Swim Meet

Alex is loving swimming.

Everyday after school and Swim Meets too.

It is so much fun to watch your kids compete.

I tend to be loud when I root for our team.

And Alex appreciates it when I can temper myself.

I hold my breath and clap and cheer when appropriate.

Nothing out of line.

After all the years my kids did embarrassing things in public.

And now, there is no getting even.

Maybe that's for when I'm older.

Lord, help us.

Mommy's Kitchen Helper

Conversation about Salmon for Dinner

Sarah: "Mommy can I be your helper in the kitchen?"

Me: "Sure, honey. What do we need to do next?"

Sarah: She looks at the Salmon for a few seconds and then says,

"We need to decorate the Salmon, Mommy!"

Behold: Decorated Salmon

(I guess adding salt, pepper, dill and butter

is a lot like adding sprinkles to cookies.)

Storks Visit

What does it mean when wood storks visit your pond?

Is a baby on the way?

That would be welcome news.

But I think they were just visiting.

They are an endangered species so it was a joy to see them at all.

Maybe it means my goats are pregnant!

Princesses on Ice

What is it about Disney that makes me smile?

Brian and I took the girls to the Disney Princesses on Ice Sunday afternoon.

(I informed the boys that I did not have tickets for them.)

(They smiled and thanked me.)

~ ~ ~

Before the show started

~ without seeing even one princess ~

just hearing the music made me happy.

We were on pins and needles until Cinderella appeared.

That was the princess Sarah was looking for.

Her favorite.

She appeared near the end of the second act.

After her entrance I breathed a sigh of relief.
And then I started thinking about a trip to Disney World.

~ ~ ~

Just thinking about walking down Disney's Main Street makes me smile.
Does anybody know what I'm talking about?

Sarah Turns 5 !

The cake had pink icing made from strawberry jam!

(Wasn't it a great coincidence that her name has 5 letters.)

Before the Party....... she opened gifts.

Can you tell she likes kitties?

And dolls.

During the party....... we had tea.

Eight of her preschool friends came in fancy dresses

with their favorite doll for a little girl's tea party!

I can't believe my little girl is 5!

And after the party we ran around in circles.

Probably not caused by the spoonful after spoonful of sugar

put into each teacup of apple juice (pretend tea).
(But it's just SO much fun stirring!)

I hope their mother's forgive me the little sugar mistake.

Hopefully, by Monday, it will all be a blurry memory.

A blurry but very GOOD memory.

Happy Birthday Sweetheart.

Breeding Season

Jericho is running with the girls.

He has been a busy boy.

Putting him away at night, to let the girls have a rest, is messy.

By messy I mean disgusting.

Bucks have a STRONG odor that is most intense during breeding season.

And when it gets on your hands or clothes it is hard to get off.

It permeates everything.

And besides the ripe billy goat smell, bucks have a few more disgusting habits.

Notice the yellow sheen on Jericho's beard.

That isn't the "natural" color of his hair.

That's from urine.

His.

He pees on his face and forelegs.

On purpose.

To attract the does.

And I hope he has attracted Abra this year.
Because I caught her hiding behind a tree hoping he wouldn't notice her.

Ranae Running

Ranae is a runner.

She was like this even way back in preschool.

When she was three her teacher said to me,

"Ranae sure does get her money's worth on the playground!"

She was the fastest girl in 4th grade, and third fastest in 5th grade.

So naturally when we found out about the Cross Country team in middle school.....

We were all over that.

Now, after three boys,

you would think I would have had experience with Cross Country before.

But no, this is my first time.

So I'm clueless.

After the first meet (Invitational),

which I think means everybody's invited,

from your district, that is,

this is what I have learned:

1. Most middle school kids in the middle of a 2 mile run

can still talk.

They can wave and smile, and say, "Hello"

and generally look happy.

2. Parents cheer and yell and shout encouragement

and the kids don't seem embarrassed.

3. And even when they are nearing the end of the race,

(generally 2 miles UNDER 20 minutes)

they still SPRINT to the finish line.

4. And no one throws up after that.

I am in awe of my daughter.

And I will not tell her yet that I couldn't catch her if I tried.

Sunday Best

On "Church Day" we always wear our "Sunday Best".
I love to see my family dressed up for church.
And it is so much fun to fix the girl's hair "fancy".
Sarah has lots of opinions about what she wants to wear.
And how her hair is best.
Today, we both agreed that a bun would be nice.
And there's the smile to prove it.

Rain Gauge

We got a little rain yesterday.

Just a little.

Sometimes I feel like I live in a Rain Forest.

A hot, muggy, soggy, buggy, Rain Forest.

Come on February!

Bald Eagle

We had a Bald Eagle visit our pond today.

She's been here before.

But it's always a surprise and exciting to see.

And it always make me wish for a zoom lens.

This is Ester.

She has kidded twice.

(And she has won Reserve Grand Champion Dairy Goat twice.)

Both times she kidded she had triplets.

(We are thinking triplets are her thing.)

Of those six kids, she has only had ONE doe.

Both times she kidded she gave us ONE golden colored buck.

But NEVER a golden doe.

This year I am hoping for a golden colored doe from Ester.

I hope I'm not asking too much.

Just one golden doe Ester.

~ ~ ~

Or three - if it's your thing.

Will She or Won't She?

This is Abra.

She didn't have any kids last year.

The reason why:

She fell in love with the wrong buck.

There are two bucks on our farm and she picked the LaMancha, Zion.

And that couldn't happen.

She's a Nigerian Dwarf.

Mating with such a large breed has all kinds of bad complications.

(Don't get me started.)

This is Jerricho.

The guy she loved 2 years ago.

And to prove it.....

This is the beautiful doe they produced together, Cadabra.

~ ~ ~

(Get it? Abra's Cadabra)

And so I was wondering.....

as breeding season is September in my small farm life.

Will she fall for Jerricho this year?

~ ~ ~

Or won't she?