One night

We haven't been sleeping a lot over our way. I was not blessed with children who sleep a great deal, but it has gotten even worse as one illness was quickly followed by another, and this one is a real doozy for the poor little guys. However, we had one blessed night of good sleep on Friday night. Patrick was up only a couple times, and quickly went back to his dreams, and Timothy didn't call out at all. Wow. I felt like a new woman Saturday morning.



I managed to make some yummy food and even do some cleaning, all with my well rested young munchkins either helping or happily playing.



Oh, for another night like that one. I know the day will come when I am not desperately sleep deprived, but at least we got a taste of it for half a weekend.

It's done!

It only took five months, but I'm excited to be able to finally give this to Andrew and Megan! Just in time to keep them warm this winter!



It also makes for great roads.

First try

I'd love to say that Timothy running the last little bit with me was the reason my time was what it was, but alas, I'm not the fastest runner in the world. But, it was a great experience, and I am glad that I tried it. I even want to do another so that I can see if my time improves.

The turnout wasn't huge at the race due to the weather, but it was actually perfect for running--not too hot, but pleasant enough to still be wearing shorts. I find that my strength is on the hills, and even though it's not my favorite part, perhaps I would find more success at racing on something like a mountain run.

Highlights? Definitely having Timothy race toward me at the end. Hands down the best part.

We'll see...

Timothy helped me pick 18 pounds of cabbage today. What, you ask, does one do with 18pounds of cabbage?

Well, I remembered the old pickling crock of my great grandmother's and got it from my mom.



Timothy and I then used the trusty food processor to shred every last head of cabbage.



And we are now letting it ferment in its own juices to make sauerkraut! Check back in about 4 weeks to see if it actually worked!

Motivators

1. Nothing like a small boy digging up potatoes to give to the chickens to spur on a timely potato harvest. Had some of the russets tonight--delicious!

2. Last week, I caught a cold and didn't run much. This Saturday, I actually signed up for a race (yikes!) to get used to the idea of, well, running in a race. So, I couldn't very well let the sun setting prevent my keeping to schedule. On the seventh (and thankfully last) of my hill sprints, a bat flew right in front of me and I could count several stars in the sky. It really was beautiful, to be honest. If only it wasn't getting darker by minutes every day...

Surprise visitors

On our way home from the park today, I noticed one of our neighbors' cows in our field. I told the kids we had better give him a ring to let him know where his stray was, when I noticed another one. We were walking up our steps when I turned around and looking straight at me from behind our eastern hill were twenty jersey cows. I burst out laughing. Timothy was beside himself, excited, and after calling the neighbor I ran to get the camera.



When they saw we had nothing tasty in the barn, they headed over to the other side of the hayfield.

I love living here.