Eli was born Oct 26th

Weighing 8 lbs 9 3/4 oz and 20 inches long.

Recieved Dynamite Crape Myrtle Replacement!

One week from Monday, the baby will be here...that is 10 more days! And yes I am counting them down!

You can tell it is fall in our yard, with all the red and yellow maple leaves covering our yard. If it wasn't so rainy, I am sure the kids would enjoy some time outside playing in piles of leaves with daddy. But the rain just doesn't seem to want to stop. However, last night, it had stopped long enough for DS and DH to plant the Dynamite Crape Myrtle that was sent to replace the one that we recieved in the spring...which turned out to be white...not red!  So the boys spent the evening in the dark planting the tree and enjoying some father son time together!

He is doing a good job isn't he!

Such a good digger...my little gardener in the making!

I thought I would take a picture of the finished job this morning, still needs some mulch around to keep it warm hopefully. I was surprised to recieve it without a leaf on it...our other one still has leaves and buds, and this one came from GA which is much warmer than KY! I will enjoy seeing it bud and bloom in the spring!

Notice my Impatients above...they are practically bushes on the left and small plants on the right. Too much shade on that side I guess. And I thought these were shade plants! I will grow these again next year though. They looked much fuller and nicer than the Begonias I planted here last year! I might plant some of my tall Red Salvia behind them. Maybe a little trim on the Maple will get some more sun to the other side of the porch! I did get lots of compliments on my flowers in the front this year though. I feel like a proud gardener!

We transplanted the white Crape Myrtle in the back by the shed. Hopefully it will fill out and grow nicely and hide the ugly shed! It sits next to the Weigela, which is also very lovely in the spring...it does need a trim however! He is a little wild and out of control right now. But, it can't be trimmed till after blooming!

This is also right in the path of our white water river (when it rains). We have tried to plant some grass seed here but it has rained pretty hard, so we will see if we get anything!

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In other gardening....DH spent Saturday cleaning up some things in the yard. One of them being my veg garden. It looks so bare and messy doesn't it! The heavy rains have really done a number on the pathways and surrounding areas. Maybe we will be able to come up with a better plan next year to avoid it getting washed away! At least the veggies were in raised beds and did not get washed away!

I have also taken some cuttings from some of my pepper plants, just to experiment and see what happens. Especially since my Habanero never got big enough to bloom or grow fruits. So I thought maybe I would try inside. We'll see what happens. In the white pot is or was my Gloxinia. It died off and now a tiny little plant is starting to grow again, so I am glad I have not lost it! And there is my Spicy basil cutting in the middle. I fertilized it today, so maybe it will start growing better. I also just moved it from the window to the grow light to see if that will help it along! I will report the progress of these cuttings if there is any.

Pumpkin Pickin!

We like to go out to the Farm occassionally for pickin and playing! Since we didn't have any pumpkins make it this year due to the dreaded SVB, we spent the afternoon at the Farm for pumpkin pickin. And the kids sure do enjoy it!

When we went for Strawberry pickin in June, DD had more strawberries in her mouth and all over her than in the basket!

This is a view of one of the pumpkins fields and this place was packed with people today because of a fall festival. The field we went to was not as busy as the others!

We rode on a trailer pulled by a tractor, like a hayride, out to the fields. Their were a lot of tractors with trailors today! DS kept saying "there are tractors everywhere mommy!"

The kids next to some of the pre-picked pumpkins and squash.

After the fields we went to the childrens barnyard to play for a bit...the kids LOVE the 40 foot barn slide!

This is a really fun place to go with the kids. Lots of fun and activities for them. And lots of good fresh fruits and vegetables to bring home (depending on the time of year).

I definitely suggest this place for a place to visit for the afternoon if you are ever in the area! Both of the Farm links at the top are different, not sure why they are not linked together, but it is all the same farm! (I guess one is more for the winery...but they should still link them together.)

We did pick out 3 nice pumpkins...DD picked out a smaller, warty looking pumpkin and DS picked out a couple that were too big for him to carry, but they are nice looking.