I went running last night with my group. I actually ran with the group for the first time, and did the full workout. whew! What a workout that was! My legs felt like jello. It was nice that the coach mentioned it afterward, and some folks clapped. It's so nice how supportive and friendly everyone in the group is.

I got home and was so tired. After eating and putting the kids to bed, I took a hot bath to relax my sore muscles. I locked the door so I wouldn't have any interruptions from Sam. I heard him knock, though, several times in succession. Then it was quiet. No crying. I didn't think anything of it.

When I opened the door to leave, I saw this lovely sleeping lump of Sam in the hallway. I didn't think to grab the camera. He was sleeping there on his belly, with his legs curled up and his arms tucked in his sides. So cute!!!

I wish I had pictures of my garden, but I was too busy weeding to stop. It's so rewarding.

We've gotten plenty of snap peas, and I think they're just about done for the season. We had broccoli last night, and that was yummy. The heads were smaller than I thought they should be, but they tasted great. The lettuce was eaten by a groundhog. :( Hope he doesn't come back. The spinach is done. It didn't do so great. Was really small, like it needed fertilized or something. Don't know what was going on with that.

All the squash/melon leaves are huge. Zucchini, pumpkin, cucumber. I got some watermelon plants, and they're doing well. The melon plants look small in comparison.

And then there's the beans and beets. I can't believe we have beans that are ready to pick! I saw one here and there that are huge! There's lots that look like they'll be ready in the next few days.

I'm excited about our beet 'crop'. We have lots, and it looks like they're growing just fine. I like the compost everywhere. It sure helps cut down on weeds.

It's fun to weed sometimes. You get to really be close to the plants and get to know their 'personality'. I love the viney plants. I wish I had more room for them, because they just branch out and go everywhere! But I still love them. I love how those little vines curl, just the way they're supposed to, and attach to whatever is there. I've been easing the peas on a trellis for weeks, and now I'm doing it with baby cucumbers.

The beets are so bushy with greenery on top, but those sturdy stems connect to that hidden beet below. It's so exciting to see one or two peeking out, to re-assure you that there is a veggie under there!

The beans are so, lanky. Those wavery stems can be pushed one way or the other to reveal the slender green secrets below the leaves. There's no damage, they just move and sway where they're pushed and seem to do well all in a row together.

And then there's my tomatoes. They're like a stubborn child. I'm really trying this year to do things right, since we got hardly any tomatoes last year. I have more than enough plants, they just don't seem right! One is growing fruit, but the leaves are yellowing (not good). The others are growing in height, but the leaves are wilted. I water and water, it rains and rains. The leaves are still wilted. I tried looking online for solutions, and it's all over my head. I'm not good at diagnosing plant ailments! So I keep watering. A couple of them do look good, and do have some green spheres on them. I'm trying to keep them staked, but they just like to vine out of that tomato cage. Stubborn things.

I added more mulch to the perimeter of the lower garden. I have to use up the mulch and get it off the driveway, plus it will hopefully help keep the annoying weeds from invading in all around. I daresay it looks so nice. I feel like I'm not a 'real' gardener, cus my garden is just too darn nice, with all these mulched paths and all. Well, I guess I'm not a 'tractor' gardener, so I can have such niceties. Can't really imagine ever having a garden big enough for a small tractor...cool as that would be. Hmm....I'll cross that bridge when I get there, and enjoy my lovely mulched garden in the meantime!

I'll try to put some pics up soon.

an excerpt from Christopher West's article entitled "Nursing a Sexually Wounded Culture."

"I remember attending the Second World Meeting of John Paul II with Families in Brazil in 1997. Nursing mothers were a common sight at this international gathering. What I found intriguing, however, was that women from “first-world” nations tended to drape themselves and sit off in a corner, while women from other nations seemed to have no qualms whatsoever about feeding their babies in full view of others. I remember one woman unabashedly roaming the crowd passing all manner of bishops and cardinals with her breast fully exposed while her child held on to it with both hands happily feeding. The only people flinching seemed to be those from the northern hemisphere.

Isn’t it interesting that the part of the world producing the most pornography and exporting it to the rest of the globe has seemed to lose all sense of the true meaning of the human breast? What a commentary on the sad state of our sexually wounded culture! Breasts have been so “pornified” that we can fall into thinking that even their proper use is shameful. In other words, we have been so conditioned to see a woman’s body through the prism of lust that we find it very difficult to recognize the purity and innocence of breast-feeding.

Joel 2:16

"Gather the people, consecrate the assembly; bring together the elders, gather the children, those nursing at the breast [...]"

Yep, nursing in public = okay by God.

Yesterday was such a beautiful day. Beautiful in the sense that it was the feast of Corpus Christi- the Body of Christ. I think it's my new favorite high holy day. I worked long and hard with the kids all afternoon at church, came home and showered, then went back for Mass that evening. The whole celebration left me so...overjoyed. I felt so renewed in spirit, and deepened in faith, and bathed by our Savior's love. For me, it was such a joy. Something I haven't experienced, at this level, for a long time. Probably since before I had kids. I remember feeling that way sooo often when I went to the Latin Mass in college. Or really any Mass that was so....everything. It had all the bells and the smells. The incense, the candles, the gold vestments, the beautiful, traditional, same old reliable standby Corpus Christi songs (you know, the ones in Latin, written by St. Thomas Aquinas, sung for thousands of years, by thousands of Catholics, all giving glory to God and Jesus's ultimate sacrifice of love in the Eucharist. Sorry, no wheat and mountains and rivers here...well, except the rivers of grace :) but I'll get to that later).

During Mass, Rose sat with the flower girls, we sat in the third pew, right behind them, Sam fell asleep and Dominic had Grandpa Peyton to keep him company. So that might be one reason I had a little more attention to give at Mass. It was like my senses were spiked, and everything was speaking to me. I felt such calm, and peace and excitement all at the same time! I should've sung in the choir that night, since I practically sang every song anyway.

So anyway, the Mass was so nice, and the procession following was very nice too. We went out the church doors, and made our way around the church by way of the parking lot, decorated with lovely designs representing the mystical Body of Christ. I just love all the symbolism and rich traditions of our faith, and this was yet another way to connect it all, to express it all, and give greater glory to God for it all.

Okay, I thought I'd get out those deeper thoughts and feelings I had about the beauty of that day. Now I'll let you know how it really went. But I still found joy in it all. I think it's because I wasn't running it, or responsible for how it was all going to go!

We got to church about 10:30. Cloudy, cloudy. There was a band of kids helping Kim (super woman in so many ways:) Here's the deal: we draw (I really mean Kim draws) these beautiful, simple pictures on the ground, then fill the chalk lines in with this hamster bedding stuff, or mulch. The bedding was dyed different colors.

We had these kids from this day camp at church helping out...before it started raining.

Then it started raining. Bye bye camp kids. A good steady rain. I think what they call an isolated shower.

Sam was helping.

Rose helped a lot.

DD discovered it's cool to put dirty puddle water in a glove. Him and Sam were soaked from the puddle.

Rainwater- great for washing hands.

The smaller kids were taken to the other side of church and designated a sidewalk square each to decorate. They turned out really cool. And it's neat when you give kids a square, what they'll come up with.

This was Rose's. Definitely one of the more decorated squares. We have Jesus in the host (right above the cross). A chalice at the very top, I love you written both to the left and the right (mirror lettering- top left). The blessed mother and angel Gabriel to the right of the cross, God in yellow to the left. Lots of love everywhere. Yep, that about sums up our faith. :)

Here are a few pictures of the final product. The blue on the stairs represent the seven rivers of grace flowing from the Blessed Sacrament...namely the seven sacraments. Each sacrament was written at the end of each 'river', with the Eucharist being in the center.

Here's some of the fancy banners we put together for the occasion. Really neat fabric to work with.

Can there be too many good books out there?  I am a book fiend, like my dad.  Love good books.  I remember in fifth grade, I took the bus (city, not school bus) to school.  I once missed getting off at the stop in front of the school because I was reading a Little House on the Prairie book, and so engrossed. (I quickly panicked when I realized this, got off at the next stop, ran to school, and then tried to casually slip amongst my friends without being noticed by my fellow bus-riders, who found me and humiliated me anyway...ah, that great school socialization for ya).  But I digress...

So I do love to read, and I've got quite a collection of various topic books.  Really into the motherhood books, of course, and I just keep finding more of them, and it's so hard to turn them away, because there's just too many good ones! Again, is that possible?!

I've already committed to three separate 'groups' to reading three books this summer!  While it all is very enjoyable reading, and should be a pleasure to read, I find myself swamped with other summer things as well. You know, gardening, swimming, garage saleing :) - having my own garage sale!, strawberry picking, letterboxing...and the list goes on (oh yeah, cooking, cleaning, dusting...yeah. lots of that in the summer too :) (ha ha)

I guess I'll just have a book handy in the van, by the couch, in the bathroom :), wherever so I can squeeze in some reading in our busy fun schedule.

Maybe when I'm old and grey I'll be able to sip lemonade in the summer, while swinging in my hammock, reading a good...novel! Now that's a dream for me!

Would you ever drink something like this?

I didn't think I would.  Okay, I thought I would drink it, I didn't think I'd enjoy it.  It's a lovely vita mix concoction complete with spinach, kale, and apple and watermelon, even a few fresh mint leaves. It's yummy! And healthy! Great after-running drink.

We got a lot of peas tonight!  They're not as plump as I'm used to, but they tasted great!  We just love snap peas.  The kids were great at helping pick them.  Sam didn't quite get it...kept picking any pea he saw, large or small.

The garden is looking great!  We've had adequate rain, so the beets and everything are just really popping up.  Well, so are some of the weeds.  The mulch and compost really help  cut down on weeds, though.

We've also had tons of lettuce, kale, and not enough spinach.  Don't know what happened to that this year.  The beans have blooms on them, so they look like they'll be next.