Our newest addition

Meet "Jessie." Our friend Jordan raises rabbits, and we are embarking on an attempt at raising meat rabbits (you know, since we've had rabbit before and liked it a whole lot better than, well, goat).

We assured the kids that we would keep Jessie...she would just keep being the mom, but her babies were for butchering when they were bigger. (We'll take her back to Jordan for breeding). Sometimes I think it might be too much for kids to have to deal with, but hey, if we were back in the pioneer days...?

I have loved watching Jacob blossom in his responsibility in the few days that we've had her. He LOVES that rabbit. He named her. He put political pressure on Anna to join him in his vote. It was between "Silver" and "Jessie." If you knew Jacob's latest obsession with a particular robot from a particular movie that will last from infinity and beyond, you'll know where he came up with the name. First person to guess correctly is the correct first guesser! (I know myself and my schedule well enough to not even attempt to promise a prize. I know, I know...I never even told you, out of all the wonderful comments and suggestions, what we named our first three goat kids-and we don't even have them anymore).























Before my tired brain spits out any more disjoined post material, I'm going to bed!

Weather Report:

for today, Tuesday, May 11th.

36 degrees, mix of rain and snow.

Ugh.

Come Again?

We've been singing, a lot lately, the old silly song "Down by the Bay." Anna is quite good at it, echoing nicely, and trying to create her own rhyming verse. We had done "have you ever seen a goat, wearing a coat...a sheep trying to sleep" and a few others.

She decided she was going to do it herself, and this was her verse:
"Have you ever seen a sheep in a coat trying to sleep?"

More than one way to skin a cat

Andrew and Jacob, we know, are so different from each other. Always with different perspectives, skills, and ways of problem-solving.

Yes, we've known this. But it was made glaringly, and hilariously, obvious tonight.

Mark was helping Andrew pick up toys in the boys' bedroom this evening. A truck that had been placed on the shelf rolled back off and crashed to the floor. Andrew quickly determined that he and Mark should attach a strip of wood to the front of the shelf that would give it an edge to stop the tires from rolling off.

Logical, yes? What would your solution be?

Jacob also had a solution. He felt the need for one more urgently, as when the truck he put away rolled off, it hit him in the head.
"Dad, we need to flatten all these tires so the trucks won't roll off!"

Yes, indeed.

Jacob the Explorer

He was all set to go exploring. He had been outside all of 30 seconds when he came back in all covered in dirt...he had forgotten his b.b. gun for hunting wild animals while he was out exploring. Have I mentioned lately how much I love this kid?





















(Uh, no, it's not a functional gun. Just in case you were wondering).

Jazz Band

Last week, a jazz band from a high school in Anchorage came down to do a concert at the neighboring school. We were extended an invitation to join them, and did we ever enjoy it! Anna was actually up and dancing for it...we were grateful for the chance to hear a live band in our little town!

Sunny Saturdays

So what do you do on a sunny Saturday in May? (Trust me, a whole lotta farm chores got done inbetween the fun picture-taking)!

Space Travel!

Just wanted to let you know that Andrew finally has a new blog post up!
(Sorry it took so long! We've got another piece of writing he's been working on simultaneously, and he also has original artwork with this one)!

A Nana and Papa visit!

Lately our family and Nana and Papa have been passing each other like ships in the night...for living in such a small town just half a mile down the road from each other, we'd see each other more often. But, we've found that last minute plans work much better! We had a free Thursday evening, and so did they, so they joined us for dinner!


Anna and Jacob had so much fun working in the kitchen with Nana, while Andrew was outside showing off his newly acquired skills in doing "wheelies" to Papa. Rosella was amazed at Anna's fastidiousness at arranging the salad ingredients just so...typical, I say!















During dinner, Anna informed Nana that she had a surprise for her in her room. Right away after dinner, she led Nana by the hand back to her bedroom, walked over to her rocking chair, and said, "See! I have a 'ocking chair and books to read!" Surprise, surprise!

Goat Cheese, Anyone?

I finally made my first goat cheese. Chevre, to be exact (thanks, Crystal, for the starter packet)!

I made it last Saturday...thawed my milk out on Friday night, heated it to 86 degrees, added the culture, and let it sit overnight.
Drained and hung it for 6 hours or so.
Made up cheese balls of dill, spinach and herb, and strawberry.
I expected it to be almost like cream cheese, and strawberry cream cheese is so good.
For the record, strawberry chevre is not.

Also for the record, Andrew has never been a milk drinker of any sort. (For her part, Anna would drink goat milk morning, noon, and night if I let her). Andrew uses the goat milk on his cereal/oatmeal, but that's about it. But he feels the same about cow, rice, and almond milk. All that to say I wasn't surprised by his reaction to the goat cheese. Go ahead, click on the picture to enlarge it, and laugh along with us.

The verdict? Anna likes it. Jacob likes it. Mark says it's okay. Andrew and Wendy...ummm, no. I was dreadfully disappointed to find that it tasted similar to store bought goat cheese. Go figure.

However, my friend Melanie used to buy goat cheese from a lady who used to have a small home goat dairy here in town. So of course, she was my first choice of guinea pig. Her verdict? She likes it! Not the strawberry. But the other flavors, she likes!

So, I won't give up yet. I've been freezing milk right away, rather than freezing milk that's been in the fridge for a day or so. Cottage cheese is next...if nothing else, Anna will be one happy camper!

Happy Birthday, Keenan and Rebecca!

Okay, so I'm actually a bit behind in posting this...but we sure had fun helping you both to celebrate your birthdays!


Aunt Becca with all of her nieces and 1/3 of her nephews!


















Rebecca and Anna sure have fun hanging around together!



















Video games are a novelty for our boys, so they were like glue to Keenan and the new game he got for his birthday!

Archery!

Mark has been working on archery skills with the boys a lot lately...and all of them are loving it!


Andrew was just about done with his turn by the time I got out there with the camera-he was looking for a way to make it more challenging!























We have learned that with many things, it's much better to give each of the boys their own time with an activity, so Jacob had patiently waited for Andrew, who had already been outside, to be done. He was so excited to get his turn to do archery with Daddy!

Photo Shoot

65 tries, and not one that I was thrilled with (though more due to the color than the kids...I should have messed with my camera settings more, but Andrew was itching to get his tie off, so I was in a hurry)!



















































And you know how in some pictures one or two of them look fantastic, and the other, well...you know. So, I saved the best of each of them, made it a B & W due to poor color, and I love it!

Resurrection Sunday!

Celebrating Christ's resurrection is one of my favorite days of the year! And rightfully so...without Christ's death and resurrection, I would still be dead in my sins, with no hope for today or eternity.
It seemed to me that this year, "Easter" was even more commercialized than ever. The kids and I made it a challenge, every time we went into Fred Meyer's, to see who could find something that would show the true meaning of Easter. We all always lost equally. There was not one shred of anything that would tell you that Easter wasn't about bunnies, eggs, or springtime in general...at least in the aisles we perused! I was pleased to see that at least Andrew and Jacob were recogning the disparity.

While celebrating Resurrection Sunday is always joyful, it's not necessarily relaxing...at least not for a pastor's family. But this year I planned deliberately to not be so busy and tired that I couldn't even enjoy the day. And you know what? It worked for us this year! The difference? Less to do, more time to reflect. We didn't color Easter eggs this year. Not because I think it's wrong to do so. No. And at first it wasn't even something I set about to not do on purpose. But when the day before Easter came and we hadn't had time to do it yet, and the kids hadn't even asked about it, I let it go. And it was so freeing! You know what else I didn't do this year? Make Jell-o eggs. For perhaps the first time ever since Darlene and I invented them in high school. (Sorry, Dar)! For my life, it was revolutionary liberation from the tyranny of "have to's." And our celebration was no less for the dearth of eggs, both colored and Jell-O.

You know what our Easter morning tradition is? Opening the tomb. The cross and tomb were made for us by Mark's dad several years ago, and it has been my favorite "decoration" ever since (thanks, Dad!). It's simple. It's powerful. It's the ONLY thing we have for our home that tells the world why we're celebrating on Resurrection Sunday. And so the kids run and open the tomb up. I guess in actuality it gets opened three times, but I'm sure Jesus doesn't mind. :)


























Then off to church in our Sunday best...even by non-Alaskan standards!
(Let's just say that my kids have "church jeans." Translation: no holes in the knees)!

Andrew and his good friend Lane...spiffy together!




















Sunday School opening...the kids were full of enthusiasm for their worship time!


















After church we headed to my parent's for a delightful dinner. And while the kids enjoyed the Easter egg hunt there with all the treasures hidden in the eggs, the adults might have had a little bit too much fun with the eggs themselves!



















Of course we had the traditional photo shoot of the kids...but that's another post!