Yes, it depends on the specific Raid formulation as to how extensive the collateral damage might be. Raid Ant and Roach Killer (pretty popular product and one that is applied as a spray rather than a bait) has a couple of active ingredients that could pose mortality to various insects and soil organisms if applied heavily enough. Typically, the spray needs to come in contact with the critter and it would have had to have been an extremely heavy spray to soak down into the soil to any significant degree. I'd suspect that unless hubby emptied the can in this location, the Raid is not the reason insect life seems so slight. Soil dwelling insects are not always readily apparent with cursory digging and temperature, soil moisture and the presence of other natural predators could all have an effect. Did you actually see dead specimens in the soil or just not see much activity at all? There's a big difference. Personally, I'd not be overly concerned about the fate of your organic garden. Just continue on as intended but suggest hubby keep the sprays well away in the future. Even approved 'organic' pesticides like pyrethrins can have an impact on beneficial, non-target organisms.

doesn't it feel great to come under budget? and enjoy it...because the rest costs loads too!

Oh, this thread is great. Sorry khallock about the marital drama. Nothing like a reno to bring out the worst in both spouses. My DH and I remodeled after a house fire. We were under tremendous schedule pressure and are very different in how we process decisions. Plus he is color blind, not great at visualizing spaces and prefers to be a nay-sayer rather than idea proposer. Fun times! We also went round and round about the fridge. I really loved the columns and we desperately needed more freezer space than we could get in a standard 36". We agreed on a counterdepth appliance but struggled for a long time over what to buy. The budget was what finally killed the columns for us. We ended up with a 42" Thermador side-by-side, and we still grumble about the freezer size. My DH was the one who fell in love with the Wolf 36" cooktop and I just went with it. I don't regret it, but I didn't have strong opinions about it otherwise. The biggest conflict we had in the kitchen remodel was over the backsplash design. I chose a colorful tile early on and then played around with countless patterns. He was very firmly fixed on having a traditional, regular, repetitive pattern and I was not. I posted pics here and took a vote and the winner was a random pattern, which I liked best too. Other more experienced designers here helped me understand why it was more appealing and gave me some words to use to explain it to my DH. I insisted that we would have a random pattern, trying to explain why it made sense. He was very unhappy. I held my ground and the backsplash is awesome. Now, whenever we have guests, he takes them right into the kitchen and says "My wife designed this. Isn't it great?" Establish your shared vision for this kitchen. Make a mood board. Learn to use a 3D sketching software so you can play with different things like the fridge, etc. And accept the fact that sometimes you are just going to have to stand your ground.

Our little guy is definitely a blessing. He has not complicated our blended family life in the least. If anything, he is the tie that binds us all together. Having said that, I need to add that there have been no sibling rivalries among our kids because they are sufficiently spaced apart in age (SS20, SS17, DD14, DD10 and darling son, 5). It also helps in our situation that although my daughters look just like me (dark and slender), our little boy looks just like his dad and brothers (fair, with blue eyes). In fact, when my SS17 was a little boy, he had red hair, just like our 5 yo, and people comment on how much he looks like this brother or that brother. When SS17 was away at rehab for six months, he consistently told his therapists he wanted to be clean so that he could be a good role model for younger sisters and brother, and that he missed his baby brother the most of anyone. As to whether or not I would be as fulfilled ... well, if I didn't have him, I wouldn't know what I was missing. But I honestly believe that he, more than anything else DH and I could have done, is the reason all of our kids think of us as "family." They always introduce each other as "my brother" or "my sister," they don't make the "step" distinction, and they don't think of our family as "mom's husband and his kids," or "dad's wife and her kids." I do think DH and I have a "connection" we wouldn't have if we hadn't been through a birth of a child together, as well as raising "our" child. And I am probably a better stepmom for it, because my older boys are not just DH's sons, but they are also brothers to my bio kids. I wish you luck with this complicated decision.