I had about two hours between Aaron's miraculous recovery from a nasty virus and Alex coming down with it. Luckily it seems that Alex has a milder version and seems to be on the upswing already.

One of our little chickens got sick a couple of days ago and I figured she had no chance but with much nursing she seems to be much better this morning. I'm glad because she's Julia's current favorite. That's her posing with Julia on the right. She's docile and very tolerant like Dolly was....happy to lay on her back and go to sleep.

We have major Halloween preparations to finish, today. Pumpkins to carve, costumes to finish, the golf-cart to decorate. Looks like the weather will be perfect and a touch cooler than the usual 85 degree Halloweens!

We worked on major house projects this weekend. Most of the house has now turned yellow. We just have a couple of spots to finish, some trim to do, and the eaves and ceiling of the porch and carport to do. Eventually we do have to pick a color for the shutters (green?, dark red?). Perhaps I'll do that tomorrow. We also painted the newly finished porch ceiling. It was not finished before (just exposed 2X6'x) so now it has a lovely beadboard ceiling with a new fan and a fresh paint job.

After the painting is finished we will begin the process of closing in the back porch to make a big livingroom/sunroom.

Not many other exciting events going on on the ranch. Oh, except our massive canteloupe harvest. I meant to make Julia pose with them but we ran out of daylight.

And Happy Birthday Anne!! Hope you had a good day.

We went to a Halloween party, last night. We simply HAD to be the Incredibles and, luckily, everyone was willing to participate! The kids had a great time in the space walk at the party.

Our neighbors thought we were crazy and I'm sure the cars by us in traffic got a good laugh with everyone in costume.

I really like this outfit that Alex picked out. Red baseball cap, knight shield, pink leopard purse, and Lightning McQueen rain boots. Perhaps he can be a fashion designer someday.

The boys discovered the joy of kamakaze sliding a few days ago. Both run up the slide and whoever gets to the top first then plows over the other one and they crash to the ground giggling. It's been fun for days.

No jury duty! I got out of it. My meeting for today got moved to next week. Darn, I was looking forward to lunch out by myself!

We have done nothing interesting, lately. Hence the delay in blogging.

Julia had a field trip, today. The 3rd grade classes went to a pumpkin patch where they could pick a pumpkin and paint it. they had lots of other activities like face painting, games, a petting zoo, a hill (yes, this draws a crowd in Louisiana), and a cotton and sugarcane field. The hurricane killed all the pumpkin vines so only the pumkins were left in the field. It was a very fun noneducational trip!

Julia and her friend Sarah had fun with the giant rooster (chickroo as Alex would say). All the kids had to pose in front of the wagon while the teacher (and their mothers) took their pictures. I was really impressed with Julia's teachers. They were nice and funny and great with the kids.

The pink flower is a cotton flower. I didn't know they were that pretty. The swamp sunflowers are blooming around here, too. They are my favorite. They line the side of the roads. Somebody mowed my favorite field of sunflowers so that might mess up my photo-op for this year. Bummer.

The kids have tomorrow off for "fair day" so we have a long gorgeous weekend with no plans. I have jury duty next week and a meeting at the school for Julia's IEP for the gifted program. I hope I can get out of jury duty so I can attend the meeting!

You're looking at Mrs. Betsy's very first student of the month for this year. Yay! Aaron was proud of himself although he didn't really know what it meant.

They extended the school day by 14 minutes starting next week. It's to make up for the week missed for Gustav. I'm glad I'm not in school!

And this is what happens when you hand some paint pens to a family with lots of pent-up aggression. Everyone gets painted. Aaron took this picture. I think I look nice with a handlebar moustache.

Grandmama Townley gets back from Ireland, today. I can't wait to see pictures and hear about it.

Oh, still no working cable. They said it required major line work and the guy had no idea when it would get fixed.