Salmon Fishing..."It's Easy" (by Chad E. Boyd)

Prologue:
We moved to Seattle when I was 9 years old. Soon after the Boyd family's arrival to the Puget Sound area, my father decided that he would become a salmon fisherman. This by default meant that I would also become a salmon fisherman. So many, many, many weekends I could be found cold, wet, half asleep, and fishless in the Puget Sound with my Dad at the helm of our little fishing boat. Fast forward 20 or so years, and you find me telling my eldest boy that we are about to catch the biggest fish he has ever seen! You see, I had been reading on the internet how the Pink salmon run was in full swing and limits of salmon were practically being handed out at the dock. I have chased my share of salmon as an adult, but I have never even tried to catch a Pink salmon. But really ...how hard can it be? The mark of a fisherman must truly be that we just never learn………

4:10 AM, Saturday Morning; Boyd Residence:
I tiptoe into Cole’s room and gently nudge him. He starts to just roll over and ignore me. I say, "Cole, Cole, do you want to go fishing?" His eyes snap open and he quickly descends from the top bunk while telling me how he’s soooo excited. My chest swells with pride at his excitement. The plan is going perfectly so far…….

5:00 AM, Saturday Morning; Park & Ride in Federal Way:
Uncle Darin pulls up with the boat. Cole has finished his muffin and red Gatorade for breakfast. He has been telling me over and over how he is going to net a salmon and catch a salmon. "It's easy," he tells me. He also tells me that he recently caught a poisonous frog, but the poison had no effect on him (you have to know Cole on this one). Again all is going to plan…….

5:45 AM, Saturday Morning; Redondo Boat Launch:
Uncle Darin backs the boat down the ramp like a pro (nice work). I pull the boat off the trailer and go motor out a ways to wait for him to park the truck, and for Cole and Darin to jump in. After a few minutes here they come and Cole has found a fishing pole. The pole is one that someone had broken in half and left in the garbage, but Cole felt it was a magnificent find. Life is good, the boat's in the water, and hey, Cole found a fishing pole. This just gets better and better…….

6:45 AM, Saturday Morning; Puget Sound:
The poles are in the water and it’s starting to get good and light outside. The rain is coming down pretty good, but that can’t squelch our spirits. No fish in the boat yet but the flood gates are about to open for sure. After all, salmon fishing is easy........

7:45 AM, Saturday Morning; Puget Sound:
The rain is now pouring down in buckets. Cole has stopped believing that the fish are going to bite at any moment. He is now curled up in the fetal position in the front of the boat. Uncle Darin’s back up rain suit is his bed and I donated my sweet Rivers West jacket as the comforter. I’m hoping that he is asleep so it will buy me some time to turn this nightmare around……

8:15 AM, Saturday Morning; SAME stretch of the Puget Sound:
Cole has now requested on several occasions that he would like to go home. He has made these requests without taking his head out from underneath my jacket because he doesn’t want the rain to get on his face. We have seen several fish landed, but not so much as a nibble on our lines. After spending the morning trolling around, Darin notices that most people are not trolling but just drifting in their boats and casting a lure called a Buzz Bomb. We change tactics and join the crowd. Cole is approaching critical mass and I’m thinking how did this all go so wrong? It was such a sure thing……

8:20 AM, Saturday Morning; THE SAME stretch of the Puget Sound:
“Cole, we will head back in just a few minutes if we don’t get a fish.” That is the fourth time I have said that since 8:15. I’m casting this 2 ½ hot pink Buzz Bomb like my life depends on it, knowing that we have just come full circle; we're cold, wet, half asleep, and fishless once again.

8:21 AM, Saturday Morning; I think you know:
What's the deal? I’m reeling and reeling, and pulling back on this pole and getting nowhere. Then it hits me. Can it be? There is actually a fish on the end of the line. FISH ON! Cole immediately springs to his feet and begins coaching me through the basics of landing a salmon. A few tense minutes later and the curse is broken! We have a salmon in the boat, the rain stops, the birds are singing, etc.

9:30 AM, Saturday Morning; the best fishing spot ever!
8 salmon in the boat, Cole has netted a few and his spirits are high. The rainy, long morning is long forgotten and everyone in the boat is happy. A great day salmon fishing...it really is so easy!

Time Out!

Caden Riley got his first official time-out on the stair today. Naturally, he witnesses his brothers in time-outs regularly, and sometimes he voluntarily joins them. I'm not sure if it's because he thinks it looks fun, or if he's demonstrating brotherly solidarity. At any rate, after a few unsuccessful attempts to assuage some poor behavior that he was insistent on demonstrating (throwing a toy at the wall), I decided he was ready for a serious time-out. I explained to him that he needed to sit in time-out until he was ready to be a good listener, and stop throwing. He did a good job of staying on the stair until I told him he could get down, but I think it's clear from his body language that he wasn't contemplating the consequence of his bad choices, or what he might do differently in the future.

A Post To "Other Mother"

Other Mother!! It was such a wonderful surprise to hear from you today, and to learn that you're keeping up with my little family by reading my blog! Thank you so much for still caring about me after all these years. Love you, Other Mother, and Jennifer too!!

Jennifer and I in 10th or 11th grade.

So many good times!

Cole Meets His Teacher (And His Teacher Meets Him)

Cole did a great job during his assessment interview with his kindergarten teacher, Miss Gregg. He answered all of her questions, and was very polite. I was so pleased and very proud of him. There were a few bummer moments however, and it wouldn't be a true and accurate account of the event if I didn't include them here. Please enjoy the following conversations between Cole and Miss Gregg:

Bummer moment #1

Miss Gregg: Cole, are you spending a lot of time outside this summer?

Cole: No. But I do find a lot of snakes in my backyard. One of them died and I threw it in the woods. If I ever see a rattlesnake, I'm going to punch it in the face.

Mommy's internal monologue: Why, oh why, does he have to say the phrase "punch (something) in the face" to his future teacher within their first 20 seconds of conversing??

Bummer moment #2

Miss Gregg: Cole, you are doing an excellent job answering my questions.

Cole: Well, these are too easy for me.

Miss Gregg: You're pretty smart.

Cole: I learn a lot from the Wii.

Mommy's internal monologue: Why, oh why, does he have to say that he learns a lot from the Wii? We don't even own a Wii! Can I jump into the conversation and inform her of this? We very intentionally don't own any video gaming systems, and now his teacher is going to think he plays a Wii all the time. Can I tell her that he's stating falsehoods? Would that be wrong? Can I tell her that everything he knows he learned from his mommy? No, I can't tell her these things...it would be inappropriate, and maybe make me look a little crazy. (Disclaimer: I have no objection to video games. On the contrary, I actually quite love them and was very, very good at Super Mario Brothers 2 in the '80s. Can anyone say Princess Peach! I just don't want any equipment of that nature in my house until my boys are much older. I bet you thought the disclaimer was going to be in reference to me looking crazy.)

Aside from these two "bummer" moments, which I am now going to re-label as "funny and awesome Cole is a five year old" moments, he was just a peach of a guy and represented Teamboyd really well.


Here we are right before it's time for the big meeting...Cole was dressed to impress!



Look at how tiny my Cole looks in this giant hallway. I love the kindergarten sign...it's very welcoming!

Cole and Miss Gregg pose for me!

We went on a date to Jamba Juice afterwards.




I'm so thrilled and excited for Cole to begin this new adventure in his life. Horizon Elementary School...here we come!!

The Tooth Fairy Strikes Again - Or Out?

Cole had another wiggly tooth, but it was nowhere near being loose enough to come out. I know this because I had just checked the wiggle-room status the very morning of this incident. Needless to say, the Tooth Fairy was on vacation when Cole decided to pull his tooth out. Imagine my surprise when he came out of the bathroom - tooth in hand! I should have known something was up when he was in there for so long, and so very quietly. (The sound of silence is generally a warning in my house.)

Cole's new smile.

So that night the Tooth Fairy left her traditional certificate and sparkly coins under his pillow. Well, he took one look at the Tooth Fairy's treats the next morning, and literally burst into tears. SHE FORGOT TO LEAVE HIM A TOOTHBRUSH! How could she do this? I mean, I know she was ill-prepared, but come on! A boy expects a tooth brush, obviously! Note to self: she should keep some in stock. He was so upset about it that I actually felt quite terrible. (And a little proud...his zest for oral hygiene is very exciting to me!)

We decided the best course of action would be to write her a letter explaining our thoughts and feelings.

Here he is, hard at work drafting his correspondence. He looks happy about it, doesn't he.

Here is the finished product. These are Cole's words, I merely transcribed for him.

We put the letter under his pillow that night, and look what the Tooth Fairy did for him! She came through with a letter of her own and -TA DA- a Pokemon toothbrush.

I feel quite confident in saying that the Tooth Fairy will never again forget to leave a tooth brush when she retrieves a tooth at the Boyd household.

It's Time To Potty!

The tale of Chase's potty training is a long and sordid one, about the length of a summer, since that's how long the process lasted. But I don't want this post to be the length of a summer, so I'll keep it brief (pun intended). After trying the method that worked on Cole (we told him to go potty, so he did it - have I mentioned that Cole and Chase are very different children?), I sought the help of a professional, our pediatrician. At Chase's 3 year wellness check, I told him that Chase was demonstrating all the signs that he's physically ready to be potty-trained, but he just doesn't want to do it. So he told me to let him run around pants-less outside. Well, I thought that was just a great idea! He doesn't care for being dirty, so this most certainly would work to my advantage. But my Chase had other ideas. He worked very hard to sneakingly tinkle in various backyard locations when I wasn't looking...ON PURPOSE! Oh my gosh...a furious rage would boil inside of me every time he did this. I mean, if he can find a way to sneak-tinkle in a discreet locale in the backyard, he can find his way to the toilet, right? Well, desperate times call for desperate measures. So I enlisted the help of several motivational tools including, but not limited to, the following items: a potty training chart, stickers, the promise of preschool, Hot Wheels (many of them), gummy bears, peer pressure (everyone gets a gummy bear when Chase uses the potty), one six ounce can of Sprite, and big boy underpants. Just when I had given up all hope that he would decide to be a man and use the toilet - voila - HE DID IT! And he's kept it up! I am so proud of him, and completely ecstatic that I don't have to worry he'll be entering college some day in a Pull-Up! And in the short-term, I'm just delighted that he reached this milestone just a few weeks shy of preschool...that was our goal!

Completed potty chart...we actually had this up for months with only three stars on it. But it quickly filled up (just a few days) after he decided to cooperate for me. Let me just say, that mini-can of Sprite turned out to be my best friend.

Big boy underpants!

Way To Go, Chase!!!

Caden Gets A Makeover!

The happiest baby on the block was not so happy to get a haircut, but the end result was just so adorable. Although I prefer my boys to have shorter hair, I'll admit it, he was pretty cute with his big coif. (There, I said it, Gramma!) But I knew it was time for a haircut when A: Chad was calling him a "hair farmer", and B: during the heatwave a few weeks ago, I was tempted to pull his hair back in a ponytail to help keep him cool. That's too long, people, too long!

Here are some before and after shots of my cute little Caden Riley.

Here are some cute little factoids about our baby:

Caden is extremely tidy. He puts his toys away without being asked, his dishes in the sink without being reminded, and his shoes (and everyone else's) in the shoe closet without any prompting. We're not sure how he got this way, but it's nice to have one super clean Boyd boy. He calls every dessert "mmm...cake", every bug is "a beeeeee", every animal with fur is a "tee" (kitty), and every bird is "A DUCK!" (Emphasis on "a duck" because he always yells this particular phrase.) He likes to lay down with a "boop" (book) in his crib, and he loves to ask for a "honk" (hug). He loves, loves, loves his big brothers and follows them everywhere, mimicking their every move. And lastly, whenever he hears a loud noise, no matter where it comes from, he always blames it on "Cole!" Even if Cole isn't home and the noise couldn't possibly have originated from him, Caden calls out his name. Cole does make a lot of noise, so it makes sense.

We love you, Baby Caden! Oh wait, there is one more thing...he does not like getting his hair cut!!!

What Looks Like Crazy On An Ordinary Day

Okay, I'll just say it right up front; it has been one of those days. I start my morning feeling so guilty that I haven't found (or made) the time to blog. I have so many things I want to write about, but I feel funny posting things out of chronological order, so I end up with a big back-log of ideas and pictures. And instead of making small strides with a simple blog here or there (because I don't want to violate the all-important chronological order of events) I do nothing, and it looms and festers in my mind that I'm too far behind to catch up! So...to really wallow in my guilt this morning, I decide to peruse my friends' adorable (and frequently updated, might I add) blogs. And while it doesn't reassure me to see that my blogger girlfriends have made updates fives times to a single one of mine, it does give me a great idea for lunch called Muffin Tin Monday, and I would like to publicly thank Sara Jones for the idea. More on that later...

So, my morning starts out a bit rocky. First, my internal struggle eats at me as I face the harsh reality that I am a blog failure. Then, I discover that one of our African Dwarf frogs that we purchased at Cornucopia Days has expired during the night. I call Cole over to the tank, and prepare to deliver the news that I'm just sure will devastate him. I tell him in my most gentle and maternal voice that, "Our froggy (Nemo) died. This is just a part of the cycle of life, all living things die eventually, and I'm just so sorry that we have to say goodbye to our little frog-friend." I'm completely prepared for Cole to burst into tears, and wail and lament over this tragic loss. But what does my sweet Coco Puff do? He looks at our belly-up floating frog, then looks at me and states ever so matter-of-factly, "Well, he's frog toast." Now, this response dismays me. I think that he should feel worse about this, given that Nemo was our pet. And I begin to internally blame Chad for his gross hunting ways that he somehow genetically passed through to Cole; I know somehow this unexpected (and dare I say, heartless?) response is Chad's fault. But I don't want to cause Cole to be upset since he seems fine with it, so I just spoon Nemo out, and casually tell Cole that we're going to send him down the toilet. Once we arrive at Nemo's watery grave, Cole completely loses it (without any prompting from me). I think he realizes at this point that we aren't going to get to see Nemo anymore. He says through bitter tears that every time he looks at our frog tank, he'll remember Nemo. I suddenly feel better.

This is our fish tank turned frog tank. This picture was taken after Nemo's passing, but if you look closely you can see Jabbie in the lower left hand corner. I took this picture just for today's blog. Because I want to be a good blogger.

I'll interject here with a happy side note. This is how Chase likes to rock his shirts...80's Flash Dance style. He wore his shirt like this until nap time. It isn't uncommon for me to find Chase having altered his shirts for this more stylish look. (You can see he doesn't want to pose for me.)






At this point in my very long story, it's lunch time. Here's what we do for Muffin Tin Monday. Again, thanks to Sara for the idea. I love these simple and easy things that make my boys feel special. They loved that they got to pick and choose from the muffin tin what they would eat for lunch. A definite bright spot in my day.




Now we return to my doom and gloom. At some point during my sentimental Muffin Tin Monday lunch with my boys, while I'm adoringly watching them eat, I realize that COLE STARTS KINDERGARTEN IN 28 DAYS! This fills me with an anguish that makes my morning blog blues seem like the happiest time of my life. I just love my Cole so much, and I'm not ready to move on to this next stage in his life. I'M NOT READY! (He IS ready, which is good!) So I decide that I will make Cole a Countdown to Kindergarten chart to help us visually see how close we're getting to the momentous day when Cole goes off to "big kid" school. I think we all know it would have been more appropriate for me to title the chart "Holly's Countdown to Kindergarten". I need the mental preparation more than he does. I know in my intellectual mind that this is a milestone in my Cole's life that I should truly celebrate, and I will when the day comes, but have I mentioned that I'M NOT READY yet? Cole absolutely changed my life when he came into it, and it has truly been my joy and honor to be his mommy. And I just can't believe that he's going off to school in 28 days. I've been weeping for most of the day. Yes, that's right, weeping. Even as I type...weeping. I feel like a freak. Yes, that's right, a freak. But rest assured, I will not pass along my apprehension to my kindergartener. He is so excited about it! We frequently drive past his big kid school just to admire it, and Wednesday we're going to the playground there so he can get even more excited about his school career.

Here's my big boy and one of his awesome Lego inventions he built today while I was creating my, I mean, his chart.

Finally, my Chad comes home from work, and I immediately leave so I can run off (literally) my anxiety. When I return, all four of my boys are nicely watching a movie (which I have to remind Chad is too old and scary for the little guys), so he turns it off, and it's off to bed for all three of them. Now my house is quiet, and here I sit, blogging away like a professional, typing more words than anyone cares to read. But I feel good about it. And I thank any of you who took the time to read all this. As a final note, I realize that my darling baby Caden has been grossly under-represented in my posts thus far, and guilty blog feelings are starting to creep back in. No! This can't happen after such a monstrous blogging episode. To stave off any guilt about this, I request that you stay tuned for an upcoming post dedicated to CADEN! Of course, it won't be in chronological order. Wow...this really is difficult.