Oh Tell Me Where You've Been ......

I don't know about your household, but ours has been crazy busy the past two months. It was as though someone hijacked my day timer and just crammed every day as full as they could get it. There are lots of problems that can cause and I'm thankful that it looks like the schedule is back in my hands - now I'll just have to work extra hard to keep it there.

September
 Thoroughly enjoyed the boys' last flower pickings of summer.

Homeschooling is going well though it's had some very unique challenges this year. I've never before had a child who knows sounds of letters before he knows names of letters. Each year holds it own distinctive flavors and the mix this year is interesting. 

 I think the boys are trying to send the message that they're cold - right after this picture was taken Stephen went to get his blanket too.

Chickens are still continuing to do well - laying 11-13 eggs a day. Egg size and color vary significantly. The boys have just done such a good job of taking good care of them. There really isn't anything that I have to do other than check in 1-2 times a week and turn their bedding. 

Since Stephen gets done with his studies early, he comes up with the most unique ways to amuse himself. A recent trend has been developing costumes strictly out of paper, crayons, and lots and lots of staples and tape. The top two is a crab (complete with eyes and pincers). The bottom is a "Fang of Dang" from the Wingfeather Saga which is the book series we read together over last winter. They LOVED this series! 

We celebrated Daniel's 8th birthday. 

We also had a visit from my dad - but I have no pictures of that. 

October

Stephen marked turning 6 years old. 

One of the special things we do in our house to celebrate turning 6 is going out with daddy for breakfast. Philip woke him up the day of his birthday and said, "Are you ready to go out for our special breakfast?" He pulled the covers closer and said, "I don't want to go anywhere in the middle of the night" and it was evident that he wasn't going anywhere. Unfortunately, when he did wake up, he realized that going for breakfast did indeed mean getting up before his brothers and it would still be dark out. The next morning he was more prepared! 

Then fall arrived in all its glory. 

We had one staple job (Daniel's first - he's broken his winning streak) and Stephen had a stress fracture in his foot. 

One wedding cake for a friend - only because the bottom two layers are made of Styrofoam and it wasn't as stressful as a normal cake. 

We went to the Kentucky Wool festival.

Had a visit from cousins (actually both sides of the family but we only got pictures with one). 

And typical days involve some type of conflict - in this case, land mines with all of the pillows in the house. 

Busy, busy days. And they must slow down for in busyness one misses out on so many of the simple joys of just living. Now on to November!