The Husband to the rescue

It was time to get the job done.


We put if off because it was too rainy. 


We put it off because it was too hot.


We put it off mostly because we were scared of these!

Our climbing rose has some wicked sharp thorns that we were not excited to tangle with.


However, this guy (Japanese beetle) and about 200,000 of his friends have done quite a job of devouring the leaves on our poor climbing rose, leaving it with a lot of dead branches that needed to be removed.

But like I said, it was a scary task!

Wicked sharp man!


Thankfully the Husband, who is very brave, came to the rescue!

He chopped out all of those wicked sharp branches with his bare arms! Who's the man? The Husband is the Man!!


It took a couple of hours and a little blood, but finally there was nothing left of the climbing rose but healthy new branches.


I wanted to cry a little.


There was a time when the climbing rose was healthy and full of leaves!

You can see it behind the Husband in this photo. Look at all of those leaves! Beautiful! The Husband looks very good too! Kilt!!


You can see it's lovely blooms in the top left corner of this photo.

But this year, it looked like this.

It looked kind of sparse didn't it? It was so full of dead branches...

and wicked sharp thorns. I may have said that already.


Now the climbing rose looks like this.

SNIFF! I know it's a good thing to trim it back, but now it looks pa-the-tic! 


Bad bugs!


Time to fight back!


We put out some Japanese beetle traps. They're gross, but they do the job!

Next we'll put down something called Milky Spore. It's supposed to be natural and safe for people, pets and beneficial insects, but it kills Japanese beetles while they are still grubs. YAY Milky Spore!


There are chemical sprays that will get rid of the beetles, but the sprays will also get rid of our Praying Mantises. We don't want that!


The Mantises are starting to get pretty big and though they can't keep up with the large number of beetles, they are doing a great job of keeping down the populations of other bugs.

It's also fun to find them in the garden!


Thanks to the Husband for saving the climbing rose!


Christine

The face of a champ

I am not a good sports photographer!


My girls continue to play sports, so I intend to work on that! I want to be able to freeze for all time some amazing action shots of them!


It isn't the action that I love about these shots though. It's the facial expressions!

Fabulous!

Excellent!

Love it!


That my friends is the face of a champion!!


Christine

Hot

It's another very hot day in Minnesota today. 100 degrees and humid. It's don't bother to do the hair humid! Can't breath when you step outside humid! I can't get a clear photo humid.

I should have known the camera lens would fog! Darn humidity! It did make for a good shot though.


It's too hot to spend time outside. No weeding the garden. No picnics. And ice cream melts before you can get your first taste! grrrr


The heat is making me grumpy!


Since I don't want an entire blog post dedicated to my complaints about the heat, and frankly it's all I can think about, I'm just going to share some photos with you that I like.


Enjoy!

Okay, I realize this one may seem like I'm still fixated on the miserable heat, but really I just like the photo!

 I promise, Lilo was not panting from the heat! She had just been brushed and it made her happy! It made me happy too! She has been shedding buckets of fur because of the heat! Sorry! There I go again about the heat.

That's better! You would never know it was a sweltering hot day when I took this photo! I really like this shot! A perfect rose!

I laughed when I saw this duck. A great perch.


I'd just like to point out that I didn't say anything about the temperature on the day I took this photo!

I can't help it! The heat is all I can think about. 


I think we'll have to go for a splash in Grandma and Papa's pool today!

Miss Emma Bean approves!


Christine

O for the love of curls

Yesterday was haircut day for the girls.


They get their hair cut by the same stylist so I schedule one appointment right after the other.


Sadly the stylist who used to cut the their hair no longer works at the salon we go to. The girls were going to be seeing someone new.


I tend forget from one visit to the next that Miss Emma Bean should get her hair cut first. If she does not, she looks through the hairstyle books and gets very worked up about what to do with her hair. 


Bangs or no bangs?


Cut it shorter or let it grow longer?


Layers or no layers?


Pink streak or no pink streak?


Add in the fact that she was going to see someone new, that she doesn't know...ugh! It was a long wait for Emma Bean's turn to get her haircut!


When Emma Bean's turn finally came to see the stylist we were both beginning to feel pretty stressed out! Me maybe a little more so! 


When the new stylist, who was very nice by the way, asked Miss Bean how she would like her hair cut, Miss Bean just showed the stylist, who was very sweet, a photo she'd found of the lovely Taylor Swift.

The stylist asked Miss Bean if she liked the curls.


Miss Bean said yes.


"We can do that!" she said.


I added in a quick request for a bit of a trim off the ends.


After the removal of about 1/2 an inch of hair, and the expert skill and great patience it must take to curl the multitude of small sections of hair necessary to create such a look, Miss Emma Bean was returned to me beaming with delight!

I think the new stylist has found herself a client for life!


Miss Emma Bean doesn't ever want to wash her hair again...it might ruin her new look...but hey, at least a decision was made and she got it trimmed!


Christine

Smoothies

The first few days with braces were a little rough for Miss Sofi Bug! Her teeth hurt and she could not touch her back molars together. Therefore, no chewing. The orthodontist advised a soft or liquid diet for the first couple of days.


The poor girl. She was not excited about a liquid diet.


Though I know they really bothered her and I should have been giving her sympathetic looks, I couldn't help but grin at her every time she opened her mouth. She looks so super cute with her braces! 

Because Miss Sofi Bug likes to have fruit in the morning with her breakfast, and it was very difficult to eat fruit those first few days, we began to make fruit smoothies.


I had forgotten how good fruit smoothies are. I used to make them all of the time when the girls were little. If I remember correctly, they decided at some point that they didn't like them anymore and that's why I stopped making them. Since fruit smoothies seemed like the best way for Miss Sofi Bug to get her fruit in the morning, we began to make them again, and now the girls think they're fantastic! Yep, that's how it goes!


Smoothies are very easy to make.


Pour about 1/2 cup of orange juice into the pitcher of a blender.

Toss in a handful of frozen Strawberries and a handful of frozen blueberries. You can use fresh berries but the frozen make the smoothies seem more like an icy treat than something good for you!

Lastly, toss in 1/2 a banana.


Blend well and serve.

YUM!!! Homemade smoothies are delicious.


However...a little warning about fruit smoothies with berries. ALWAYS check your teeth after consuming a  smoothie!


I wouldn't want anyone to arrive at church...check their car mirror for a final do-I-look-alright inspection...which they should have done at home prior to leaving for church...discover berry seeds wedged between their front teeth...then have nothing but their fingernail to dislodge the unsightly seeds...while hoping NO ONE pulls into a nearby parking space to witness the embarrassing scene! 


It could happen! It could leave a person flustered! It might cause a person to hiss at their family the question "why didn't anyone tell me I had seeds stuck in my teeth!?"


I'm just saying!


Otherwise, what's not to like about a fruit smoothie? Enjoy!


Christine

Today's the day

I was up at 5:30 this morning because today Miss Sofi Bug got braces put on her teeth and her appointment was for 7am. 7AM! ugh


I would have gladly made her appointment for later in the day, except that would have meant waiting a few more weeks for an opening to get the braces on, the orthodontist is very busy, and she was too excited to wait any longer to get it done. So 7am it was.

And frankly the 7am appointment gave me the perfect excuse to get a large Starbucks Mocha! mmmmmm

By the way...I also have a new hair color!


Old color.

Me, Miss Sofi Bug, my Mom Deb,  Miss Emma Bean, my Grandma Hazel

New color.

I was hoping for just a little less blond and a little more of my natural brown. My colorist may have taken the color a little darker than I had hoped for...or a lot darker. Well, it's fun to try something new.


So anyway, it only took about 40 minutes to get the braces on and then another 20 minutes to explain how to brush her teeth to best take care of the braces. No more Gummy Bears. She didn't cry, but she did pout quite a bit about that one!


I think she looks very cute with her new braces!

And I will just warn you right now that there will likely be a lot of photos of her and her braces posted in the blog. I may occasionally just throw one in. It may not have anything to do with the post I am writing, but I intend to get my money's worth!

 And she looks so cute!

Christine


P.S. Please don't tell her I said she looks cute. If she asks, I said pretty! Apparently cute is for little kids, NOT teenagers!

Celebrating and remembering

Yesterday was the Husband's birthday. We had a wonderful time celebrating him!


Last Saturday we celebrated my cousin's little boy. He turned 5 years old. Yay 5!

If you look very closely, you can just make out his cute face in this photo. I know, it's hard to see him. He was all decked out in camouflage! It was part of his party's army theme. He was difficult to spot most of the day!


This is his Mom and my cousin Rebecca with her littlest guy. She has just the two boys.

She is lovely and she is very nice. I like her! I'm only occasionally envious that she got that beautiful red hair and I did not! sigh


This is my cousin's Husband.

You do not have double vision! He is a twin. It can be confusing sometimes when they're both together! Her husband is the one in the blue. I think. Yes! Definitely the one in the blue! I'm pretty sure. Either way, they are both great guys. For sure the blue!


The kids had a great time playing with squirt guns at the party.


There was a bit of sneakiness from Miss Sofi Bug as she hid a the top of some stairs and sprayed the younger kids down below.

Miss Emma Bean may have taken things a little too seriously!

 All in all it was good fun for everyone!

We have done quite a bit of celebrating the last few days.


Today we will celebrate again. But it will be a little different. 


Today we remember the birthday of the Husband's Grandma Doris.


Grandma Doris went home to be with Jesus last December. She would have been 105 years old today. That's right, she lived to be 104 years old! Amazing!


The Husband's Sister put it very beautifully when she said "Grandma Doris left a legacy of love!" And she sure did! I can see it woven throughout her entire family from her children to her great grand children.


This is my favorite photo of Grandma Doris.

Smiling and full of joy, she too was very lovely!


Christine