Summer is Coming to an End

I don't know if anyone else has noticed how it hasn't exactly been scorching hot outside the past few days. I'm sure it has to do with the hurricanes out there (?), but it's nice to think that fall is slowly on its way. It's my favorite time of the year, not because it's my birthday in October, but because of all the festivities to come. The cooler, crisper weather is also something I look forward to. Even though we've had some hot winters the past few year, I'm hoping that the Farmer's Almanac is right when they say that we're supposed to get some cooler weather this year. We shall see right?! We drained the pool today and will store it in our shed tomorrow. There were good times in that pool this summer. The kids loved it. I've also been admiring the fall holiday decoration storage bins in our garage and can't wait to get them down and decorate, but I'll give it a few more weeks.

After visiting my parents' house last weekend, I got inspired to get our garden going again. It sits and grows weeds all summer because it's too hot to grow anything and it's hard to get motivated to get fall's garden going, but we did. Hooray! We pulled all the weeds, turned compost and got that layed ontop of the garden soil (there are so many nutrients in it!), potted up about 50-60 small pots for our seeds. I don't plant seeds right into the garden because we have an overabundance of squirrels in our yard and they eat our seeds. Therefore, our little seeds will spend the next few weeks in our screened in butterfly house (currently vacant) where they'll get sun and water until they are big enough to be transplanted into the big garden. This year, we planted tomatoes (large and cherry), lettuce (a few different types), cucumbers, beans, spearamint (this is new for me), carrots, peppers and I know I'm forgetting a few. We also kept our 6 strawberry plants from last year and hopefully they'll produce this February. We also have a bunch of Rosemary, a pineapple plant (which won't produce for another year or so) and a few other herbs. I'll try to keep pictures updated.

The kids helped me pull weeds, fill pots with dirt, plant and water seeds. It was dirty, but a blast!



I'm so proud of Avonlea. Lately, we've really been concentrating on independance and doing things by herself. She has a chart that she earns stickers on by doing things all by herself and when she fills all the empty boxes with stickers, she gets a trip to Chuck E. Cheese. She only have 7 more boxes to fill and she's very excited about filling them. She can now undress and dress herself (shirts have always been a struggle), brush her teeth by herself (although, I usually follow up), brush her hair, put on her shoes, get herself a drink of water from the door of the fridge and many more things. It's very exciting because Rob and I have always said we want our kids to learn independance at an early age. Yes, that means learning the basics of cooking (while under an adult's supervision), doing laundry, setting the table (Avonlea has mastered this already), feeding pets (check), cleaning up after you make a mess, etc. Last night was a first. I asked her to go clean up her room all by herself and about 8 minutes later, she came running out saying, "Mommy, come see!" I went in her room and it was spotless!!! She even put things where they belonged and not just stuffed things anywhere. I was proud. :) She got 5 stickers for this last night. We're on our way to Chuck E. Cheese!!!


The kids at the park on Friday morning. It was so nice out!