I'm Mad

Yes, I know I fish a lot when the girls are here, but.....
I'm mad at the wind. Today makes two days since they have been gone that I've been stuck at the house on a day off instead of at the lake because of 25+ mph winds. I love to fish, but I'm not stupid so I stay off the lake when it's prudent to do so.
I'm mad at B.A.S.S. Since ESPN, aka Disney aka New York and LA waterheads, has taken it over it has gone down the tubes. I read the first 10 pages of the latest Bassmaster magazine while I ate supper and it made my blood pressure soar. They don't seem to understand that unlike PBR, NASCAR, and NFL fans, fans of fishing would rather be participants than spectators. I understand that magazines make money through advertising, but I'm tired of the articles being all about the celebrity of the anglers and product promos rather than instruction and interesting stories.
I'm mad at our government and the O'Bama worship that our media is still engaging in. However, it seems that the leaders of Europe are going to give him a dose of reality this week. When the French president is making more sense than ours, our country is in pretty bad shape.

I'm glad that I live close enough to several lakes that I can go fishing when the weather allows, I'm glad that I have family and friends that I can talk with about fishing without being sold something. I'm glad that I live in Texas.

Leaving Amarillo

The girls and I are leaving Amarillo this morning and heading to Aztec, NM with my dad and Frances. Here are pictures of Colby, Kyleen and baby Conner. And the girls playing in the snow. The weather yesterday was sunny and warmer. Most of the snow has melted. We are in for another beautiful sunny day for our drive to NM. Bye Gran-nola and Papa.

Survey

My girls are gone and the house is quiet and quite boring, so I've been spending a lot of time online.
My "surfing" is usually spent watching to see when I'm going to work, looking at the weather as it might relate to my work or fishing plans, our bank acounts, the Texas Fishing Forum, craig's list, and blogs. Jones and I like watching U tube videos together. I pay bills online twice a month, but that is because I have to, not for fun.

Survey questions:
Where do you spend your time on the internet?

Blizzard

On Thursday, the girls and I drove from Temple to Amarillo and my dad and Frances drove from Aztec to Amarillo. We were meeting up to celebrate and meet Conner Lee Hilton. The weather for the drive was about 78 degrees. When I got to Amarillo about 7pm the temperature was 71. This Friday morning, the temp was 21 and a wind chill of -7. It has snowed all day and we have not left my mom's house. My dad and Frances are staying at a hotel and they did make it to Colby's for the day and back to the hotel safely. They had a good day with baby Conner! Steve placed two pin wheels in the yard and we watched as they slowly disappeared under the snow(You can see them in one of the pictures , a red and a blue). And the rest of our day consisted of story times, kitchen play, blocks, coloring, playing ball, dress up, naps, eating, and bundling up to go out side for approx. 2 minutes. Jones and Georgia stayed on the front porch and that was just enough to satisfy their urge to play in the snow. At 7:30 pm, it is still snowing and mom's yard measures about 8-10inches of snow. There are snow drifts that are much taller. Hopefully, the sun will shine tomorrow and the girls and I can meet our new nephew and cousin and see dad and Frances! But, until then we are having fun with mom and Steve!

Bluebonnets

On Wednesday, Kirsten, Madalyn and the Brown girls went to a patch of bluebonnets for some photos. Poor Madalyn got ant bites. But, she is a tough little girl and hardly cried!

The girls liked running through the flowers! Jones was sentimental and picked flowers for me. When I could get Georgia over for pics she was making silly faces or jumping! And Annie wasn't quite sure what we were doing, but then she started smelling and touching the flowers. Maybe in a couple of weeks the bluebonnets will be taller and fuller!

Jones Inflates My Ego

Leslie and Jamie took the girls to the Beltonian Theater yesterday to see "Bolt". I went fishing.
After we all got home, Jones and I were working in the garden and had the following exchange.

JB- "Jonesy, what was that movie about?"
JMcB- "Well, there was a girl and she had a dog and then a bad man took her father."
JB- "That sounds sad. Would you be sad if someone took me?"
JMcB- silent
JB- "Would you come look for me and try to get me back?"
JMcB- 10 more seconds of silence, then "Well, I don't really think they could take you. You're too strong."
JB- "You think I'm pretty strong?"
JMcB- "Yeah. If they tried to take you, you could just dead 'em."

Pics from the past 15 days

Look at the Brown girls work the garden! We are so proud of them!

Madalyn, Annie and Anna Kate enjoying a play date.

This is Georgia at Kael's birthday party. Isn't she the cutest puppy?

Annie likes sunglasses!

Annie's favorite thing to do, after giving Madalyn a hug, is pull out her bow. I think she is just jealous of the hair. :)

Monday's Fishing Report

Went fishing with Todd yesterday evening. Last weeks cold front and rain made the crappie hard to find, but the catfish were biting. Cleaned a dozen fish last night.

Monday Fishing Part 2

I had the camera with me yesterday, but forgot to get it out and take pictures of the Cunningham boys fishing adventure. I'll do better next time.
4 for 8 on the jugs yesterday afternoon. Biggest was a bluecat about 6-7lb. I caught a bunch of crappie before the boys got there, but most were undersized. The boys each caught fish, but the bite had slowed quite a bit.
Cleaning fish was entertaining. I think they went from being repulsed to being facinated as we examined the stomache contents of the largest catfish (There was an almost but not quite digested perch inside) and discussed the circle of life.

Recon

I'm supposed to take Todd C and his boys, Will and Kyle, fishing this evening so I went out and did a little recon mission this morning. Put out 8 jugs and caught 5 catfish. Caught a few too small to keep crappie and the two in the picture. Hung a hybrid on my crappie jig, but he straightened the hook on my little jig when I got him close to the boat. Not bad for 2 hours on the water.

To any game warden who comes across this picture: Yes, the smallest fish is/was legal. 12 1/2 inches.

Annie's Birthday

Annie turned one a week ago and Justin was home for her party. Yea!!! She had three friends over to celebrate, Madalyn, Anna Kate and Zeke. Gran-Nola and Mimi were here too. Jones was excited and dressed for the occassion and helped Georgia pick out a "party" outfit too. Annie was content to sit on my lap and let Georgia help open her presents. Annie liked the attention she received while the Happy Birthday song was being sung. She did, finally, get a little messy with her cake after Gran-Nola coaxed her with grapes on top. I think she was more excited about seeing her lunch. Annie went to the dr last Tuesday for her one year check and shots. She weighs 18lbs 3 oz and is 28.5 inches. Thanks to all for the gifts, prayers and love. Annie is such a blessing in our lives and family. She has such a sweet spirit and a quick smile. We love you Annie!

Crappie day

Went fishing with Jones this morning. The lake is down some and my favorite crappie spots are out of the water, but we hunted around and caught a few. The wind made it tough to stay on a spot for long. Good times.

Test Driving the Boat

Wal-Mart

Wouldn't Wal-Mart be fun if we all dressed up to go to Wal-Mart?.........