Food ramblings

I'm feeling overwhelmed with food issues lately. It is not easy with our dietary requirements... this post sums up how i feel most days. One of my biggest things right now is that everything is so expensive and it is very hard to stick to healthy food when it breaks the bank every month. We are on our way to more self sufficiency in the food department which will help, but it's still frustrating. Our chickens, ducks, turkeys and geese will be coming next week... I'm SO excited to have poultry ranging around the farm again. Ferdinand is really starting to fill out nicely. This sounds so terrible, but i can not wait to see how he tastes! Oh wow.. that is just crazy to say, but still.. knowing how my beef was raised and treated and EXACTLY what went into him is so reassuring. I would love to get a pig to raise, but Matt isn't into that just yet and thinks that it's not worth it. Though honestly, we eat more pork then anything, so I think it would be worth it. Maybe his heart will soften towards it.
We planted our garden yesterday... this year we will have corn, burgundy bush beans, sugar snap peas, watermelon, strawberries (as always), and lemon cucumbers. I really wish that it was more, but feeding my boys veggies is a huge struggle and i know these are the things that they will eat for sure and will not go to waste. I ordered my seeds from seeds of change. I highly recommend them, I'll have to let you know how my harvest turns out.
we are blessing in the fact that we live in a region that is very big on organic, free range produce. There are so many farmers markets and farms in this area that getting local fresh oragnic produce is easy and for the most part cheaper then if we were in another location. So for that I am thankful.. but i wish that food choices were easier. sigh...

Poop

Yep.. this post is about poop. Brown, smelly, gross, POOP. A BM in less disgusting terms. Just warning you...

Joshua use to play with his poo. He would smear it on the walls and floor, and basically use it as finger paint. I've heard that it can be a common issue among autistic children, something to do with sensory issues. All i know is that it is DISGUSTING! One of the last big poop episodes we had with him involved it being smeared all over a whole room, me calling up my mother in law begging her to come get him and Daniel so i could clean without issue and also i was pregnant with Elijah at the time so you can imagine how my mindset was. (do you like that big run-on sentence?)
Well we had a poop episode on Sunday. Sunday actually wasn't the best of days for us, Daniel had wheat earlier in the week so we've been dealing with some major meltdowns and for some reason Joshua has been super hyper lately, so life has been a little more challenging. Okay so on to the story. The boys had been playing in the mud so we decided they needed a bath. Matt was the one who was keeping an eye on them while they were in the bath while i was cooking dinner. I walked back to check on them and i saw Matt smelling around the back hall ( the boys rooms and bathroom are all in the back of the house). Then he looked into the bathtub and low and behold Daniel was holding a chunk of poop and there were poop blobs floating all around the boys. Now this has happened before with Daniel in the tub, we assumed Daniel had done it (he has trouble controlling his bm's sometimes and he also has that weird sensory thing, though not as terrible as Joshua did). But no.. it was not Daniel, Joshua piped up and said cheerfully "I pooped Daddy.. it's funny... hahaha" . URG. What is just gross is that they were just sitting in the poopy water totally oblivious to how sick and gross it was! We took the boys out, hauled them to our bathroom and gave them a second bath with a soapy scrub down and then off to an early bedtime.
End of poop story...
oh and Matt cleaned up the bathtub ...
he really is the best.
I have no deep thoughts to share about this experience. No epiphanies to reveal... It's just my life right now, isn't it glamorous?

I've been terrible at budgeting our money lately. Any advice or tips would be appreciated!


Saturday was such a nice warm day. we spent the majority of the day clearing more of our land to make more pasture space for the animals. In the clearing Matt and Joshua found an opossum skull. Joshua spent a LARGE part of the day playing with it pretending it was dragon bones. A couple of years ago i probably would have FREAKED out that my son was playing with the head of a dead animal... but I'm WAY more easy going now... and also it's helpful to know that the was very much an older one, so every ounce of flesh was LONG gone. Don't worry though.. he did not put it in his mouth and he had a full out suddsie warm hand washing after he was done playing outside with it.



I love this boys cheeks!





well nothing else to exciting going on here. Just ready for the rains of winter and spring to pass so we can enjoy more sunshine. I've been feeling better and currently not having any issues with clots... so that's a good thing.

Adjustments¹
by Charles R. Swindoll

The oyster and its pearl.

Pearls are the products of irritation. This irritation occurs when the shell of the oyster is invaded by an alien substance—like a grain of sand. When that happens, all the resources within the tiny, sensitive oyster rush to the irritated spot and begin to release healing fluids that otherwise would have remained dormant. By and by the irritant is covered—by a pearl. Had there been no irritating interruption, there could have been no pearl.

No wonder our heavenly home has pearly gates to welcome the wounded and bruised who have responded correctly to the sting of irritations.

J. B. Phillips must have realized this as he paraphrased James 1:2–4:

When all kinds of trials crowd into your lives, my brothers, don’t resent them as intruders but welcome them as friends! Realize that they come to test your faith and to produce in you the quality of endurance . . . let the process go on until that endurance is fully developed, and you will find you have become men [and women] of mature character.²



1. Excerpted from Charles R. Swindoll, “Adjustments,” in The Finishing Touch: Becoming God’s Masterpiece (Dallas: Word, 1994), 315.

2. J.B. Phillips, The New Testament in Modern English (New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1958, 1960, 1972), 477.

a typical tuesday

It's still amazing to me how my little son can walk right up to her and love on her and she just stands there...


Elijah, my little farmer boy...




This is a RARE sight to behold in the afternoon from this little boy...

Have you noticed that the boys fall asleep often in this chair?


His smile is like warm rays of sunshine after months of rain!


I couldn't stop taking pictures of him today... he was just so cute!





I've realized that i haven't given due recognition to one of the most important animals on our farm... Our *vicious pitbull, Roxy.

She is the sweetest dog we've ever had... loyal and protective of us. She is quick to receive love and cuddles,quick to chase away any unwanted animals, and quick to eat any leftovers!


*we like to joke that she is vicious... though she really isn't.. she just likes people to think she is.

Life unexpected..thought completed

I've been thinking lately about how life didn't turn out like i thought it was going to... well at least for now. When Matt and I embarked on our journey together i thought that we would be settling in some remote jungle somewhere by now, flying missionaries in and out of hard to reach places as well as the other duties that come along in missions aviation. It's crazy how life takes a turn. When we got married i never dreamed of living in a house in the country, having a small farm, Matt having a 9-5 job and trying to start up a home based business. I imagined myself with children and homeschooling, but definitely not in America! When we got married we weren't even sure that i was going to be able to have children because of how far along my endometriosis was. We had no idea that Matt would develop severe motion sickness, we would have special needs children, and God could possibly have other plans for us then going into overseas missions! Do i wish that we were still on the missions aviation path? Yep, there are days where my heart longs for the adventure of that life, but i feel peace that we are doing what God wants us to be doing for now. Instead of ministering and helping those overseas in person (even though we still largely support as much as we can financially), God has us loving those who he puts in our path here, showing them His love and faithfulness through our everyday life. We've had so many opportunities to be a testimony of His grace and love just through our children. We've been able to talk to doctors, therapist, teachers, and other parents of special needs children about God's amazing grace, love, and mercy because of the special gifts He has given us.. our boys. God has given us a unique opportunity to reach out, understand, and love many of those who are hurting and isolated. There are hard days, but My savior gently reminds me that I do not walk alone and that He has given me such a precious calling. Who knows.. someday we may be living in the remote jungles of the world reaching the hard to reach, but for now he has us reaching those in the special needs community, and around us here in America, that are equally in need of love and a saviour as those in far away places. And i feel like now more then ever i'm coming to understand more of what the body of Christ looks like. It's such an orrignal concept, but we all can't be feet or eyeballs. Each part has a function, and even though Matt and I really wanted to be feet, God wants us to be elbows right now, and you know what, i'm learning to be content being an elbow for this season... though i still dream of being a foot. :)

Molly

We've picked a name for our new Alpaca girl. She is to be called Molly. I'm easy going, Matt is actually the one that has picked the names for the llama and the alpaca.
Today we took Molly on our daily walk.



She did great and was fairly calm as long as she was behind Kady.


One of our barn kitties, squash, decided to go on the walk with us. Elijah just had to stay back and walk with him to make sure he was following us. Whenever Squash would slow down and check something our Elijah would call out to him to keep up.


We actually went to church today! I have no idea how the service went. I was with the two little boys in the children's room and Joshua sat with Matt during service. I'm hoping next week I'll be able to leave Daniel for a little bit and get in for a little worship! That's one of the things i miss about church, singing together glorifying God.

the new girl in town

Meet the new girl...

Yep, she is an Alpaca!

They all seem to be getting along great...

More to come later, but she needs a name... any suggestions?

Training is going well for Katy (sounds like katie). Yep that's right, her name has been changed AGAIN. She actually responds to calling her that.. so i think it will stick.. though Joshua still calls her Cammy. Anyway... i've been working with her on walking, she is doing well and catching on fast. She is very gentle with the boys and lets them lead her around.
Because of Shiloh's passing, we are hoping to find another llama companion for Katy. I've had a lot of people e-mail in respond to my craigslist ad (LOVE Craigslist!) but we have yet to the perfect match... hopefully soon. She actually is becoming more tolerant of Ferdinand, so that's good.Here are a few pictures from a hike we took today.

Shiloh update

I'm sad to say little Shiloh didn't make it. She did make it through the night and we thought she would rally, but as the day went on she didn't want to sit up at all, her breathing was very labored, eyes glassy and she had not pooed or peed for over 24 hours. We're a little sad here, and we wish we could have gotten her sooner because we really feel we could have prevented her from going to far gone... but having animals means dealing with death. Joshua is sad that his baby llama is gone (he doesn't understand dead yet) but he seems to be handling it just fine. I told him that we would look for another llama for him and that we still had our big llama, he was comforted at that.

laundry room llama

I never imagined that i would see this sight in my laundry room....


Before the sun went down I went out and checked on the llamas. Shiloh wasn't looking so great. The cow was bugging her (sniffing at her face and just being a little pest) and she was laying on her side pretty cold (she did this on the ride home also) so we decided to make up the laundry room for her to give her a better chance of getting well. It's warm and dry and we can leave out food and plenty of fresh water for her without Ferdinand and Cammy eating it before she has a chance. She's in pretty bad condition just hanging by a thread, so I'm trying everything in my power to give her the best chance at life. Hopefully she will pull through and start gaining weight and muscle. She can't stand up for more then 5 minutes at a time and she gets easily fatigued. I really hope this little girl pulls through because i know that she is just a gem and i really feel that if she can overcome and get well again she is going to make a GREAT therapy animal!

Llama love

we picked them up today!!!!!!!



This is "Cammy" .. her original name was "twisted sister" because her hair is twisted, but we didn't like it to much so when we were driving home and looking at her we thought she looked like a camel.. and Matt has always wanted a camel so we have decided to name her Camille, or "Cammy" for short...
She is just perfect for our family.. so sweet and friendly. Which is fun because the meaning of Camille means "perfect".
Driving home...


We're Home!


Elijah said "look, it's a llama"


This is the other llama Shiloh. She was not thriving at all at the llama ranch so we took her home with us in hopes of lots of feed and love will get her all better. The reason she didn't do so well is because of her temperament. She is very calm and non-aggressive and that's not so good when you are with 50 other llamas when it comes to food. So anyway we are really hoping she will pull through the night... she was eating today so that's a good sign... but only the cold night will tell if shes got the gumption to hold on!



Hanging out...


meeting Ferdinand for the first time...


it's been a long day and I'm ready for some downtime!!! I'm sure there will be more ever so riveting llama updates in the near future!

Mericies in Disguise

I heard this song on the radio the other day and i was moved...

Blessings by Laura Story

We pray for blessings
We pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love is way too much to give us lesser things

(Chorus)
'Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if the thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You're near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

We pray for wisdom
Your voice to hear
We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt your goodness, we doubt your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
And all the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe

Chorus

When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win
We know the pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home

Chorus

What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can't satisfy
What if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are your mercies in disguise

Why a Llama?

If you've been reading my blog for a while you know that i want to start up a small scale therapy farm for special needs families. You also know that we are a family that goes hiking, exploring and camping. Last year Matt presented me with the idea of a pack goat. I thought he was crazy, but reading into it more i was comfortable with the idea and we added our first pack animal to the family. Pippin was like a first child... we had all of these expectations of him, experimented with different strategies, and learned what we liked and did not like about goats and packing along the way. Then Matt mentioned wanting llamas for packing. I thought there is NO way that we are going to go packing with a llama... I'm not comfortable with the goat around the kids half the time, how am i going to be comfortable with an animal that is twice the size of the goat!?!?! As time went on after more research i warmed up to the idea of adding a llama to our farm. Matt had agreed to let me have a cow, the least i could do for him was look into and consider a llama. About a month ago we visited a llama ranch to see some prospective llamas and talk to the owner. I fell in love. Llamas have an inquisitive nature, soft fiber and a certain gentleness and grace about them that is hard to explain. They look into your eyes and you can see their personality.. and they have so much personality! I always heard that llamas are mean and spit... but really any animal can be mean and do things.. and if it came down to being knocked over by a feisty goat with sharp horns or spit on by a llama... i choose being spit on! Anyway, they were just so much more gentle then i expected. Joshua, who is 6 years old and about 65 pounds, was leading this HUGE llama around! I wish i would have taken a picture... it was truly an amazing sight... on top of it Daniel and Elijah where running behind laughing and being very rowdy! From then on I've been doing non-stop research on llamas and looking for one to add to the family.. especially now that Pippin has found a new home. The more research that I've done on llamas I've begun to uncover that they make great therapy animals for autistic children. ding ding ding!!!! score! So we can have a multi purpose animal.. one that packs and also provide animal therapy for my children and potential children for my future therapy farm!!!!! Here is an article that i found that talks about using llamas for therapy with special needs children. It's not to common yet, but it's becoming more popular as llama owners are discovering how well they work with special needs children.
This Saturday we will be taking a trek down to newberg and choose our new llama, we may even be getting two! I'm getting pretty excited and trying to read as much as i can about them.
I just love animals and I'm excited for the opportunity to have an animal that will assist in helping my children connect with the world around them! Not to mention, Joshua has not stopped talking about llamas since he met the llamas for the first time... he cried when we left and didn't take one with us! So there you have it! If you are ever in our area you are more then welcome to come for a visit! We LOVE to share our farm with others!!! And soon we will have a whole mess of animals as our chickens, ducks, turkeys and geese will be coming!

These are the llamas that we will be choosing from on Saturday (the first picture is of when she was a baby, but she is older now).




This is the second llama that we are considering.. she will need a bit more attention because she had a rough winter and didn't gain as much weight as she should have... we're not 100 percent sure on if we will take her also... we need to meet her first!

llama update

sadly the llama that we were looking into adding to our farm has found a home, but we are working with the ranch to hopefully find a good fit for our family. I'm just super excited because llamas are GREAT therapy animals for autistic children...
more on that later! I need to get get pippin ready for his new home!

This has been such a good weekend, and I'm feeling so blessed! This is the first time that my step dad has ever come out to visit with my mom since Matt and I married 7+ years ago. The visit came at a good time as last week was really hard for me. While i was running my legs went numb and i started feeling really strange. I think i threw a clot or something because that weekend i was in pain and sick and very tired. I'm doing much better then i was last weekend, but it was a major set back for me and slightly depressing. I thought that the days of my circulation and blood clotting issues were over, but i guess i haven't been doing as well as i thought i was. So I'm back on my blood thinning medication (natural stuff called Nattokinase) and trying to minimize driving time and remember that I always need to be preventative in what i do. Though i am a healthy person (eating good, regular exercise and healthy weight) I will always need to be sensitive to my special circulation and heart health unless the Lord heals me of it. Anyway... sorry to ramble off... it's just been a hard week.

In farm news...

Pippin (our pack goat) will be going to his new home tomorrow! I'm so excited for him. I think that he is really going to love his new owners (he already met them and he stuck to them like glue while they were here) and his new stable mates. He is going to be surrounded by a bunch of milk goats! I think Ferdinand will probably miss him, but i know that he'll adjust just fine. Anyway Ferdinand will have a new friend to keep him company. It's official, we will be driving down next week to pick up our new llama!





He is still a baby, but i think he will work very nicely for our little farm. He doesn't have a name yet, but I'm thinking we will name him Apa. Matt and I went through this cartoon series that had a flying bison and i loved his name and personality, so I'm thinking I want to name our new llama after him. The llama that i wrote about in my other post was a very nice llama, but the owners wanted way to much for him and also he was older and grew up around llamas so he would have been very lonely with our little farm.
Here is a picture of the flying bison character that i want to name our llama after



One more month until our barnyard poultry come! We are getting 10 chickens, 2 ducks, 2 geese, and 2 turkeys. I'm pretty excited... especially about the ducks.. I love ducks!
Well.. I better get off to go till up the garden one last time before planting in a couple of weeks!
Isn't our life exciting!?!

Adventures!

Today was the best day to start off April... My parents flew in yesterday for a long weekend visit and it's been so wonderful! We brought them to our favorite hiking spot! :) Here are some pictures from our adventure...