Mom vs. the Dot: Making it COUNT!

(Here we are, waiting for the sun to set for our drive-in movie) I try. I try so hard, every day, to be content with what I have. To be cheerful in every circumstance.  I want to be, and generally am. When school ended, I was elated - I felt the burden of school responsibility lifted off my shoulders.  I was ready for some serious relaxing.  Cheerful was my middle name. This summer has been epic - so many great summer memories have been made. Trips to the drive-in movie theatre.  Playing frisbee while waiting for the sunset and eating giant buckets of popcorn shared between snuggly kids setting records staying up late for the second movie. Swimming, swimming, swimming!  Learning to swim, trying new skills, diving for dive sticks, making it all the way across the pool - a super summer achievement for my littles. Hot, hot weather - too hot to go outside unless it was to swim or to go somewhere air-conditioned. Our cute little...

Does your family enjoy fishing?  We do!!  I don't know what it is about fishing - I don't like touching the slimy bait, nor do I relish taking the fish off the line.  It's all about the catching, I think.  The thrill of pulling in "the big one," and the bragging rights that follow.  And the camaraderie.  There's something just right about standing on the shore in the serenity of a perfect day. This year, just before Father's Day, we went fishing with my dad at a local pond. Can you see the fish she caught?  It's so cuuuuute! We all had fun catching fish, and for some reason, I caught a whopper!  There it is - I didn't really want to hold it or be too close to it, though.  My dad always made us kiss the "weenie fish" or hold the big ones for a picture.  Still does.  As you can tell, he's actually holding the fish and I'm gingerly putting my thumb inside its' mouth.  I like catching fish - I just don't like to...