For the last 2 years I have run the 10k in NY on the 4th of July. Somehow it never surprises me that it is always rainy when I run it. Anyway, the course runs right by the house I grew up in so I like to see how things change from year to year. What could be more fun than getting up early to run in the cold NY rain?

Ian proudly displays his medal. He was so excited he wanted to go run another race.

Ian gets the 1st place medal for the 5 and under age group at the 1/2 mile fun run. He takes after who?

The girls and I relax after my race. I finished in 30 min. Not my personal best, but I'll take it.

Action shot of my race finish.

The kids are cheering me on for my 5k.

The kids and I cool down after their race.

At the end of June our hometown always puts on a 5k run and kids run. Bernard and I and all 3 kids decided we wanted to do it. Bernard and the kids ran the 1/2 mile fun run, and I ran the 5k. Good times!

Yes, another batch of piglets! 10 in all. Aren't they just sooooo cute?

On Kayla's last day of school she received one of the principal's awards. Two children in 3rd grade and 2 children in 4th grade were awarded for getting the highest EOG grades for math and reading. Kayla scored the highest EOG math grade for all the 3rd grades in her school. I was so shocked I almost fell out of my chair. Way to go Kayla!

Kayla's favorite present was the spy binoculars.

For Kayla's birthday we went to a plaster painting store. Here she is painting her kitty.

An updated pic of the progress of our bonus room above the garage.

Ian gettin' crazy on the swingset!

For my birthday this year we decided to spend the weekend at an old friend's house in SC. They surprised me with cake, balloons, and dinner out. We had a good ole time!

This is all that was left of the 2 snakes I had to kill in order to save our chicken flock. They call me The Poultry Guardian now.....
Actually, as the story goes, I went out one afternoon to check on the new chickens only to find that the older ones were beating up the younger ones. I proceeded to let the big ones out into the yard and try to rescue the beat up ones. One chick in particular was caught in the wire under the edge of the chicken coup and was all bloody but still alive. The only way to get it out of the fencing was to remove the 2 wooden pallets that were laying on the ground in the doorway to the chicken coup. I sent Ian into the chicken pen to help keep the chicks from escaping while I proceeded to pick up one of the pallets to move out of the way. To my surprise, under the pallet was a 5 ft. long black snake! I think I probably jumped about 2 ft in the air! Ian took from my cue that this situation was not good and was now getting rather anxious about being trapped in the pen with a large snake blocking the doorway. At this point my only option is to run and get an axe from the garage to chop it's head off, so that is exactly what I did.
With Ian now safe and chick rescued, I headed inside to calm my fried nerves. I thought the drama was all over. Little did I know.....
After a few hours I headed back outside to check on the situation with the injured chick. As I neared the chicken coup, I could tell that one of the chickens was pacing franticly inside of it, so I opened the door..... only to find another black snake slithering out from under the chicken coup where the last one had been. This one was even bigger than the last one! I thankfully still had the axe close at hand, so this 2nd snake was now about to get the same fate as the 1st. I will save you the details but it was pretty much an exact replay of before. Yuck!
So needless to say, Bernard is very proud of his snake-slaying wife, and very happy that his flock is safe and sound. I, on the other hand, am still trying to suppress the vivid memories and get on with life. Is there counseling for this?

Ian tried to train his new little bantam chicken to help him out with his pirate impression.

Another one of the new bantam chickens. This one is called a frizzle because of it's wacky feathers. Jenna has laid claim to this one and is hoping that it will look a little cuter when all it's feathers come in.

One of the shy kittens from Shazza's last litter.

Back in April, Ian got the chance to sit in a real Le Mans race car when we got a private tour of the Penske Racing Facility from my cousin. He was coached into giving that smile and thumbs up like winning drivers do.