The Louisville Color Run

The Color Run, it's something I've wanted to do for almost a year now. Yesterday was the day that I fulfilled a new year's resolution and got to enjoy the happiest 5K on the planet.

  

We left the house at 4 a.m. to get to Louisville, KY in time. 

 

There were lots and lots of people, actually around 10,000 participants.

  

The Color Run is not a race. It's for all ability levels and it's not timed, so calling it a Color Run is actually not an accurate picture of what it really is. They should call it the color walk, because there were very few runners and it was very difficult to run with that many people walking. I did my best to maintain a slow jog, but when I went through the color stations, where volunteers would throw colored cornstarch on you or beside the two water tables they had set up, I had to walk.

  The real color came at the end where there was pretty much a huge party of color.

 

 

 It was a fun morning!

{Gratitude} Lately

Every day I look around in amazement at all the 

beautiful, yet simple, things that I'm so thankful for.

Lately I've been grateful for...

the signs of growing raspberries

 

mid-week visits from the grandparents

 

 homegrown mint leaves in black tea

 

 an exceptionally friendly chicken

blueberry Izze soda

 

 and a pan of beautiful local vegetables

Preschool at Home: Week 17

Last week we learned about the letters "S" and "T." We also focused on the number 17, read The Tortoise and the Hare, sang The Itsy, Bitsy Spider, and kept practicing our color song in Spanish. There was not a particular Bible story last week. We just read a few different stories throughout the week from our children's Bible. 

Here's a look at our board:

 

We decorated an "S" with stars and squares.

 We made a turtle.

 We read The Tortoise and the Hare by Janet Stevens.

 We made a tree using the capital letter "T."

We also watched a you tube video about shearing a sheep and then sheared our own. We used a balloon as our sheep, a large Popsicle stick, and shaving cream to reenact our shearing.

 Then both boys played in the shaving cream for a while. 

We practiced writing some letters and numbers in amongst the playing.

 Of course, we also went strawberry pickin'.

It was a fun week. This week we're learning about the letters "U" and "V."

A Visit to Jennings Hollow Farm

After a morning of strawberry pickin', we headed to Monticello, KY to Jennings Hollow Farm. I found out about Jennings Hollow Farm from the Sustainable Kentucky website and was excited to learn the Community Farm Alliance was having a field day. We aren't farmers (yet) and happened to be one of the few families that attended that weren't, but we try to take every opportunity to learn as much as we can.

 Jennings Hollow Farm is a 300-acre diverse sustainable farm. Chase Campbell, the owner, grows a wide range of crops and raises many animals including pastured chickens, pastured pigs, sheep, and goats. He maintains all of this with the use of two draft horses and two mules. 

He doesn't even own a tractor. 

Our evening included:

scenic walks around the farm...

 

a visit to several garden plots...

a peek at the 150 inoculated mushroom logs...

 

a visit with the draft horses, Joel and Ann...

a glance at the chickens, the meat birds and layers...

and the hogs.

Then we enjoyed a lovely picnic dinner.

As the sun was setting,

 we headed inside Chase's beautiful farmhouse 

and enjoyed some music by the Meadowlarks.

It was an inspiring visit 

and well worth the two hour drive to visit this breathtakingly beautiful farm.

Strawberry Pickin' at Middle Bridge Farm

Saturday morning, after our regular trip to the market, we headed out to 

Middle Bridge Farm to do some strawberry pickin'.  This sweet 3 acre farm allows customers to come pick their own strawberries (new this year!) and blueberries. They also keep bees and can't keep up with the demand for local honey.

  

With a wagon, we headed toward the "Picking Path."

 

 

 The weather was beautiful. 

We couldn't have asked for a better morning of berry picking.

 After our five quart containers were full of beautiful strawberries, we headed back to say goodbye.

 We left the field of berries with our hearts a little happier and our dreams a little bit bigger. Maybe one day we can pick this many berries from our own backyard. Until that day comes we'll be sure to visit our friends at Middle Bridge Farm.

{Gratitude} Lately

 Today I'm grateful for...

beautiful birds on the feeder ...

 

 an adorable little boy in a cute hat...

 

 friends and fountains...

  afternoon jogs...

  and a blooming peony bush.

Preschool at Home: Week 16

Last week we learned about the letter "Q" and "R." We also talked about the number 16, read about Little Red Riding Hood and about Jesus feeding the 5000. Here's a look at our board:

We made a quail using the letter "Q."

 We also made a rabbit with a lower case "r."

"R" is for rocket! 

So we got Seth a small foam rocket (from Hobby Lobby) that he absolutely loved.

I have to admit it was pretty fun for all of us.

We acted out the story of Little Red Riding Hood with our finger puppets. It just so happened that I had this little set from some dollar bin a couple of years ago. It came in handy this week.

We also tried making rain. 

This experiment took three tries and a mechanical engineer to get it to work, 

but it actually did produce raindrops.

This week we are learning about the letters "S" and "T!"