A little surprise

Imagine Alana's surprise when she went to let the chicken's out of their coop this morning and, instead, found Fraulein(our 6 mo. old CALF) jumping out the chicken coop door. Our chicken coop is anything but big and she must have had very little room to turn around and lay down all night considering that she was sharing her chosen space with 26 chickens.

 Yes, it would seem that, in the pitch dark last night, I closed the door on the chickens AND the calf. Jonah told me I should have brought a flash light to look and make sure all was right but shutting the door on a CALF was the last thing I thought would happen. It IS a chicken coop, not a calf hutch.Turns out that because we put fresh straw in the nesting boxes she decided that it was good to eat and ate it all up and was probably the reason she was in their in the first place.

 Next time it's my turn to trek out in the dark to close the coop door I will probably be taking a flash light with me.

Paradise

 

This is where my husband is right now. I sure do wish I was with him, enjoying the beauty of the ocean. Maybe next year...

Justus

This little guy got to spend 2 nights in the hospital this weekend. It is our first time having a child admitted and was not a fun or enjoyable time at all. Justus has had chronic asthma for the past few years and it has been getting worse and worse. Jonah and I have been extremely frustrated with the way our doctor has cared for the issue(or not cared for it, actually) no matter how much we have said what we are doing is not working and have felt like they don't understand the severity of it at all.

This ER trip was very productive and we finally feel like someone is taking our son's health seriously. The doctor(in the ER, not our doctor) realized how many times we have been in to the ER over the years and decided to bring in a pediatric specialist to talk with us. The 15 minutes we talked with that doctor was amazing and he learned more about Justus' breathing issues than our doctor has ever listen to or asked. He told us Justus should not always be coughing like he is. Justus should not have to use his inhaler more than twice a week(he uses it at least 10 times) and he should not seem to always be working to breathe.

Basically, Justus has been in a chronic state of sickness and his lungs have been getting worse and worse instead of better. This explains why his asthma attacks have been more serious each time. We also learned that chronic asthma patients are usually diagnosed with pneumonia when they go in to the ER because their lungs look gunky. This is from the mucous build up and not from pneumonia. We are seriously questioning if Justus has EVER had pneumonia at all. He has been on antibiotics for pneumonia each time he's been brought to the ER, except this time. His lungs look the same now as they did when he was in the ER in March(and diagnosed with pneumonia).

Each time Justus has had an issue, Jonah has been able to use his medic skills to do what they would in an ambulance. Sometimes, he'll get better but 2 or 3 times a year, this does nothing and we rush to the ER to get some steroids in him. This is the only thing that seems to kick him into breathing better. What would happen if Jonah didn't have this knowledge and ability? We would be in the ER many more times than we are already.

This past weekend, his blood oxygen levels were VERY low and he was a bit delirious and not responding while driving to the hospital. We had oxygen on him the whole way but he was so sick, it was doing very little to help. The Mama in me was very worried, especially when my husband told me to let him know when he stopped breathing so he can pull over and intubate him. Jonah was worried to, obviously.

One thing the doctor mentioned is the possibility of Cystic Fibrosis. Justus has many of the markers that would make this a possibility but we are praying this is NOT the case, for obvious reasons. Once he is healthy, we will be having the test done to rule it out and move on with his treatment and care in the hands of a Pulmonologist instead of his pediatrician. Even though it has taken us 2 1/2 years for someone to take this seriously, we are glad that we seem to be on the right track to make Justus feel better and not constantly having issues breathing. The Pediatric specialist put Justus on some new meds and we are hopeful that with this and seeing the pulmonologist, he will be on the road to recovery soon.

As a side note, Justus came home to house full of sick kids so he has to wear a mask to protect himself from getting sick. The meds he is on make his immune system a bit compromised but he is doing well understanding why he has to wear it. Doesn't he look cute? He says he's a surgeon.

Mountain lions

  This past week has been a bit nerve wracking in the farm/ranch department. We have some neighbors down the road who found one of their sheep ripped apart, but still alive, by a mountain lion. These same neighbors have lost a total of 4 sheep and a llama from mountain lions over the last few years. They do not have dogs that live outside. The lion was found by Fish and Game and removed. Later that day our neighbor next door found tracks that he wasn't sure was from that same lion or another one. He set up his deer camera but nothing was found. We were very concerned about our calves and pigs since they seem like easy prey for a mountain lion to take advantage of. Jonah and I began talking about possibly getting a Livestock Guardian Dog (LGD) to protect our animals but, since we haven't had much luck with dogs, were not really wanting to go that route.

 On Saturday morning Jonah found coyote droppings in our front yard in 2 separate places and our guests heard them howling that night.

  On Monday night we got a phone call that another neighbor found a full grown female lion prowling around his backyard. This was/is a bit scary for me, honestly. Sarah and Kai are beginning to go out after dark to milk because it's getting dark earlier. Sarah is so scared she won't go out without me and I don't blame her at all. When you walk out in the dark, knowing a full grown mountain lion was spotted just yards from your house and it's eerily quiet around you... you get the idea, right?

  I found a few LGD's on Craigslist and I e-mailed to enquire about them and ask questions. Our biggest concerns were barking excessively, staying within the yard and being good with our kids in "their" space. LGD's are not like "normal" dogs at all and we wanted to make sure we knew what to be prepared for. We talked about it and talked about it until we realized that it wasn't IF a lion(or fox, coyote, etc.) would get one of our animals it was WHEN. Without a dog to alert us and protect our livestock, it is a given that one of our animals will be harmed.

 I found a sweet 2 1/2 year old Great Pyrenees/Anatolian Shepard mix who lived on a farm very much like ours with 6 children. The family is selling everything and taking an extended vacation for a few years of traveling. They needed to find a home for their dog. After many, many, many e-mails and questions Jonah and I decided to go forward with this beautiful girl and hope she will do well protecting her charges(the calves). I'm looking forward to having a guardian around that will alert me to a problem around the farm.

An adoption book release!

My dear, sweet, amazing, in-real-life friend, Hilary Anderson, has published her first book! Adoption friends, take note! This is for us and we will probably cry as we read this sweet story to our children. I am not a sappy person but when it comes to adoption I usually tear up something awful even if I don't spill tears.

 To pick up your very own copy(and let's be honest, there are never enough adoption books in our library, are there?) go here. When you have bought your family a copy, make sure to leave her feedback on her amazon page and tell her how you liked it! I can't wait for mine to come!

A good cow is priceless

 

This is Gretel. Isn't she pretty?

 

Gretel is a Jersey crossed with a Milking Shorthorn and was the first cow we brought into our little farm family. When we bought her she was a pregnant heifer, which means she was pregnant but had not had a calf yet. As first time bovine owners, we should NOT have bought an untrained heifer we were planning on milking because you never know what her temperament will be like in the stanchion(the place you milk a cow). Gretel is a stubborn, honery cow(she's a cow now since she's had her calf) who doesn't like people to pet her and cuddle her. We were worried she would turn out to be a terror in the stanchion once we started milking her because her personality is a bit "butt-heady".

If you saw me during the month of May you probably noticed that my left arm was black and blue and purple all up and down. If you would have been able to see my left thigh, you would have seen the same thing. These lovely bruises were from teaching Gretel how to deal with being milked after she had her calf. A cow has a strong kick and it hurts!

Luckily, it only took Gretel about a week to realize that if she kicked me, she would get kicked back on that leg and we would not turn the machine off and stop milking her. Amazingly, Gretel has not kicked once since that first week and is a dream to milk. We are so pleased with the kind of milker she has turned out to be.

We machine milk, which involves a loud vacuum pump. Gretel has been used to the sound of the pump for a very long time. When the pump gets turned on, she let's down and starts "leaking" milk. She knows what is going to happen and isn't surprised any more. Being the greedy eater that she is, she is more concerned that her food isn't going to run out than what is going on with her udder.

Last night we had a bit of a "disaster" in that our vacuum pump wouldn't turn on. We had no choice but to hand milk but I was worried with how she would react to it! Cows that are only machine milked(or vice versa) can sometimes have a difficult time changing methods. I was fully expecting for her to put her foot in the milk pail, not let down her milk or kick the pail, me, Kai or Sarah(since they are the normal milkers and I was helping them). Gretel stood more still than she does with the machine and made it so easy for us to get her milked out. It was wonderful. Malakai decided that he would rather hand milk because it's "fun" and asked if he could have his own dairy goat to hand milk.

Maybe one day we'll pass along Gretel to a new family but for now, she's a keeper and we are so blessed by her yummy milk, her patience in the milking parlor and the fact that she doesn't kick any more!

***Disclaimer*** Gretel is not skinny. Dairy cows are supposed to be angular and show their ribs and hips. In fact, Gretel is a little bit chunky in relation to what the perfect condition is for a dairy cow.

New babies

Bovine babies, that is! We picked up these 3 pretty girls 2 weeks ago to add to our growing little herd so that we would have future meat for our family. We have been on the search for a bull calf/steer but have not been able to find a young enough one to add to our farm. These girls will do the job and the price we paid was a good one for this area.

 

This is Penelope and she is a Charlois cross. She is so sweet and pretty and I am really hoping we WON'T need to butcher her. We were told she was a part of a male/female twin set, which would make her 96% sterile, but the rancher was not actually sure because there was no Mama around when he found her. We will be getting blood work taken to tell us if she is, in fact, a free martin or not. She would be worth more to us as a Mama than she is a cull animal.

 

This is Barbecue(Barbie) and she is for sure a free martin. We are going to love her and care for her and treat her well and, in return, she will provide our family with good, natural, organic beef for our freezer. I love how some people say that they could never eat an animal they raised and yet go out and buy a hamburger from some fast food joint that was probably slaughtered in deplorable conditions and pumped full of antibiotics and chemicals. I'm glad I know how my animals were treated, raised and slaughtered.

 

This is Norah. We weren't planning on buying her but when we went to pick up Penelope and Barbie we had planned on purchasing another 5 day old calf. However, that calf was on the brink of death(common in drop calves because they aren't given colostrum or cared for by their Mama right after birth) and the man selling them didn't feel comfortable selling us a sick calf. He offered us Norah who was 5 weeks old, healthy as can be and a perfectly breedable Angus. So, we took the offer and are so glad that we did. She is so sweet!

We also have 3 other little additions to our farm but I am going to blog about them at another date.

Sarah is now 13





  I have had plans for Sarah's 13th birthday since she was only 9 years old. It was so much fun to finally put it all together! We don't do big parties for our kid's birthday's. We usually spend a nice family day planned by the child, sometimes with Jonah's parents(they do something special with them too). I wanted Sarah's 13th to be something she always remembered and I wanted it to be a complete surprise.

 

  The whole weekend was one big surprise after another. My parents, brother Chas, his wife Janet and their 2 girls, my aunt Judy and friend Michelle(who the kids call Auntie Shell) and her daughter all came up 2 days before Sarah's birthday. No one knew that they were coming and it was so much fun watching all the kid's reaction. I made them all sit on the couch to watch a video and while they were sitting there my parents and Aunt walked into the living room. The kids went crazy!

 

  Shortly thereafter, as we were showing my parents and Aunt Judy the newest additions to the farm the rest of our guests drove into the driveway. It was such a great surprise for our kids and made Sarah feel so special when they told her they were here to celebrate HER that weekend. I will spare you all the details of the "party" surprise but Sarah thought she was going with me, my mom, Aunt, Michelle and sis-in-law to a special dinner to celebrate her birthday and we had to pick up another important person(Teri) before we went.

 

This is her expression. She cried, she shook, she didn't know what in the world was happening. It was great!

 

 

There were 35 of Sarah's girlfriends and special women who have spoken into her life and whom she admires. It was intimate and special and I caught her crying numerous times as she looked around at who was all there.  

 

These 2 little girls have been friend's since Sarah came home at 4 years old.

 

And they have grown into two beautiful young ladies who love the Lord. 

 

 Part of my idea for this party was to "welcome" Sarah into womanhood since she is beginning her journey now that she is 13. For gifts, I asked that it be something thoughtful that she can add to her hope chest and she received SO many amazing and special things that she has already begun to cherish. As she opened each gift each giver was given the opportunity, if they wanted too, to encourage Sarah and uplift her. It was a sweet time of tears and smiles and laughter as those who love her most remembered her past and looked forward to her future.

 

It was, overall, exactly what I pictured and planned for my sweet daughter. She has told me over and over again just how much it meant to her and how special it made her feel.

OK

Yes, I know it's been a long time since I've blogged.

Us Winger's have been busy. Like crazy busy. Never-been-this-busy-in-my-life busy.

I have some ideas in my head for lots and lots of posts from recent past events but am worried that all of you could care less about our simple farm life. It's not really that exciting or glamorous(well, sometimes it is. Exciting, not glamorous).

What say you? Is it interesting to you all as readers? Do you really want to know that we're having a hard time getting Gretel milked out since we brought home 3 little drop calves and she's holding it up in hopes that we'll give her one? Maybe I should just write it like it is and then let things fall as they may with how many readers there will be. :)

Alana is 9!

My little beauty is nine today. She is still my bundle of drama, emotion and fire but I am sometimes able to glimpse the future of what God has in store for her and, man am I excited to see what she'll do!

Alana is still ALL girl. Her choice of clothing would always be a dress or skirt and she's counting down the days until she is allowed to wear makeup. Her favorite colors are still pink and purple(and have been for the last 7 years) and she loves to find pretty things about.

My girl is a lover and cuddler to the max and she is as sweet as can be with her baby brother.

This little fella turned TWO last week! See that cute, cheesy smile? That must be his 2 year old smile because it's the one he's taken to using the last few weeks when he knows he's supposed to smile.

I am amazed that 2 years has flown by and I no longer have a baby in my house. Canaan has been sleeping in the boys' room for the last month and loves being a big boy! I'm happy to have my room all to myself again!

Tomorrow Jonah and I will celebrate 10 years of wedded bliss:) Amazingly, we are planning a week long vacation ALONE to celebrate but will have to wait until August to go. No matter, it's still a vacation with my man and my kids are going to have a blast and be spoiled rotten while we're gone.

From cream to butter in 9 minutes flat(almost)

You know in "Little House in the Big Woods" where Laura is telling about the days of the week? She says that one day is for washing, one for ironing, etc. and one day(one WHOLE day) was for making butter. Seriously, how did Ma Ingalls do it? I don't have an old fashioned butter churn to make butter the Ma Ingalls way but I DO have a nifty, handy dandy Bosch mixer that makes my butter SO quickly and easily(among many other things it is useful for).

Look at all my yummy cream! Gretel's cream is, seriously, SO thick. It looks like thickened paint or paste and has to be scooped and scraped off the glass jars. It clings to the ladle like Velcro. Delicious!

Once I ladled all the cream off the last 3 days or so milk I had about a 1/2 gallon to use for butter. Some of that cream went to making homemade vanilla ice cream this week so we had a little less this go around.

It takes me the Bosch all of 9 minutes to go from cold cream to golden butter. When I let the cream sit out and get to room temperature it only takes 5 minutes! No day long butter churning event for me! This is a good thing as I have no idea where I would be able to fit in everything else that has to be done. How'd you do it Ma?

The butter has broken and is ready to be strained from the buttermilk and then washed, dried and packaged.

Almost 4 cups of butter from 1/2 gallon of cream.

This yummy butter is packaged and ready to be frozen and then travel 12 hours south for a family vacation with my parents, brothers and their families. I was told to provide the butter and eggs for the week and I was happy to oblige. No clue how we're going to fit it all in our car though...

Ice Cream!

Oh, it's ice cream time! Summer is almost here, the weather is warming up and I have gallons upon gallons of milk and cream in my fridge. Even if you don't have copious amounts of milk, you can still make some home made ice cream that will delight your children and make you think about buying a milk cow too. If you don't have an ice cream maker, check out your thrift store or go buy a cheap one from the store. It'll be fun.

Raise your hand if you adore chocolate! Stand up and shout if chocolate makes you happy! For all you wonderful women, I have a recipe to share for Chocolate Peanut Butter ice cream that is creamy, chocolaty and just down right delicious. Yes, it may not quite hold up to your standards if you are used to eating artificially flavored, chemically laden ice cream but it will delight your tongue and taste oh so good. More than anything, I love that I know EXACTLY what is in it and that it's one more thing I can allow my kids to have without worrying about all the "extras".

Here's the recipe that I came up with. You can also skip the cocoa powder and replace it with mini chocolate chips(or do both!). I haven't tried this, but I'm sure it would be amazing.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream

2 C. whole milk
2 C. whipping cream(or regular cream if your using your own milk)
1/2 C- 3/4 C. natural peanut butter( you can do chunky or smooth, I used chunky because that's what I had). Do you really love peanut butter? Go for the 3/4 C. All the rest of you, stick with 1/2 C
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 C. sugar(you can do 1 C. if you want to cut down on the sugar but, duh, it won't be as sweet)
1 TBS. Cocoa powder. You can add more if you want it more chocolaty but I found this was a good amount to start with.

Put all ingredients in a bowl and mix it well(I use a beater to get it all incorporated). Make sure you mix well so that the sugar is dissolved.
Pour mix into your ice cream maker, using your machine's instructions to finish the job. Scoop out and freeze for an hour if it is not hard enough. Enjoy the yumminess and try to share with your children too.

The "Stash"

No, I'm not talking about my husband's amazing mustache. I could be talking about the stash of milk I have going on in my fridge down in my garage(which is insanely awesome) or my crazy large stash of kids clothes bins taking up tons of space in my garage but, I'm not.

The "Stash" I am talking about is this one. 25 eggs found today by Malakai, half of them I had to throw out because they were bad. I'm thanking the Lord that Kai found them before one of them burst and we had THAT to deal with. Last week Judah stumbled upon a small grouping of 8(which I HAD called the "Stash" at that time but, comparatively, it can no longer be considered thus) which I was grateful to have found and then, promptly, the hens stopped laying there. I knew there was another stash going, as I had only been getting about 15 eggs out of 21 hens but didn't think it was this bad!

I am really hoping the girls still consider this a prime spot to lay so that we'll know where to look and not have to go on some serious egg hunts. Overall, I am willing to deal with unknown egg laying places in exchange for the hens keeping the cow manure piles at bay(because that means I don't have to shovel poop!) Just so those of you who get eggs from us know, you will never get any of these eggs just because I can't be certain of the freshness(even though I do check them with the "floating" method). I do, however, cook them up and feed them to my kids;)

Farm Happenings Part 2

If you didn't catch what was happening last time at "Farm Happenings", Gretel had her sweet little baby girl, we are both learning the milking routine and busy as can be. When Jonah gets home we have SO much going on that Henry got a free pass from going in the stew pot just because we didn't have the time. This did not stop him from continuing to attack the kids while they were out playing but, thankfully, my kids got really tough and used their feet for a good purpose to show that rooster who was boss. Also, thankfully, I didn't get attacked.

Life went on as normal when Jonah went back to work and my good friend, Michelle was up for a visit with her sweet little girl. Gretel began kicking when I put on the milking machine and I have a few nice bruises to show for it but it's worth it for her yummy milk and the thick, gelatinous cream she is giving!

On Monday, Alana came running in to tell me that Georgie was hurt and there was a lot of blood. Oh my, I was not prepared for what was waiting for me outside. Georgie had a cut on her hip bone that had blood spurting out of it 4 inches. I assumed she, somehow, cut an artery and something needed to be done immediately. Something about blood spraying everywhere seems to put me in a panicky oh-my-word-our-calf-is-going-to-die mode. She does not let me get close to her unless she is laying down and she was up, scared and running. I'm running after her trying to get a better look at the wound. Crazy woman here? Yes, sir.

After much chasing, Sarah and I were able to squeeze her between a fence and a gate and I began holding direct pressure on her wound while she bucked and turned and did everything in her power to get out of there. Five week old calves are surprisingly strong. Keeping them contained is not as easy at you would think it is. Being in a two foot by 5 foot space with a bucking calf isn't as fun as it sounds. Really, its not.

This is the list of things that follow as it seems the quickest and easiest way to give the details:

- I scream at the big boys to get me the house phone and my cell and yell at Sarah that she had better not let that gate open so the calf runs out. I threaten her within an inch of her life.
- I fight with a scared, hurt calf to hold pressure on a spurting, gushing wound.
-There is blood everywhere.
- Once I have the phones I call Jonah and ask him what to do. Of course, hold pressure on the wound and "have you called the vet?"
- Finagle finding the vets number in my cell then dialing it on our home phone(because we don't have good reception) with one hand. Oh, and that hand is also covered in blood. You should have seen my phone later that night.
- Think that we may be able to fix this without incurring a $300+ vet bill, if we can just stop the bleeding so I can really see. Jonah finds a blood clotting solution at the feed store nearest our house(40 minutes away).
- Have Malakai go through the cow pen to get Michelle for me so I can figure out how to get the solution while still holding pressure.
- Malakai comes running back toward me saying the rooster attacked him two times while he tried to get to the gate(I didn't see because the barn was in the way). As he's telling me this Henry comes at him again and Kai backs right into the electric fence! My poor, poor baby. He tried so hard to be strong. All I wanted to do was kick that stupid rooster to the moon but, I couldn't. I was holding pressure.
- Michelle and I decide to send Alana with her to show her where the feed store is and pray that she actually knows.
- Sarah goes inside to watch the 2 little one's.
- The big boy's are charged to hold the gate.
- Georgie decides to lay down so I sit next to her in the dirt.
- I realize my jeans(good one's too) are covered in blood. My hands are sticky and crusty. It is hot and I know I'm already getting sunburned. Nerves and exhaustion take over and I'm shaky but glad that I had a place to sit. Yes, I know I'm a bit of a wuss.
- Georgie falls asleep and I carefully check her wound. The bleeding has stopped(it has been 1 1/2 hours by now) and the wound is not "stitchable". I have no idea what she did or what caused it but it looked like she completely shaved open her hip bone.
- I sit for the next hour and wait for Michelle to return with the solution.
- We put it on and let Georgie out.
- She is as good as new and fine today.
-Crisis averted. Not looking forward to the next one.

Today, Jonah came home.
Tonight, Henry is no longer with us.
The kids got an amazing poultry anatomy lesson. Hey, 2 in a week(well, the other was a bovine lesson)! This home schooling thing is fun!
We are all happy that we don't have to look behind us when we walk outside or carry a big stick.

This farming thing is not all it's cracked up to be sometimes. Honestly.

But it sure is fun, most of the time.

Farm happenings Part 1

***Possible graphic photos and offensive cow anatomy talk(open to interpretation)***

Jonah got held on last Wednesday at work. Wednesday night I went out to put Gretel in her stanchion to eat, feed the other cows, fill their water tanks, etc., just like normal. This time, however, Gretel was acting very uncomfortable, lifting her tail, swaying in her stanchion and, ahem, omitting lots of gas. I thought, perhaps, she was constipated. She ate with gusto(she is a very greedy, piggy bovine) and I soon let her out again to go rummage through Charlotte's food like she always does.

Ten minutes later I looked out the window and didn't see her so I thought I should go check on her to make sure she was OK. I had texted Jonah to say that she may be in early labor(just because she wasn't acting completely normal and "why does this always happen when you're at work!"

As I come around the barn:


SHOCK, AMAZEMENT, AWE! This is what I see.

Do you see the hooves sticking out? That was the LAST thing I was prepared to see.

I ran the fastest I have run since, uhm, high school? up to the house to yell at the kids to come quickly! It was raining and cold but they were so obedient that they came out in sandals and tank tops. We all stood about 10 feet away, under the safety of a live oak tree, and watched our new calf come into this world. As Justus said, "That was just amazing!"

If you look very carefully at the above picture you can see the calf's tongue(it's sort of gray in color) and the calf's nose.

Once the nose was out, the body came out VERY fast. The umbilical cord snaps at a certain point in the birthing process and the calf needs to get out quick to get the oxygen it needs.

At first, the calf looked completely dead but then it took a big gasp and started trying to stand up! SHE was nursing and walking around within 10 minutes of being born. We named her Fraulein.

The next morning Gretel and I began the adventure of milking her for the first time and it has been going great!

Henry

                      

This handsome fellow is Henry. When we bought all of our chicks they were supposed to be all girls but, somehow, we ended up with 2 roosters. A few months ago we parted with one of our roosters, Goldie, but thought we would keep Henry. Henry was a good rooster, didn't crow very often and kept to himself most of the time.

Things have changed.

When I go into the cow pen I carry a long stick just in case Henry gets it into his head that I am invading his space and need to be attacked. Last week he got all feisty with me and you may or may not have seen me swinging a shovel around with him in the vicinity. On Sunday I turned around to have his wings beating my chest and his claws gripping my leg. I have a large bruise from where he got me. I screamed in horror and yelled at him "You stupid rooster! I'm the one that FEEDS you!" I had my daughter's and one of their friends laughing at me from the safety of the garage.

 This wasn't the first time either.

Now, I won't even turn my head from him at any point and I steer clear of him any way I can. Hey, don't you dare call me a wuss! I know some of you are saying "Oh brother, this city girl's afraid of a rooster!?" YOU try being attacked by a rooster ONCE and see that you don't learn to respect him! And carry a shovel. Or a stick. Or a baseball bat.

Henry is usually contained in the cow pen because he can't squeeze through the barbed wire fence like the smaller hens can. Today was a different story. He must have found a way to jump over the fence. Here's the run down:
I'm sitting at the kitchen table with Sarah going over her math for the day. I hear Isaiah crying and screaming in terror and the sound of feet racing across the gravel. Of course, I thought my child was dying so I raced to the window to see what was going on(what, you ask why I didn't run outside? Because, this son is known to yell like he's dying and I've learned to see if there's blood before running all the way down the stairs and then having to come all the way back up).

What I see made me laugh till I almost peed my pants. Isaiah is running at top notch speed toward the garage and disappears. Alana is hiding behind a large cedar tree with a ginormous stick in her hand. Henry is just on the other side of this tree. Malakai is full on up in the top of a small oak tree 10 feet away(that I'm surprised held his weight) laughing hysterically at his brother's drastic departure.
So, what happened next? I sat at the window to watch what they would do, of course. Alana walked very quietly and slowly around the tree, while Henry watched her, and took a wide loop out of his way to head to the garage. Malakai struggled to get out of the tree he had so quickly ascended and, while he was doing so, Henry walked to the base of the tree. The whole time, Kai is cracking up laughing. His feet touched the ground, he looks at Henry, screams and takes off running, laughing and screaming the whole time. Henry chases him for 10 feet or so, turns around and continues pecking the ground. Oh, he thinks he knows whose boss, doesn't he?

Sarah, Canaan and I were up in the window watching and laughing at the whole thing. Yes, it was funny. Even funnier(yes, I know it's not a word)? Guess who's gonna be in my chicken soup this coming weekend? Oh, yes. I've got the last word here. I am the boss.

Judah is 6!

My tiny, little cutie patootie baby boy is now SIX YEARS OLD! Time is flying by with this little man! Yes, I know the jacket is purple but my boys are cool like that;)

One thing that I forgot to mention in my last "catching up" post is a ministry a friend, her husband and I have started at our church! It is called Safe Families and is an amazing ministry. Here is what the site says about the reason for SF:

"Safe Families for Children is a movement of hundreds of families of faith who have opened their homes to care for children whose parents are struggling. By demonstrating Biblical Hospitality, Safe Families for Children returns the church to the forefront of caring for orphans and widows - where historically
the church was the leader."

Safe Families is NOT foster care and the host families are not compensated at all. Parents retain all of their rights and can reclaim their children at any moment. This is the step that is missing from the state system; help for those who need it BEFORE things get bad enough for the state to step in. It has been amazing to watch people get passionate about this and see lives being changed. "Our"(and by that I do NOT mean Jonah and I) first placement was of 2 month old twin boys. These boys' mom needed some help and asked SF to find a temporary placement for them while she got her life in order and my friend and her husband said yes. They have 3 girls of their own and have now been caring for these precious boy's for 2 months! We are all watching as people in our church are coming along side the mom in crisis and being her friend, mentoring her and just being there. People are volunteering their time to help watch the twins so that the host family can have some "family" time. Formula, diapers and wipes are being mailed in from all over to help with the cost of ministering to these babies(and their mom).

If this is something that you think you or your church may be interested in, please check it out! Amazing stuff being done in the name of Christ!

Catching up!

It's been 5 months since I last posted and there have been lots of things going on! Here is a bullet post list for you all:

1) In December, Justus turned 4 and he keeps us on our toes! He is one smart cookie that amazes us daily with how smart he is and what he knows without being taught. His full bio sibling is a GATE student so I guess I should have expected it?


2) In January my brother Kelly and his wonderful wife Laura, had their miracle baby. Her name is Alexandra Jayne and she is one of the cutest, most beautiful baby girl's in the world. In case you didn't know, they were not supposed to be able to have a child because of Kelly's cancer treatment 3 years ago. God is truly GOOD!


3) The kids and I also joined a Christian parent participation Home Schooling Co-op that we are all really enjoying. Each of the kids has their own classes that they go to while I teach a science class. This also keeps us very busy, or so it seems, as it's one more day out of the house and "in town". I am enjoying my home time more and more.

4) In March we got our first GOOD snow of the year where the kids could actually go outside and play in it. They had SO much fun sledding and throwing snowballs and Canaan learned that he really, really loves the (nasally said) "sno".


5) Later in the month our Charlois beef cow, Charlotte, delivered our first ever calf! And a heifer calf to boot! We named her Georgiana since we(by we I mean I) have chosen a literature theme for my cows and their calves. Did you know I was an English major? Anyone know what book Charlotte and her calf are "in"?



6) Jonah and I bought out his parents on their half of our Hawaii house and we are going to start renting it as a vacation rental. If any of you want to go stay at a great, adventure filled house on the Big Island for a great price, let me know.



7) Tomorrow, my oldest son will turn NINE! What, how did THAT happen? I know I missed the first 4 birthday's and things always seem to go much faster that way(I know this because my "little" girl, who I also missed her first 4 birthday's, is 12 and has just passed me up on height. Yes, have pity on me, please). Isaiah is, well, Isaiah. He still laughs the best, loves to be funny, can't control his body movements hardly at all and is sweet as pie. AND, on March 24, Isaiah asked Jesus to be his Savior AND was taken off his siezure meds that day. God is good!


8)Anytime after April 16th we are expecting our 2nd calf of the year from Gretel and I can't wait. This means that we will have milk again! I've been working with Gretel in the stanchion, since she is a heifer, and teaching her that having her teats touched is a good thing. That just sounds wrong, doesn't it? Welcome to my city-turned-farm-girl-country-life. I check her vulva for discharge every day and I just about had to "glove up" on a hen the other day because I thought she was egg-bound, a condition that could be deadly. Lots of crazy, just wrong things to think about going on around here lately. But, I love it. And it's fun. And mostly enjoyable. And a lot of hard work.

So, there's your update. Look for me to come write a bit more often in the future although I'm sure I don't have anyone even reading here any more since it's been so long!