Spring has sprung....back?!

As usual at this time of the year it's very hard to keep the kids focused on their school work.  Attention spans become very short and enthusiasm for lessons wanes down to almost zero.  I've always blamed it on the nice weather.  I mean, who can memorize mulitplication tables or unravel complex algebra problems when the robins are busy building nests just outside your window and the fresh breeze is blowing tantilizingly across your paper?  But we can hardly blame the weather this year.  The windows are not open.  No one is interested in playing outside just now. 

There's something not quite right about this!

 No matter what the weather is like, this time of the year means TAXES.  So that's why I spent a good portion of Saturday at the computer surrounded by file folders, with my trusty calculator in hand.  TurboTax takes some of the pain from the process, but nevertheless, it's still not my favourite way to spend a Saturday, even a rainy one. 

Since it was raining, Gerald spent time inside painting the upstairs hallway...our last project before the addition.  Progress! :)  Speaking of the addition, the builder pushed back the starting date by a month, so now we are expecting action by the end of May.  I won't deny that this was a little disappointing, but it does give us a little more time to get things in order.  We'll likely be putting in a new septic bed before the construction starts so that as soon as we're ready, we can hook up to the new system and be ready to go.  If we can put the new bed in the same place as the old one, we'll have to be without septic twice....the first time while they are replacing, and then again when they start digging the hole for the addition until they are ready to hook us up again.  More likely we will be putting it in a different location, probably where our garden is now, which means no garden at all this year, and starting from sod all over again next year.  But it would mean being without septic only once, and that's a real bonus.  They may even be able to hook up one bathroom (in the master bedroom, which is on the far end of the house near the location of the new tank) so we may have only a short interruption in 'service.'  Our other option is to rent a johnny-on-the-spot.  Can't you just picture the morning line-up? :D

While there's been little motivation to press on with their school work, the kids have taken a keen interest in finding pets on (you guessed it) Kijiji.  I'm consoling myself that there must be some academic value to finding your way around the ads, researching which pets would be desirable and learning what care they would require.   Since Snowflake was killed on the road a few months back we don't have a cat in the house, and that has opened up some possibilities.

 Leah found herself two hamsters.  She named them Amos and Enoch.  It's pretty much impossible to get both on one picture when they are out of their cage, since they scamper around as fast as their little legs will carry them.  Here's one of them, and since they are pretty much identical, you know what both look like.

Emily is the proud owner of two zebra finches, still nameless.  Paul and Silas were suggested but that's not quite what Emily had in mind.  They're not the sort of pet you can play with, although Emily is trying to get them to eat out of her hand.  They make cheerful little chirps and squeaks.

The newest pet is Myrrh, and she is Meg's.  Meg has always been an animal lover, of bunnies in particular.  Myrrh has taken up residence in a cage in the barn, but she is often taken out to play in the yard and occasionally she is taken into the house.

Two overheard conversations from today...

Wanna play chest with me?

It's chess, not chest!

Looking into the bird cage, the little boys noticed the TSC Farm and Auto flyer that Emily had used to line the bottom of the cage.  They instructed the birds, "Don't poop on that flyer because its our favourite, 'kay?"