Well, it has been one busy week, so much so that I haven't written at all! The usual pattern for the morning was to do a short run and then come back and write and read. I started to calculate how long I was actually running and knew it was definitely short of 5k. I didn't want to run longer than that though! My husband used to run track so I asked him how I should be training. He encouraged the longer run for sure so that I wouldn't die the day of. I wasn't happy about this, but I did remember this particular run is full of terrible hills. I live only minutes from where the 5k race will be. I decided I would run down to the race and start actually training there. The first morning it took me an hour to get there and back! We calculated I was now running more than 6k which my husband said is perfect - overtrain for the race and that will make the race seem easy! Ha. Not yet, anyway. I've shortened the time quite a bit in this one week, but those hills are killers. I can't make them all the way yet without stopping.
All that to say..... by the time I get back home, kids are up and there is no time to write or read! We'll see if I can somehow back into a new pattern....
The craft sale was almost a week ago. I'd love to say it was a huge hit, but sadly, we were rained out and packed up at noon! I can't quite figure out why that happened except that it was a good motivator to get us to finish up some crafts. I managed to sell one skirt and got some interest in other things we made, but not much else! It was still fun to interact with people in the community and to see what other people were selling. Perhaps more craft sales as the summer goes by.
The rest of the week we cleaned and prepped for a Canada Day event we like to host. How do you this when you are trying to be good with money? It can be super expensive to host anything, even just having another family over for dinner, but we do this one really inexpensively which is why we're able to do it year after year. There's no fancy drinks, just a jug of water and a jug of juice, a few Styrofoam cups. We buy the hotdogs and buns and then others chip in with snacks or desserts. This seems to keep everyone happy and fed. Perhaps not with the most nutritious food, but it's a party, right??? The most expensive part is probably the fireworks, but again, quite a few bring fireworks as well as the ones we buy and the "show" seems to go on for a very long time! The dollar store is an awesome source for glow in the dark sticks and that makes all the kids happy. At the end of the day, it isn't so much about the food anyway. It's about a bunch of friends getting together and celebrating our country.
I loved checking on my 5 year old after he had gone to bed. He was lying there fast asleep.... glowing. He had a glow band on both wrists and ankles. It was a cute picture.
The rest of the event doesn't really cost anything as people just hang out and chat. Our "band" consists of a sweet family that bring their flute and recorder and just before the sun goes down, we all get out the sparklers and as they burn down we all sing O Canada as they play their instruments. It's probably my favourite part of the evening as the glow of the sunset plus the burning sparklers mixed in with the beautiful singing.... it seems magical. After that we sing the second verse (which they bring copies of). Few know this verse which calls on the name of the Lord to help us. When this part is over, my husband or someone else (this time it was our pastor), prays for our nation. It is wonderful to thank God for our country and all the freedoms we enjoy, the beauty of our country, the friends we have, the God we serve... so much to be thankful for on Canada Day!
By this point, everyone has had a full day of running around, playing volleyball or Frisbee, and the kids are full of sugary desserts..... Once those fireworks are done, it is mind boggling how quickly everyone disappears! We come back in and chat for a few minutes about the evening to see if everyone had fun. I haven't seen the kids for most of the night, even the 3 year old and 5 year old have been busy playing and running around. They only check in a few times during the night to see where the food and water is..... Then, we crash, too.
It was a full day before everyone arrived. We had found out that we needed to mow between the grapevines after we pruned to keep the nutrients in the ground going to the grapes, not to growing grass, but my husband had promised me a sand box for the little ones! I somehow convinced him to do the sandbox first before he mowed. It's always more work than it appears! It took him the better part of the day as nothing on our place is level and he can't stand it when things aren't level! So, he was tired, but it got finished and now we have a huge sandbox (are you allowed to love sandboxes?!). This will keep the kids busy for hours. Every age group seems to love sand! This wasn't free to build unfortunately, but it was an investment and again, keeps me home instead of driving around to playgrounds looking for things for the kids to do.
Somehow, RM managed to find a few minutes to mow between the grapes after that and shortly after people started to arrive, so he called it quits and joined the party. A full day, but a great day.
Of course, now my kids wonder, "What can we look forward to next???"
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