I have learned a valuable lesson

 

When your son wants to grow his hair long and wants you to love it as much as he does, tell him you do.  Tell him it looks good on him even if you can’t see his eyes (because it really doesn’t look too bad) and because he wants you to love it and  needs you to love it.

And because he might come up to you Saturday morning and say “you know, I think I need my hair cut today”.  At which point you say “are you sure?” as you grab the car keys before he changes his mind.

 

          So, this was Brax a few days ago…

 

                      

 

            and this is Brax today…

 

                             

 

Funny story…everyone kept telling him how much his hair looked like Justin Bieber and that apparently isn’t a good thing to an 11 year old boy (hmmm…perhaps that is why he suddenly needed a haircut).  When he came to tell me he needed a haircut this morning he also told me it needed to look like Michael J. Fox.  It caught me off guard for a minute but he has been watching all the old “Back to the Future” movies and a few “Family Ties” reruns on satellite lately.  He said his hair looked “cool” and since any mother from my generation would certainly agree that Michael J. Fox was definitely cool, I helped him print out a picture to take along.  Between you and me, I’m not so sure she captured the “Michael J. Fox” but he loves it and it is out of those beautiful eyes!

 

And for some reason (maybe God just thought I needed a smile) Cayden walked up and asked to have his picture taken too.  That never happens so I always take advantage of it.

 

 

I might be biased but I am pretty sure I have two of the most handsome young men ever!

And now, from the people who brought you pummelos

 

Remember these?

 

About a year ago Cayden and I tried pummelos for the first time.  That turned out so well we decided to venture outside our comfort zone again.

 

Fargo isn’t known for its selection of exotic fruit but this week at the grocery store I found these.

 

 

It’s an ugli fruit! And, yeah it’s ugly.  Here is what we learned about ugli fruit:

 

it’s a citrus fruit that is a hybrid of pummelos, oranges, and tangerines

slightly larger than a grapefruit but has fewer seeds

the name comes from the unsightly appearance of its green, rough, wrinkled skin

 

 

Here is the inside.  They are very fragrant.  We thought they might be a little bitter, like a grapefruit but they were very sweet.  Like the pummelo, Cayden and I fought over the ugli fruit.  If you see one, you really have to try it.

 

Every January, Steve’s parents send us a box of Cushman honeybells.  We look forward to it all year.  You can only get them in January and February.  They certainly don’t have them in Fargo so we get them shipped to us.  If you haven’t had a honeybell before, you ABSOLUTELY have to try one.  I promise you won’t be disappointed.

 seems like I am on the ugli fruit/honeybell marketing team : )

 

honeybells are a hybrid of tangerine and grapefruit

they are about the size of your fist, have loose skin, and are very easy to peel

they are incredibly juicy-they provide DELICIOUS and plentiful juice

 

 

 

We eat a heck of a lot of honeybells but the juice is so good that we often just pop a sipper like this one directly into the honeybell and squeeze out the juice instead.

 

Cayden and I LOVE LOVE fruit-any kind of fruit.  I guess you can tell that by the carnage we left behind!

 

My baby

who certainly isn’t a baby anymore

 

Lately Braxton has been as camera shy as Cayden is.  I caught this as he ran through the kitchen last night.  He is starting to look like a teenager which shouldn’t surprise me, he has been acting like one for quite awhile.

A little winter math

      

Minus 22 degrees isn’t a lot of fun (ok, let’s be honest… it sucks) but now that we’ve lived in North Dakota a few years I have learned to accept that there are days when the sliding glass door freezes shut (and the dog stands with his legs crossed, glaring at you, wondering why you won’t just open the door and let him out) and days when the frost is so thick on the inside of the car windows that you have to use the ice scraper as you drive.

But today it hit me…22 below is actually 54 degrees below freezing! That’s 54 degrees below the temperature at which water turns to ice…which means that we are 54 degrees away from any of this wonderful (can you hear the sarcasm?) winter assortment of snow and ice thawing!     

Sorry about the fuzzy picture but it was darn c-c-c-cold in the car when I took it :)

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade…When life gives you snow…

 

make igloos!

 

 

 

 

 

 

           

               (would you just look at how grown up my “baby” is!)

 

By the way, I am going back to school this semester.  I haven’t been in school for more than 15 years and I am SO nervous.  I hope I still have enough functioning brain cells left.

I am looking for a few suckers scholars to do some of my homework…

 

 

Wish me luck : )