Pavers are 3 inches tall. Was the soil lowered in there by 3 inches to compensate for the paver height? Too bad you didn't start this project in May. That would have given you time to mulch the area for a few months and restore the soil. You should not rototill. That will fluff the soil unevenly so that 3 years from now, when it has all settled, it will be uneven (bumpy). I would not even hoe it. I would spray it with any clear shampoo at a rate of 3 ounces per 1,000 square feet followed by 1 inch of irrigation. Water it a full inch again in a week. A week after that repeat the shampoo and water. Then scatter seed, stomp the seed into the surface of the soil, and start the seed sprouting watering regimen. That means to water lightly 3x per day (breakfast, lunch, and dinner). Lightly means just enough to keep the surface of the soil moist - not saturated. That might be only 5-15 minutes each time. Continue that watering for 3 weeks for fescue and 4 weeks for Kentucky bluegrass seed. When you think you have 80% germination, then back off on the frequency and increase the duration. Eventually you should be watering a full inch of water all at one time. When the temps are in the 70s you should stretch the frequency to every 3-4 weeks. When they climb into the 80s, then water every other week. In the 90s, go to weekly watering. Always 1 inch at a time. When the new grass is 5 inches high (or an inch higher than your mower will mow), mow it back to 4 a couple times. The tall grass will help develop deeper roots. Once the grass is in and mowed a few times, if it seems sturdy enough I would scatter a very light coat of compost. Very light means about 1/2 to 3/4 yard per 1,000 square feet. This is hardly any, but you'll have tender grass. Use less if you want to, because you don't want to smother it before it gets started. Any grass that is laying over under the compost will die so sweep it off the grass and down into the turf with a push broom. You need to get going on this project fast. Winter's a coming.

First of all, I want to *thank you* all for answering. You wouldn't believe the weight that has been lifted off of my shoulders just by being HEARD by someone looking in from the outside. I realize that I'm new here, and probably shouldn't have jumped into the waters right away with a problem... but, I'm glad that I did. You're a wonderful bunch. :) jenny_alabama:: Definitely take those boys to counseling, but also talk, talk, talk to them on the side. >>I have always let the boys know that they can talk to me about anything, be it good or bad.. that they can call me as easily as they do their dad. I received a phone call from the oldest about the incident we had yesterday with their Mom, he wanted to know what really happened. Of course, I left off some things but basically told him that his mother was being disrespectful to both their Dad and I. LOL.. his words almost verbatim were... yeah, she can be that way sometimes. My husband and I have a rule, there is no badmouthing anyone in our home no matter who it is, we want ALL of the kids to feel comfortable here and we want a home that doesn't feel like a battleground. mmommy::Don't underestimate your children's ability to see the light. >>You're definitely right about that one.. the truth ALWAYS comes out sooner or later, but sometimes when we're in the middle of the battle, we lose site of that fact. Thanks for the reminder. :) sylviatexas::Those behaviors often occur when children are in homes where they witness abuse or when they are being abused, be it mentally, emotionally, physically, sexually. >>That is our worst fears :(. The man has been a friend of my husbands for some time now... more of an acquaintance, really. He has always been nice to my husband and I, but we know what's on the surface isn't necessarily what's inside. We have an appointment tomorrow afternoon with the oldest one's teacher (yes, their Mom knows, she is more than welcome to attend), to discuss issues that he may be having at school. Unfortunately we couldn't get one in to see the youngest's teacher before our appointment with our lawyer on the 22nd. >>You would think that she would want them to get counselling.. she seems to think that they don't need it, that it's OUR home causing all the problems, she says they don't act that way there. Well, if it is.. wouldn't she want to find out for sure?? I'm thinking that you guys are SO right.. if they go.. she looses control. Which is just sad.....

Brad: Thank you for the info. I got PlantStep back up and working last week. AdwCleaner moved it to the C drive and labeled all the files with a .vir extension. I had to use a program that will delete the .vir from the PlantStep files in bulk, reinstall PlantStep and then overlay the cleaned files back into PlantStep to get all my data and pictures back into the software. I would caution anyone on using AdwCleaner. I have a program within Windows that does a check of Services running on startup which will give me a list of programs that I might want to not have run on startup. I even disabled the AdBlockerPlus, cleared out the cache, temp files and still the issue with Houzz continues. The message is definitely being generated from Houzz. I upload photos to other sites without issue. Just Houzz has something that changed. I already got notification from Windows that my version of Windows and Apps will not be a problem with the new update. I'm still waiting for the message that I can install which probably won't happen for a few days as they roll it out.

I like your house -- it has character! I would place the television on the blank wall shown in your second photo. You could float a sofa in the middle of the room with chairs on each side. Then, place a sofa table behind the sofa. I wouldn't remove the railing, since there's a door so close to it. I could just imagine guests walking in and inadvertently falling off the ledge.