Happy Halloween

     It's been super busy here.

3 of the boys did football. They had an amazing time.

Ryan and Marc team both made it to the first round of play offs, Lolos team made it to the second round. 

     Marc and Lolo officially part of our family. The adoption was finalized the beginning of this month. 

Yes, Marc broke his arm. At football practice. The great thing, the doctor said he could play with his cast. Jason found some foam, he cut to cover the cast.  I was glad he was able to finish out the rest of the season.

The boys have been working on their scout ranks and advancements. They all enjoy doing outdoor activities. Yesterday they got most of the leaves raked up ( an acre lot=lots of leaves). They did an amazing job. The wind of course, picked up this afternoon, now you can't really tell.

The picture below was taken Wednesday

The picture below was taken today

Last year the trees didn't turn all the colors they have this year. My neighbors apple trees have been very productive. He gave us lots of apples. I made 13 quarts of applesauce and canned it. I have another box on my dining room table. I am hoping to make apple pie filling. The walnut tree that is on the property line has been quite bountiful as well. I purchased 150 pounds of potatoes. I canned most of one 50 pound bag. I got 36 quarts of potatoes canned. One of my friends asked if canning potatoes was a Midwest thing. I replied it was to keep mice from eating my food. We haven't had any mice yet, several of my neighbors have. I am hoping they don't venture in. They are tearing up fields to the east and north of me. We have had several skunks and raccoons. One morning a raccoon was in my backyard, the dogs almost caught it. One of my other neighbors lost several hens to one. I have been locking mine up since the middle of September. 

My son worked for the same farmer this year. I scored lots of free tomatoes. I was able to make 13 quarts of tomato sauce. I used an attachment for my kitchenaid mixer to separate the skin and seeds. That made the process so much quicker! I will probably not can whole tomatoes in the quantities I used.

We have replaced almost all the windows. We scored on their purchase. They were on close out. We saved several hundred dollars. It has made a significant difference already. We have had a few light frosts. No huge change in the inside temperature. I figure the snow will begin falling soon, that will be our biggest test. The sliding glass door opens so easy now! I am very happy with them.

     We are already making plans for the front yard next year. I want to build up the flower beds in the front. I would like to add low water shrubs, preferably with colorful foliage. We are also planning on taking grass out next to the street. We have a 5 foot easement. It is a hastle to water, we will be removing it and put down gravel. We have talked about several ideas, we just need to get them on paper and see what us practical.

Nature

Snow last weekend

The sky this morning

At a park in Kaysville

Happy Thursday

Here are some cute pictures

Progress!

Little by little, the backyard is finally coming along this year. We got the garden put in, and planted some seeds and plants.

We did put a fence around it, to keep the dogs out.
I had the river birch taken down out front as well. It stinks because it did shade the house. It was dying. The last wind storm we had, it was moving at the base. Growing up in Washington, I've seen too many trees come down. I figured it was better to be proactive. I will plant some new trees next year.

The boys and I made several trips to the dump this past week, we got rid of all the limbs. My boss will come by this weekend and take the rest of the wood.
I then proceeded to weed under the blue spruce, and planted some lilies.

My blueberry plants are thriving

 I'm excited that I have blueberries!
We worked on clearing out the back corner of our lot. It was full of branches and old pieces of wood left over by the previous owner.  We cleaned it up, and then began spreading out the compost from the compost pile I made last year. Truthfully, I didnt think the compost was going to break down. I figured it wasnt wet enough here. I was delighted to see that it did work. We used to to fill in the holes that we had. Our next project will be to take down some trees this weekend. The trees in the back were planted too close together, and several are not doing well. My goal is to next year, plant some new trees (probably fruit). I am not sure what type yet, I have time to plan it out. My goal is to try to get this yard to produce as much fruit and veggies if not more, as I had in Washington. This lot is 5 times as big, so I shouldn't have too much of a problem. The biggest obstacle to to plan, so that everything is functional.

This week

Got a lot done. The weather warmed up. Our riding lawnmower is broken, so I used the push mower to mow the back forty. Our lot is an acre...

It only took 4 hours..that was just the back.

I finished the dresser, I will post pictures of it later. The basement bedroom looks good. We are happy how it turned out. 

Jason and the boys helped the neighbor take down a tree. As the boys were helping clean up, the decided to pull out the stumps. Some were from last year.

As they were pulling the stumps,they pulled up the sprinkler line

See the white line in the middle of the picture...oops! Easy fix..

Thomas decided to try our the lawn mower the neighbor gave them. It's wasn't running when they received it. The neighbor that gave it to them is excited they got it running. 

There is still quite the mess. They boys volunteered to clean it up tomorow.

This picture is just because...rough life

I was in the mood to cook today

Dinner

Who doesn't love homemade bread?!

Projects

I've been working on painting one of the basement rooms. It's looking good. 

I will be refinishing a dresser. It needs some TLC

I believe I got all the holes and gouges filled with putty. Tomorrow I will sand it and hopefully paint a layer of primer.

Little by litte

This week I have gotten quite a bit accomplished.
I have hung several loads of cloths outside to dry
Hubby and I went through our Cd's, we cut our collection by over half.
I pulled out the Lego bins and began going through them, pulling out broken pieces/items that did not belong in the tubs
I patched small holes in the larger basement bedroom. My goal is to paint the ceiling and install a ceiling fan. If I have enough time this weekend, I will begin to paint the walls. The boys would like a gray color
I have a box of clothes I need to mail to my friend. She can use them, I can't justify hanging on to them.
I plan on going through our DVDs and get rid of movies that we are not interested in. I don't see the point in keeping things just to keep them. (Except books, we love books). I am happy with how the basement is coming together.
I am going to redo my work schedule and plan on working two days a week. I will work until lunch then leave. I really want to get rid of items we no longer need, but don't want to feel rushed as I go through things.
Depending on the weather, we are hoping to put our garden in. I am hoping to at least get is set up. I can plant next week. I want to get tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, carrots, and onions planted this year. I miss not having fresh vegetables. I am thinking of planting an herb garden on the north side of the house. It gets some sun, but doesn't get blistering hot.
If I get around to it, I will post pictures this weekend.