Day Fifteen Hundred and Fifty-Eight

The Bird's Eye View

So, half of our grass is brown. 

Awesome.

But it's rained a lot here in Florida over the past couple weeks, suggesting that our grass isn't dying from dehydration. And if that's not the case, then what? Well, our friend Dana opened my eyes to the fact that our yellow lawn could potentially be being eaten alive by chinch bugs. Uhhhh nooooo! Never heard of the things, but our lawn looks strikingly similar to other yards attacked by the tiny critters. Patches and patches of yellowed, dying grass. And so, we tried our best to test for the bugs yesterday using an aluminum can punctured into the ground and filled with water. If the grass is being attacked, the little bugs float to the top of the water. We waited a couple minutes after filling the can with water aaaaaand: no bugs. Hmmm. 

Then I realized that Adam placed the can in a patch of grass that looked more like a patch of dirt. The directions said to place the can in a spot where the yellow grass meets the green grass. So, I told him to take it out and puncture a new section of grass. But when he took it out...the entire clump of dirt he punctured came right up with the can! So now we have a perfectly circular hole of dirt in the middle of our yellow lawn and a stubborn Dad who refused to test another portion of grass in fear that the can would leave another hole. For Pete's sake! BUT THEN! We stopped a landscaper truck driving down our street and asked him if he thought we had a case of the chinch bug. He told us that he thought our grass was being watered TOO MUCH. What?! We've only been watering it three days a week! He told us to set the sprinkler system to only water on Saturdays. Okaaaay. I don't know about that. But it's worth a try I guess. However, I'm convinced we do, in fact, have the chinch bugs and so I had Adam run to the hardware store to pick up some bird feed. You're supposed to sprinkle the bird feed on your lawn to attract the birds and when the birds find the food, they'll also find the chinches! Here's to hoping! There's a few other methods we could use to rid ourselves of the likely bugs, but we're all about trying every natural remedy first before turning to the dreaded chemicals!! Uhhh! Hopefully we can figure this out before our entire yard dies and we're forced to re-sod. Shoot me.

I retract. 

Don't shoot me.

I'd miss this mischievous face WAY too much!!

Hey there MillieGirl.

You're looking rather divinely chunky, My Lovey.

What's up your sleeve though...I know something is brewing.

Thought so.

Amelia managed to open her diaper bag, locate her wipes, open her wipes, and remove almost every single one of her wipes before finding the perfect one to suck on. I just knew you were up to trouble. I saved the bag of wipes, gave Amelia some lovin,' and put her back down, thinking her troublemaking moments were retired for the night.

Not so.

I was in the middle of washing dishes when...this.

Amelia had climbed into the dishwasher and was coaxing Whitacre up to join her!

What a little turkey!

Certainly, certainly, she was done for the night.

NOPE!

After removing her from the dishwasher (hahahaha so funny!), I went back to rinsing the dishes when I heard a CRASH! What in the world?! Our daughter had pulled a plate out of the dishwasher, shattering it to pieces when it hit the ground. I obviously had no time for a photo opportunity, as I was worried sick that my child had just been punctured by a piece of glass, but yeah...totally happened. 

After that, I knew she was done. No more trouble out of her for the night.

WRONG AGAIN, MAMA!

SHE FOUND AND STARTED OPENING HER CHRISTMAS PRESENTS! 

AMELIA! 

Our girl was a wild child yesterday! Wipes, dishwasher, broken plate, Christmas presents. She was on a terror. And though she made the biggest mess to date, we're still cracking up about it even now! Love you Crazy Lady!