We've got WORMS!! (Don't Look Sara!)

No, not the internal kind, hmmm, then again, don't know that for sure do we? hehehehe ;p
Sorry Sara, could not resist :S

Well, these guys were pretty thrilled about it, Derek happily greeted Marissa at the door with; "Want to come see our worms?" She was pretty interested but a little let down with how few we could find to show her. This specific kind of worm, "Eisenia fetida" to be precise, doesn't like the light at all, so they stay hidden as much as they can. Plus I "only" bought 2lbs (approx 2000 worms) to start and it takes a while for them to multiply.

But they seem to be happy in their new home as they seem to be multiplying quite quickly! Last time I fed them there were so many it was impossible to miss them, and lots of young ones too! In the photo we had just placed them there and they had not yet burrowed down.
We got worms to help reduce the amount of compost that we are currently filling our yard with, we produce a LOT! Worms in a bin do the same as worms in a garden but at a far faster rate because they are concentrated. The resulting worm "castings" is extremely beneficial for plants, here is a link to the place I got the worms.

Some folks wonder (as I did too) why a particular kind of worm? I can dig them out of my garden for free! Well, some people have, and soon discovered, not all worms are alike, and when they are somewhere they DON'T like, they leave!! So one fellow awoke to his worms attempting to make good their escape across his floor :) Or as my book on vermicomposting says, the worms "refused to stay"...."Some vartieties are accustomed to light and will exit the (bin) without any warning or notice" Hahahahaha, not sure how a worm might give one notice, had a good laugh over that :) Basically there are thousands of kinds of worms, but these "red wigglers" as they are called, are amoung the best suited for worm farming.

ps I am impressed, I was very negligent and had a whole cawliflower go moldy in the fridge, it barely fit in the bin, but about 4-5 days later when I looked, save a small slimy slip, it was ALL GONE!!! :D:D:D Go worms :D:D:D lol

YOGA!

Here our boys are pouring over their yoga books trying to decide what pose to attempt, quite engrossing!

They have settled on the "bow", and did an excellent job :D

Here Derek works on his "Modified Head Stand" and Caleb consults the books for more detail :)

Hmmm, I think this is called the "Plank", and Derek is doing a very good job!
On a side note, I am very pleased to report that I have managed to complete 20 consecutive days of yoga myself and am feeling wonderful :D:D:D

Garden stuff

I know this is a bad pic but wanted to include it for those who haven't seen our back yard. This is the view from our spare room upstairs from which I lounge on the bed and watch Brent work. Hahahaha, no really but it helps to illustrate. Marissa (4) lives in the house top left, and Riley (another girl friend, but she is 6 so goes to school) and her family recently moved into the house directly behind us. The long narrow boxes outline approx. the 16 foot easement across the back of our property. The black stuff and wood chips are to help eliminate the loads of weeds, and grass (I pulled out the blackberries so hopefully they are gone) that never got cleared out of the back, and the tiny bit of mulch you see on the left is one end of the raspberry patch to be (the deer viciously decimated my 4 little plants :( They will probably come back to life in the spring but I am still very upset with the deer!

A better view of my hard working hubby, and no joke, it was better than anticipated but still largely clay that he had to dig through. I think he went down more than a foot deep and added at least 3 wheelbarrows of sand, Caleb is lending a hand :) You can't really tell but there are about 4 inch garlic plants growing in that long box the garden bed frame is resting on, right in front of Caleb. I have about 20 plants growing, never tried to grow garlic before so hopefully it does all right!

Ever since Dad started work on his workbench Derek has been inspired. That box in the top left is Derek's workbench he made with Dad :) Today he banged together a "boat" for Caleb, an airplane (the wood split on him :( ) , and a space ship, which were all identifiable, so we were duly impressed :D
Oh and yes Grandma's, he has hit his fingers, and they are all ok and accounted for ;p

EEEeeeeek, can you see all the solid clay lumps! This is after the sand has been added, and I put in some lime too. I don't know how long he spent but Brent whacked and stirred and dug and mixed it all for a long time.......

And this is the result. I am amazed at how full my box is! I anticipated loads of soil needed to be brought in to fill it, but after a thorough fluffing and wheelbarrows of sand it is pretty darn full! I am just going to add an inch or two of compost and call it done! I am so pleased, Brent did a great job all round (built the box today too!) especially for a dedicated "NO GARDEN WORK" hubby :D

Not a clue why this posted sideways, it was right in Photoshop, oh well you can get the idea, while Brent was digging I mixed together a seedling starter blend, added some goodies (for the plants ;p) and filled my salad bins. They have holes (jabbed with a knife) in the bottom for drainage, and lids to seal in the moisture. Got the cookie sheets to catch draining water at Goodwill for $2 or so, and put it all in the master bath which gets the best light all day, I can heat it, and it is more humid than the rest of the house.
Now I just need to plant the seeds..... :D

WOOHOO!

The progress is just too exciting for me ;D

Boys Antics

So I thought the kids (neighbor girl was in on it too) just got tired of the umbrella's and left them there randomly, but those umbrella's are strategically placed! They are sheltering the snowman (they built together) from the sun :D Clever bunch, that snowman outlasted all other snow by days!

"Mom it's raining! Can we go outside with our umbrella's?!"
On another note, think we need to re-seed by any chance?

Look what great smiles you get when you promise they get dessert for breakfast!
This raw "Eclair" dessert was a hit! I will post a close-up and details later :)

The latest "in" thing among the cuties in our house (neighbor "Marissa" started it)
PAPER GLASSES!!!
They are all the rage, do you have some?

What are book shelves for?

Peek a Booooooo!

Playing and reading in of course!! :D

THE favorite pastime, our neighbor Jessi has a trampoline for her daughter Cheyanne (sp?), and invited the boys to use it whenever we permit. I tried but never caught Caleb's signature move, he jumps and kicks his heels up to his bum before landing again. It is hilarious to watch because he is so short, you would have to see it, and maybe I can get a video on here later, it makes me giggle every time I see it :D:D
Derek has taken to doing "flips" which involve jumping and falling to the side, they are very funny, and the more we laugh the sillier he gets :D:D