The kids have arrived

The goats have delivered their kids. Our neighbor had a male boar goat which we bred the does to in the fall. The gestation for goats is around 5 months. Of course the arrival of the babies was a huge deal in our house...well just to me mostly! I checked on them every few hours during the day and occasionally would head out in my jammies at night. Mason was thrilled that they didn't deliver on his birthday! The first goat delivered right after church one Sunday. Emily had checked on them when we first got home and she was fine. Shortly after Logan comes running into the house and yelled that a leg was sticking out of one of the goats. Let me say the whole birthing process is just absolutely amazing. It just reassures me what an awesome Creator we have. The fact that when the baby is born and covered in the amniotic sack the mama instantly starts to lick it and clean the babe up and immediately the baby starts to look for a teat. Needless to say I loved every second of witnessing this miracle! The first doe had a boy and then a girl. Twins are very common, singles are rare and triplets actually happen frequently too. The second doe delivered on Tuesday. She too gave birth to a boy first and the cutest little girl ever! Every one is doing fabulous. The goats run all over and hop and jump. When I go in to the pen sometimes they will jump on me like a dog.

So here are the photos of the babies. Be aware that there are some graphic photos at the very end.



******************************************************************************************

***********************************************************************
BIRTHING PHOTOS BELOW









Pregnant doe

The babies come front feet and head first. The hooves are very soft so not to hurt the mama.

The head coming through. I helped her with her kids as she was really struggling and the front legs were twisted around a bit.

Happy 15th Mason

Sweet dreams from a sweet boy

Why cook the corn?

Someday I wish he still did this...

Unfortunately he doesn't have a fondness for chickens anymore

Mason has discovered woodworking...thank goodness someone besides my dad likes to work with wood!

Fifteen years ago our life was turned upside down when an adorable little boy entered this world! It is hard to believe that Mason is turning 15 years old....getting so much closer to driving. Yikes, not ready for that one! Mason, I hope you have a great day celebrating turning 15. Mason's dinner request would make both of his grandpa's proud....BBQ ribs, cornbread, baked apples, baked beans and a German Chocolate cake to top it off! And if you are lucky the goats won't kid on your birthday:) Thanks for being such a great son. We love you very much and are very proud of the young man you are becoming! God surely blessed us on March 10, 1996!

Mason and his birthday present (compound bow)...watch out deer!

Alley Cat

Just wanted to share a neat photo of Alley Cat. She was just chilling out in the basement. She loves to lay in the sunshine. I made on a black and white with a bit of edge blur and one was just the original. I did step down my exposure a couple of stops to get the lighting to be a bit better. Which is your favorite? She is one spoiled cat! I say her name, she it sounds like she is saying "hmm?" She probably thinks I am nuts for talking to her I know the kids do!

The snow fort

With all the snow the kids had a fabulous time building forts in the piles of snow. This kids spent hours upon hours out digging and shoveling. I was amazed at how large it was when I went out. They probably had 15 feet of tunnels. Even the dogs liked wiggling through the snow fort.

We were able to build a snowman one day but the snow was so heavy we were unable to make our snow man standing up so Logan had the brilliant idea to make a sleeping snowman. The only problem was that the dogs kept eating the snowman's body parts! Emily decided to make a snow bed.

A field...flooded

The river is beyond the tree line, this field gets flooded frequently

A reflection of our house in the lake...aka the driveway!

So the snow has finally melted and the spring thaw has begun. The thaw led to lots of flooding and a very muddy yard! Of course the warmer temperatures have left and more snow is coming tonight. We are all very ready for spring. It has been a long winter!!

The Blizzard of 2011

Last week we were hit hard with a massive snow storm. They talked about us getting a lot of snow but they often will forecast a big snow and we barely get anything. But this was not the case this time. The stores were a mess the day before the snow began. Wal-mart is never fun, but you throw in a snow storm and Wal-mart is miserable! We ended up with around 17" of snow. It was hard to measure the snow as it was so windy. Some areas have hardly any snow and others have 3 ft drifts! The kids had a great time playing in the snow and building forts and tunnels.

Logan moving some snow for a tunnel

6 days after the storm

The feeders have been really popular

Emily and Ted attended the Father-Daughter Dance this weekend. They enjoyed their time, however when they got home and were snuggling watching TV together Emily told Ted that watching TV together was funner than the dance.

Emily teasing Logan (he obviously didn't know she was doing this!)

Mason has been attempting to build a laser pointer out of parts from DVD burners. Finally he was able to get the parts out without damaging anything. After a trip to Radio Shack and taking apart an old computer tower (thanks to some friends!), an Altoid tin and a lot of soldering he made his very first laser pointer! Pretty cool and the cat loves chasing it. So far he hasn't caught anything on fire...thankfully!

The puppies have all left for their new homes. It is really quiet without them. Every time I step into the garage I expect to see someone waking up from a nap and ready to go play. Sydney (mama) is doing fine, she is still nursing her golden retriever kittens. That's right, she is letting the kittens nurse...so weird I know. The pups all went to loving homes and are doing well with their new families. All my work with taking them on frequent potty breaks was a success! The kids enjoyed having them and were an enormous help with them. We will look forward to having another litter in 1 1/2 years!

The goats appear to be pregnant and should kid sometime mid to late March. I just hope the weather has cleared and it isn't a muddy mess! Will look forward to seeing how many kids we have. Hopefully all will arrive safe and sound.

Emily feeling her tummy

An over achiever

When gathering eggs last week it is apparent I have an overachiever in the coop. This egg measures 3 inches tall, most of my other eggs are around 2 eggs. I sure hope the hen didn't hurt herself! It has lots of wrinkles on the shell. She worked extra hard on that one. We haven't used it yet. I definitely think it will contain 2 yolks, but who knows maybe I will get another triple yolk egg!