Are we there yet?

This was definitely the year of "Are we there yet" from Elliott. I think he asked us 200 times on the way to the beach. He started asking when we were just 2 counties from home. And he didn't stop. At some point past Montgomery, he started saying, "Okay, I'm just going to ask one more time...are we there yet?" Finally, my boy, we are here!

Beach Trip - Take 1

Our summer beach trip is lots of fun so far. The boys are enjoying the sand and the ocean. Aaron prefers the water from the safety of my hip, but what else is new? Matt is golfing today and the little guys are both napping. I told Elliott that he can invite his cousins to watch A Bee Movie tonight if he takes a nap today. Apparently my plan worked. So now I'm going to finish posting some pictures and maybe get in a nap and some reading time myself!

A Special Adventure

Last week, Elliott and I went to the Discovery Center with our friends Amy and Caleb. The big boys enjoyed a special adventure without their little brothers. First, we ate lunch at Cracker Barrel (one of E's favorite restaurants), then we headed to the Discovery Center.

The children's museum had water play, a fire engine, an archaeological dig site, a car to repair, a train with a coal car, grocery store, digger, crane and much more. The boys had a blast! Oh, and did I mention a slide that went from the second floor all the way down to the first? Caleb and Elliott's favorite activities were the fire truck where the boys dressed up in real firefighter gear and the car where they changed tires, replaced mufflers, filled the antifreeze and oil and wore mechanic's jackets. The car was like the one that Elliott enjoyed for quite some time at The Magic House in St. Louis last fall. It still held great entertainment for the little handyman - and his best buddy.

Firefighter Elliott

Firefighter Caleb

Gathering coal for the train

Crane Operator

Digger Operator

Caleb and Amy make a delivery in the farm truck

F-O-X

Tonight, Matt and Elliott were watching some baseball on TV when Elliott said, "Dad, why does the TV say fox?" Matt asked what he meant and he said, "right there, it says f-o-x." We had no idea that he knew how to spell fox! He said that he learned it in his magnetic alphabet book that we haven't looked at in months. Kids really are learning even when we don't know it!

Composting

My lovely friend Katie asked me about my recent foray into composting and suggested I post a tutorial on the blog. I'm not sure that she should be taking my advice on this subject, but here goes...

I started a compost bin back in the springtime. Hopefully one day I will have some nice organic fertilizer for my plants. I just use a plastic outdoor garbage can (you can find them at Dollar General for around $8). My dad drilled some holes in the bottom and started me off with some wood chips/straw as the bottom layer. I put the trash can up on some bricks to help it drain.

I collect kitchen scraps, coffee grounds, egg shells, etc. and dump them in and cover with some grass clippings or leaves. Just don't put in meat or very much dairy. I think the kitchen waste is the "green" and lawn waste is "brown", and it needs both to work. If you cover your kitchen scraps with lawn waste, it doesn't get as stinky or buggy. So usually I will collect my kitchen scraps, then put them in the bin and cover with some grass clippings or fall leaves that I've saved in a 5 gallon bucket.

Leave the bin open occasionally when it rains to get some water in there. And you can also stir it up to speed up decomposition (I don't do this much though because it's kind of disgusting).

So that describes my feeble attempt at composting. I haven't actually taken anything out of mine yet and don't know how long it takes to actually become fertilizer.

I found this article on composting helpful: http://vegweb.com/composting/

Happy Composting!