Happy Birthday Josiah!

Josiah is 12!

Happy, happy birthday to our precious Josiah!  He's growing into an incredible young man...  we are so proud of him!!

Back from Washington DC

Green (Gabled) Acres is the place to be

Farm livin' is the life for me

Land spreadin' out so far and wide

Keep Manhattan (DC)

And give me that countryside

Are you humming the tune?!  We had a great trip to DC for the sale owner's convention and a few touristy sight seeing days, but we are HAPPY to be back home!  It was a lot of fun to see the nation's capital again - it's all so impressive and well, just really cool.

My favorite thing was touring the inside of the capitol building.  Really cool!  We got to watch the Senate in session - it was pretty interesting to watch the Senators give speeches to the wall.  Yes, really!  Who knew?  It looks a lot different on tv.  What was awful was that this was a record setting HOT day and we had to walk from the other end of the mall to the capitol for our appointment.  Did I mention the humidity?!  We were completely drenched in sweat by the time we got there...  seriously, drenched is an understatement.  Our tongues were so dry we could hardly talk!  And I had huge blisters on the bottom of both of my feet!  I guess we didn't do much to help the hillbilly perception of Arkansas.  We just walked in the Congressional office building, panting, soaked and stinky.  Kinda hard to shake hands with all those suits in that condition, but we did it anyway. :)

Visiting DC and seeing the city was fun, but city life is not for us.  We much prefer our sprawling acreage to the crowded bustle of so many people in one place.  But, we learned how to ride the metro and John drove all over DC, Georgetown and Alexandria...  amid lots of honks. haha  It was like Midtown Madness dejavu!

Then we had two days of the convention and it was great to meet a lot of John's clients there.  He did a session on his software and he really did a fantastic job!  I'm always SOOOO proud of the way he handles himself in business.  It's just a huge pleasure for me to watch him! 

  Our flights to DC went very smoothly, it was just coming home that got messed up.  We ended up stuck in Charlotte, NC and had to spend the night there before coming home a day later than planned. 

After unpacking, I went to find the boys and here they were...  (Josiah had walked out of the picture)...  but I knew John was just relishing the country air and the relaxed pace of home!

Picking Up Sticks

We had a lot of limbs blown down out of our trees during the recent storms.  The boys have been working hard this weekend to get it all cleaned up.  Yard detail is a big job on a farm.  But, they have worked hard and done a fantastic job.  I've just loved watching them.  Josiah has become a pro at driving the riding lawn mower and Shep loves his ride on the back.  They go back and forth with limbs to throw in the woods.  And I love that every time they drive by my office window they wave at me!

Tonight, while John and I went for a walk, Josiah fired up the mower and gave his two little brothers a ride all over our property.  They had a blast!  Farm life has its perks!  And John and I enjoyed watching them so much.  It feels almost like we are living in a dream...  it's so exciting to be here and get to watch the boys adapt to "country living".  My heart overflows with "thank you, Lord".

Shep finally got his...

BUZZ HAIRCUT! 

He's been waiting for months.  Wants to be like his big brother and dad.  I've resisted.  He has great hair.  I thought I might cry.  But, he's cute as can be and super adorable with his new "do".  And he loves it!  He'll let anyone rub his head who wants to.  He even offers it.  I think he looks like a real farm boy now.

Before:

After:

So, Will wanted his picture taken, too, while he was getting his hair cut.

And Josiah has been wearing this cut for a long time...  still looks good on him.  You can really notice his deep chocolate brown eyes with a buzz cut.



The New Chicken Coop

It was delivered about a week ago!  Here are the guys watching them set it up.  John has been busy working all week to finish the chicken yard.  I need to get back out there and take an "after" pic.  I think these chickens are living in style! :)



Like father, like son

I found John and Shep in the garage watching the little chicks together.  I just loved seeing their matching stances!

Shepard's Kindergarten Graduation

Confirmed!  Shep LOVES the stage!  He was able to participate in our homeschool group's kindergarten graduation on Friday night and he loved every minute of it.  He told us a few weeks ago that he didn't want to be on stage in front of "all those people" - HA!  The boy thrives on it!  Check out the picture that my friend Jessica sent me of him walking in with the graduates.  I love this one!

Getting ready to go to graduation...

Turning the tassels... 

We should have practiced this. :) 

John and I got to give him his diploma and tell him how proud we are of him! 

Shepard and Catherine 

Wonder what was going on here?? :) 

Shepard and his friend, Anna Kate 

Shepard and GG 

Our little boy is growing up!  And we are so proud of him!  He has learned a lot this year in kindergarten.  He's reading and writing and learning math and lots of other things.  But, mostly, we are proud of his tender heart to the Lord.  And also, we really appreciate his kind spirit toward his brothers and others.

It is a joy to teach Shepard at home!!

Spring Storms - Limbs Down

We've had plenty of rain and spring storms lately.  This last round knocked down a few limbs in our yard.  Will and I took a walk this evening and I got a picture of him with the biggest limb we have down.  (Gotta love his soldier get-up!  He posed in character, too. :) )

Mr. and Mrs. - the geese

Everything at Green Gabled Acres seems to have a name.  I've often admired people who have the knack for naming stuff - that just seems fun - but I've never had enough creativity to do that.  But, at our farm, it just seems to come naturally...  at least so far.  And actually, I guess I'm still not "creative" with the naming, but if if it fits I can't seem to help but name it.  So, our geese pair that live at our pond have become "Mr. and Mrs." to me.  They are so cute always walking around together.  And on Mother's Day weekend their eggs hatched and they have four little geese parading around everywhere with them now.  I just love watching our geese family trot around!  The other day when I drove home I had to stop and let them pass over the drive, so I got out and snapped this picture while I waited.  Life at the farm is FUN!

Oh, and the other day I found Will sitting here by the barn while he was waiting for me to come back from my walk.  Too cute!

MSM is 600!

Wow!  Beyond our wildest imaginations, MySaleManager.NET has 600 clients now!  We are really grateful for each consignment event that has chosen us and trusted us for the software they use to run their event. 

The boys and I are SOOOOO proud of John and the excellent work he does.  It's easy for us to see why his business is growing so much.  The Lord has enabled him to create an excellent product and John has the kind of character that is trustworthy, honest and caring.  Way to go!!

We enjoyed celebrating the latest milestone last night with my parents and my grandpa and Lois who came to visit us and see the new farm.

New Animals at the Farm

Well...  it feels like a real farm now!  We have animals!  17 new baby chicks and a barn cat (kitten) to add to our two rabbits.  The boys are enjoying the animals immensely!  Especially Shepard who is THRILLED to have the cat as his very own responsibility to take care of.  Shep wakes up early to go see the cat (named Joey) and spends every spare minute out at the barn with him... except while he's in the garage visiting the chickens! :) 

at the new house...

Loved finding the boys sitting together by the front door one evening!

The boys have been doing such a great job working on the farm and helping with all kinds of jobs.  After one job, Shep offered to give Will a ride back to the house in the cart.  What fun!