Charky, again

The beloved chicken...

 

Well, I really can't believe that a chicken gets an entire blog post all to herself.  But, we wanted more pictures... this time of Charky by herself.  So, here she is folks...

 



Charky, Sunday at the farm and Joey

Charky is the most beloved hen on our farm.  She belongs to Josiah.  Which is good for her because apparently she is at the very bottom of the pecking order in the chicken barn.  And that just prompts Josiah to spoil her more.  Little Charky is hand fed all the special treats - that way the boys are sure she gets some, too.  She is held and petted the most.  Even the other two boys love Charky the most...  just because Josiah does. 

See how spunky little Charky is? :)

 

Here are some pictures from our Sunday afternoon on the farm... (working and playing)...

John is building some new rabbit cages and Shep and Will are digging tunnels in the dirt mound.

 

 

Speaking of animals at the farm, Joey (our cat) had a big adventure this week.  When we got home from a fall festival on Friday evening, Shepard found Joey all snuggled up on the pillows on his bed.  (Joey is never allowed inside so we were REALLY surprised to find him there!!  He must have snuck in while we were loading the car and nobody saw him.)  If Joey wasn't a boy, I think I'd rename him "Goldilocks" because of all the beds in our house, he knew exactly which one was "just right"!  Shepard is the one who loves Joey most.

 

"Goldilocks" as a baby with Shepard.   (They've both changed quite a bit in the last year!)

My Boys

We joke a lot about me being the only girl in this family of BOYS...

as the only object of their delight in grossing-out girls, I am constantly in the clutches of "boyness".

But, really, who wouldn't enjoy being the "queen" of this bunch of loving, fun, handsome boys?!?

 

My two favorite new pictures of the three boys...

 

 

Josiah

 

 

Shepard

 

 

Will

 

 

 

And I got this picture of John and Will...  love it!

 

blessed... blessed... blessed!!



Shepard's 8th Birthday

Here are the highlights and pictures from Shepard's 8th birthday...

 

 

His request was chocolate cupcakes with chocolate icing and chocolate sprinkles...

think he likes chocolate??? :)

 

 

Opening gifts...

 

 

On the evening of Shepard's birthday, we were able to take him to the Toby Mac concert in Siloam Springs.  He was pretty excited about that!  Jamie Grace was performing, too, and he has been hoping to see her for a long time, so that was a big treat!  Will was excited to go to the concert, too.  Josiah doesn't really care much about concerts... so he ended up hanging out at his friend's house while the rest of went to the concert.  (Josiah had a lot of fun and so did we at the concert!)

 

Jamie Grace performing...

 

 Jamie Grace with Toby Mac...

 

 

Chris August performing...

 

 

Toby Mac performing...

 

 

Our family at the concert...

 

 

Meeting Jamie Grace...

 

The boys with Chris August...

(I'm loving his music!)

 

 

The next day Grandma and Grandpa came for a visit and Shep got to celebrate his birthday with them.

(After that, my mom and I spent the day canning applesauce.  Wow.  That was a lot of work, but the applesauce is yummy!  I've got an awesome mom!)

 

Happy Birthday, Shep!

We sure enjoy your sweet ways and peacemaking spirit.  You are a treasure and real delight!

We loved celebrating 8 years with you!

Oh, Will, oh...

Will went for a ride with me on the golf cart...

I snapped these while we were out driving around.

Sure do love this little guy!  And that smile...

 



Apple Pickin'

We had our first apple picking this week!

All three of the apple trees made lots of apples this year...  the two with red apples are a mystery...  when we had a chance to check them again after the Growing Kids Sale, the apples on those two trees were ALL GONE.  We're guessing that they all fell off the tree during the sale and the deer had a feast!

 

 

But the third tree has green Granny Smith apples and was still loaded with fruit.

So, we went pickin'!

 

 

The October air was filled a smoky fall aroma...  there was a touch of crisp in the air...  the sun was glowing on the horizon.  These berries were on the tree next to the apple tree... 

 

 

As we finished picking apples the berries glowed beautiful...

God's masterpiece for my eyes.

 

 

If you could bottle such moments...

all the laughing, smiles...  just being together on a fall evening...

But I'll settle for my memories and the moments captured with my camera.

 

 

 

 

Having some fun...

 

 

The harvest...

 

Four bags of apples!

Apple pie and canned applesauce coming up...