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Saturday, October 18, 2008
Friday, October 17, 2008
Parades and Pictures
I am behind in blogging by about a week. Last Friday we went to the WVU homecoming parade. Michael invited his friend to go and then have a sleepover. A friend ours, Marty, took a great picture of Jen and I which was great because we have not had a good picture of just us in a long time. I took a picture of Dan in his Oscar outfit that he enjoys wearing. It is always fun to see clothing that has been worn now on all four of our kids. Sam has become a excellent reader. He really enjoys it and he reads me stories now. Last night, Mike helped me build a train track for Dan. He is at the age where Sam and Mike loved playing with Thomas the Tank Engine stuff. Dan really loves trains and cars, he is all boy.
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Halloween, Hunting and Stilts
Yesterday Jen and I were able to get more of the Halloween decorations done. I decided to make the scarecrow into a skeleton and found an old black hooded jacket to put over the frame. Jen commented that black would be lost in the night so she bleached it and did a great job. I love the way this prop looks now. We also dug the front grave and placed Dr. Bones (this is what the kids call our anatomical skeleton) inside. we are just about ready for Halloween.
October is a pretty hectic month. Hunting season opens two weeks from today. My bow is tuned and sighted in. I am hitting a bullseye each time I shoot an arrow even at 30 yards. I will not take a shot more than 30 yards so I don't worry about practicing at greater distances. I bought my license and have my tags and have about 4 locations that I will be hunting this year. Two spots will be perfect for a ground blind so I picked one up. The kids have enjoyed playing with it in the yard. I hope to be posting my first kill for 2008 in two weeks.
Today we built two pairs of stilts. I needed them for cub scouts this coming Wednesday evening. We had a lot of fun trying them out and seeing how good we are at falling!
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Begining of Fall and More Halloween
The signs of fall are finally here in WV. It is turning quite brisk here at night and the leaves are changing and some are falling already. Michael has become quite the tree climber in the past few weeks. Our maple in the backyard is already dropping leaves as you can see in the background of Dan swinging.
I spent part of Saturday working on the inside of the shed hanging bikes. The shed is not completed yet, all I have to do is finish the roof and siding. We were tired of tripping over bikes in the basement so it was time to get them out. The other part of Saturday was working on the front yard graveyard. We have added some tombstones, lights, planters and a scarecrow. The scarecrow is a pneumatic prop which lunges forward when the air valve is turned. I temporarily put this in place to see how it would look. I plan on changing it to be either a ghost or a skeleton instead of a scarecrow. As I told Jen, a scarecrow doesn't make sense being inside a graveyard. We are already getting people slowing down as they drive by to take a look. This should be the best Halloween yet!
I spent part of Saturday working on the inside of the shed hanging bikes. The shed is not completed yet, all I have to do is finish the roof and siding. We were tired of tripping over bikes in the basement so it was time to get them out. The other part of Saturday was working on the front yard graveyard. We have added some tombstones, lights, planters and a scarecrow. The scarecrow is a pneumatic prop which lunges forward when the air valve is turned. I temporarily put this in place to see how it would look. I plan on changing it to be either a ghost or a skeleton instead of a scarecrow. As I told Jen, a scarecrow doesn't make sense being inside a graveyard. We are already getting people slowing down as they drive by to take a look. This should be the best Halloween yet!
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Farm, Ice, Fish and Halloween
I need to get better about posting on a daily basis again so that the post is more focused and not so scatterbrained. On Monday evening I had a College of Agriculture Faculty and Staff picnic. The picnic is always held at the WVU Livestock farm. The kids love it because when we are done eating and visiting we head up the hill to the barns to look at all of the animals. We went through the dairy cow, cattle, sheep and pig barns. The kids really enjoyed seeing and petting the baby Holsteins.
Today was a great day. I came home early from work and I brought dry ice home from my lab. The kids enjoyed playing with it while they were doing their homework.
After dinner, Michael, Sam and I went out to the WVU Agronomy Farm (this is the farm where I do my research) for a cub scout activity that I had arranged to go fishing at our pond. This pond is the perfect kid fishing pond, we keep it stocked with bluegills, bass and catfish. Basically every cast, you catch a fish which keeps the kids excited about fishing. Sam caught his first fish tonight and Michael had no luck, the fish kept eating his worms off from his hook. All of the boys from pack 74 had a blast.
Today we were able to get most of the cemetary fence up in our side lot. That's right, Halloween is right around the corner and I am getting ready for my favorite non-Christian holiday. I made a fence that runs nearly 40 feet across our front lot and then curves toward the house with a gate in the front yard. I plan on making 15 - 20 tombstones to go into the graveyard. I also received my pneumatic scarecrow in the mail which when activated lunges toward people passing by. I am thinking about converting it to be a skeleton and placing it on the edge of the cemetery so it fits with the theme more. I am very excited about Halloween and I hope to get a few more screams this year.
Today was a great day. I came home early from work and I brought dry ice home from my lab. The kids enjoyed playing with it while they were doing their homework.
After dinner, Michael, Sam and I went out to the WVU Agronomy Farm (this is the farm where I do my research) for a cub scout activity that I had arranged to go fishing at our pond. This pond is the perfect kid fishing pond, we keep it stocked with bluegills, bass and catfish. Basically every cast, you catch a fish which keeps the kids excited about fishing. Sam caught his first fish tonight and Michael had no luck, the fish kept eating his worms off from his hook. All of the boys from pack 74 had a blast.
Today we were able to get most of the cemetary fence up in our side lot. That's right, Halloween is right around the corner and I am getting ready for my favorite non-Christian holiday. I made a fence that runs nearly 40 feet across our front lot and then curves toward the house with a gate in the front yard. I plan on making 15 - 20 tombstones to go into the graveyard. I also received my pneumatic scarecrow in the mail which when activated lunges toward people passing by. I am thinking about converting it to be a skeleton and placing it on the edge of the cemetery so it fits with the theme more. I am very excited about Halloween and I hope to get a few more screams this year.
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