this and that

I photographed these sweethearts last week. He didn’t realize he was going to be photographed so it was an “ambush” photoshoot. Which is pretty much exactly what I have to do with my kids these days… so business as usual.

**********

File under Things I Have Tried To Grow That Are Trying To Die. A few weeks ago we were at a local plant nursery when I spotted this Japanese Maple and had to have it. Caleb dutifully planted it in the front yard where I could see it from the kitchen window. I didn’t even remove the tag… like maybe that might convince it to keep thriving like it did in the gallon bucket. And now it is definitely looking very sad. My plant woes continue.

But these evergreens by the front door are looking swell! Oh wait. They’re fake. And so might be every tree I ever purchase again.

**********

I’ve nurtured an on-again, off-again relationship with this book the past week, until the last chapters when I couldn’t put it down and had to read the last few pages on the bathroom floor next to the toilet paper roll because we’d run out of tissues in the house. And books don’t do that to me so when Caleb was all “What in the world is the matter?!” I just said “I hate this book.” (Which isn’t true, by the way. It was really good.)

We did lake trip over the long weekend and my Dad got to experience how much fun it is to play cards with kids that lay them all out on the table for your viewing pleasure. You can pretend you don’t see them, or use it to your advantage and end every game in two minutes.

Ping pong rifle. The highlight of the trip.

Miss Pancake lived up to her nickname by having a brush with death via a yellow jacket nest she found out in the woods. She’s so tiny that they tried to eat her alive. Thankfully we had a vet on site (thanks Dad!) and she was back to herself the next day. Hopefully a bit wiser, but with her you never know.