The Name Game

Stop the clock. We have found a name! We had several that we liked, but had not found "The One" yet. The one that made us say "Yes! I love that!". Matt is actually the one who found it and suggested it to me. We looked it up and found out that it is biblical and very rare. It will also make the babies initials the same as his older brothers. Soooo, there are your clues. I will also tell you that it is none of the ones on the poll. So happy guessing! Let me know what you guess!

Jake's with the band!

Jake is in 5th grade this year and that means he could choose to play an instrument in the band. He was really excited about band. He was sure he was born to play the drums, then he came home from school one day with a whole new instrument in mind. The music teacher did some evaluations to help each child decide which instrument might be best suited for them. It turns out that Jacob is a "natural" at the Baritone. He is really excited about playing the Baritone now. As good parents we decided to support him in his decision. I did not realize that the Baritone is one of the most expensive instruments to purchase and one of the largest. Fortunately, we are renting one from the school district this year while Jacob decides if he truly is a natural. If he decides to continue playing the Baritone we will purchase it next year. The biggest problem right now is that this thing is the size of Jacob! I could not help but laugh the first day he had to drag it off the bus and down the lane after school. His sister actually has to help him get it home! We are not three weeks into playing the baritone and he does seem to enjoy it. I don't have to hound him to practice. He does it all on his own. I will be excited when he begins to learn to play actual notes. He is in the getting used to his new instrument phase. Right now the sounds are a lot like a dying elephant. A few days ago his sister was practicing her flute and he thought he could copy her notes. Let's just say he has a lot to learn! I also keep reminding my husband to make sure Jacob's new room in the basement is well insulated!

Apple Cider Time!

Last year we started a new tradition. Matt's grandfather had an old cider press that Matt decided to bring home and clean up. He thought it would be fun to make apple cider. We really enjoyed ourselves last year so we hope to continue the tradition every year. This year Matt's Aunt Mary and his cousins Craig and Jodi joined us, along with Matt's parents who were with us last year also. Mary supplied the apples from her bountiful crop of apples she had this year.

Matt and I scrubbed and sanitized the cider press. I sanitized all the milk jugs I have been saving for weeks leading up to the big day. Shelby and Jake are in charge of scrubbing and sanitizing the apples. After all the cleaning is done we begin to make cider. It is simple really. You throw apples in the hopper at the top. Someone cranks the grinder. Jake loves to do this but usually needs help. Then the apples get chopped up and fall into one of two wooden barrels. When you fill one up you move it forward so it is underneath the press. You put the lid on the barrel and then begin to bring the press down. As it presses down on the apples the cider flows out between the slats in the the barrels, and down into the pan. It is so good!

It takes a lot of apples to make cider. We had several bushels of apples but only got about 5 gallons of cider out of them. Last year we froze several gallons to enjoy throughout the winter but discovered that the kids prefer it fresh. Matt was really the only one drinking it after I would thaw one out. So this year we shared a couple gallons with Craig who is going to try to make apple wine. He makes different wines and beer as a hobby and they are good! I hope he saves some apple wine for me to try sometime in the spring!





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Let there be light!!

Phase 2 is almost complete! The holes are cut and the windows are in. Matt still needs to do some more sealing and trimming of the windows. He also needs to put the window wells in and make sure the water in the window wells drains away from the windows. I love the new windows in the basement. It does not feel like a basement anymore. There is so much light coming in.
We did learn a few lessons during this two week process. Sometimes it pays to pay a little more. Out of about ten places that Matt called to come cut the concrete he only found two companies that would do it. One estimate was really high and the other estimate was really low. Of course we are trying to do this project on a budget so we had the lower priced company come out. Let's just say that this guy finally admitted after cutting the first hole that he had never done this before and it would cost us a lot more to get him to come out and do the second. Well, if we would have known that he had never done that kind of cutting before he would not have done it in the first place. So we immediately called the company that had given us the higher estimate and they came out and you could immediately tell that these were professionals. The first time we ended up with tons of water in our basement (the saws use water) and exhaust fumes throughout the house because the first guy wanted to cut it from the inside. The second guy worked on the outside. We had very little water in the basement and no horrible exhaust fumes. Where the first guy took a day and a half, the second guy took a few hours. The difference in the experiences was amazing. This was definitely one of those "You get what you pay for" jobs.
Well, the drama is over and we are happy with the end result.
I am posting some before and after pics for you to see.