6:30 am Pickin' and ....Grinnin'?

I am not a morning person...it's not that I can't wake up early, there's just no point in getting up before 7:30...preferrably 8, if you can't function properly enough to blink and walk at the same time. That being said, we decided to arise and shine at 6:30 this morning so we could pick green beans without being out in the heat of the day and possibly killing over from dehydration or heat stroke. Malachi decided to accompany us while Jacob, Sarah, and Isaac opted to stay in the comforts of bed and hold down the fort. As Darren and I picked beans, Malachi found a "roller"...a small piece of wood to roll over the little yellow fuzzy bugs that have totally invaded our green beans. They have taken up residence on the plants with a steadfast resistance. Soon they will become Mexican bean beetles and wreak more havoc. We picked, straightened and groaned, and picked some more. The conversation was sparse but satisfying. Working together sure has a way of bonding a family. Halfway through the picking, we tired of hearing little kids (the four-legged variety) bawling for breakfast. We got everybody fed, milked the goat, and turned the juice on the kids' fence to remind them how much we disapproved of their trying to wiggle out of the fence and getting it tangled. During our outside ventures, little Isaac woke up and his big brothers and sister got him some juice and attended to his desire for morning company. Funny note...I had made Darren some Kefir...a nasty drink made from mixing a Kefir culture with goat's milk and letting it sit on the counter while it ferments. It tastes like a really tangy buttermilk - which I have no fondness for either. Anyway, Malachi fixed himself some cereal and inadvertantly poured Kefir over it....he came outside spitting and declaring that he must've got ahold of daddy's Kefir. When we came in I noticed someone had been kind enough to fix Isaac a bowl of cereal because it was still decorating the entire top of his highchair. When I mentioned that I appreciated someone helping him out, Malachi said "Oh that was me. I gave him Kefir too." So, poor little Isaac had Kefir-ed cereal this morning. No wonder he was puckering when we came in :)