Look! Daddy's up in a Tree...

**Cheese Alert:

Okay, this post is kinda going to be a love fest, so I am just warning you ahead of time.

Okay, so that's my husband up in a tree, and here's the story of how he got there (And how he is an absolutely amazing man, and I am a dreadfully cruel wife)...

So, we kinda have this no-man's land in between our house and the neighbor's that has always bothered me.  It just gets cluttered, and the trees grow together in a not-so-pretty way, blah blah blah.  

It bothers Hubby too because the branches from these mean old pin oak trees grow right over our yard so the grass won't grow over there (and if there's one thing this man loves about our home, it's that stinkin grass).  Yet, as long as we have lived here, those branches have always been just a few feet outside our extension ladder's reach.  

So, we're about to get to work cleaning up the sticks and mess just like we do every spring.  We're standing there talking, coming up with a plan, when out of his mouth spews the most brilliant idea (that, of course he plays off like he has always known it was an option)...

**I know, I'll pull my truck up and put the extension ladder in it!**

So, before I know it, here comes two little boys carrying an extension ladder, a third with the saw, and Mr. Man preparing to shimmy up the wobbly ladder with nothing suring up the base but little old me in the back of his truck.

At this point, I would have probably peed my pants (this from the girl who doesn't like to ski because I am so afraid of heights), but for Blake...well, although the plan was unresearched, unproven, and un-thought-through, he was altogether full speed ahead...

As the boys watch the magnificence, as though all dads do this sort of thing, I wonder where this man gets his super-human strength and fearlessness because if I could just bottle it, we could probably make enough money to actually hire professionals with safety gear.  

But for now, I am just glad I am here to document it, and pray my boys don't kill themselves one day trying to do stuff their daddy did. (I apologize now to my future daughter-in-laws for any future hospital stays and doctor co-pays because the part of my boys that is me, will never make it through such a thing as this).

But, not only is Blake crazy (er amazing) enough to attempt such a feat, but is hard working enough to not give up when we realize we are dealing with the most stubborn branch in the history of branches.

It was like a solid hour of pulling and tugging and twisting and sawing before we could finally say 'timber'.  Our neighbors even showed up to watch and give a tug.  Blake had to have been up and down that ladder no less than 20 times (just for this ONE branch!)

Finally, one was down...

But several more to go.  

Needless to say we worked into the dark dragging and stacking limbs and logs.

This is where the cruel wife thing comes in.  So, Hubby's on his second tree, like fourth branch when I realize that I am in fact married to a super-hero.  So, I figure why not start to give him a few challenges. 

This limb that hangs out over the street had a few distant branches that needed to get gone, so I say, "Hey Blake, you think you could climb up that ladder (I know it's shaky and unstable), then hoist yourself up there, and shimmy out on that branch and cut those smaller limbs?"

So, although exhausted and shaky, he did.

And... That's why. Daddy. Gets the big piece. Of chicken.  Yes, it is.

For us, just another Sunday in Spring, but to anyone who may be reading this, please don't try this at your home.