Pest Patrol

Japenese Bettles have been eating away at the only fresh veggies we are getting from our garden at the moment, our beans! It is amazing that something so small...

...can make such a mess!

The kids and I whiped up a batch of Japanese Beetle bait to trap and kill the bettles with out spraying them with all that yucky stuff! Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

1 cup water

1/4 cup sugar

1 mashed banana

2 1/2 tsp. or 1 pkg yeast



Dissolve sugar and yeast in the water. Mix the well maxhed banana into the sugar water. Put all ingredients in a gallon milk jug. Place the jug (with the top off) in an area where Japanese Beetles gather. The fermentation and odor of the bait attracts the beetles which get in the jug but not out.



Here is James and Emmy giving it a good whirl!

One web site I was reading said to place the jug off the gorund a few inches, here's our jug, let's hope this works...

*****UPDATE*****

The bait in the jug was not working well and so we tried a bucket of soapy water and just knocked them into it. This seemed to work well if you go out once or twice and day to drown any little pests that may have arrived.

Walking in a "Winter" Wonderland

I know it's not really snow but if you had seen the living room you would have been reminded of a winter wonderland! Actually it's baby powder!! On my way out the door my eye caught Emmy playing with it, I asked her not to and to put it away and then proceeded out the door. Five to ten minutes later out came miss Carrie looking like this:

I looked at her and knew exactly what it was! I ran into the house and found Emmy still holding the now empty baby powder container and happily sprinkling it here and there.

This is what the rest of the living room looked like:

And the partners in crime:

Although I not sure Carrie really had anything to do with the mess besides being "in" it!

Nelson as you can see was not in on the fun but did want in on the pic! Pat said he wished some had made it into his boots!!!

Fun at the Beach

We have been having all kinds of fun with our friends the Everitt's who are visiting from CA! Here are some pics from a beach day we had at Province Lake.

Sarah, Carrie, and Emmy enjoying the sun!

James and Ethan working hard on a sand castle! Heave-ho Ethan!!!

Mollie had fun with here buddy Nelson splashing, digging, eating...you name it in the sand!

Carrie and Emmy posing for a pic.

Emmy had a great time in the tube with Sarah and Carrie. Meme (the Everitts Meme) entertained the girls by pushing them around in the tube! She had a blast!!

Ethan and Sammy using the Octopus float...which had a hole in the bottom part so only the head filled with air! It didn't work just right but they still had fun.

Jessica, Samantha, and James posing in the water!

And then...as if by magic...what should appear...
...you guessed it, the ice cream truck!
The perfect treat for a hot day at the beach!!
Thanks to the Everitts and "Meme" for inviting us!

Karate Uniforms

Here are some fun pics of the boys in their new Karate uniforms!

The girls had to get in on the action too!!
Nice kick Mollie! Thanks Mimi and Papa for the uniforms!

4th of July Float 2009

Our float for the 4th of July parade was lots of fun this year! Our theme was Pioneer/Little House on the Prairie. It was so nice to have the Everitts here to join in all the fun and chaos!!! Here are a bunch of pics from the day of and the work days before:

Pat finally got to use his truck and trailer in the parade this year! He has been wanting to use it for several years now but we have always come up with something else. This year it was a perfect fit! Thanks to Pat and L.A. Drew for the use of the truck and trailer!

Mollie got to have fun with Daddy playing in the truck and blowing the air horn!

This is our theme sign Nice job Muria!

Sarah, Emmy, and Carrie lounging on the couch after a hard days work! Oops...change that last word to play, Emmy has had so much fun with the Everitt girls!!

Pre-float sign painting by Maggie and Hannah!

Creating garden veggies in the kitchen (one of our major work stations).

Jessica and James (yes that is Jess, the bonnet was a little to big!)

Here Emmy and I are standing in the "garden", you can see the corn stalks behind me, the cabbages in front and the bean poles right behind Mr. Ness.

Our little "Laura Ingles"! My Mom made most of the costume and it came out really cute!

I was SO glad Emmy cooperated and wore her costume and smiled and rode on the float (I did have a little trouble with the last one)! The last two years she has been very uncooperative and ended up riding in the truck with Dad or going with my Mom!

Carrie looking super cute in her bonnet too!

Emmy and my Mom, thanks for all your help Mom!

Caleb, James, and David fishing in the creek!

Callie and Jessica at the laundry washing station. You can also see our "little house" in the background.

Samantha and Ethan holding down the homestead! You can also see Maverick driving the "plow horse" in the background.

The fun kinda came to a halt when it started raining and high winds tried to take Ethan's hat, the corn stalks and the laundry! These next pic is of the tarp we secured over the float to keep everyone safe and dry on the way home!

A bunch of the kids piled into the cabin to stay warm and dry!

Mollie was being a real "ham" and enjoyed the ride back under the tarp a lot!

Hannah snuggling with Carrie and Emmy.

Maggie keeping Sarah warm!

All in all it was lots of fun and a big adventure on the way home! Maggie even said it was her favorite so far because of the adventure of the storm, rain and tarp!