If I had...

If I had a million dollars I would...

...buy thousands of pillow cases and make them into dresses to send here: Little Dresses for Africa



...buy this painting from Kitt Brook Studios and hang it over my stairs:



I would...

... have a dairy parlor that looked like this for Abby:


... have a garden that looked like this, where I could host fun tea parties:



with tea sets from Stash Tea  like this:


and serve cheeses that looked like this:





I would...

... set up a bakery so Nathalie could create cakes that look like this:



and pastries like this:



I would...


...build a 4-H barn like this in our town for all the 4-H clubs, at which they could meet, hold events, and display their awards:






... send hundreds of goats through Heifer International all over the world



What would you do?

Goats!

The sun came out + the goats were enjoying the hay= a perfect opportunity for some photos of all those pregnant bellies and the bucks!

California Lord Kelvin

Kelvin from the back

Swamp Maple Barcelona (not bred) did NOT want to be set up!

Venezuela from the rear. Due April 1: I'm thinking triplets again.

Venezuela from the side. Not too bad for a  seven year old!

Cedars of Lebanon DollyMadison due March 11

Cedars of Lebanon Rodoric (our first goat with a leg!) due April 27

Cedars of Lebanon Fluorine due March 11

Abby's Tails Koca Sir is for sale!

West View Octavia is due February 25

Abby's Tails Paladium due February 18 (we suspect triplets!)

Paladium

Paladium on the left with Cedars of Lebanon Fluorine on the right

Abby's Tails Paski Sir is not bred

Paski being goofy. Raclette is next to her.

Abby's Tails Raclette due April 17

RR Peck's Venezuela due April 1 

Waiting... Hmmmm, Not So Much

I HATE waiting! I see something that needs to be done, I do it.

I am learning to wait... well, maybe not. More like I am learning how to tell people to do what needs to be done. I am learning to let them do it to the best of their ability, which isn't always the way I would do it, if I could do it myself.

My foot is healing. I can put more weight on it, but I did too much the other day (a trip to Lowe's with Sam to pick out paint for the basement wall he replaced) and spent the next day with my foot elevated again.

Sam and I have always joked that me with a broken leg would be basically useless, and he would have to take me out back and shoot me, like a horse with a busted leg. I am thankful he was joking and not serious, and technically, I broke my toe, not my leg!

I do have the best husband EVER! He has tried so hard to make sure I am comfortable. He brings me coffee in the morning, he makes me breakfast (corned beef hash, eggs, and toast), did the grocery shopping, replaced and painted the moldy wall in the basement, moved and expanded the dog kennel, moved the chicken emporium, cleaned out the grain shed, and has split and stacked enough firewood for two years.

Another week and I should be able to walk without too much aggravation.

A First!

You would think at my age there would be no more "firsts". And yet, I achieved a first this weekend. I broke my first bone! Somehow I made it through a childhood of riding bikes, roller skating, climbing trees, and building forts in the woods, without breaking one single bone in my body.

Saturday I busted my middle toe walking down the hallway. I stubbed my foot into a stack of plastic totes. In my defense it was early in the morning, dark, and I was on my way to get my first cup of coffee. The pain when I "kicked the bucket" was intense and dropped me to the floor. Very quickly I realized the toe was at an odd angle and I re-set it. I had Hannah tape it to another toe and figured I'd be okay. Really, what can they do for a busted toe anyway? I iced it to reduce the swelling and tried my best to stay off of it.

By the afternoon I couldn't put any weight at all on it. By the next morning, it was very swollen and black and blue further up my foot. Sam called to inform me that he wasn't coming home from the firehouse, so I informed him of my foot. He advised that I get an x-ray.

My good friend Lynn drove me to the ER and we spent the next 3+ hours having a wonderful time of fellowship. I think we pretty much solved all of the world's problems. The x-ray confirmed that my toe was indeed broken; further down and a worse break than I had assumed. But, the doctors and nurses were impressed that I had set it myself and judging by the x-ray did a perfect job of it. They all looked at me funny and asked if it hurt when I did it. Um... yeah.

So now my toes are taped together, my foot is in one of those "boot" things, I am supposed to use crutches, and stay off my foot for the next two weeks. Let's just say setting my toe was easier to deal with then having me do nothing. Lynn's husband (a PA) explained that if I don't stay off my foot and the bones displace, I'll need surgery to fix it. Since I have a great dislike for surgery, I'm following doctor's orders as best I can.

Reflections On Years Gone By

I have been cleaning. There is just too much "stuff" in this house! The girls have been great helpers and I am so grateful for their willingness to throw things away, give things away, and to really think about what is the purpose of "things".

This morning I couldn't sleep, so I began working on cleaning my office. I came across two boxes marked "Kid's Artwork". So I opened them and started sifting through. All these pieces of memories. Most are projects they did while in public school. Mother's Day/Father's Day letters written in first grader scrawl with backward "d's" and everything spelled phonetically. Pages proclaiming their love for a newborn sibling, for Meme and Pepe, and Mom and Dad. Not five minutes into it I had to go find a box of tissues.

In amongst the papers were progress reports and report cards. After the fourth or fifth one which mentioned that so-and-so child "works slowly," "needs to complete work on time," or "needed to focus on completing tasks", I began to feel such sadness. Each report stated that our girls were polite, courteous, and well-behaved, but they just couldn't finish their work. Yes, my kids worked slowly. They are meticulous and want to get it right. I realized that these teachers, while fully meaning well, increased my kids' anxiety about getting it right by pushing them to finish more quickly. This in turn caused them to work even more slowly. It has given me a huge encouragement that we did the right thing in homeschooling them.

The other thing I found was a poem I had written sometime during the year 2000 shortly after Rachel had been born:

Now I lay me down to sleep.

I pray my sanity to keep.

Please, O Lord, before I wake

this whole mess please do take.

Looking down from above

You know my family I do love.

But I pray, Lord, for some quiet

far, far from this noisy riot.

I need You Lord, through and through

without Your strength, I cannot do.

Without the love of the Son,

it simply, just can't be done.

And so I pray for this night

that you'll keep me in Your sight.

Please grant me this request:

that I could have a full night's rest.

That I not be woken

just because the night light's broken.

And please chase the bad dreams away

until the breaking light of day.

May the baby sleep all night

and let not the bedbugs bite.

Let me not in my sleep

be thinking of that laundry heap,

or all those other chores,

while my husband beside me snores.

Nor what's on the kitchen floor

and what's behind that bathroom door?

My nerves they are unraveled,

by muddy feet and where they have traveled.

My patience Lord, is all used up.

Please refill my empty cup.

With Your mercy and Your grace

all my frustrations please replace.

Yes, now I lay me down to sleep.

I pray my sanity to keep.

But as I look around I know,

I surely lost it long ago!

The New Year is here and the old papers and things are being put away as we look forward to all the things God has for us in 2012!

Christmas!

The "Before" picture.

We came home late from Christmas Eve at my parents, so we didn't bother with  starting the woodstove. In the morning the house was a chilly 50 degrees, so everyone was bundled in robes and quilts for opening presents!

A HUGE  blessing from a friend was under the tree for Rachel and Samantha!

The dolls share their Christmas gift.

Samantha's favorite gift.  Now she just wants the real thing!

Pippi finally worked up the courage to enter the living room. She really didn't like all the paper rustling!