pest warfare

I have not been able to blog much as my camera has been a bit on the fritz, but I must mention my husbands war with pests. I have always secretly laughed at his determination when he fights bees every year. He attacks the bee hives with strategic tactics such as night attacks, bug sprays, and water hoses. I can not tell you how many times I have heard such commotion after these battles with yelling, hooting, and a bang of a falling ladder. Kevin usually ends up with a sting or two which he whines about for days. The bees have become a yearly event, but now, we have several other pests we have had to deal with. Two weeks ago, while Kevin was making popcorn, I heard a loud thug and a choice swear word from the kitchen. He informed me the next day that while he was rummaging in the cupboard for a bowl, a little mouse ran up his leg. He was quick to set up an arsenal of mousetraps throughout the house and started with bating them with peanut butter. This was NOT effective as these little critters were pretty good at eating the peanut butter without setting off the trap. Next he tried cheese, and after several nights this finally worked and he got one. Since we have not seen anymore, I believe that this may have been the only one, but Kevin was all puffed up about his victory. About a week ago, we found some ants on our living room floor ganging up on a Cheez-it crumb. I could see the look in Kevin's eye as if to say "You are messing with the wrong house, little ants" It was a little scary as he planned his attack on these tiny creatures. He tried a flying insect spray that we happen to have around, but that did not work. He then bought an ant spray and was so excited when he read the label that said it kept the ants away for up to two weeks. He studied the corner where they were coming in and began spraying like a mad man. After I cleared the kids out of the house for a while due to the toxic nature of the spray, Kevin very proudly informed me that he killed them all. I tried to act excited, but I couldn't help but wonder if I lacked the testosterone it took to find so much satisfaction in beating up on little creatures who were just trying to eat. Anyway, I am glad that they are gone, but I will leave these battles to my husband and I will continue to get a little giggle out of how serious he is about ridding the world of pests.

Sure signs it is finally spring.

We have been busy this spring with soccer starting up, getting ready for a garage sale, and spring planting. I actually plan on doing much of my planting on Mother's Day which has become my own tradition, but I have been preparing with some new garden boxes, a huge pile of mulch and topsoil on my driveway, and a brunch today that featured a master gardener as the speaker. I think that I am finally ready to venture out to the local nursery and make some plant purchases.
Soccer has had its ups and downs as usual with some very cold mornings and some disappointing losses, but today Haylee was happy to report a 12-0 win. Yikes, I felt a little bad for the other team. We have just finished celebrating all of our April birthdays. My dad, my grandma, Kevin, and Haylee who is now 7. We are planning a trip to Libby Lu for a makeover tomorrow with 4 other little friends to celebrate her birthday and she plans on getting her ears pierced. (We'll see if she goes through with it) This should be fun and I promise to show off all of the pictures.

Claire is sure excited about all that the outdoors has to offer. She loves her swing, and picking dandelions although I wish I could get her to pick more as we seem to have too many in our yard. Here are some cute pictures of her riding in the wheelbarrow and wearing Kenna's bike helmet ready to water the flowers. (notice her little ponytail poking through the top of the hat!)

We took a great walk the other day and got to see baby rabbits and the new fouls down at the end of our street at the horse farm. The one in the picture was so friendly, but didn't know how to eat the carrots that Kenna tried to feed him. I think that he still was nursing most of the time and didn't quite get the chewing thing. The baby rabbits were at a neighbors house and her husband found them when he was raking. They were sooo cute and Claire was dying to get her hands on them.

Anyway, so far spring is going well for us. Hope everyone else is enjoying as well.