OCT. 3 UPDATE: Playing in the dirt

Not much has seemed blog-worthy around here lately -- for the most part, Dave has still been working on installing and insulating the skirting around the crawlspace, which I've already told you about a few times and makes for a pretty dark photo.

Yesterday he got a little time to play on the tractor and get some mowing done.


And today he was playing in the dirt -- banking dirt around the addition, evening out where the electrician dug to bring in the wire, etc. Then he laid down some landscaping fabric and started piling rocks on them so there isn't dirt right next to the house that could splash up during a good rain. I like the look of it! (Sorry the photo's so dark. It gets dark much earlier now, and we didn't get out right away to get the photo taken.)

... The weather has been gorgeous the last two days! I've strapped baby into the baby carrier and put Sofia in the stroller and gone walking each day. Glorious!

... Our renter is harvesting the soybeans now. If I hadn't seen them in the field when we were out walking, or heard the machines from the yard, I'd still know they were harvesting from the ladybugs that are crowding on our windows now! (They always search for new homes after they are evicted from the soybeans, for those of you who haven't lived next to a soybean field. The ladybugs, and some mean little black bug that bites -- they appear after the harvest, too.)

... Dad came home from the hospital on Monday. He snuck out on all of us to mow the ditches on Wednesday afternoon. I guess he's feeling OK! Though he does have a stuffy nose again, he says. We're hoping and praying he doesn't get a cold again.

... We're taking the kids to the Gypsy Day parade tomorrow. Sofia will be happy that this time there's candy with the parade!

... I saw that IKEA kitchens are on sale through November. I'm hoping we can get to that point while the sale is still on! I'm pretty much set on an IKEA kitchen. They are not that expensive, and the designers have really thought about how to make things accessible and organized. (I need all the help I can get on that last one.) Here's the kind of cupboard doors I like (from the IKEA web site):
Click on this to get the bigger picture -- the doors look like old-fashioned beadboard.

Lots to do before our kitchen looks like that, unfortunately!