Junie has twins (graphic?;)

 

Here is my sweet Junie. She is five years old this Spring and this is her fourth kidding with us. We make sure any child that has not witnessed birth was out in that barn watching. This answers many unknowns for the little kids and stops imaginations from forming wrong ideas. Once Junie was done with kid #1, Gracie looked up at me and said “Wow, mamma. I thought a door just opened in her stomach and baby fell out onto the ground.”  Then we talking about the events that followed. The placenta, the cord, meconium, nursing. A single kidding is so rich in education and glorifying God  as we watch the process. 

Laboring. She got down to business, boy.

And it couldn’t have gone more text book perfect. Of all my goats, Junie is who I worry about the most. Junie would go to the vet at any expense, can’t say that about the others. She is our family milk supply and our family pet. ..o.k., my pet.

Junie gave a couple real pushes and look at that perfect little head with the little eyes and little mouth. So sweet. Two little front hooves followed under her chin…perfect. I still helped her out as she couldn’t quite get the shoulders out fast enough for me. ;)

Out popped this cute little doeling! All legs. All white. As usual.

She got the best cleaning job a mother can give and within minutes was on her strong feet and nursing.

A few minutes after that, she delivered the same way, this little buckling. Half Saanan, half Nubian.

“Life is good”, says Junie.

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I expected to photo Nice’s kidding, which happened today. However, after taking wonderful pictures leading up to the birth, a little bum with a tail presented….wagging. Seriously, a goat with two tails. That is NOT what I wanted to see. Long story short, I was able to get one back leg out, but we ended up slooooowly delivering a breech doeling. “The next one will be photograph worthy", I thought. Nope. When the buckling presented, there were two back knees folded up. She delivered(assisted) that one buckled little knees and backwards, too. Both kids are doing great, though. Gorgeous and strong. 2013 kidding is over! Thanking the Lord for a productive season, a tripled herd size and no vet bills!

Kids…Meet the kids.

After checking on my goatamuses every few hours, every day, watching for signs of labor, because you know, I have it in my head that my babies can not give birth without me. They neeeeeed me. Well…after ALL this, Jess and I came out to deworm the goats and what we find is the top picture. Maple. All done. A little over three hours earlier, I had been in to watch her and she does THIS to me. First time kidding and she drops twins(we swore she only had one in her) effortlessly in the barn and with Junie’s help, cleaned them up. No fun birthing pictures.

Junie, being the ornery matron goat she is, took the babies away. Literally, took…them…away and was encouraging them to nurse from HER meanwhile head-butting the anxious new mamma when she got close.

I set her straight.

 

Being 24 hours old, it was time for the little kids to meet the babies and hold them. First, we went to the duck pen and held ducklings.

Elijah needed a little help learning how to properly hold a duck…not by the neck.

 

Then we checked on Nice, who is ready to give birth at any time. She lays there, panting, so uncomfortable, poor thing. She’s HUGE.

The Maple got to take her babies out in the sunshine for a few hours

Welcome to motherhood dear little goat. She still looks a little annoyed when both kids want her to stand still and nurse, lol.

Elijah learned about the udder and teats and why the kids are “doing that”.

5 lbs of sweetness!

 

Grace…was…in…love.

Micah “Mamma? Can we just bring them in the house for one night?”

No, brother, hold it this way.

Good wholesome country fun at its best

Barefoot and no coats…

It’s Spring!

 

And thank you Ruth for helping me get rid of that blur!! Everyone doesn’t have to sit perfectly still anymore.

Homemade Toothpaste That Tastes Good

And it’s oh, so good! Finally, a recipe where I have all the ingredients on hand and I don’t have to spend a mint to make my first batch! Our mouths are left feeling cleaner and *sparklier* than with my store bought Nature’s Gate toothpaste.

Oh…and it doesn’t have that homemade baking soda taste that makes me gag. {gag}

Oh…and aaall my kids like it. Kid(and teen) tested and approved, who can beat that?

My midwife, Naomi, gave me this recipe and we LOVE it. Thank you Naomi!

 

Here is the recipe, go try it!

Bentonite Clay Toothpaste

1/4 C Bentonite clay

3/8 C boiling water (we had to add a little more later)

1/4 t sea/Himalayan salt (use fine only)

15-25 drops Stevia (we used the powder)

1 t coconut oil

15 drops peppermint essential oil

5 drops tea tree or eucalyptus essential oil

5 drops cayenne oil (can use powder, it increases circulation to the gums. We left it out of ours)

1. Mix clay, salt and water in a blender.

2. Add coconut oil, sweetener and oils. Blend until blended.

Wallah! Instant toothpaste, and fluoride free ev-en. Which brings me to that age old question, why is fluoride free toothpaste more expensive than fluoride toothpaste when it’s missing an ingredient? Never mind.

Ideally kept in a wide mouth 1/2 pint canning jar with lid. Honestly, the children all agreed their teeth feel smoother, cleaner than they ever have before and thanks to the peppermint EO, even an hour after brushing, you still have that *sparkly* feeling.

O.k. now the cons, as I hate to paint a flaw-free picture. You are brushing your teeth with clay. Real clay…dirt-like. Now before you start to reminisce about when you gave into the urge to taste test that mud pie in kindergarten, bear with me. The grains of clay are very, very small and where you may experience that gritty feeling while brushing, it all washes out with an extra rinse of water. Promise. Remember? I have seven children who approved this and one of them is extremely texture sensitive. Any grit left in her mouth and she woulda freaked.

The other con is the color when you put it on your brush and when you spit it in the sink. Just close your eyes and think *white*. Smell it. Breathe deeeeply, the aroma will calm your fears and pull you into trying it for the first time.

If you are not the “community toothpaste dispenser” type person, let me know how to get this in a tube.

There you have it. Seriously, try it. Let me know what you think.

Kids Cook Week

Last week was Deep Cleaning week. We pulled everything out of every room and went through it. It felt as if we were packing to move. What a blessing it is, though, to actually reach the *end* of cleaning during the day.

This week Paul implemented Kids Cook Week. Each older child cooks a meal, which they’ve done many times, but this week I have the whole week off to organize two last cabinets and start our taxes. Jess started the week with Cheeseburger Soup and Parmesan Breadsticks. Then Tuesday night it was Jacob’s turn and he chose Sushi of all things. I thought hamburgers, a casserole or bbq, but no, he goes for the gusto.

After arming himself with a YouTube video, all ingredients were prepared and after a few wrecks, he got it down. He made Americanized Sushi – two versions of the California roll.

He is in the process of lightly smoking a salmon to make authentic sushi, which I am not too sure I’ll try. ;)

 

I don’t think the feat is necessarily in making dinner, or even making sushi, but in making sushi for ten people. That is a feat. Seventy two hand-crafted pieces.

There wasn’t a person who didn’t gobble it up.

It was very filling and absolutely deLICious.

You can have a piece of cucumber IF you pick it up with your chopsticks.

Jacob read off proper chopstick edicate. Never rub them together(it’s rude), never stick them up in our food(It’s a funeral rite), never do walrus teeth, or play drums on the table. But they did.

 

And here Gracie demonstrates the proper way to hold chopsticks, or at least her way.

Elijah managed to discover catapulting all on his own!

 

Gracie is hiding after already being hit.

Success!

And success!

Announcing! It’s a…

For the first time in twelve and a half years….

 

we are going to have two children of the same sex consecutively! Diddybugs is going to have SISTER.

Per my niece Melissa’s advice, I baked a cake and hid a thick pink frosting layer in the middle. After dinner, Nana came over. We looked at the non-incriminating pictures and ooohed and aaaawed over the sweet little features of the baby.

Then Nana cut a nice big piece of cake and held it up for all to see. I thought Gracie was going to explode she was so happy that she gets another sister!

I was so blessed at my children’s reaction. The girls are excited to add a fifth bed to their room(after the baby turns two, of course).

I went to 1st Impressions in Bellingham for their 2d gender package. What a surprise blessing to have a sweet young lady from our church, Julia S., greet us and get to do the ultrasound! It was soooo fun. Afterwards, we got a DVD of the session put to classical music and the kids sat there, mesmerized watching the whole thing after we cut the cake.

Gracie, Elijah and Lydia were very, very interested and the lightbulb seemed to come on in Elijah’s head. 

 

“Look mama!”

 

“That’s my new sister!”