We have been enjoying some warmer-than-usual temperatures. Things are beginning to turn green. The grass is tall enough to need cutting. And, winter has left the yard with a bit of a mess. So we're taking Saturday and turning it into Yard Day!

We're doing our best to make the most of our time as we live through our current "Stay At Home" order. But this past Saturday was the perfect day to get outside and do a little work AND have a little fun. But before we talk about the fun, let's talk about the work. We declared Saturday, Yard Day!

Having a new home is exciting, especially when you start thinking about landscaping, planting, and creating an outdoor space that you love. We have no shortage of DIY projects planned; indoors and outdoors. Amy has already started a few projects indoors, but with the weather as nice as it is, Saturday was all about getting a few outdoor projects started.

So the first project we tackled was a new bed behind our shed. When we lived in Somerset, we had a couple raspberry bushes that produced a ton of berries. With the raspberry bushes, we have made a number of backyard gardens of various shapes and sizes. Being in our new house, we will most definitely have a garden in the backyard, and one of the very first items that Amy wants to plant is a couple raspberry bushes. So we're planting 2 raspberry bushes.

So, we picked up these, Grow Your Own, fruit bushes; two raspberry and one blueberry. The first is a Fall Gold. It looks like it's fruit is going to be a cool gold or yellow color. The second is a Brandywine; a cool dark red color. The third is a blueberry bush that we'll talk about in another post. For now, it's all about our raspberries.

We have this space behind our shed that should serve as a great spot for our raspberry bushes. The space isn't huge, and it's now usable for much of anything. There's about 3 feet of space, then a hill, so it's a great place for our bushes. Plus, these spot should pick up plenty of sun all summer long.

Step one, tear it up! It's a small patch, but it still took some hard work to the area ready for the bushes. We mapped out the area, cut the edge and trench, and started digging, turn, and mixing up the soil. Fortunately I had two helpers; Aiden and Asher, joined me to dig it all up.

The process is simple; tear off the grass, turn the soil, and mix it all up. This would be super easy with a rototiller, but we don't have a rototiller, yet. However, the boys and I got our hands dirty and tilled the soil.

It was super fun to spend some time with Aiden and Asher. And I was really grateful for their help. For as much as I really enjoy playing in the dirt, their help, and the time working with them is going to make these raspberries all the more sweeter.

And there you have it, our new raspberry bed. The picture doesn't show it, but we planted our Fall Gold and Brandywine raspberries. Both roots already had some new growth on them, so we're hopeful for a good growing season.

Over the next couple of weeks we'll be sharing additional posts with updates on how things are growing. The raspberries are are only one of the projects that we finished up on Saturday. Amy started a bed with some flowers that we're hoping to see grow around our deck. We'll share that post in a couple of days!

Check in with us tomorrow, here on the blog and vlog. Breya and I started the seeds for our vegetable garden. You can see that video and hear what we are hoping to grow this summer in our new garden.

Thanks for joining us today! See you next time!

​- the higham family

* THIS IS NOT A SPONSORED POST, BUT THERE ARE AFFILIATE LINKS *

KidsTalk was an idea we had to create safe, encouraging, and fun content for kids! Our kids love YouTube! They probably watch it more than TV. And while there is some really good content for kids, there is also a lot of questionable content that we would they rather not view.  So we sat down with our kids and said, "Let's create some fun content for you and your friends to watch!" And, that's what we did!

Are you stir crazy, yet? Cabin fever setting in? Kids looking for things to do? Need some helpful ideas to get through the next couple of weeks? We have some help for you!

If you're like us, you're looking at another four weeks or more of "Stay-At-Home" living with your kids! We survived the first couple of weeks, but it looks like it's going to be a long time before they return to school, if they return to school. So, Amy and I are putting our heads together and coming up with some ideas that we here in the Higham House (and hopefully you and your family) can do while we're all under Stay at Home orders!! Nothing earth-shattering or overly creative and new, just simple, easy to do ideas for you and your kids that we hope will help get  you through the next couple of weeks! And hey, you might have fun while do them!

1. Take Turns Making Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner - Working together in the kitchen can be a lot of fun. Take turns cooking a meal.   Sit the kids down and ask them for their favorite meals. Take their suggestions and create a menu. Now, assign them each an opportunity to cook one or two of the meals with you.

2. Bake a Cake - Everyone loves cake. It doesn't matter if it's a box or from scratch, grab your mixing bowls and baking pans and heat up the oven. Let your kids help with the mixing, measuring, and decorating. A freshly baked cake makes the perfect dessert. Who gets to lick the beaters?

3. Craft Projects - Give your kids the freedom to create. Grab some glue, a few popsicle sticks, glitter, pompoms, and some wiggle eyes and let them have fun. Pinterest is loaded with great ideas.

4. Complete a Household Project - We had a busted ottoman. The center was gone. No cushion. If you sat on it, you sunk to the floor. We got some materials, took the ottoman apart and made repairs! We actually had a lot of fun. The kids helped and we all learned something. And the ottoman, better than new. Find a project around the house that the kids can help with, and get started.

5. Have Cleaning Day - Who likes a clean house? How about clean bedrooms? Set aside a day, pass out the buckets and rags, brooms and mops, and set the kids loose. Open the window, let some fresh, spring air in, it's cleaning day!
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6. Go to the Park - Cabin fever is brewing, time to get outside! Get the kids and head to the park! Pack up the bikes, a couple balls, some extra sanitizing wipes and hand cleaner, get outside and enjoy the great outdoors!

7. Play Catch - Football. Baseball. Frisbee. Soccerball. Basketball. If it bounces, rolls, can be thrown, kicked or passed, grab it and get into the backyard (or front-yard) and play a game of catch. Or, make up some new games of catch.

8. Look Through Photo Books - Amy was actually doing this one with the kids last week, looking through family photo books. For years, Amy scrapbooked, caught all the major events in the life of our family and created beautiful pages of laughter, tears, joys, and cheers. Amy and the kids pulled out a bunch of the scrapbooks and spent an afternoon and an evening turning pages. So much fun to remembering, telling stories, and be thankful for the great memories.

9. Movie Night - Netflix, Hulu, Apple, Amazon, or pull out an old DVD or Blu-ray...You pick the service and movie. Pop some popcorn, get into your comfy pj's, snuggle up on the couch, and enjoy your family family movie! If you really want to make it a thing, watch a saga-series like Narnia, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Harry Potter, etc.

​10. Game Night - We've done this a couple night already as well. Catan. Ticket to Ride. 31. Left Center Right, Qwirkle. Grab a couple of the families favorite games, set up the table, and have some fun! We'll provide a list of some of our favorite games in an upcoming post. Watch for a link to be added to this page.

11. Walk the Dog - Simple. Go walk the dog. Take some time to stroll through the neighborhood while walking the dog.

12. Walk the Kids - When you're done walking the dog, get a kid or two, and go for a walk together. It's a great opportunity to talk and catch up with each other.

13. Facetime/Zoom the Family - Right now, everyone is using technology to host meeting, conduct business, and to connect with each other. Because of our jobs, we have spent a bunch of time at our laptops on conference calls and meetings. But what if we were to set aside some time to talk to our extended family. Use Zoom or FaceTime to talk with your family.

14. Read A Book/Novel Together - The Chronicles of Narnia. Lord of the Rings. Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Harry Potter. Does your family have a favorite book, series, or novel? Set aside some time in the evening to read your favorite book or books!

​15. Wash the Car - With spring just around the corner, it's time to wash away the salt and snow of winter. Grab the kids, a couple buckets, sponges, the garden hose, and the car soap and wash the car (or cars)! Oh, and don't forget the interiors!

16. Write to A Family Member - Social media has us all connecting through our cell phones, laptops, tablets, and the internet. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram; it's our current form of communication.  But there's something special when real mail arrives. Sit the kids down at the table, give them note cards, blank sheets of paper, pens, crayons, markers, stickers, and whatever other craft supplies you have at home. Have them write letters and draw pictures to the grandparents, aunt & uncles, cousins, even a neighbor or close friend.

17. Take Food to a Local Food Bank or Soup Kitchen - Community service groups are struggling as they care for the people in your community. why not give them some help. Next time you run to the grocery store, grab a few extra items that you and your kids can drop off at your local food bank or soup kitchen.

18. Start Your Summer Garden from Seedlings - We love growing and eating fresh vegetables in our backyard garden. Now is the perfect time to start you veggies from seeds. Pick up a couple seed packets and some dirt, and plant the seeds. Watch them grow, and when ready, plant them in the ground. By mid summer you'll be enjoying the your very own fresh vegetables!

19. Paint a Picture - You've seen those store front that invite customers to come and paint a portrait while sipping something bubbly? Try it at home with a twist. Pick up a few blank canvases, some paint and brushes, and your kids favorite drink or juice and channel your inner Bob Ross. You can all paint the same portrait or allow creativity to take over!

20. Play with Play-Doh - Play-Doh...who doesn't love playing with Play-Doh?! Cover your table with a plastic table cover, set out some Play-Doh and have at it. Let the kids shape and sculpt their hearts away. For some fun, you can play a game by having the kids all sculpt the same thing. Make a list of items; animals, objects, buildings, places. Write in on a separate piece of paper. Fold them up and put them into a bowl. Have a kid pick a piece of paper. Give 2 to 3 minutes for the kids to shape the item on the paper. Let each kids show off their creation before starting the next round. Have fun!

21. Do a Puzzle - Puzzles, classic. Every once in a while, we'll pull out a puzzle and set it out to be built. Then we sit and we work on the puzzle. It's calming, relaxing, and a great opportunity to connect with your kids.

22. Build with Legos - We love Legos. We often say, if Legos were currency, we'd never need another thing. An afternoon with nothing to do is the perfect time to dump your Legos out and build. 

23. Have an Indoor Picnic - Can't go out, then stay in! Grab your picnic basket and fill it up with a delicious lunch. Lay out your picnic blanket on the living room floor, and have an indoor picnic!

24. Play Tag - Here is another classic, Tag. There are dozens of tag games you could play with your kids. Go out to the back yard and have some fun!

​25. Activity Books - Puzzle books, coloring books, word searches, seek-n-finds, crosswords, Mad Libs; grab a handful of activity books and enjoying an afternoon of puzzle fun! (Watch our Mad Libs KidsTalk.)