Happy First Birthday Tyler!

Introducing: Tyler Wayne Jackson on his first birthday
Tyler is the son of Troy and Audrey Jackson. Audrey is my brother's daughter and we have the privilege of providing day care for Troy and Audrey's children. Tuesday, September 18th was Tyler's first birthday. We had lots of fun with him on his new swing and playing outside. Here is a picture of him on his new swing:

That is his mommy bent down in front of him and Uncle Jessie is behind the swing and yes, that is me in all blue over to the side. He enjoyed his swing for a while and then watched Parker-Daniil feed the animals. Tyler especially enjoyed watching the chickens and ducks eat. He stood outside the fence saying "bock, bock, bock" just like his mommy taught him.

After morning chores we had a wonderful breakfast of belgium waffles with strawberry topping. Tyler loved it! He mostly picked the strawberries out of the waffles, but he ate very well after all that time running around the yard. He kept picking up rocks and banging them together. Great fun for a one year old. After breakfast he opened his gifts and played outside. Then, it was definitely naptime.

Jessica stayed at home with Tyler during naptime and I took Emily to her biology lab. Today her class dissected earthworms. She learned some very interesting facts about the amazing creative abilities of God, but she still doesn't understand why she needs to take this lab. Apparently this mommy isn't creative enough when I give her reasons for taking this lab and learning this information.

Jessie worked with Parker-Daniil on his Geography while I was gone. I think it gave them some very good time together. He doesn't get time to do this very often so I love to take advantage of it when he does. Jessie has a different perspective than I do and sometimes it is just what Parker-Daniil needs to get past a learning block.

The biology lab ran a bit later than usual for Emily so I had to leave her there to meet Ethan's school bus. Ethan is Tyler's big brother. After I got Ethan we went back to town to meet Emily. Ethan was thrilled to make the trip with me because he got to see Laikyn and he got a kid's meal from Wendy's; what a treat!

Fall is beginning to make its presence felt here at Crooked Pines Farm. The Orb Weaver Spiders are nightly building their amazing webs. One night this week Emily walked right into a web that stretched from the camper to a tree across the driveway. Jessica heard her screeching all the way down at the house. Those webs are huge!

Egg production has been quite slow for the last six weeks. I attribute it to the extremely hot weather and drought that we have been experiencing. Our chickens have really been miserable. We are hoping that the cooler temperatures and the recent rains will bring with it a return to normal egg production; Henny Penny certainly seems happier.

Enough for now...