Sprucing Up: DIY Couch Recover

We've finished our "easy care" slip cover for the sofa. This slip cover is made of drop cloths... yep, the fancy Lowe's fabric. Canvas, washable, and sewed easily. Paul fastened hooks to the frame of the couch, and with the magic of button holes and fasteners, the cushions are no longer sliding out. Total project cost: less than $65. If you do it yourself, we've learned this very helpful hint: After washing, put it on slightly wet and allow to air dry. This prevents from shrinkage and the canvas literally molds to the couch, so the cover doesn't slip. Now to work on throw pillows...

Gone Fishing

Little Fishermen

Off to find the right spot

Rob squealed with pride when he'd reel it in

Rob's happy fishing pose

Graham took Daddy's Dr. Pepper and enjoyed some quiet time. 

Graham sat and fished quietly and intently all morning.

What We Are Reading

We've been reading a lot more than we've been blogging lately. The past few weeks, the boys have enjoyed Shel Silverstein, reading from Where The Sidewalk Ends. In fact, we've read it so much, it inspired my TechEd project which required a lesson plan incorporating technology and WikiSpaces.

You can view my WikiSpaces project at https://chenault.wikispaces.com but I beg you not to judge; WikiSpaces is straight HTML so its very limiting (as much as my professor's requirements were cumbersome) so its not attractive. What is uniquely cool about WikiSpaces is the ability to collaborate; everyone can go and edit, add, etc. It truly embraces Web 2.0.

Anyway, what we've been reading... the boys love the poems and the drawings. When I asked them which was their favorite, Graham said enthusiastically replied: "the whole book!"

Little Visitors

Working Boys

Morning Coffee with Rob

Spring Semester Countdown...

Candice has completed one class, so there's one final project and one final exam to go.
Graham graduates May 21.
Rob's last day is May 22
Paul will take a vacation, some day....

What grows in our garden...

Each Mother's Day, the boys have given me a rose bush. This is the first bloom of this bush for this year! So much better than a vase of flowers that lives just for a day...

Eye Spy

Graham's new invention; see ahead of you and above you, all hands free!

Grow, Garden, Grow!

Paul built us a great raised bed in the dog trot between the fences for our garden this year. Lined with soaker hoses and enriched compost organic fertilizer, we hope to grow a lot this summer! They boys have helped us plant tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, green beans, squash, zucchini, okra and collards. Broccoli and carrots are growing in pots, too.

This year, we've moved the herb garden just outside the patio. We have basil, rosemary, sage, thyme, cilantro, oregano, lemon balm, mint and catnip.

So, in June, we hope to have a lot of homemade pasta sauces!

Can you find the monkeys?

We made jam!

 Yes, we're jammin'!

We made our first batch of strawberry jam, including some strawberries from our garden! On our slices of toast, we all said "Yum!"

Bobby Horton and the ASO

We were fortunate to attend the Inaugural concert of "Alabama Here We Stay" with the Alabama Symphony Orchestra featuring Bobby Horton. If it comes near you, go!

Not only is Bobby Horton (of Three On a String fame) a multi-instrumentalist and composer, he is historian, especially focusing on music of the Civil War era. He composed the music for the popular Ken Burns series "The Civil War" as well as several other movies. In this particular concert, he shares the music, history and stories of songs from 1860-1864, which is mesmerizing with the Alabama Symphony Orchestra. His wit and charm make the stories of songs as wonderful as the music themselves.

Did you know that The New Yorker has listed our Alabama Symphony Orchestra as one of its Top 10 orchestras in the nation. How fortunate are we!

This concert is coming to the Princess Theater in Decatur next, a few other locations in the state, and wraps up its tour at Samford University. For more information visit Bobby Horton's site. It's a truly wonderful concert - go!

Big guys on campus

Tonight, we went to the University of Montevallo for a concert of the Alabama Symphony Orchestra, featuring Bobby Horton. After picking up tickets, we prowled around campus and the boys loved chasing squirrels where Mommy goes to school. We talked about how Mommy and Daddy met on campus, showing them dorms and walking down memory lane... they didn't care. The squirrels are awesome!