Apple picking

 Last Weekend we went apple picking.  We go to Mills Apple Farm.  It is a very nice family owned apple orchard.    They also had a small pumpkin patch but the pumpkins were a little to small for my taste.  I debated getting one to make a pie but I didn't. 

Fish Fry

This weekend was busy.  On Sat we had soccer games in the morning.  Then that afternoon we went to Scott's Brothers house for a fish fry.  Scott's dad came to visit and fried up a load of fish.  It was a great day, with great weather and really good food. 

Here are some pictures

nolan

 

scott

 

 Scott and his brother.  That is his dad in the backround.

 

Bryson, I think he was playing ball?

Ghost on the door

We started to decorate.  So the other day we painted ghost on the front door.  I think it turned out pretty cute.  Although Nolan has messed one of them up already.  

The recipe for window paint is

1 cup baby soap, or clear dishwashing soap

1/2 cup cornstarch
food coloring.

I just searched online for this.  I think you can also do paint and add clear dish washing soap to it. 

Special Ed

Well Ethan's teacher spoke to Scott yesterday.  She is concerned about Ethan.  She wants to do a referral to special Ed.  For some reason this really upsets me.  I always knew that Bryson would probably need some extra help, so when it was offered I jumped at it.  But for Ethan I am just more unsure.  I mean obviously if they think he needs it we will except it, but I just didn't see it coming with him.

It was so hard with Bryson, and still is hard sometimes (but he is doing really good).  We spend lots of time on homework.  I think I maybe didn't spend as much time with Ethan as I should have, so I am going to try to be more on top of all of that homework stuff.

  I really don't want to do the whole lets hold him back in Kindergarten again.  With Bryson holding him back was something that I was ok with.  Bryson to me was not only behind educationally but also socially.  Ethan on the other hand, has friends and kids he likes in Kindergarten.   I really don't know why I am going here because it is probably a moot point, and I shouldn't worry about things that aren't coming about quit yet.

So as a recap.  Ethan is being refereed to special ed.  I feel like I should have done more to help him learn this stuff.  And I am prematurely worrying about if we will have to hold him back too.

Lasagna Gardening

A friend recently mentioned this idea, and now I am interested.  I have wanted a garden for a long time, but was really unsure as to how to go about it.  This I think gives me a way without having to have a tiller and without digging up parts of my yard.  I so want to try it.

The idea of Lasagna gardening is that you can start a garden without tilling.  If I understand correctly, you start out with a layer of newspaper or thin cardboard, then you layer orther organic material on top.  Other material I think could be pete moss,  organic kitchen scraps, leaves and grass clippings.

I am not sure if I understand it enough to actually do it yet (i.e. I am a little intimidated by the the whole idea).  I don't have any leaves or grass anymore, but I know I could get leaves.  kitchen scraps I have.  I can also easily get my hands on newpaper and light cardboard.

I don't know if I am going to do it for sure, but don't be suprised if you see me laying down some newspaper on the side of my house in the next few weeks.

Here are some links if information if you are interested.

http://www.newsandsentinel.com/page/content.detail/id/553068/Lasagna-gardening-works-in-fall.html?nav=5061

http://organicgardening.about.com/od/startinganorganicgarden/a/lasagnagarden.htm

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Organic-Gardening/1999-04-01/Lasagna-Gardening.aspx

New Stuff

I had thought a few weeks ago that the boys needed a shelf in their room.  They have always had their birth samplers hung about their dresser, but I thought it would be the perfect place for a shelf. Then I could just set the samplers on it and the boys could put their trophy's or other special things on it.


Today we made a trip to Home Depote to return some extra flooring from downstairs.  While their I found a shelf and we got it.  We also got a new drill and some door knobs for the doors downstairs.  I put it up this evening.

Also new is the whole downstairs.  I will try to post some pictures of that at a later date.  We are going to move the couch and toys from the living room downstairs.  We are currently looking for a couch for upstairs, something else we did in Fairview today.  I think though I don't really want to spend that much, and we may start looking for a used couch.  We are currently trying to do Dave Ramsey, and pay down debt (we don't have a huge amount but..).  I would hate to add more debt to that.

Handprints in the Basement playroom

 Well the basement is almost done.  We have a family room done, a adult room done, a bathroom done, and a playroom partially done.  The playroom doesn't have a floor or ceiling, and it won't for a while.  But it does have walls that needed paint, so we painted it.  The boys picked out the colors.  They decided to paint it Purple and I thought it would be cute to do their hand prints on the walls.   It was a lot of fun.  We only got partially done tonight, but I figured I would post pictures anyway.  Nolan was done after a short while, so we have more big boy hand prints that little boy hand prints.  Hopefully he is willing to do it again when we continue.