Random photos

Ok, bear with me here - just random photos that were taken in the month of June :-)

Oh, this one.  I let my homemade yogurt sit in the oven for too long. I didn't have the oven turned on. I just use the heat from the light to "cook" it.  But if it stays too warm for too long, I guess it just starts to separate.  This did not look good at all! But thankfully still able to salvage some.

I may have posted this photo earlier in the month.  We finally bought a wood splitter and it's great because the boys can use this to split all those logs we have sitting in the backyard!

And we have a lot of them!!

Although, we'll need to figure out what to do with the logs that are too long.  We do have a chainsaw. We'll definitely need to figure out how to use that!

Charlie is down to just wearing retainers at night!

Here's a before photo:

And look how straight all his teeth are now!

These devices used to take photos crack me up all the time ;-D

Before I forget, we also had Charlie draw and color in one of the ceiling tiles. I think it looks pretty cool! He can check out his fancy artwork when he looks up to the ceiling while getting his teeth checked next time ;-)

One of many ice-cream trips!

Still learning how to cut those glass bottles. It's so finicky!

Some of my kokedama are dying. I've come to find out that succulents are not the best candidates:

I'm slowly trying to figure out the right combination of soil - be it potting soil, with peat moss, cactus soil, perlite, you name it!

This one started out really well in a glass bottle:

But after gifting it, it started to die too.  Noooo...!! I'll have to eventually fix that for my friend!

Forgot one more photos of Sammy.  She discovered this cushion I had on the bench.  It is advertised as a dog pillow and seems that she definitely knew that.  Ha!

And here's Sammy again, by the stairwell - just checking things out when I'm about the leave the house. She's too cute!

More plants for my kokedama project!

These tropical plants are definitely doing better.

My new hat with the company logo :-D

I was very happy how this hummingbird turned out on the glass container. I used a series of dots:

I did put a kokedama on top of it, but a hybrid version is what I'm calling it. I inserted a self-watering wick and it is inserted into this glass container for watering.  So far, it's been working quite well but no one seems to want to buy the plant. I think it may just end up on my table at some point. It's definitely little to no maintenance!  Oh, here's a photo of it here that I just found:

Maybe it's just looking a tad messy. Ha!

With the extra money I've earned from the business, I finally decided to buy a Monstera plant. It's a bit messy at this moment!

At some point, I will have to learn how to split it and make little ones so I can use them for my kokedama.

Peek-a-boo!!

Okay, having fun when I discovered my "California" sunglasses in the car. LOL!!

One last photo - taking boys to the nursery to buy plants for the garden.  I've discovered that cone-flowers don't just come in purple!

Looking forward to more color-splash in the yard next season.  Love it!!

Butterfly and flowers

I was so excited to see a butterfly by the window the other day! Although, the "other day" really means like back in June.  Ha!  Oh, before that - look how tall our corn plants are!

And here's the butterfly - so pretty! And I didn't even realize that we had a butterfly bush:

But supposedly butterfly bush are an invasive plant?!  Ok, just looked this up - it's basically not a native plant and could compete with other native plants.  So I guess until it gets out of hand, it's staying :-)

First cucumber of the season!

Wish my tomatoes were doing better. They are tiny!!

I also planted sunflowers this year.  This one is bigger than my hand!

I love these coneflowers:

Another different sunflower in the garden.  Love them!

The baby bee-balm plant that I purchased is really struggling. But hopefully it will come back stronger next year?!

This hydrangea that I put in a pot is pink! So weird because most of the time, the flower petals are actually white. I read somewhere that it's the soil that makes the different colors. Interesting!

We have pears!!

And apples by the front yard but those aren't looking so great. Although I have eaten a few and they are not too bad.

It's so amazing how these flowers are shaped:

It's getting pretty crowded in here!!

Hope to get this front part of the house more organized. I'll have to dig up some of those hydrangeas. I'd have to say, they start to take up a lot of the room in the flower bed! But love the splash of colors everywhere. There's definitely a lot more variety of flowers here in the Midwest.  Still learning as we continue to live here :-)

Dog sitting & July 4th weekend

Right before the July 4 holiday weekend, there was a shout-out to our community from one of the neighbor's on helping her daughter out.  They were going on vacation and needed a pet-sitter for their little Maltipoo.  Well, I figured - why not?! We are not going anywhere, plus it would be a good chance for the boys to learn to be responsible.  I'm sure the money earned will also be a good incentive!

Well, here's Sammy! She is the cutest thing!

And actually, she probably spoiled us because she is such a good dog. So easy to care for. Especially when she only needs to eat twice a day. And when I though she was super excited to see me in the morning and/or when she comes to my bedside, she really actually needs to go outside to pee! LOL!

During her first night, she was all over the place. She was in our master bedroom and then, I could hear her in the boys' room. She has a collar one with a few tags so you can definitely hear all that jingling and jangling around. Needless to say, ALL of us were super-exhausted the next morning. I clearly remember Graham saying, "Well, there goes my sleep pattern!" as he checks on his sleep score on his Fitbit watch. Ha ha!

Sammy loves to sit by anyone. I think she has taken a shinning to my side of the chair:

Or... on a high spot of the couch:

Thankfully she's not a big dog, so it's easy for the boys to walk her. Or run with her!

We even brought her out to watch the parade. We did stay away from the loud fire-truck although she wasn't too bothered by the loud noise.  It did seem that she was gravitating towards the little kids. I think she misses her little man!

Tired Sammy!

Hang in there with me - there's a lot of photos with Sammy sleeping or just lazing around. Ha ha!

In the meantime, this year, Graham won the fishing derby! No trophy but lots of goodies!!

Daddy's turn to walk the dog:

Funny enough, Bobby hasn't had any issues with poop-duty.  Graham did gag a couple times. Poor fella! 

The owner left a nice long outdoor leash so Sammy was able to hang out outside while we are outside as well:

More July 4th celebration for us and Sammy:

Not exactly sure that she's allowed on the "island" but I think she's small enough that we can get away with it. And she doesn't bark much so that's a plus!

I dragged the boys out to volunteer.  We are selling tickets for a few hours.. It's amazing how many people get themselves involved in this neighborhood to make this event a success!

Lots going on from food, to more food, and a merchandise tent, and even some music/entertainment!

Looks like I have to feed my volunteer too. Ha!

Graham, on the other hand, has left for the lake:

Kayak time!

I did have Graham help out by the grill with Bobby one of the days too:

He said he had stand for 3 hours straight and that was a super long time! Wait until he learns about the "real" world!!

Sammy is being a good girl :-)

When we take Sammy out for walks, she knows exactly where our home is. It's amazing how quickly she learns that!

Charlie has a bad sunburn, although you can't really see that in the photo.  He decided it was ok to take his shirt off while playing on the trampoline at a friend's house.  Oops... bad idea!

Another spot for Sammy to lay on. Yup, high up on a big pillow:

Or, my favorite part of the night, when Sammy lays across my legs. So comforting somehow. Ha!

Sammy will literally hang out with anyone. Such a sweet dog:

She even has a teddy, which she sleeps with on my foot-stool occasionally:

OMG, she did not like the mower!

She just kept barking. LOL!

Another spot to hang out at when Charlie's playing video games in the basement:

Or again, just on my chair next to me. But she's taking up so much space even as a little dog!

Sammy loves to sit up here when she's waiting for the boys to come home:

And then, she just gets tired of waiting. Ha ha!

Charlie put a blanket on the couch and gosh, she enjoyed this new spot:

Can you tell, we are definitely spoiling her now :-)

I think Graham fed her on Day 1 and so ever since then, she would always go up to Graham anytime she was hungry. Too funny!

Family we-fie with Sammy!

We are definitely going to miss snuggle times with Sammy:

We actually did have an opportunity to adopt a dog but there was one person that vetoed and so looks like we will just have to wait before the entire family is ready for a dog!  So if anything, I guess I can have my chair back:

OMG, Graham took Sammy to the park on the last day before she was getting picked up.  How cute is this?!

Sammy's family took a couple extra days to pick her up. Unfortunately, they struck a deer in a small little town during their trip. Thankfully everyone was OK!  Just glad they were able to trust us with Sammy during that entire time. Sammy is of course welcome back anytime. Although I have to say, I do enjoy being able to sleep in a bit as she would almost always come into the bedroom and wake me up at 4:30am.  Ha!