Family, School, House

Family

Pretty Girls favorite part of the day: feeding and quality time with Mr. Tumnus!

At the beginning of August the kids and I headed to Grammy's to help celebrate her 85th(!!!) birthday. One of my uncles and my parents came, so we had fun, of course ;)

Grandpa bought the kids these cups.  While they are too big to trust with liquid and my kids, they are perfect for popcorn :)

One morning, TW took the kids on an "adventure".  They made several stops, one of which was by the pond for snacks.  They were hot and back inside about 20 minutes later!

We finally bought a horsey swing (because we have lots of trees to hang it from), which we first saw when we lived in Ames, everyone loves it!

School

As motivation for reading 10 books during summer, the library gives them a free book.  TW picked something about gross science experiments.  Of course he had to try one out right away.  I only had the ingredients for exploding a baggie (vinegar and baking soda). We had to do it twice, once for him and once to show Daddy when he got home ;D

Unrelated to the book... one morning TW made an observation about ice floating and salt sinking.  He asked why, so we talked about density.  He then asked me if salty ice would sink or float.  I asked him what he thought and proceeded to freeze (as best you can in a normal freezer) some salty water.  I took a picture of the result (but I didn't want to bore you).  I was so proud of his inquisitiveness!

Since the triplets have stopped napping and I desire a peaceful (quiet) time for me to eat, I have been putting on "the doggy show" (there are 4 discs that teach about letters, opposites, shapes, numbers, etc.).  Everyone enjoys this time and they usually line up chairs just to watch... not sure where TW is, but he is normally learning his letters too :)

House

A few weeks ago, I finally finished my walkway project.  I took a before picture but can't find it, so you get to see the end result.  The big stones were there, but were not flat and half buried in dirt.  One of the stones broke (ages ago), so I had to space them out a bit more.  J suggested the pea gravel surround.  Eventually I want to put little plants along the edges and clean it up a bit, but I think we might need a tiller to help with that... I've already lost enough sweat ;)

TW rearranged his room (moved Smaug's bed and his dresser) and we noticed that the leak we had had fixed when we first moved in was back.  J caulked outside (the siding seams were lined up incorrectly) and we watched it.  No good.  So, he decided to see if he could see where the leak was coming from.  I know you can't tell, but the support beams in the corner are completely rotted from the leak :(  He put a big old ugly piece of plywood up outside and that leak has stopped...

...but on the other side of the wall, things were not pretty either.  We (J) ended up tearing out the entire wall of wood and we have discovered that 90% of the sun room windows leak like sieves when it rains.  Our contractor friend will be coming out soon to help us remedy the situation *sigh*

On a more chipper note, J removed the old disposal (that didn't work and didn't drain, smelled and was growing things)!  Since disposals aren't the greatest for septic fields, he just put in a new drain... it smells real nice :)

I finally got around to canning the black berries that TW and I picked.  It didn't make a lot (compared to Dad's exploits), but I am proud of it!

In Other News:  I have been painting, painting, painting and have concluded that I don't really like painting doors and door frames... but it is super nice that they all match in color now and look so fresh and clean!!!