoot

Navia did an amazing job - she looked quite the part. It's pretty amazing because there were 3 kids from a model agency, a neighbor kid of Cynthia's and Navia - and I think that Navia was pretty good for not being a "professional", although she did do a Canada Post shoot in January for the same photographer - he gets some really good shots!


So . . . there will be an National Ad Campaign being run before Halloween this year (15 sec and 30 sec spots) that will have still photography made into a video. It will be for the Children's Wish Foundation saying that a portion of all candy sales from this company will go towards the C.W.F. Watch and see if you can spot the pretty purple princess. I don't know if her pictures will make it or not - but hopefully they do and then you can see it all over Canada - YAY!!!

The best thing about all of this is that Navia just loves dressing up and had a lot of fun playing with the cat, duck, pirate and vampire!