That bright shiny orb in the sky

As Matt Plies would mock me for saying: The sun shore is hot today! That's right, folks. Only in the midwest do you go from white out blizzard to sun-soaked garden mulching extravaganza in a couple of short weeks. I hate to bring up the weather first thing, because I'm convinced that perpetual meterological babble is the first sign of becoming an old fart. (Ask my dad. Then ask him what the temperature is right now. I hope you have a minute.) At any rate, it's balmy and bright today and I'm already starting my pregnancy sweats - goody!

Speaking of being pregnant, I'm growing rounder up front by the day, and am an increasingly impatient pregnant lady (I know, shocking! SHOCKING!). As the weather gets nicer, I struggle with how much horse work I can safely do and feel awkward in this new expanded body of mine. Don't get me wrong - so far this pregnancy has gone off without a hitch and everything is on track, and I'm SO glad. I'm also very grateful for a husband who has learned to negotiate the coursing hormones, which have been known to lead to a mysteriously crying wife from time to time. I'm very grateful for Thelonious' frequent karate moves, because they remind me of the good to come.

Last weekend was sunshiney bliss as mom and dad, my aunt Glenda and our cousins Jacob and Joel came out to the farm to help us get our garden sheet mulched. This may not sound like much of a task, but actually involved roto-tilling, dumping composted manure (thanks, horses!) layering cardboard and then layering mulch on an ambitiously large plot of land. Plus, we did some weeding and got the beds in shape, and I got to watch my dad zipping around on the riding mower like he was in the Indy 500 (really, you can't beat that sight with a stick). THANKS to all who helped us! We're hoping to share some fresh veggies soon!

I also got a line in on some nice farm eggs - we're going to do a egg-veggie trade with my horse vet! Brilliant!

The horses are doing well - Mistie has lost about 50 pounds of hair in the great shed-off of 2006. Gideon and Colby are back out together, regularly enjoying the inexplicably-fun-for-equines face biting game. Don't ask.

Also new on the animal front: we seem to have been adopted by a stray hound mix Jay and Chris have named Flash. I admit Flash is growing on me, but I'm still adjusting to our new howling dog alarm clock in the morning (if the laughing baby alarm clock doesn't beat him to it, that is).

Ellis is a blast. He's gotten very lovey and chatty and enjoys rides in the backpack and tire-swing style swinging (unsanctioned by the maker, I'm sure) in his johnny-jump-up. Apparently for Ellis, jumping is overrated. The boy knows what he wants. Even if it involves drinking grapefruit juice out of his dad's glass and doing a subsequent spit-take.

This weekend we head to Chicago for some good times with Nathan and Barbara, with a stop in Madison to see the Collins family on the way! VERY psyched about that!

Love and the smell of freshly-mowed grass to all,

Charis