Can You Handle It?

It's that infamous goat again, Oreo.

Oreo often comes up in our discussions as we talk about animals and their care. "What are we going to do with him?" Is the most frequently asked question. He came to us from a generous fifth grade teacher who was worried that he might hurt her littlest children. You see, he thinks he's big and tough and he tries to prove it by raring up and butting at people. As of yet he hasn't actually taken any one out. but he has knocked down a two year old under the close supervision of her Father. The two year old would not listen to her dad and kept on sneaking into the goat pen. I think she learned her lesson and stayed out of the corral for at least another 30 min.

All in All the goat even scares me when he decides he's bigger then he actually is so I always grab a stick when I go into his pen with him.

Molly, my little Rat terrier, decided that she liked the hay manger in the goat pen and that is where she had her four little puppies. The puppies have the coloring of a border collie so I think we may have ended up with some Border Rats. sigh

The puppies eyes have been open now for a few days. That's when Aubree and Chance start thinking it's fun to get the puppies out on the grass and play with them. This is a problem, remember the puppies were born in the goats manger. So Aubree had a friend over one afternoon and asked if they could get the puppies out to play with them. "sure" says I.

A little bit later she comes back in and tells me they can't get the puppies out because of the goat. "Braden or Caib," I say. Run get the puppies out for Aubree."

That's when the "big brother" talk began: "Oh My Heck, Aubree, that goat isn't scary just go in and get the puppies."

Aubree: (in a whiny tone) " NO It's too scary It always jumps up"

Braden: (tough voice) "It always jumps at me, but I just ignore it. It never touches me."

Caib: (disgustedly) "That goat won't hurt you just go in and get the puppies yourself."

Aubree: (verge of tears) "I caaan't"

Chance enters scene walking tough: " I can handle the goat."

Dad: "Really, how do you handle it?"

Chance: "It's easy, I just go get Braden or Caib."

Ah Ha!!!! so that's how it works.

Braden went out and got the puppies for Aubree. After all, if your the "goat handler"......... I guess it's alright to go, well, handle the goat.

Caib put the puppies away when they were done.

Redneck Training

Remember The redneck post? I'm bringing it back up. I want you to know that training a redneck is NOT easy! It doesn't just happen, Oh no it takes years of diligent training and practice. A lot of money and time go into it but with the effort comes the results.

So with that in mind.....

Here is the boys "tree house" We built it on top of the existing shed. The porch makes a great place to shoot from.

They're shooting at a metal squirrel target sitting in the yard. There's a looong string attached so that when they hit it they can pull the string and the target pops back up to the right position.

It appeared to me that after each shot there was an enormous amount of discussion and laughing going on.. True redneck!

Yard art. This was Chancee's redneck training for the week. Each day he had to go out and come up with some sort of fancy building project. "They are Teeter Totters" He informed me.

Yes, We begin early. "Git on yer boots, kid"

Redneck Camouflage

How to wear your sweat bottoms.

And when your training is over we guaran...dang...tee that not only will you be a true redneck but you'll look exactly like yer dog. And that is a sign of a true redneck.

I’m Experimenting.

Turning

Bleeding, wrenched, and mangled on the ground near my feet,
All that was held dear to me, everything good and sweet.

Torn and trampled harshly where, when I cry, my tears

Fall up on the remnants, leaving bloody smears.

And were I to try to mend it, slowly piece by piece,
The task would prove impossible. Alone I can't increase.

I stare towards the sorrow, my gaze fixed on the hurt

That's lying still and silent, there upon the dirt.

I can not bare the sight of it, and I avert my face
I look towards the heavens to find a better place.

In truth, I turned the farthest from the pain which I could.
Of course in turning I see heaven. I knew that I would.

That was all that was required, the turning was my part.

And now the One in Heaven can mend my broken heart.

-Cathy Brian-

I just got Microsoft word on my computer a month or so ago.(I know, I know It's about time.) and I've been experimenting with all the different things I can now do. One, of which, is publish things to the web. so I tried it with this poem I recently wrote. It worked! but I can't get the spacing right. Oh well.

I've also been contemplating blogging this:

a few days ago Caib was laying on the couch. I walked into the family room and Caib looks up at me and says, "I'm not sure that my brain is entirely stable."

"Uh, Caib, I'm not sure if I would admit to that" Says I

Come to find out, He meant that he gets a lot of headaches.

We've laughed about that all week. But seriously The more I think about it the more I think If we would all confess our fear that our brains might not all be entirely stable, we might just solve a lot of problems in this life. I think a lot of life's problems just might stem from people refusing to acknowledge the condition of their brains.

heh,heh,heh, hee hee ha ha haa heee heeheh!!!!!!

Easter

Well, Easter time has come and gone. As always we had a blast.

Amid the bubble blowing

and the hill and rock climbing, We did something a little bit different this year. Chance wanted to bring his sled with him to slide down the dirt hills

The big kids tried it first It worked like a charm!! So for most of the time the kids climbed the hill and sleded down. I tell you what. In Wayne County this way out does sledding on snow!!

Then came the egg rolling. This year was more of an "egg throw and try to hit the moms at the bottom of the hill taking pictures."
The wind was blowing and in favor of the egg throwers.

It always amazes me how pretty the hill looks after we're done throwing eggs.
This picture really doesn't show it very well.

And then it's a mad dash to the bottom of the hill to find the biggest remnants to pick up and throw back up the hill at the people that haven't finished rolling there eggs. It dosen't pay to spend time delicately rolling your egg to see how far it will go before it breaks.
OOOHHH NOOO!!! This year we finished throwing eggs in record breaking time.

And then it was back to sledding. The only accident we had was little Brinlee, when the sled tipped over at the bottom of the hill and she scraped her cheek and lip. She cried and cried until she got a bandaid and plenty of hugs and kisses. She was soo cute as they were cleaning her up and putting on the bandaid. She said to her mom, "I guess I wasn't tough enough"
She did end up going down a couple of more times with her dad, a little later.

The littlest kids got to do a little sledding, too.

I think just about all the parent's tried the sled out, too. The ones that didn't sure got razzed for it!

Marking the Calves

Roger asked Braden two weeks ago if he was going to help mark cows or play basketball.Braden thought for a minute and then said "play basketball I guess.........Oh Wait, Is grandma going to make Lasagna"

That's the tradition. When ever they mark calves grandma makes lasagna for lunch. Luckily they aren't playing Basket ball this weekend so Braden didn't have to make such a hard descision. Even though I'm pretty sure Grandma's Lasagna would have been the obvious choice.And..... Today is the day!!
The older kids run the calves through the shoot.

Braden keeping the calves from backing up.

Oaklee wants to help!!

Playing on the gate.

Wishing they were big enough to help!!

So This is What it's Like Raising Cowboys

We have some very annoying birds that make good target practice.

I don't think they've hit one yetBut their form is getting better Maybe I should have made him put on his cowboy boots, but he was in such a hurry to get outside that he just grabbed what ever he could to get out there.

Ahhh the redneck life!!!

This is my favorite picture though!! I love the fact that he can laugh at himself even when he knows I'm going to blog this.