Wednesday, August 20, 2008

A Break-In

I've got a head cold. Sniffles. Achy. *sigh*

Today, two of the boys had orthodontist appointments. We go to one that's 45 minutes away, a lovely country drive, today, unfortunately, in the rain. I'm not quite thinking clearly, and didn't lock the house. Couldn't find my keys. But I did have one of the boys shut the gate. And with Toby, all 140 lbs of him, sprawled all over the front porch, I wasn't too worried about anyone getting into the house.

But when we got home several hours later, Toby was nowhere in sight.

Strange.

After getting caught in the electric fence, he has been kinda shy about getting out of the yard.

We all walked into the house, and there he was. Sprawled all over the living room floor.



Now, I need to explain something. I got up late. The boys made coffee cake for breakfast. Crumbs. All over. Then we had lunch, so we could get out the door at 1pm. Naturally, nobody vacuumed.

So here was Toby, in the house, and not a single crumb in sight. Toby sees big chunks of food, but he doesn't do too well with crumbs. But I'm telling you, it looked like someone had vacuumed.

Then I saw how Toby got in the house.

He had nosed the back sliding glass door open, just enough to get through.

Smart dog.

And then guess who came in and vacuumed? And left a calling card under the table?

I wish I could harness this kind of help.

I'm going to name her "Emilene".

;)


Thursday, August 14, 2008

The County Fair




This is Kit with her goat, Emerald, which got Grand Champion in the 4H Dairy Goat Competition. Next is Snowman the Alpaca.

Here's our rag-tag 4H club, below. Ron, 13, is wearing a green shirt, Kit, 16, is the tall blonde, Keegan, 11, is wearing a blue shirt, and Ralph Sr. (aka Dad) is in the background. The lady in the pink shirt is our 4H leader and model for the grandmother in my illustration. The short animals are alpacas, and the tall one is a llama.

(I'm trying to figure out how these pics work)




Sounds Fishy To Me Aug 4, 2008

So I've been sick.

What's new, right?

The problem with being chronically ill (well, one of them, anyway) is that since you always feel bad, you don't always listen to your body and slow down if it's trying to tell you something. Because it's just saying the same thing over and over that it's been saying for the last 2 1/2 years...

So after a family camp out, a cross-country trip to Salt Lake City, going to the Fair for 4 days the morning after we got back, and then doing laundry and cleaning house for a week, I wiped myself out. (Do the math. 11 people, farm life, camping trip & fair, no laundry done for 10 days.)

I found out later a couple of the older kids and dh said they fought off a cold bug...

But I got pneumonia.

Well, that explains why I've had a bad headache for the last three weeks. Now that the fever broke, the headache is going away. Praise God. I'm so tired of being SICK!

So dh and I pulled up in the driveway, home from the doctor (MD) and the naturopath (ND). I have pills for my lungs, pills for my spleen, and colloidial silver for the infection. Kit and Mark met us before we got out of the car.

"We've been elected to tell you what happened before you go inside and see it for yourself."

We brace ourselves.

"Don't worry," (ha. Too late. I'm envisioning blood, guts and mayhem, but they don't seem *that* concerned. This means that something of *mine* got destroyed...) "We saved the fish."

SAVED THE FISH?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

My fish tank.

30 gallons.

My antique dresser.

My carpeted dining room floor.

*sigh*

The guilty party met me at the door, sobbing. He offered to pay for it. He only has about $20. His brother, who was the accomplice in the fracas in which a toy metal ladder was thrown, offered to pay half. We had a little chat about why rough-housing is not allowed. Why listening to older brothers who are in charge is wise.

Ralph, Kit, and Mark did an awesome job cleaning it up. Shop vac. Towels. Dried off the dresser--it didn't seem to suffer any damage.

The fish are in the 10 gallon aquarium previously owned by the deceased hermit crab. The snails were all lost. The plants (which were actually worth more than the fish at this point) all survived. The dining room is all cattywampus with the fan going. Good thing the weather has been hot and dry.

My best towels smell slightly like pond water.

And I'm feeling better.







He Got The Job!!! August 1, 2008

Yay! Yahoo! Yipee!

It's computer support for a trucking company. It's a contract for 6 months. He starts on August 13, which is within two days of when he got laid off 7 years ago. It's in a town over an hour away, so he's going to stay with my parents during the week and come home on weekends. I am so thankful he got it!!

PRAISE GOD!!!


I have my own news, too. I just sent off the illustrations for a magazine article! I feel like Beatrix Potter in the movie, "Miss Potter", after she is accepted by the publisher and she gets in the carriage and says, "Drive through the park. Drive through ALL the parks! ....Faster, Saunders, faster!"

My illustrations will be in the Fall issue.

The magazine is "The Old School House Magazine", and can be seen online at: http://www.thehomeschoolmagazine.com/

Job Interview! July 25, 2008

Dh had a job interview yesterday.

The position is for computer support for a large trucking company.

He came home from the interview with hives. I know he was stressed out.

They called today, and said he was on the top of their list, that they were considering canceling their remaining interviewees. They said to expect a job offer on Monday or Tuesday.

I cried. It's been almost 7 years.

I am afraid to hope... yet I don't want to go back into the dark nightmare of unemployment.

Unemployment.

It's such a short, simple word.

Thoughts July 21, 2008

My dh and I went to Rachael's funeral. We drove out to Salt Lake City on Sunday. The funeral was on Monday. Pete and Corinne had a slide show of Rachael's life--what a silly, fun-loving girl she was!-- One of her older brothers and his wife sang a beautiful song. Pete read a poem he had written for her. All her brothers were pall-bearers. Oh! that made me cry, to see the little ones in their church clothes so seriously helping their big brothers carry their dead sister.

Early the first week of her accident, my dh told me God had given him a word that he felt he should share at her funeral if she died. So he got up and shared how we could all see how much Pete, as a father, loved Rachael. How he was grieving because she had died. How much more does our Heavenly Father love us? So much more than we can imagine. And how much did Corinne love Rachael? How much does a mother love her child? And how much more does God love us and care for us! And yet, God did not spare his only Son, but allowed him to be crucified and die so that we would have the hope of eternal life with him! That's how much he loves us! And if anyone had a new sense of how much God loves them, through seeing their love for Rachael, would they please tell Pete and Corinne.

All the extended family was there, they are all Mormon, or atheists. I was so proud of my dh for getting up in front of a room full of mostly strangers, and saying this. This was very much out of his character to do. Please pray for the extended family.

I thought a lot about how much Pete and Corinne and their family have suffered through this. Rachael didn't suffer at all, really, one minute she was riding her bike, and the next, she fell asleep. When she woke up, it was with angels on either side ushering her to her Savior. I thought of how much people in India are suffering. People in Ethiopia. Afghanistan. All the suffering is like sand at the seashore. Each time someone suffers anew, a new grain of sand is washed up on the shore.

And yet, the skuffering of Hell is like the depths of the ocean. All the sand on all the beaches in the world cannot fill up even one ocean-floor trench! It wouldn't even raise the sea level if it were all cast into the waves!

If one person is saved from Hell because of Rachael's death, the suffering of her family would not be in vain. Pete said, "If one of my family members escaped Hell, the suffering would be worth it."

And are we not all one human family?

Update for Rachael July 3, 2008

Rachael died last night. Please pray for her family. I am heartbroken for them.

Please pray for my friend... June 27, 2008

My dear friend, Corinne's, almost 13 year-old daughter, Rachael, was hit by a car on her bicycle. She is in a coma and her life hangs by a thread. Please see their Caring Bridge website and pray.

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/rachaelkligmann/

Short Update June 22, 2008

After two years.. I think we've got this health thing figured out.

I have Hypoglycemia.

That's a fancy word meaning that I am actually not human, but a Hobbit.
Hobbits eat Breakfast, 2nd Breakfast, 11sies, Luncheon, Dinner, Supper, and Afternoon Tea :o) They are short and roundish (I'm getting there, I'm up to 110) and like to run around barefoot. Explains a lot, doesn't it?

Technically, my body is not able to handle sugar, any kind of sweetener, starch or even grain right now. BUT... I am feeling So Much Better eating veggies and fruit with protein or fats. The downside; cheese, ick. Eggs, ick. The upside, my Very Own fruit basket, steak instead of pizza, all the Apple and Avocado salad I want, and snacks every two hours.

I'm really glad to know that I'm actually a Hobbit. I wonder if I could convince Dh to put a round door on our house. Maybe fill in the back yard up to the house with dirt, so we could let the cows graze on the roof.

OH! YES! We got the dog! His name is Toby (Old Toby, see, what a great name for a Hobbit's dog). I swear this dog is perfect. He rarely barks. Generally only if he's sitting outside and we are inside and aren't letting him in. Or when he peed on the electric fence. He is huge. 140 lbs at least. All black, with a white spot on his chest. His coloring exactly matches one of the cats. He holds the floor down in whatever room I happen to be in.
Generally right in the middle of traffic. He goes nuts when I come home from somewhere, and romps all over the front yard. The little girls lay all over him and climb on him. He doesn't drool, and I have no idea where he poops, cause it's not on the lawn and nobody has stepped in any. The neighbor dogs, Duke and Abby, yellow labs, have made friends with him. They came into our yard the other day and the male peed where Toby had peed. Made Duke bark, too. Here is Sadie giving him a drink on his first day home:



You caught that little tidbit about cows, didn't you? We are still deciding on names: T-bone, Hamburger and Stew, or Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner. (I'm thinking Elevensies, 2nd Breakfast and Afternoon Tea, but do you actually have beef with tea?) They are Jersey dairy bullocks, or, they *were*. They are eunics now. 16yo Kit learned how to band them. (She'll never have a problem with young men getting out of hand, if you know what I mean. She knows two ways to castrate animals, and can hold them down while doing it. Heheheheh. Dh won't even need his shotgun.) Anyway, they are the cutest little buggars. Just a week old and bottle fed. It's so cute seeing the boys out there feeding their little babies with these huge bottles. Wanna know how much they cost? One llama. Actually, we can have two more next year, too. Keegan feeding the calves:






Sadie is reading up a storm. She wrote a little report on her pet, and drew a very nice picture. "I have a snail. It is Slimy. I like to hold him."



Twins Annie and Mae spend much attention to the decorating of the front porch with their chalk. The big boys made a ramp kind of thing out of boards and pallets on top of tires and stuff, to ride their bikes on. It is now a fishing boat.

The kids are keeping busy while I eat. ;o)



There's a Dog-Sized Hole In Our Lives May 23, 2008

Someone is coming over tomorrow to show us a dog..... a Newfoundland/Black Lab mix. I am so excited! He's 3 years old.

I had to break it gently to my dh... we were at the bookstore getting coffee, and I picked up a dog breed book and showed him a Newfie (my favorite breed), and then flipped the page to the Black Labs. I said, "A mix of these two would be great. Short hair, not quite as big as a Newfie."

He said, "What? How do you know they have short hair? You know something. What are you saying?"

"Well, I found one on Craigslist. I've *Always Wanted* this mix! He'd be great! Remember Annie (our old Newf)? I think it'd be good for the boys to take care of, they want a dog. Dd wants one to go on walks with her."

He looked dubious. He saw the yearning in my eyes. Then he said, "Well, I don't know.... I'd rather have the dog than those geese...." A light bulb visibly appeared above his head. "You can have the dog if you Get Rid Of The Geese."

I kissed him right there in front of everybody. Several people grinned.

I knew those geese were worth something. I already found them a new home. heheheheheh

Hopefully he is as good a dog as he sounds. We'll see tomorrow.

The Dream May 2008

Back in February I decided to regroup and find new ways to tackle my health problems.

It started with a very vivid dream. I dreamed that I was very sad for something, and I was trying to remember what it was. Finally I realized that I had had a baby girl several years before, and couldn't keep her, and had to give her up for adoption. I tracked her down and found that she had been adopted by a nice Christian family, but of course she wouldn't remember me, and to take her back would have disrupted her life. They had named her "Abigail".

When I woke up from the dream, I realized that when we were going through the process of adopting a girl from China back in 2000-01, we had picked out the name "Abigail" for her.

Dh lost his job just as our dossier was next in line for a match. We had a new baby girl a few months later, struggled through unemployment for ... well, still. Life went on at breakneck speed. I never grieved.
I wandered around all that day, feeling numb and overwhelmed. In the afternoon, I went up to my room, shut the door, and sobbed into my pillow. Tears of loss, tears of frustration. I was comforted by the thought of Abigail being adopted by another family. I don't think I'll ever understand all the "why?" questions.

I decided to find a counselor. I had no idea where to find one, other than looking online. "Oh, God, please help me find one that's not a lulu!" I searched my city and Christian Counseling.. picked one and made an appointment. When she asked me how many children I had, her response was not what I feared.. "oh, no wonder you are exhausted, you have so many children!" It was, rather, "How nice! I come from a family of 9, too!" She went on about how her goal is to apply scripture with an understanding of how human nature works. She's been great. I'm learning how to communicate with dh, and how to find where I'm hurt and what I'm protecting when I get angry.

Dh started going with me, too. And that's all I'm gonna say about *that*! ;) It's been very good.


Who Is She? Feb 20, 2008

I saw a woman this morning. She is old. And sad. Her eyes are sunken, with wrinkles around them, as if her eyeballs are too heavy for her skin. Her hair is unruly and needs to be combed, or Curly-Girled, or something. Her shoulders are bowed. She looks like she doesn't care. She looks so tired. I didn't recognize her.

She lives in my mirror.

You know, it wasn't that long ago that a teenager came to my door and asked if my mother was home. Less than 10 years. In fact, less than 4 years ago, a woman came to my door and wouldn't believe that I *was* the mom. "You're not the mom!" she exclaimed. "Yes, I'm the mom," I said. "NO! You're NOT the mom!" "Yes, I am the MOM!" I had to round up all the kids and get the babies to show them to her. She nearly forgot why she knocked at my door.

A couple of weeks ago, someone guessed my age. Now people have been guessing my age ever since I can remember, and they always guess at least 5 years too young. Seriously, when I was in the 3rd grade, someone thought I was in Kindergarten. When I was in 8th grade, back when there were Jr. High Schools instead of Middle Schools, a 7th grader thought I was there visiting my mom. When I was 29 and pregnant with my third baby, someone thought I was a college student. This time, the person guessed I was 48. I was shocked! I am 43.

Thus the study in the mirror.

So what I want to know is, why, in the last 6 years, have I aged from looking 32 to 48?

I want to explore this. To find healing, and to find rest. And to find peace.

God Loves Lucy! Feb 18, 2008

We had a Chinese Exchange teacher stay with us for two weeks. Her American name is Lucy.

When you sign up to be a host family, you have to fill out a form that includes how many people live in your house, i.e. your family. Well, they didn’t have enough lines for starters. So I had to squeeze the three little girls in between the lines. Then they ask you to list your pets (“Does livestock count? No? Ok, two cats, two hermit crabs, a snake—I’ll just write down ‘snake’ instead of ‘python’, it sounds nicer…, do we have two lizards or are we down to one? Ok, one lizard. The rat died, so no rats this time. Um, should I put down the tarantula or is this enough?”).

A perfectly normal American family.

Yeah, right.

The form gets faxed to China, and the student or teacher gets a copy. Lucy was worried. Here the poor dear is going out of her country with one other teacher and 37 12yo students who have never been away from home before. And she gets picked by some looney family with 9 children and a zoo. She *knows* she’s not going to get a moment’s peace.

Dh and I decide to pick her up, just the two of us, so as not to overwhelm her with bodies right at first. By the time we get home, only (only!) the five oldest kids are still up. They come, one or two at a time, into the living room to meet her. I show her around the house, bypassing bedrooms with supposedly sleeping children in them, and then show her up to her room. (Oldest dd graciously gave up her room for two weeks, and roomed with the three girlsies.) She said, “It’s so… quiet!”

She didn’t get a chance to meet the rest of the family until the following afternoon. She was amazed at how quiet they were. And helpful. She told me that in China, the children NEVER help with the dishes or chores. The following night, the host families put on a Welcome Potluck for all the students. The students had to learn their host family members’ names, and I was very impressed with how well they did.

When Lucy stood up to introduce us, she named every single person in our family! Then she said, “I was really worried when I found out that I was going to be staying with a family with 9 children! But now I think that large families are very nice, and Everyone should have one!”

She taught the little girls how to say “Nee how” (hello), and the middle boys taught her how to play card games—War, Go Fish, Indian Poker (has something to do with putting a card on your forehead that everyone can see except yourself and making bets with little brother’s penny collection) and 52 Pick-Up. She did not like Scrabble, even though we were neck-and-neck most of the game.

Lucy and I had a good time together. We talked almost every evening about all kinds of things, what we believe, what she believed, how sad the Chinese were when the One Child law was passed, and how spoiled those only children are now. Why I had a tray with an American Flag on it in my kitchen and patriotism.

We pray before every meal, and we talk about God throughout the day, and so it was pretty natural that she asked us what we believed. She told me her Grandmother was a Christian, and her mother was a Buddhist. But sadly, she didn’t believe in anything. She wished she could believe in something. She also told me that she hadn’t really wanted to come on this trip, that her headmaster pressured her into it. It was right over the Chinese New Year holiday. She was a bit miffed at the headmaster, especially when she found out she’d been “adopted” by a humongous family.

One night, we were talking about school (the whole subject of homeschooling fascinated her, being a teacher) and she asked if we had heard of the story of Moses. I said, “Yes, it’s in the Bible.”

She said, “It is?? In the Bible?!”

“Yes, it’s right here in Exodus. Would you like to read it?”

“Oh, yes!”

So I handed her my Bible and we found Exodus, and she sat down and read two chapters. Then she said she was tired and was going to go to bed, and asked if she could take the Bible upstairs to finish reading about Moses. I said she could.

17yo R, who was sitting on the couch listening to us talk, said, “That was smooth.. giving her a Bible to read!”

I told the kids later what had happened, so the next evening, 12yo A gave her a New Testament, that had a study at the beginning. “This is a Bible? For me? To keep?” she exclaimed. “Oh, thank you!”

I ended up getting a nasty virus half way through her stay, and so the kids cooked and cleaned up and ran the house. One night, she made Chinese food for us. 11yo D and 6yo S were her main helpers. S said, “That’s what we do in this family, we help each other!” Lucy said that was the most amazing thing she had ever heard a child say.

I wanted to get her a Bible in Chinese. I looked online for the Gideons, or the Chinese Church in town, but came up with dead ends. Dh said, “Why don’t I try the Bible Book Store?” and what do you know, they had one! I had all the kids sign it and we wrote in Bible verses pertaining to salvation, and then some of our favorites. I wrapped it up in a gift bag, and we called a Family Meeting and gave it to her.

She opened it up, and looked at all of us with tears running down her cheeks… “Oh THANK YOU! My Very Own Bible! I will READ it! I am so glad my headmaster made me come on this trip! God must have made her tell me to come!”

It was hard not to cry when she left. I know I made a good friend. I hope God makes her my sister.

Help, My Brain Fell Out and I Can't Find It Dec 22, 2007

I was talking to some friends, and one had heard of a study that showed that a mother's brain shrinks by 10% with pregnancy, and it doesn't come back to normal until a year after weaning the baby. Since I've been pregnant or nursing for nearly 17 years straight, I think it will take me 9 more years to get my brain back. I have not nursed for a year and a half. And I'm not seeing much improvement. Was that 10% per baby? That would be 10% x 9 = 90% of my brain just gone off to Narnia.

TODAY I had on my schedule to take my two oldest boys to a friends' house for an airsoft war, during piano lessons at my house. So I had to arrange with the mom who brings her dd over for lessons to be the "adult on duty" while I took them (the piano teacher not having signed up to be a babysitter, lol). The mom was fine with that. Then there was some confusion on when to pick the boys up from the war, because they are all going to an Alert Cadet party tonight which dh had told me that they were NOT going to, but now ds's tell me dh told THEM they WERE.

While I was mulling over this crazy day in my head before I got up, I looked at the clock (nothing will induce me to tell you what time it was) and realized I had to have 9yo N over to his violin teacher's house *15 minutes ago* for his lesson and then a play date and lunch with violin teacher's ds. I jumped out of bed, madly threw on my clothes, put a hat on over my uncombed hair and ran downstairs yelling, "N!! Get your violin!! We have to leave RIGHT NOW so I can be back before the piano teacher gets here in 20 minutes!!" He got his stuff, we jumped in the van and took off.

I drove the 2 miles into SmallTownsVille where the violin teacher lives and suddenly realized,

I DIDN'T KNOW WHERE HIS HOUSE WAS.

So we drove around the neighborhood for 10 minutes looking for his car. Couldn't find it. Drove back home. Followed the piano teacher down our driveway, good thing I didn't try cruising the neighborhood one more time.

Called the violin teacher, he was pulling up to our house. He knows my brain fell out and I haven't been able to find it. He thinks it's funny.

My friend showed up to be the "adult on duty" and I gave my keys to the boys (17 and 14) and said, yes, they could start the van and turn it around in the driveway, and I'd be out as soon as I finished my coffee.... so I started telling my friend a story of how one of my boys came up to my room once, wearing his Bob the Builder undies, covered with "blood" and gasping, "I've been SHOT!" crash, dead and dying on the floor... when oldest ds shows up in the front window miming, "Are you coming???"

I had totally forgotten they were out there, moving the van, waiting for me to take them to their airsoft war.

Then I had to come back in to get my glasses.

A Thanksgiving Goat Wedding Nov 27, 2007

In case you haven't been around goats lately, it's breeding season.

What this means is that if you have LADY dairy goats (aka does), and if you want them to produce milk next year, you need to get them bred. And in case you didn't remember anything from Sex Ed, or are under 10, you need to have a MAN goat to breed your LADY goats to.

The tricky thing about bucks (man goats) is that they generally live on someone else's farm. Dairy bucks are pretty stinky, and they do things to themselves to make them even more odoriferous and thus more attractive to the ladies-- from 50 yards away. So you can see why most goat folks don't keep one around. I suppose it helps keep those pesky neighbors, friends and relatives away, if you're reclusive, but we're not. We like our friends. (Ok, we like our neighbors and relatives, too, it just sounded better being short and saying "friends".)

BUT.... the tricky thing about NOT having a buck is that a doe is only ready to conceive for one day, maybe only 12 hours, once every three weeks. Or so. So when your 16yo daughter tells you, on your way out the door to church for the morning, "Oh, Mom, I think Fuchsia is in heat," you pretty much drop what you are doing and race her over to the breeder's, or miss the Golden Window of Opportunity for another several weeks. Which we did, upon racing her to the breeder's AFTER church.

So you can imagine what lit the fire under my, uh, bathrobe Friday morning, the day after Thanksgiving, when K came in from milking and said, "Fuchsia's in heat!" I downed my coffee and dressed, leaving Grandma to fend for herself with the little girls. The boys were all gone with Grandpa and Dad to an air museum for the day, and we had "Gone With the Wind" and tea parties all lined up. Oh well, nothing like a goat wedding (it's a very short ceremony) to add to the activities of the day. K went outside to get the goat, but came back in very quickly.

"Mom? The van's gone."

OH YEAH.... with all the menfolk. To the air museum. All day. No telling when they would get back. I saw the Golden Window of Opportunity swinging shut. Hmm.....

"Do you think Grandpa would mind us hauling a goat in his 57 Chevy?" I wondered aloud.

"YES HE WOULD," said Grandma.

Nix that idea.

(Have I mentioned yet that we still don't have a trailer, and have to haul the goats in the back of the van?)

"Dad's car!" In the excitement, I'd forgotten about dh's car. We've only had it a year. And a half, I think. It was his mom's, it's a Lincoln. An Old Lady car. But with a leather interior. Nice and clean, too.

"Well," I said, "We have no choice. We'll have to take the Lincoln. K, get a tarp. A clean one." (whoever heard of a clean tarp on a farm?)

So K lined the back seat with a tarp, got Miss Fuchsia on a lead, and climbed into the car. Fuchsia seemed to like the Lincoln, even better than the van, and hopped right in. K got her in a headlock and I jumped in and started the engine. "She won't sit down! You'll have to swerve!" I heard from the back seat. I backed out of the driveway and slammed on the brakes. "OW! Ok, she sat down!"

Fuchsia, however, didn't WANT to sit down. She wanted to see where we were going. "Mom! Swerve!" So I swerved. All the way into SmallTownsVille and right past the police station.

"Oh, my! What if we get pulled over?" I said. K hollered back through the goat, "I'm not even wearing my seatbelt!" All I could imagine was, "I'm sorry, officer, no, I'm not drunk. We're just trying to take our goat to the breeder's and she's only in heat for one day, and my dh has the van... no, she's not, she can't get the seatbelt on through the tarp.." all while 120 lb Fushia thrashes all over my dh's nice clean leather interior trying to get out because we were not swerving. I wonder if he's a country policeman, or if he comes in from the city 20 miles away?

"Mom, it'd be funny in five years!" said K.

"Nope, it's funny NOW!" I said. We both cracked up and swerved some more.

A few more miles of swerving, braking and accelerating, we got to the goat breeder's house. She laughed at the sight of us pulling up in the Lincoln. "I've only ever seen a goat hauled in a Lincoln ONCE before, and the owner made me promise that I'd never tell anybody." She took Fushia's lead rope and walked her over to the buck's pen. "It's ok," she said to the goat, " you're such a sweet little princess you *deserve* to ride in a Lincoln!"

We left Fushia there with her new beau, they were getting on quite well, and came home. We had our tea party with Grandma, the little girls got all dressed up with Great-Grandma's old nighties and jewelry and hats. We finished watching "Gone With The Wind". Dh called later and asked how it was going.

"Fine," I said. "Fushia's over at the breeder's."

"Oh," he replied. "You'll have to wait until we get home to go get her, I guess, since we have the van."

"Oh, no we won't. We'll go get her the same way we took her over there... in your car."

He just doesn't understand. Fushia IS a princess!

Health Nov 16, 2007

Last spring I started feeling much better. But by mid summer, I went downhill again. August was pretty well wasted. I had no energy at all. September I felt somewhat better, but not much. Home School co-op started up in the middle of the month, and that was exhausting. Even though we only meet once a week.

In fact, just going out seemed to wipe me out for the entire next day or two. Sunday, Church. Monday, Co-op, Tuesday, piano lessons at home. Wednesdays, Dh takes the older kids to youth group and I either hire a babysitter and go with them, or stay home with the middles and littles. By Thursday I was completely wiped out. I mean, barely able to get out of bed, and certainly not get dressed. Friday I was still exhausted. Saturday I was feeling better, and wanting to do something productive, but it was Sabbath. ;)

Talk about depressed!! The house has been falling apart, no school has been happening. I cannot keep up with reminding 8yoN to practice his violin. The kids generally do what they want, which isn't chores. Dinner is usually what I think up on the fly, or one of the older kids makes something. Some days I think ahead enough to put something in the crock pot, but it's not often. My biggest struggle has been figuring out how to get my family to realize that I'm sick, that I'm not making this up. I'm not being lazy, I can hardly function. They get upset when I loose it, you know, like that saying, "I only have one nerve left and you're standing on it!" Exercise? Ha! Forget it. Quiet times? My prayers are generally, "Oh God, help me!"

So I decided I was going to find myself a Naturopath. I found one and have seen him twice now. He said my thyroid is weak (tired, cold, sluggish) and my pancreas is weak (diabetes runs in my family, I just found out) and I am extremely (literally) sensitive to sugar cane. Almost like an allergy. I am to stay off of it completely. He put me on just two supplements for the thyroid and the pancreas.

Now I really don't eat much sugar to speak of, anyways. But I started noticing a pattern... At church I'd have a cup of coffee, and since they don't have honey and I keep forgetting to bring some, I'd use sugar. Monday I'd feel so wiped out that I'd stop at the coffee hut on the way to co-op and get a Mexi-mocha or a caramel macciato. Tuesday I was so wiped out that I'd barely make it out of bed before the piano teacher showed up, then I'd crash on the chair in the living room and watch the lessons. Wednesday, I'd still be crashed. If I went to youth group, I'd be crashed Thursday, too (they always have home-made desserts). If dh and I went to the chiropractor on Thursday, we'd eat out and I'd have something with sugar in it. Then I'd be wiped out for Friday.

So this past week I have been really careful about eating anything with sugar, and while I have still felt tired and sluggish, I have not felt completely wiped out. Yesterday I cleaned out a closet. Today I vacuumed the living room. I even have a friend stopping by in a little bit.

YAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is a MAJOR IMPROVEMENT!!

About a month ago, Dh bought a Far Infra-red sauna, it's supposed to help you detox. I've been sitting in that nearly daily (what a *great* prayer closet!!), and while I can't pinpoint feeling better because of it, I know it's helping. (A thought provoking book to read is "Detoxify or Die" by Dr. Sherry Rogers.) The quiet times certainly are! ;)

Maybe I'll even update this blog more often.... ?!?!

D-Day for T-Day Nov 14, 2007

It's D-Day.

For the turkeys.

17yoR is chopping heads. 16yoK is plucking and cleaning. 14yoN is cleaning up the kitchen. 12yoA, 10yoD and 8yoN are culling the chicken flock. Remember a couple of posts back all those chicks that hatched? A good half of them were roosters. The boys are going to make me a feather duster from their tail feathers. I think a non-laying hen or two might be destined for the pot as well.

6yoS just came in and said in her sweet little voice, "Believe me, Mom, it STINKS outside!" She just had her birthday over the weekend, by the way. AND she lost her first tooth. She's all grown up now. Little sisters H & M were drawing with chalk on the front porch, making train tracks and roads and towns. Now they are in, because it was cold outside.

I am drinking a cup of coffee and enjoying NOT butchering poultry. Anticipating Thanksgiving Day, here at our Little Red House, with Grandma and Grandpa, and my brothers and their families.

I hope 16yo cousin M doesn't freak out about the turkeys too much. She's a bit..... anthropomorphic.

Meditations On The Mysteries Of Life Oct 20, 2007

Some things are too mysterious for words.

Some I ponder late at night when I can't go to sleep.

Things like, where did the bathroom garbage can go? It's been MIA for nearly a week, and lo and behold, it was returned, with the same garbage in it when it disappeared.

Where are the pencils? I bought everyone two pencils, all different, and myself two fuzzy leopard-print ones. One was hiding in my purse because the other one never even made it home as far as I can tell.. No one can find a pencil.

School books. I am convinced they climb into my cupboards and closets and go to Narnia.

Where are the cleaning rags? You know, to clean the bathroom with, or wipe up spills? You'd think the house would be spotless if they were all in the laundry. Maybe there's a door to Narnia in the dryer.

Some of the mysteries of life, I guess.

A New Bed Sept 29, 2007

Life has changed, irrevocably.

The twins have a new bed.

It's a double, they can both sleep in it. In fact, 5yo big sister could fit into it as well, but then there's that "sleep" part that won't happen. We got it from Grandma's estate. I picked up a comforter that's kinda retro, pink and brown, to go with the actual truly 60's comforter on the 5yo's bed. It came from Aunt J.

At 4 years of age, the twins don't wet the bed anymore, they are totally potty trained. Although I do have to encourage the use of toilet paper and flushing. They love jumping on their new bed. The cats like to sleep on it, too.

The irrevocable change is that there are No More Cribs.

No crib with a younger toddler sibling.

No crib, scrubbed and filled with birthing supplies, waiting for the next baby.

No crib cluttered with stuffed animals and blankies, and a sippy cup in there *somewhere* (in the dark-- with a 2yo dying of thirst-- at 2am).

I can never have the darling canopy that I had always dreamed of but was too busy having babies to make.

I remember putting the first crib together in 1990. We were still in California. I was still pregnant. Dh and I set it up in the living room. We had to follow the instructions, even. It was brand new, all white. He leaned a part up against the piano and it fell over, costing us a couple of hundred dollars to fix the deep scratch it left on the way down. (Never lean metal parts on a baby grand.) Then we had to take it apart again to get it into the bedroom.

I remember, a few weeks later, hovering over the crib, shielding my brand new baby during the aftershocks of the Big One -- the Loma Prieta Earthquake of 1989. The aftershocks continued for months into 1990.

I remember moving, and having the crib packed away, and our baby sleeping in the pack-n-play, until we got settled in our new home. He was heavy and it was deep. I was so glad to get him back into the crib!

We moved him into a twin bed, and moved his baby sister into the crib when she grew out of the cradle. And it went on that way, for years. We eventually got another crib, too, as often the two-year-old wasn't really ready to leave the security of a crib. That crib got taken down and stored on a regular basis.

But that day, THE day, that the cribs came down for the last time, my oldest sons took them down. Those babies who chewed on the rungs, climbed over the rails, got their legs stuck between the rungs, fell out head-first... they took them down. With their own tools. One of them shaves. They are both taller than me. I couldn't do it. I couldn't even watch.

Where do the years go? Who said they could fly by in the wink of an eye? There's been a baby in the house since 1990. Now there are no more.

I had them store the cribs in the attic.




And, someday, there will be grandbabies.

Just A Week In The Life... Sept 21, 2007

Sunday began with the idea of going to the early service at church. Starts at 8:30. We usually go to the later service at 11:00. My dh is still out of town, until this coming Saturday, so I am on my own with my 9 children. The 17yo, 15yo and 14yo have been an immense help. 12yo, 10yo and 8yo are somewhat helpful, but the 5yo and 4yo twins are a liability.

So my 14yo made chili in the crock pot Sat. night for lunch on Sunday, and we planned to hit the 5 & Dime on the way home from church to get school supplies for the homeschool co-op that was starting on Monday. Then come home, eat lunch and get the little girls (ages 5 and 4yo twins) down for naps before Grandma and Grandpa came over around 3.

We set our alarms to get up at 6:30. Everyone got up, did their chores, got the girls ready, and we ate breakfast. 15yo daughter came running in from feeding the goats, yelling, "I caught a rat or something out in the garage!" Of course we all went to see what it was. The boys had left the domed feed bin lid leaning beside the bin, and something had gotten itself caught underneath. Very carefully, she and 17yo brother pushed a board underneath so as to trap it, and drop it into the empty grain bin. It was NOT a rat! It was a .... chicken!!! Trapped all night under the lid! Not sure which came first, the chicken or the empty feed bin.

In spite of that adventure, we got in the van right on schedule. Even remembered the Bible bag and the little girls' activity bag. Turned the key in the ignition and..... nothing. 17yo suddenly remembered he had left the light on in the van. Oh dear. So he saved the day by jumpstarting the van with the car. We were only about 5 minutes late to church.

Monday was the first day of homeschool co-op. I'm teaching Art and taking Algebra I with my two oldest. Never did pass it in high school, even after all those times taking it. Long day. But fun. Very noisy.

Tuesday, Piano Lesson day. Piano teacher comes at 9:30am. Done by noon. One mom from the co-op brings her daughter for lessons, too. We're trading our 5-month-old goat wether (used to be a boy but isn't now) for one of their does. So got him sent off to his new home. Quilting Club at 12:30.

Wednesday, had to leave the house at noon to take 12yo and 14yo to get some teeth pulled in preparation for braces. Took the 15yo and 17yo, too, so we could go to their youth group that night. The youth group and the orthodontist are in the same small town an hour away. So we just stayed up there. I actually had to hire a babysitter to take care of the younger kids. Haven't had to do that in years!

So today we got up late and sat around in our jammies and watched Nanny McPhee and The Pink Panther that came in the mail from Netflix. There is Monopoly money scattered all over the living room. Haven't had time to fold laundry all week. The three middle boys cleaned their room and have a pile of non-room stuff in the hallway, and all their bedding is in the wash. Not sure what they are sleeping on. I'm afraid to look. 12yo just got up to use the bathroom and brought his pillow along. ??????? Best just not to even ask......

Feeling Better June 18, 2007

I know, it’s been a long time since I’ve written….

I’ve had such low energy and been so tired, all of a sudden I thought to call some good friends in Colorado who have a homeopathic business. They got me set up with some remedies, and within a week I started feel a LOT better! Praise God!! I’m still nowhere near 100%, but I think I’m on the right track. The main thing I’m dealing with is Adrenal Exhaustion. It, in turn, affects the thyroid and pituitary, which affect hormone levels and energy and all that.

I’ve been feeling so much better that I haven’t sat at the computer as much. I cleaned up the sewing room, where K had been carding wool and pygora goat fiber. Now we’ve got it covered with little flannel squares… Got my closet and old clothes gone through, and now I have my eye on the boys’ closet…

Papa had a job interview with the bank, it went really well, but then he heard nothing for three weeks. After much prompting, he finally called, and found out he had not gotten the job, but that they really liked him and strongly suggested he look out for a new position that they were opening. So far, no more news on that score. He has been working more hours at Ace Hardware, installing a video surveillance system and a sound system. He uses a lift, 20 feet up to the ceiling. Yikes!!

Grandpa is doing great. Going at full steam.

The kids are done with school for the year. Yay! We’ve planted some flowers and have done a lot of laundry.

The chicks are almost grown up! They have all their feathers and mama hen left them and has started laying again. Mrs. Bennett, one of our other hens, sat on 17 eggs, 12 of which hatched out about 3 days ago. I was assured that only 10 eggs were being set, so where the other 7 eggs came from is a mystery…. (I think someone was skimpy on the details of how many eggs she let the chicken sit on).

Kittens!! Anybody want one? We have a number to choose from. Susie Q, rescued by Papa from Grandma’s house last summer, and resided for a week in K’s apron pocket, has had her first modest litter of three kittens. They were born on D’s top bunk bed on his sleeping bag. Little 5yo S followed Susie Q up there and was petting her, and then saw a kitten starting to be born, and came running to me in tears, she was so excited. One toppled off the bunk bed and went to that big sandbox in the sky. The other two have to content themselves with life on earth and are killing everything they find until it’s dead (like scraps of paper and beads). They are scared silly of the chickens, though.

Taffy, my kitty, just had her first litter yesterday morning. Again, one didn’t make it, but she has 5 beautiful kittens. Oooooh, they are so sweet! I love new babies! Any kind!

Always Something April 11, 2007

Remember the cough and sniffles the kids had? I got it. Bad. Been out with it for 3 weeks now. Mostly I sit in the living room looking out the bay window, hacking my lungs out, and reading The Lord of the Rings again, I feel like Frodo climbing Mt. Doom. If only I had something to throw into the fire to make it all go away....

Dh has had a couple of job interviews, but nothing has come of them. He did find out about a new opening at a bank that he's been interested in. Keep praying.

Two weeks ago, my dad went to the ER for passing out when he'd stand up. He ended up having a pace-maker implanted. We tease him that he got a new distributor cap. He's doing much better. We took all the kids up there to see him before he went into surgery... uh, sorry, procedure. Little 3yo H took one look at him with tubes and wires all over the place and said, "Grandpa, what HAPPENED to you??"

Remember Betsy the sheep, and her baby lamb? 15yo K named him Pippin. Betsy contracted what we think was a condition called Milk Fever, and despite our efforts, died. We felt terrible. I'm convinced if we had been up on sheep health we could have prevented it. Just makes me feel worse. Pippin is doing fine, K's been bottle feeding him. He will walk right into the house searching for her if he gets the chance.

Callie, our other ewe, surprised us by being pregnant. We had thought she was too old. She certainly never gave the time of day to the ram, at least while we were watching. No sooner did we figure out she was expecting, than she gave birth to beautiful, perfect twins, a little ram and a ewe. But both lambs were dead. Don't know why. We were heartbroken.

My mom and dad came over on Saturday, and whisked me away with them to recover at their house in peace and quiet. I've gotten to take naps and read. I brought a little crochet project but haven't started it yet. I've been here 4 days now.

K has been calling me every morning to tell me the news of the household. She has been milking the goat and Callie (to bottle feed the lamb). She has to tie them up and have someone practically sit on their heads in order to do it. Sunday, a friend of ours stopped by with a milking stanchion! A stanchion immobilizes the goat/sheep's head so you can milk it. What a blessing!

She has also been eyeing the treehouse to use as a goat shed. The problem is, that it's in a tree. Goats are good climbers, but not that good. I couldn't see how we could knock it down without breaking it. Monday she called and said, "Mom!! You'll never guess what happened!! The wind blew the treehouse down, and it's all in one piece!!" Hallelujah!

Tuesday and Wednesday she called to tell me how many chicks had hatched. We have a hen that started to set on golf balls. So K let her set on a couple of eggs. She laid a few more, then mysteriously aquired some more. One of the boys watched her setting while another hen sat down and laid an egg right next to her. Once she was done, she clucked and then walked away. The setting hen reached over and stole the egg! She amassed 10 of them. Yesterday they started to hatch. So far the count is 7 hatched and doing great, one hatching, and two not doing anything yet. They all look different because they have different mamas. hee hee hee. The golf balls have not hatched.


Maybe tomorrow the cat will have kittens. :)

More Babies! March 2007

Betsy the Jacob sheep had her lamb on Wednesday (see pics last entry). Mama and baby are doing fine. She had a boy. We all got to stand in the rain and watch her deliver! What excitement! 15yo K and I were just deciding that the experiment with the ram didn't work, and we wouldn't have a lamb this year. Here's a pic of the lamb at two days old. I forgot to mention that 14yo N took all Betsy's birth pictures.
Thursday, Papa took us all to a science museum, about an hour away. K decided to stay home and do some homework for our Homeschool Co-op. She went out to check on the animals and found Mrs. Tiggywinkle, our new and very pregnant Pygora goat in labor!!
K's llama, Thistledown, took a very keen interest with the baby, and had to do an inspection.

Mrs. Tiggywinkle was expecting twins or triplets, and the next baby got stuck (one back foot was presenting) and K had a time calling some friends for help. When they got it out, it was already dead, as the cord had snapped. They didn't have much time to be sad, because hot on its heels was another one... and then ANOTHER one! Yes, she had quadruplets! All four were boys. We are praising God that K stayed home. It's likely that all the unborn babies would have died if she had been left for hours without help.


Here's 8yo n and 5yo S enjoying the new kids.

It's been a busy week! Not much book-learning got done, but lots of hands-on and real life learning!

Prayer Requests:
  1. God's guidance in career decisions for Papa.
  2. Continued improvement in health for me. I'm really battling fatigue daily.
  3. Several of the kids have colds, earaches, stuffy noses, etc. Quick healing (and restful nights!)

A Morning Surprise March 2007

I don't think this even needs commentary!






The Great Duck Caper March 2007



Spring is here! Finally! I was beginning to think I'd never get warm again. The cold is damp here, kind of like a wind chill factor, only it's a dampness factor. It creeps under your sweater and into your socks. It grabs you around the back of your neck and drips down your spine. The thermometer hovers between 40 or 50, which in Rocky Mountain-ese is getting warm, but here in the NW, it's C O L D. The kind of cold that takes more than a cup of hot chocolate to warm you up.

Today it was 61 degrees. We turned off the heater and opened up the windows! The birds sang their heads off and the daffodils opened. The sky shone blue, and such a welcome change from clouds and rain! Yesterday was in the mid-50's, and I hoed up the bedding in the chicken house and in the evening, we went to get the other goat.

Goats, now, is it?

I happened to mention to a friend of mine and K's, who has goats, that I'd like to get a Pygora goat. It's a cross between a Pygmy (those cute dinky fat ones you see at petting zoos) and an Angora (large goats raised for their silky fiber called "mohair". "Angora" fiber is from rabbits). K and I saw some at a Fiber Festival last summer and got a bad case of the wants. I recently aquired a spinning wheel, and so the thoughts of another animal with renewable fiber just set me drooling.

Anyway, the friend knew a friend who had some Pygora goats for sale. So Papa and I and K went to look at them. I only had enough money left to buy one goat, so I chose the one that is expecting twins or triplets in a couple of weeks. I also want to milk it, so that S can have fresh goat milk since she is very sensitive to cow's milk.


Here she is, we named her Mrs. Tiggywinkle. She's very sweet and likes to be petted. We got her on Wednesday, the 28th. We crammed her in a borrowed home-made crate, she barely fit through the door, and she is so fat (pregnant, not fat, I should know that) that she couldn't jump down out of the van, so we had to lift the whole crate down the the ground. The little girls are besotted and love to pet her.

Well. Come to find out, the lady we bought her from deals in Muscovy ducks. She was willing to work out a trade for the other goat. And we have 15 Muscovy ducks. 20, if you count the ones in the freezer. K decided to keep three for breeding.

You can't catch two ducks, even though you could hold two. You have to throw some feed on the ground, wade through the ducks and chickens, with your eye on your target, and grab it around the neck. Then you can scoop it under your other arm. K and I could handle three ducks at a time between the two of us. If you hurry, they won't poop on you.Papa lined the floor of the van with a sheet of plastic, and we crammed the ducks into a wire cage and a dog crate. A and n went with us.

Now, just if you ever have the opportunity to ride in the same van with 12 ducks for 30 miles or with a loose goat, choose the goat. We had the windows rolled down until it got too cold, but after that it was ... earthy.



The second goat, already named Angie (we haven't come up with a better name yet) has even nicer fleece than the first one. She had twins on Friday, but unfortunately they both died. But... that meant that she is coming into milk. So S will have milk without having to wait on kids to wean.

We had already returned the crate, so K just held her with a rope collar and a lead rope. She did pretty well, figured out that it was easier to lay down, until we'd slow down, then she'd want to look out the window. Papa stopped at A&W for a quick meal, we were all pretty hungry, it was nearing 8pm. Angie was very interested in the hamburgers. R and N had stayed home to make grilled cheese sandwiches for the younger troops.





When we got home, K and I made an attempt at milking her. We hit upon a method and got about 1/2 cup of milk. We tied her to a stud in the wall, and I stradled her with her head between my knees (in the chicken house, mind you, it was pitch dark but there's a light in there) while K kneeled (in the chicken house) and milked her. Angie must like men because when Papa came out to see what we were doing, and then left to get the camera, she bawled and became too unmanageable to continue, so we let her loose.

So two Pygora goats for $60 and 12 ducks. Where'd we get all those muscovy ducks?

Well, that's another story.

Pics! March 2007

Here is our birthday boy... he takes his own portraits:


And this is an example of the strange pictures he takes:



This is a picture of our house from the side and back, taken during the summer when the grass had all dried out.

Here is K with one of two turkeys that she raised, on its way to Hanukkah dinner:


It was over 20 pounds ready to go into the oven! We're definitely doing this next year!

Ok, now that I've got it figured out.. I'll go upload some more recent pictures.

New Blog March 2007

Well, this is my first blog. Kind of a new experience. Hopefully friends and family will be able to keep up easier, this way. For security's sake, I will not post any real names. Those of you who know us should be able to figure out who is who.

We are a family of 11, Papa, Mama--Nelly (one of the twins calls me "Mudder" like in "Bambi") and 9 children, Ralph 17yob, Kit 15yog, Mark 14yob, 11yob, D 10yob, n 8yob, S 5yog, and twins H & M 3yog.

We live on 3.6 acres, about half of which is wooded (we call it Narnia) and the other half has the house, yard and 1/2 acre pasture. We have chickens, ducks, llamas, jacob sheep and a new pygora goat (Pygmy/Angora cross). I recently illustrated a book cover for a fellow MOMYS and bought a spinning wheel and the goat with my earnings. I've been spinning up a storm! It's very relaxing, and I can talk while doing it. I made a scarf out of mohair (Angora goat fiber) and a purse out of wool. I am currently spinning the fleece from our very own sheep! We moved here from the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains in October of 05, from the suburbs. So farm life is pretty new to us. Although, most of us are taking to it like a, uh, duck to water, I guess. Sure is a lot of poop. ;)

News as of Friday:

N will be 14 tomorrow. I can't believe he's that old already! He likes photography, video, (except the video camera isn't currently working) and his Alert Cadet group ( http://www.alertcadet.org/ ). He still has his tarantula, it's in a 10 gal aquarium in his room. Oh, and since he's a teenager, he shares a room with R. He wants to be a photographer when he grows up. He is quite dependable and great with the little girls. He's very silly and comes up with voices and jokes and keeps us laughing. He acts very sober when around other people, though, so you might not know that side of him.

Papa, N and R are going to a men's retreat tonight and tomorrow.

Prayer requests:

#1. Papa has been out of work (Computers, IT) and is looking for a job. Pray for God's clear leading.
#2. I have been unhealthy with low thyroid, systemic candida and allergies. Please pray for continued improvement and healing, and an increase in energy.
#3. Praise! The kids are all healthy (except for a few sniffles) and doing great! I'd never be able to run the house without them! 8yo n has learned how to make coffee!
#4. Praise! I got hearing aids! I thought I might have a slight hearing loss, but had no idea it was slight-moderate and actually needed hearing aids! I've been enjoying hearing sounds I have not heard for years, some since childhood... rain on the window, birds singing, inflections in voice, strings in orchestral music, the ladies singing at church :) ....

I've got to figure the picture thing out, so I'm experimenting...
(oh my, that did not work! lol! Back to the drawing board...)