Life has been blissfully uneventful for the past few weeks.  And that's pretty remarkable around here.  The boys began enrichment classes in early September.  Gabe and Joe are taking Art and Hands-on Science, while Benjamin is enjoying Preschool Bible Fun and Book Cooks.  And school at home is going well too.  I think Gabe is finally beginning to appreciate the fact that what his public-school friends do all day can actually be accomplished in just a few hours at home.  And when he sees the bus roll by at 4pm, he invariably says, "I can't believe those guys are just getting home." 

We have started construction again on the house.  After a refinance, we have completed a storage building in the back and the contractor is upstairs as we speak, pounding away at what will soon become the boy's new bedroom.  Yippee!!  We have had such close quarters since we moved into this old house.  I'm looking forward to a little bit of breathing room.  We are also hoping to build a new garage with a studio apartment above, for in-law visits (or maybe just Mommy's hideaway?).

Today is Joseph's 6th birthday.  We are celebrating on Saturday, but I still wanted the day to be special, so we made him breakfast in bed (cinnamon rolls, bacon, and eggs, with a candle to blow out).  He enjoyed being pampered.  He also opened a present (a PSP2 game), so he and Gabe have decided to take the day off from school and just veg.  Meanwhile, I will be spending the afternoon frantically cleaning the house in preparation for Grandma and Grandpa's visit.  They arrive tonight.  They called a few weeks ago and let us know that they had sold a tract of land and wanted to bless us.  They bought a mini-van a few years ago and want something new, so they are gifting us the mini-van and buying a new car while they are here.  Cool, huh!! 

We received 3 new chickens as a gift from a fellow homeschooler, so we now have 6 hens and 1 beastly rooster.  The new hens are really odd-looking-  the mom was a Red Rhone(?) and the dad was a Bantam Rooster, so they are small, blackish-red birds that look a bit like black-birds.  They don't really mix with the other hens, and the rooster can't dominate them too much because they fly pretty well and tend to keep away from the others.  We have decided not to name them.  It's a new farm rule.  Too much hurt and heartache when something happens (and it invariably does).  Oh, those darn life lessons.   

The turtle in this picture is tiny.  That's a Hot Wheel airplane behind him.  He is very special because, early in the summer, Ben and I ran over him with the big riding mower.  Somehow, he escaped without getting chopped to pieces.  We kept him for a few days, and before releasing him, we painted a few drops of red nail polish on his back, in case we ever saw him again.   Fast forward 3 months.  The boys run into the house, screaming that he had returned. He stayed for a few days, and then escaped from his container.  Joe cried and cried, but we hope to see him again someday.

Visit to the Orchard (where the apples were virtually non-existent this year)

Joe's Birthday Cake