I've been quite absent from the blog lately. For some reason, I thought it would be a great idea to go back to school so, instead of writing fun blog posts, I've been writing research papers. The end is finally in sight and I hope to graduate this December with my Master's in nursing as a family nurse practitioner. I'm not quite sure yet what I want to be when I grow up, but I fully believe that, when God is ready, He will show me where I should be.
In the meantime, life has gone on. The kids are staying busy with school and sports. Annabelle spends most days in the pool between competitive swimming and synchronized swimming. She does take a winter break on land to participate in jazz and high kick dance. Isaac has been playing baseball and basketball. He has been playing with the same group of kids for quite a few years and it has been fun watching them all improve.
John has been promoted to investigator and is currently enjoying banker's hours. He complains that he doesn't have as much time off to do tasks around the house, but don't worry, I still manage to find things for him to fit in, including putting up Christmas lights.
The farm has stayed busy. We had three beehives this year. Unfortunately two absconded just before winter. We are really hoping the last one makes it through and we are not starting over from scratch next year. If so, we will add a couple of nuts and make it work. At least we can use the hive over and the new bees will benefit from not having to build all the comb from scratch.
This fall, we decided to take the kids up to Itasca State Park for a quick bike trip and to walk across the headwaters of the Mississippi River. It was a bit cool, but the colors were still showing and it was a quick little getaway.
While we were gone, John's dad, Larry, housesat for us and boy did he have a surprise. We knew that Eva was expecting her first litter, but thought we had a couple of days to spare. Nope. She decided that Larry should be the one around to witness the puppies come into this world. Now, I'm not going to lie, this made it a much easier process for me! By the time we found out Eva was in labor, there were already seven puppies born. By the time we were able to get packed up and drive home, she was done, with a total of ten puppies.
Eva has been a wonderful first time mom. She has been very attentive and protective of her babies. Usually she is the most mellow of our CMDs, but with her babies, the fierce mama side showed through and she didn't want any of the other dogs going near them.
This litter was very boy heavy. Sophie's last litter had one male. This time, Eva had eight males and two lonely females. These puppies are just like their mom and all of them are extremely loving. They are starting to head to their new homes, which is always the most bittersweet part of the journey. We know they were meant for new families and we breed them to bring the joy of the breed to others, but it is always hard to see them leave the farm.
Bình luận