Country Time

Critters are all over this time of year. We have a family of 7 foxes waking us up in the middle of the night with their odd, honking noises, deer, all types of quail, doves and other birds, and recently, we have had several bee swarms.

They make Ryan squeamish, but I find them facinating.When an existing hive gets too big, a bunch of bees, break off to find a new location. The swarms aren't dangerous. Bees are only aggresive when they are protecting their young or food, and since these bees are kicked out of the hive, they don't have either.  
What is amazing is that inside the swarm, there is a sort of democratic process that goes on. When the bees are forced to move, "scout" bees go and find a new location. When the scouts come back, they stand, two at a time, next to each other and do a little dance to communicate what they've found (size, location, etc. of the potential spot) to the rest of the bees. The rest of the bees then "vote" by moving nearer to the scout they choose. The scout with the most "bee-votes" wins. Then another scout comes in, and they vote again. They do this until there is only one scout left, and that scout leads them to the new site. Amazing right!?

The swarm on the move. You can see the cloud of bees against the sky.

They find a branch, the queen settles down there and the rest of the bees pile on top and all around her. This was a small swarm. Another one came this last weekend and it was two or three times this size. Note to self: Keep the garage door closed!

The first swarm was collected by our local honey-farm. They will re-home the bees and use them to make local Atascadero Honey. In case you were wondering, yes, that is a shop-vac attached to a wooden box in a wheel-barrow. They sure know how to get things done around here!

Puttin' Down Roots

I am one very lucky girl. 

My husband is such a hard worker.  He is intelligent, strong, and capable. He is my best friend, a great dad, and a talented handyman! 

This season we have been puttin down roots by getting our back, and front yard in shape. We want a great place to hang out with the kids on the grass, to have BBQs in the warm evenings, and a place to let our little ones crawl and romp comfortably. 

Here's a picture of the backyard before. There was a black-widow ridden plank-deck and a sandy dirt patch to the right, where Ryan is standing.

I snuck a picture of Ryan working in the pouring rain. He worked at night, in the dark, and in all types of weather to get the patio and grass in before summer. 

Ryan hand-sifted the dirt for the entire patio (to save money). He took out 6 inches of the existing soil all over the backyard, sifted it, leveled it, and built the frame for the concrete patio.

The grass is in, the back yard is shaping up! We will have plants along the wall border, and, if you look to the right of the picture, you can see our soon-to-be outdoor shower!

              We had a bit of extra sod so we put it in the front yard where we often hang out in the mornings, drinking coffee, admiring the view and listening to the birds while the kids play.   This picture is of the front yard in full use, toys out, the chickens scratched up the mulch, my plants laying around...I just took the photo as the kids went down for a nap.

                    

I snapped this picture right after I took the one above of Ryan working in the rain. He came home from work that day, went outside and began shoveling dirt and gravel. Then, when it was time, he switched gears, came in to have dinner, gave the kids baths and did the bedtime snuggle routine with me. I admire him so much, I have an amazing husband. 

I am one very lucky girl.

Half Marathon

I ran my first half-marathon today, so I guess I technically PRed as well! It was misty and cool, perfect running weather. The course was pretty hilly, but I had an amazing group of supporters there to cheer me on. Ryan volunteered at the race and was at the finish line cheering me on. Lyndal brought the kiddos to see me and did the morning routine with them all on her own, Matt and Shellie made me an inspiring sign and cheered me on all over the course, Jaime and Noah were at the finish line and had plenty of hugs...it was a great morning.

                                                   

A good friend encouraged me to post my time of 2 hours and 5 minutes.  My goal was to run at least min 10 minute mile pace, and not get injured (it's been a long time since I have been able to run!)  My final mile pace was 9min 35 seconds. In fact, my 5k time averaged 9:30, my 10K time averaged 9:30, and my end time averaged 9:30. It was good to see that I knew how to pick a good race pace for my body and keep it consistent for 13 miles. 

I'm already building my next goal and planning for my next race...I had so much fun!

Wednesday Morning Hello

Good morning Ryan! Thank you for working so hard in the office, around the house, and for the kids and me. Here's Josiah at his first gymnastics class. (It is only 5$ to drop in any time you want and just crawl, bounce, jump, sing songs, act silly, and try out the balance beams and trampolines...What fun!)

Good Idea, Bad Idea

Good Idea: Using an old milk container to mount your country mailbox.

Bad Idea: Using an old kitty litter box to mount your country mailbox.

So you know you live in a redneck town if... you've passed by these mailboxes hundreds of times and the second one never even stood out.

Older Good Idea, Bad Idea Posts= http://ryanandcamille.blogspot.com/2011/08/good-ideabad-idea.html

Easter Highlights

These are a few of my favorite moments from Easter this year.

1. Sader Dinner - My friend Jaime invited us to an amazing, real Sader dinner. She prepared all of the traditional Sader foods, printed the script and even had a little "Plagues Bag" for Josiah. The Sader dinner was a beautiful way to remember God's provision during the passover and read His word with our good friends. It was the perfect way to sit and really focus on the intricate process God took His people through on their way to presenting His Son Jesus. It helped prepare our hearts and minds for the Easter Celebration.

2. The Hunt- Josiah actually hunted easter eggs this year! It was so cute. He would scream and run, grabbing them up and showing us. The best part was when he found all the hidden eggs. We just walked behind him, sneaking more eggs out of his basket and re-hiding them. He had about 20 eggs in his basket but he probably "hunted and found" around 75. He never noticed that the basket always had the same amount, and everyone around just couldn't stop laughing!

This is Ryan sneaking some eggs out...

3. Both Kaila and Josiah are really growing into little unique personalities, and it was so fun to see them interacting and playing with eachother. Every holiday we celebrate becomes more and more fun as we get to continue old traditions and share God's story with them.

3. Great Grandma Lois and the Kennedys were able to meet Kaila for the first time. Ryan and I were especially excited about Grandma meeting her, and Kaila just smiled up a storm for her as Grandma held her all weekend.

Our Family Easter Photo, Kaila is represented by the monitor, where she is soundly taking her first nap upstairs.

Happy Easter