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The kids and I had a fun day today! We drove up to Mt. Bachelor (why do I ALWAYS forget my camera) and met some homeschooling families at Elk Lake for a day in the water. Elk Lake is a wonderful setting with a nice sandy beach, a huge lake, and the backside of Mt. Bachelor staring you in the face. Gorgeous! Brent (my amazing husband) was so so gracious to stay home with Grace so I could really relax. He packed the cooler for us full of yummies, got sunscreen and innertubes, and we were on our way. It was a very nice time of fellowship for me and good friends for the kids. Samuel cried all the way back to the car because he didn't want to leave. This evening the girls and I went to see BEAT's production of Romeo and Juliet. It was a great show and the kids did exceptionally well and made Shakespeare very entertaining. I just got some great pictures of Seth's karate test that I will upload next time. I also have some wonderful pictures of Anna on her horse Cloudy riding in the 4th of July parade together. Till next time... |
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On Saturday, June 21 my son Seth achieved the rank of brown belt in his karate training. It was a grueling 3 hour test of strength, stamina, courage, and pain. Seth tested with two other adult women whom he has consistently trained with. Both girls threw up from the intensity of the experience. Seth was asked to push himself through pain and extreme fatigue. He broke boards with his feet and hands (on the first try), went through grueling fighting matches, showed his strength and power in kata's, fought off real knife attacks, wow I was awed! I was so proud of him! A different side of him comes out that you don't see in him normally. The wonderful thing about karate is it keeps these kids humble, self controlled, and disciplined despite being able to kick some serious butt!! What an honor it was for Brent and I to witness that. I love it when you have those parenting moments where you see something come out of your child that is just there own and you get to witness what they have created in themselves. Pictures to come soon. And a big congratulations to Ellen! A few weeks ago she auditioned with the Youth Choir Of Central Oregon. (www.ycco.org) It is a prestigious youth choir accepting children who show talent and dedication to singing. Her congratulatory letter came in the mail a few weeks ago. What an exciting opportunity for her to hone her singing skills further. She will be starting up in the fall. Congratulations Seth and Ellen, I'm so proud of you! |
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For years I have tried to keep a journal to no avail. Life just kept trucking by and I never updated. I would call my mom and tell her about all the funny things the kids said and did and she would always tell me "you've got to write this stuff down. You could write a book." Well, I will never be rich and famous because I wrote down very little of it. It is stuck somewhere in my memories. Whenever I do go back and re-read those journal entries I am whisked away to another time and place and the memories come back again. I am feeling the same way about this blog. But I am vowing to stick with it! We have had a round of guests recently that have been a lot of fun. My brother, sister-in-law, and their three kids started off the group. We had a great time spending time with them and getting to spoil our nieces and nephew more. They are all so adorable! Next came my dear friend, Amie, from Albany. We played with horses and she taught me and Anna how to run the barrel's on our horses. What fun that was! Next came our very good friends from Portland, the Matos family. We always enjoy spending time with them. Courtney and Matt were our neighbors across the street in our old house in Portland. Courtney and her kids spent A LOT of time with us when we lived in Portland, playing and talking almost every day. It is sweet, sweet memories I have of a great time in my life. I am grateful the friendship has stayed as strong over all these years. Besides that we have been busy with some projects around the house that I will update on in the next few weeks with photos. We are getting close to having remodeled the whole house now! All the animals are growing like crazy, The geese are huge! The baby goats are growing and growing. We have a new addition to our farm. Three years ago we had a Shetland pony here for the kids. We were not told when we bought her that she was pregnant! On March 6, 2005 we had a lovely little filly (girl horse) born here on our farm. She is half Shetland pony/Half POA ( a smaller Appaloosa). Anna in particular to a real liking to this pony. She was a nice little horse but at the time the girls weren't riding and I was too big to ride her. So, we sold her to a local family. A few weeks ago I saw her advertised on craigslist and contacted the owner to see how she was doing. Well, long story short she offered her to us for free. Ellen and I went to go check her out. She looked good and we brought her home to surprise Anna. She needs a bit of re-training. Anna wants to be a horse trainer when she grows up so she is helping me put her through a full training course. So far she is doing really well (Anna and the horse). If she turns out good we will keep her as a pony for the little kids. If not we will sell her in the fall. Here are a couple pictures of Anna and Chloe:
In other news, I am finally riding my Rocky Mountain horse. I was really excited that I did all his training myself and he is coming along really nicely. I have ridden him several times now and he is just lovely. A couple of pictures of our fourth ride together:
And my brainwashing is working. This little thing is just mad about anything horsey!!
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Wow, I can't believe how incrediably busy my life has been lately! It seems to be non stop right now but it is all good. God is so good to be with me throughout each day. Some days I am barely making it, can you imagine without Him? Lots of little news here. Sunday was Anna's birthday. She turned nine! Brent and I took Anna shopping and we brought home pizza and ice cream cake for the others. In the morning of her birthday all of us girls (Anna, Ellen, and Grace) went to the local family horse club for their monthly playday. What fun that was. Anna decided she definitely wanted to sign up so she can participate in barrel racing and other games with her horse Cloudy! Happy Birthday Anna!!
On Monday sweet little Ivy had to be put down. She just wasn't responding to the treatment we were giving her. She was with us for one week but her breathing was still poor, her appetite was not where it should have been, and her legs were not working right. She tried hard and it was a really hard decision to put her down. Poor Brent got that job and I know it wasn't easy for him. A picture of her Monday morning. Rest in peace Ivy.
Tuesday we took a field trip with our homeschool group to a local company in Sisters. O'Keefes Hand and Foot Cream. We learned how the cream was developed and why and saw the production line in progress. It was interesting and educational for the kids. We got two samples of the foot cream which I am hoping will work miracles on my dry feet. Next stop is May 12, a local guitar maker! I love my group of homeschool gals and there kids. We are having great fun taking field trips all over Central Oregon. A few more additions to the farm. Baby chicks have arrived. We also have some heritage turkeys we will be using this year. Some will be eaten and then a male and female will be kept to be a breeding pair. The dark turkey in the picture is very rare. There are only a few hundred of them in the world. A few of the baby chicks:
Rare heritage turkey:
I also got suckered into goslings! These two are about four weeks old. Not sure what their fate will be, dinner, pets, egg layers, breeders of other goslings for dinner?!!
And lookee what we found! The kittens. Our cat Pixie had kittens two months ago but for the first month they were under the crawl space where she had given birth to them. Sam finally found two of them wandering around on the deck (the two black ones) about a month ago and they have been living inside since then. Both females, the black one is Piper (named by Ellen) and the black and white is Skittles (named by Sam). We knew there was another one still living outside and last night Brent set one of those manly traps that had ropes, cages, and other odds and ends and managed to trap it in the house. It is coming around surprisingly fast despite having never seen humans. He is the gray tabby striped and we named him Simon. Skittles and Piper:
Simon:
We also got meat rabbits. Three females and one male. We just bred one of the females so she is due in one month. We raised meat rabbits a few years ago and it was an easy and delicious form of meat. Anyone disgusted with me yet? No pictures of them. They are a boring solid white with red eyes. We are enjoying the two La Mancha baby goats so much. Olive and Nutmeg are not quite one week old and are growing like weeds. Bottle feeding is fun and we may even invest in a buck (boy goat) from a breeder in Medford. We have put our Saanen goat (the all white one) up for sale because we are enjoying our La Mancha's so much we have decided to just breed them. School is plucking right along and the kids are learning a lot. I am really pleased with how independent they are all getting in their schooling and the good attitudes I am seeing when it comes time to work. We are working on one other thing around here that I have been waiting for years to complete. I am very excited about it. Pictures will be available in the next few weeks as hopefully the project nears completion! My brother, sister in law, their five year old daughter and one year old twins are coming tomorrow and staying through Sunday. Then we have another houseguest Monday-Wednesday. The next week we will have house guests again for a few days from Portland. Sounds like May is gearing up to be action packed. We are excited and up for the fun! Oh, and did I tell you the best news? Grace is walking full time now!!! Yahoo!! Her gait is not perfect but improving each day and we are all thrilled to see her on two feet. Have a great weekend. |
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Hi all, boy has life been busy here lately. First I have a couple of pictures from the trip Ellen and I took to Canyonview Christian Horse Camp. It was a gorgeous weekend with perfect weather. We had a really good time: waterfall at the bridge:
ellen walking down to the swimming hole:
On April 13th Ellen turned 12! Unfortunately that was the night I got sick so at the time of this picture I was in the bathroom feeling awful. Happy Birthday Ellen
On Monday of this week the children came running into the house during morning chores saying the "goat is having her babies!" I figured they meant Ginger, our La Mancha, as she is due this week. As I came into the goat pen I saw a little white bundle laying on the ground. Our Saanen goat, Willow, who we thought was not due until June had her baby! Little Ivy (as we have named her) weighing in at 4 lbs is having a rough start in life. She is unable to stand unassisted, not eating real well, and has raspy breathing. She is on her third day and still holding her own so we will give her a chance as long as she is still willing. Here she is:
Then last night I went to check on the goats at 11:00 PM before bed and Ginger, the La Mancha, was in labor. Finally at 1:30 I helped her deliver a gorgeous brown with black accents doe! I had woke the girls up and we wisked her in the house and dried her off. Got mom milked, fed, watered, baby bottle fed, and settled in her bed in the house. I sent the girls to bed at 2:30 and went out to check on Ginger one more time. My surprise when there was a freshly delivered black goat! Another girl!! I whisked her inside, called to the girls to get out of bed and we started the process again. Finally at 3:30 we all settled off to bed. The brown one is Nutmeg and the black one is Olive. 6lbs and 5.5 lbs respectively. Here are a few pictures:
Yes, they are not supposed to have ears. Really they do have them, just very small! I have a lot more surprises and news to share with you but the baby goats are waking and calling for there bottles. I'll leave you with one last image. This is what I get when I ask for Grace's "happy face."
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