Well construction of the chicken coop has been coming along nicely. We're getting more and more excited as we reflect on our progress. This project has been especially nice for Ken as he's getting a opportunity to use the majority of all the nifty toys... oops! I mean tools! Yes, tools he's received as gifts - most over the years by his loving wife! :-)
For a few days we had some much appreciated help from Johnathan Hetrick, which was fun for us and for him. Jewel also enjoyed taking a break from construction during one of the days and spending time and having fun with the other Hetrick children Samantha, Christina & Nick when we did a "kid swap." On one day, when Johnathan came to help, I did have to give him a hard time though... here's why: So I come out to check on the progess and see if anyone needs another hot chocolate (motivation for cool autumn mornings), when I see three eggs on the deck table. Odd I thought, hmmm... thinking nah - our girls are supposed to lay brown eggs, but without holding, but rather after touching the eggs softly and feeling them just barely warm, the fleeting moment of excitement came - Oh my! Has the day come? But they're white eggs! Only to find out Johnathan had brough 3 hard boiled eggs to snack on during the day. We all got a good chuckle out of that one!
On a perfect day - Johnathan helping Ken put the roof on while learning some basic carpentry skills. What a trooper and such a big help!
Coop construction is really looking good & the roof is on!
The wonderful overhang to keep us dry at the end of the coop. It rained a couple of days after we put this up and it was SO nice! We're also putting up a bug zapper attached to the corner of the overhang to keep some of those pesky bugs at bay. Hope the chickens like their bugs well done!
Jewel helping with Linoleum & trim installation on a cool autumn morning.
Ken finishing up nailing the flooring trim. I thought it looked nicer than what we have in the house now, perhaps trim updates will be another up and coming project since Ken did such a lovely job!
Ken and Jewel working hard while I document their progress inbetween helping.
Ken getting some much deserved appreciation from one of the chickens for building their lovely coop!
Jewel with her favorite hen "Tender," a Black Australorp. Tender is the most calm and sweet bird so far of the older bunch. This breed is quickly becoming one of my favorites.
Tender is our biggest hen, though our older girls are all quite large. They'll be 18 weeks old as of Monday!
breakfast of sunny side up eggs, sausage & peanut butter crackers (we were out of bread) decorated with a sprig of mint while relaxing in the bath 
Jewel wanted me to feel very special. Later found in the (fortunately clean) trash bin all crumpled up, her detailed plans - literally. She had everything mapped out, detailed notes on how everything should be prepared and how she wanted me to feel. I had to pull them out and unwrinkle the paper - that's scrapbook material right there! Ken had saved up his tips from delivering pizza to take us all out to our favorite sushi restaurant, which was wonderful! 
