Family Party Fun Night!! Goat milk Facts!! New Ferret woes!

We had a wonderful family party night last night! We FORGOT the camera GERG! It would have been so funny too see my husband acting out in the charades game! We all had to guess which animal each other was. We played Treasure Hunt, Charades, Pin the Sword on the Knight, paper toss, and more! We had homemade Pizza for Dinner, The little ones really enjoyed preparing their own pizza, especially rolling the dough out.
We went for a nice long walk afterwards. OH I LOVE having a big family. There is always someone to talk to, laugh with, cry with, play with.
As a matter of fact whenever one of my eldest kids spends the weekend at their cousins or friends house they are VERY greatly missed. I am always so happy to have them back and the little ones are always asking " I miss so and so when will they be back". It is such a blessing to see such love.

We got a new ferret. OH Man these things really can stink. But they are hilarious. He gets into so much stuff. The kids think he is great fun! Fun except when I open the door to the cubboard and he is in the box of cereal, or when you find him in the flour bin having a hay day with flour flying EVERYWHERE and comes out looking like a ghost.

Here are a few pictures lately! off to go blueberry picking today. I found a source for Organic Blueberries. What fun!!

Before I part I wanted to post some interesting facts about raw goat milk and of course I am partial to it. And I will dig up a picture of our old new goat. We had this goat and sold her and we ended up getting her back yesterday. Bessie is the name. She is a lovely Sannan doe.
Here is some scientific info on goats milk

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/07/070730100229.htm

and some more info.

Goat Milk vs Cow Milk

· Nutrient content of goat milk is slightly less than cow milk but goat milk is more digestible because the fat molecules are one-fifth the size of those from cow milk -- making it easily tolerated by those with compromised digestive systems.

· Seventy-two percent of the milk used throughout the world is from goats. It is one-third richer than cows milk but more nourishing and easier to digest.

· The flavor of goat milk is comparable to that of cow milk. Goat milk has a milder taste.

· Goat milk has no cream separation because of smaller fat molecules.

· Goat milk contains pre-formed Vitamin A in the milk fat that allows it to be readily available for use by the body.

· Goats milk contains a more highly-evolved cholesterol than cows milk, making it more available for absorption to the brain and body. (Cholesterol is essential to the health of the myelin sheaths "white matter" of the nerves in the brain.)

· Goat milk is closer to human milk and is therefore easily accepted especially by those young or frail.

· Goat milk has an alkaline reaction the same as mother's milk. Cow milk has an acid reaction

· Goat milk does not form mucous (phlegm) and is therefore better tolerated by asthmatics and those with allergies.

· Goat milk contains more chlorine, fluorine and silicon than any other domestic livestock. Chlorine and fluorine are natural germicides and fluorine assists in preventing diabetes.

· Goat milk contains 2% curd, which precipitates in the stomach. Cows milk is 10% curd.

· Goats are naturally immune to diseases, such as tuberculosis, and are used in third-world countries to actually cure tuberculosis because of their inherent antibodies.

· Goats milk is tolerated by a compromised /damaged liver because of the smaller fat molecules and it's naturally homogenized.

· Goats milk has the ability to "sweeten" the intestinal tract and assist with constipation.

· Goats milk contains a higher evolved carotene (pro-Vitamin A). Researchers have found this to have cancer preventing properties.

Source: Natures Prescription Milk by Gloria Gilbere, N.D., D.A. Hom., Ph.D.

Of course I am partial to goats milk I have them!! It is soo much more like mommas milk then anything else.

One last thing our garden is doing pretty well, our corn is taller then the kids now, we have green beans and I will be harvesting some today and freezing.
YUM!!!

A day at the fair! and What do you eat? Challenge!

Man, can you say HOT!!!! it was so hot at the fair yesterday we had to leave early. The kids got to ride on some rides and that was it. We wanted to see the animals but we were melting so we went home. Here are some pics of the kids having fun however.
We bought some junk food and all paid for it afterwords. Its amazing when you eat good normally and then eat junk how bad you feel. Those of you who know us know we are on a "WEIRD" diet. :o) We eat grassfed beef, raw milk, pastured eggs even raw ones, kefir, kombucha, cod liver oil and organic this and that. And how many of you knew that Butter and coconut oil is good for you? How about how many of you know that pasteurized milk is BAD for you and can cause health problems? How many of you are eating margarine because you were told its good for you and how many of you know that high fructose corn syrup is in everything and thats REALLY bad for you. How many of you know you NEED fat in your diet more of it not less. REALLY I am serious.
Let me challenge you to take a look at what you are eating and read up here www.westonaprice.org.
It will change the way you think about food. I am very passionate about this because it has made us feel so much better and made us feel well. We are rarely ill anymore, unless of course we buy the junk food.
How many of you know sugar feeds cancer? Do you know that the sugar free foods cause MS symtpoms in some people and this is suppose to be good for us?
How many of you know we are being lied to by the government on what is good and bad for us?
Did you know that every day foods in the store are LOADED with chemicals, msgs, aspertame, high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils and a host of other CHEMICALS that are horrible for you. PLease for your health take a look at what you are eating daily.
Start by throwing out anything in a box and replacing your fridge with nutrient dense foods and snacks. After all our childrens health is in our hands. They depend on us mommys to keep them well and healthy. And the so called healthy breakfast cereals are not so.
I have learned so much this year and so thankful that I am researching this. My kids health depends on it. Do we cheat YEP we do but again we usually pay the price by not feeling well.

Throw out the soda, chips, cereal, maceroni and cheese boxes, corn dogs, popsicles, crackers, etc and put in veggies, fruit, yogurt (homemade or organic full fat not the store crud), kefir, crispy nuts soaked in salt water, eggs, raw cheeses, kombucha, kefir soda.

Eating healthy doesn't have to be hard. it is a way of life for sure but so worth it.

Well thats it for now. Please look at www.realmilk.com and www.westonaprice.org you will be glad you did.
And if you want to go a step furthur and enjoy learning about nutrition and health buy Noroushing Traditions by Sally Fallon and The Untold Story of Milk by Ron Shmid.

Heres to health,

Farm life!

Farm life AWWW its so peaceful and wonderful! Sometimes I wake up and feel like I am in a dream. My house is nothing special its small for our family but oh I LOVE IT!!! It needs new floors, new cupboards etc but what could be better then waking up with a rooster crowing or a goat yelling to be milked. As I walk outside to milk my wonderful Chrissie (Lamancha goat) I hear the birds chirping as I look at the rolling hills with nice green trees all around. The wind gently blowing and I have my milk bucket in tow.
I sit down and wash my goat and sit next to her with the smell of fresh straw or shavings from the barn. (Well most the time its fresh). I milk and get the music of birds in the background and the sound of the goats eating peacefully.
I walk over to feed our hungry chickens after I take the milk inside and collect the eggs that will be for breakfast or lunch.
Later that day I go collect some fresh peas and lettuce for lunch and then back to the garden in the evening for some Kale.
My children helping me all the while. Elianah is a farm girl at heart. She loves to ride horses, loves to feed the goats and collect and ugh ughm break the eggs :o) but she is my little helper.
Sometimes I need to remind myself that she is helping me and not making my job harder on purpose. :o) Awww two year olds. What a blessing they really are if you can look past some of the negative things.
Awww life on a farm I wouldn't have it any other way, I wouldn't trade it for what some think we should have such as a bigger house or better cars, this is my dream!! Thank the Lord!!

Here are some pictures of our wonderful pets and food producers. And a picture of my dream cow that we had to sell just recently. I so miss her.

Sibling Joy!

It is so precious to watch the little ones play together. I just love watching the three little ones make believe they are mommy and daddy and sister or brother. A nd the way they treat their little new brother is wonderful. Josiah and Micah are still afraid he will break if they hold him. Its funny Josiah gets a really weird worried look on his face when he holds him.
Elianah thinks he is UNBREAKABLE. She wants to carry him around now. N OT! But it is so cute to see her so enthusiastic about being a big sister.

We haven't had much going on lately except gardening and taking care of the new little one.
Its time to start doing some camping and we are planning on going camping this weekend. Well I guess if you consider going down the street one mile camping. My parents own a lot and we will go there works great because then we can come back and milk the goats and then go back to the camp site.
Other wise Chrissie (our goat) would explode. We have been trying to dry her up but she is still giving us a gallon a day. What I hate about milking most is when I turn around to get the grain for the other goats just after I got done milking I look over and there she is with a white mustache sucking up every last drop of the milk I just milked from her. WEIRD goat.

I will update with something hopefully more exciting soon. :o) but for now this is all I have.

Girls in training!

Well the girls are doing well with the baby. We have a slight issue however, sibling rivalry revolved around the new addition. They stopped fighting over toys and started fighting over who gets to change, hold and cuddle Jaryn. Poor Jaryn I am afraid he is destined to be coddled over by his two big sisters.
So they are learning some very important lessons:
1. how to diaper and change a baby's clothes with the added lesson on changing baby boys and how NOT to get sprayed. We are trying to teach Jaryn there is a "NO SPRAY" rule in our house. Hasn't got that one down yet though.
2. how to bathe a baby
3. how to feed a baby
4. and finally how to get along and not fight over their baby brother. (this one obviously is not mastered yet).




Well off to train some more and school the kids. We are learning gardening, planets and greek/hebrew words in the bible. And ohhh lets not forget the ever tiring LOOOOONG division in Math. UGHHHH. I am not sure who is more frusterated the boys or me. :o)

I thank God for these wonderful blessings daily!! We are truly blessed with the best gift ever.
CHILDREN!!!!!

Oh one more thing as far as training goes, Yes Elianah is in training. For what? keeping clothing on that is! We are trying to teach modesty and how NOT to need to air out every hour.
A work in progress.

Time To Garden!!

Awww, don't you love it? Getting dirt between your fingernails and the fresh air? I have been waiting for what seems like forever to finish my garden.
We had a great day yesterday pulling weeks and planting veggies. Oh, and Elianah had a great time pulling plants that were already grown.
How do you explain to a 2 year old which are weeds and which are veggies? EEKS!
So let's just say I lost some radishes and some peas and a brocolli plant here and there.

The girls were playing in the pasture as I kept gardening and we got some cute pictures of them enjoying God's earth in the tall grass.


Jaryn well of course he didn't like the fact that all the attention was not on him anymore so Kayla and I took turns holding this precious little life while the other got to garden.
He finally fell asleep when we were close to being done. :o)


The boys were a HUGE help. Micah even took part in weeding. They thought it was cool to put on surgical gloves to weed.



Our garden is nearly in and we will get to enjoy our bountiful harvest. I am so looking forward to it.

Happy Gardening!!

The Seventh Blessing

Jaryn Wesley
(Pro. Jair-in)

Born May 12th at 7:59AM
7 lbs 6 oz

Ellie, of course, was thrilled with the fact she got to hold him. She didn't want to give him back!
Though when we where in the hospital, I asked her if she wanted to bring her baby brother home. She looked at me and shook her head, "No." she said. But now she wants to hold him 24/7. She's going to be a good big sister :).

We were scheduled to have a csection on May 15th at 7:00 a.m. in the morning however God had different plans.
Paul went to his mom and dads in Ellensburg on Mother's day the 11th.
He took all kids but Eli. It was a chance to bond with Eli one last time by ourselves before baby came.
I was planning on doing laundry and getting the house in order and packing for the hospital that day. I had a cold and didn't feel the greatest and kept getting contractions so I laid low the rest of the day. Didn't get a thing done.
Well Paul finally got home that night around 8:30 pm. We put the kids to bed and Paul went to bed as he had to work the next day. At 2:00 a.m I heard a "POP" and water flowing. My water broke. I flew out of bed and told Paul my water had broken. I was shivering so hard I couldn't stop, I think part was that I was cold and the other part was I was in a bit of a panic. One because they said Jaryn was going to be only 5 lbs 10 ounces at birth and I was going early. I wasn't due until the 25th of May. And two because I had placenta previa and was scared of that as well.
Paul just kept asking "what do we do?" I called the hospital to let them know I was coming in.
The bad thing is is that I didn't pack for the hospital and to top it off I had no clean clothes since I didn't do the laundry the day before. Sooooo we were scrounging around the house looking for something to wear.
Anyway we got to the hospital and my doctor was still officially on his vacation until 6 a.m. that morning. When I got to the hospital they asked if I wanted a section now or later on that day.
I waited until my doctor was back.
The section went really well except for the fact that I had to have 4 tries at IV inserted in my veins. They kept collapsing. It is 3 weeks later and I still have 2 huge bruises on my arms.
So Jaryn officially was born at 7:59 a.m. and a whopping 7 lbs 6 ounces 13 days early, 2 lbs heavier then predicted by ultrasound yet smaller then all my other ones. Probably the low sugar diet I went on. I was soooo thankful that he was big and goes to show you medical equipment is not always reliable. Welcome to my little boy. Another pride and joy of our lives.