Spring break

This is spring break week.  The kids are happy to be out of school.  We have no big plans, which is good because I have a house load of projects going.  Mallory, Madison, Evie and GG left yesterday to go to Baton Rouge to visit Cameron and Lauren for spring break.  I inherited Daisy Paige and Olive.  They are somewhat needy, so that is a project all of its own!  Mallory had planned out this trip down to the minute.  Yesterday- early departure followed by minimal stoppages so they wouldn’t have to waste money on a hotel when they could stay at Cameron’s for free.  I think she has been a teacher a little too long.  The only one more frugal than Cameron would possibly be Mallory! Although that is debatable.  I did laugh at their stop in Paris Texas, to see the Eiffel Tower of Texas.  The cowboy hat gives it a bit of amazingness don’t you think?  I am happy that they made it safely, and hope that they have fun!  I know a certain 4 year old who was so excited!  

Next project is one I am sad about. My little goat friend is still hanging in there, but has not really made much improvement.  He might be walking a little bit less stiffly, but he still cannot get himself onto his feet.  We are still giving him meds, I have reached out to every goat person I know, and have tried all their suggestions.  It is baffling to me.   I have started a Hope version of physical therapy- basically bending around his joints and forcing him to stay on his feet for a while several times a day.  He never complains, even with my daily injections, which I am sure aren’t the most comfortable because I have zero training in that area!  He’s the sweetest little goat Ever.    I don’t know how this is going to end, but I don’t have the best feeling about it.  All I can say is it is a project I am working really hard to figure out.  

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And on a more fun note, I believe I misunderstood the type of turtles we have.  I now believe these are yellow bellied sliders rather than red eared.  Thanks to Andrew  for straightening me out.   The care is the same, but we don’t want them to have an identity crisis!  We have all been enjoying them, although I have decided their tank is too small so now I’m watching Craigslist and a few other places for a bigger tank.  I don’t like when they turn and their shells bump the glass.  I think it is a fixable problem.  I also gave them a couple strawberries this morning with their breakfast.  Holy moly!  I don’t know that I have ever seen animals get so excited over breakfast before!  It was fun to watch.  Table manners are not for turtles I guess!  

Old friend/new friends

Jim has an old friend from high school who needed to rehome her red ear sliders.  Jim saw them on Facebook, thought they looked fun, and we told her we would come and get them!  We are crazy like that.  I’ve never owned turtles before. Although, if you know me at all, you know it is something I have thought about before.  We even lost a couple of bids at some exotic auctions for tortoises.  In my opinion, this is much better than a tortoise, as the lifespan is more conducive to not having to find someone to care for them when we get too old!  Getting a tortoise literally is a 100 or more year commitment.  Red ear sliders definitely don’t live that long!  These are 10 years old with a 15-20 year expected lifespan.   

I was sort of laughing.  Jim’s friend was giving us pretty thorough instructions.  I walked out to the truck with her husband to load some stuff and  he told me “do whatever- you can’t kill them….I’ve tried!”    

Needless to say, we will be doing a little reading up today. Preston and Quincy were very helpful with getting their stuff set up.  The kids renamed them Big Dick Randy and Undertaker.  Yes…I already know.  

Update on my patient - he seems much better.   I was able to join a goat emergency page.  They gave me several suggestions of things to try.  Jim was very patient as I read every label of the medication/mineral section at Tractor Supply!  A few more dollars, another shot of a different antibiotic, and some mineral paste later and I do think the goat is improving, although he still cannot get up without help.  Small steps, he is now at least trying to!   

The others seem to be doing well.  One has a limp, I am giving him some extra vitamins for that.  The kids are doing great with getting in early morning and late night feedings.  I think it teaches them a lot of responsibility, and an appreciation for the money they will receive when we sell these guys.  And if nothing else, maybe a little birth control - goats are much easier than babies right?  

My boy.  When he told me we needed to be at his friend’s house to get the turtles in the evening, in Kansas City, he then smiled and said “we can make it a date - is there ANYPLACE in KC you would like me to take you to dinner?”   I already knew what he had in mind.  I told him he could pick, and then expected him to tell me we’re getting Philly’s.  He absolutely cannot go to KC and not hit the caboose.  He’s not exactly wrong, they do make a great sandwich.  If my boy is happy, I’m happy.  

Makeshift vet

As you may recall, last weekend I drove to Moran and bought 6 little bottle goats.  In hindsight, this was an error in my part.  Had I used my brain rather than my heart I would have left there with one goat - the January born wether that has now become Preston’s goat he is calling Jasper.  I should have left the others there.  Why?  Because I know how fragile baby goats are.  Particularly ones that have been abandoned by their mothers, and were not given their own mother’s colostrum.  Artificial colostrum is just not the same.   Waiting until they are over 6-7 weeks old would have been much smarter.  Sadly, I knew this but didn’t recall it until I was a$$ deep in a mess.  Monday morning, the girls fed all 6 goats at 6:00 am as I was leaving on the bus.  Quincy texted to say they all ate fine, were up moving and seemed good.  Monday at 1, Evie and I went down to give them a lunch time feeding and the 1 day old was dead.   I was sad, and disappointed and told Jim I screwed up bringing one home that was so young.  Everything was fine until Thursday.  Once again, the girls fed them breakfast while I was on the bus.  Once again I went down at 1 with bottles.  Preston was with me and as he rounded the corner I heard him say “oh no! Not again!”    Brown baby (Saige’s goat they named Mr. Mackey) was flat on the ground. Looked to be dead, but when Preston spoke he poked his little head up. He could not get up, could barely hold his head up, and was floppy and cold.  We put him under the heat lamp (because if goats get sick you can bet they will absolutely not go lay under the heat lamp) and hurriedly fed the others.  

I brought him into the house and Preston set up a space heater.  We managed to warm him up and when he was warm, he started acting hungry. He downed his milk.   But he could not put weight on his legs and could not really hold his head up very well.  I racked my brain, gave him nutri-drench and  I told Preston to keep an eye on him and left to drive the bus.  When I got home, I called the local vet. I love our vet, but he will tell you he is not a goat doctor.  He works a lot of cats, dogs, and cattle in this part of the country.  He made a few suggestion and I ran in and got an anti-parasitic medication. And a shot of penicillin.  He sold me some more electrolytes.  We picked his brain and his wife’s.  

We have now given the goat every single home remedy, medication, parasitic and mineral I can get my hands on.  He is still very weak, but he does eat.  If I stand him on his legs, he will stand up but cannot get himself up.  Tonight he took a few steps.  I’m taking it as progress.  I hope he lives, but if not, I know we tried absolutely everything except taking him to an emergency vet, which I am not sure I want to spend the money to do. 

Blitz has adopted him as her new baby.  She has cleaned him, and won’t go too far away from the box we have him in.   She’s a good momma dog.  I am not a vet, but I will try hard to nurse him back to health.  I just hope it works.  

He is such a sweet/cute little baby- at this point we are all pretty invested.  If you’re a “pray for a goat” type of person, we would welcome a few on Mr. Mackey’s behalf.  

I hope….

The above photo came from a video I took, the quality is bad, but the thoughts I have about it are the point I am trying to make.  For the past 20 (ish) years, I have taught religion ed.  I started out as an assistant teacher to a woman named Debbie. She was amazing.  She had a theme for every week, coordinated snacks, crafts, coloring pages, a fabulous lesson and probably even her dress to go along with the theme.  My kids loved Ms. Debbie.  And honesty, so did I.  Her love for teaching about Jesus was absolutely contagious, and I was always just a tiny bit awed at how she pulled it all off.  And then Ms. Debbie was in a pretty bad car wreck.  She could not bend her knees, and even after months of physical therapy, she had a hard time getting around, and could not navigate the basement stairs to come into RE.  I was left without her, and as hard as I tried, I could never, ever fill her shoes.  But, my kids were still going every week, and they needed someone to take care of the class, so I jumped in an did the best I could.  I found it to be pretty rewarding.  I knew that the kids liked doing crafts with me, and that we could incorporate craft time into actual learning about Jesus.  We stumbled sometimes and got way off topic, but sometimes having an adult sit down and pay attention to the things you think are important as an 8 or 9 year old is amazing too.  I was never Debbie, but I was doing ok, and the kids were learning some stuff, I felt like it was important and an enjoyable way to serve my church.  And so I continued for years, and years.  And then came the pandemic.  We were forced to do RE at home, we did not have classes for almost an entire year.  I am not sure what changed.  It might be me....I might be getting old and less fun.  I might have enjoyed being home more than I enjoy going out every Wednesday evening.  In my opinion though, something changed in the kids too.  I hear teachers saying it, as well as my sister who runs a daycare.  Kids are unable to sit still, listen well and focus on anything that you are telling them.  Some have giant attitudes and think they don't have to listen.  Enter this year's RE kids.  They cannot read (or will not).  They cannot retain it if you read it to them, they cannot repeat what you tell them. I can barely keep them scraped down off the ceiling for the hour that I have them.  They do not know the prayers that they were supposed to have learned.  Their parents are not taking them to church, so they are not practicing their faith, so using examples from mass does not work.  I have been at a total loss this year.  It has been rough.  Last week, I gave them a project to learn the 10 commandments.  I knew it would probably be rather difficult for them, so I told them if they knew at least 5, I would have a reward for them.  Saige is in a class by herself, and they join us for crafts and activities.  Saige took the challenge to heart, and learned all 10.  The others did nothing.  So I gave them a paper with the commandments on it.  We went through each one and put them into layman's terms - kid don't understand "false witness" but they do understand "do not lie"  Since Saige got both a box of candy and an elephant flashlight, the others were intrigued enough that for the first time this year, they were actively engaged in an activity.  They were reading, they were using their brains to memorize.  They were actually working towards a goal.  They spent a long time, and for the first time this year, I thought MAYBE I can teach them at least one thing.  They all ended up being able to recite all 10 commandments.  We did a craft about Moses, we learned about his life.  We KNEW the commandments.  Success.  And then the parents showed up.  One girl rushed out to tell her mom she got a prize and knew the commandments!  Her mom looked down and literally said "ugh!  why do you always bring home so much JUNK from this class?"  Did not let her speak, did not ask her how she got a prize, did not care what she learned.  Me, being me, sort of wanted to punch her, but instead I responded "because we are learning so much about the love of Jesus:"  Mom glared.  The part of me that is bad smiled because the elephant light she "won" was awful - loud and obnoxious.  I hope she had to listen to it all the way home!  The other part of me, though was sad.  It is sad that you care so little for your child that you don't even listen to what they are saying to you.  It is sad that you couldn't be bothered to at least go through the homework with your child.  It is sad that you only want a place to drop off your kids for an hour a week, and don't actively make sure they are living their faith by taking them to church.  Honesty, what would be the point of bringing a child to a religion class, but then not following through by taking them to church?  I can't think of a good reason.  I am not being sanctimonious, I just literally felt bad for the kid.  Do I do everything right for our family?  Heck no! Am I perfect?  Not even close!  But I hope I have enough love for my kids to at least listen to what they say.  I hope I always tell them I am proud of them when they accomplish something.  It literally feels like the world needs an overhaul sometimes.  

I will admit that at first, I was a little bit insulted that the mom had called the stuff from my class junk.  I was making it about me....and I know everything can't be all about me.  I had a lot of time to think about it after class and decided to make it a little bit of a lesson for myself about being a better person.  Which is why I snapped these photos of my girls with their goats.  It was chilly last night.  After feeding the babies some warm milk, they were sort of shivering.  We got their heat lamp going, and then the girls were sitting in the pen snuggling with them, kissing their little noses and we were talking.  They were giving the babies insane names and giggling.  The rain was dripping on the tin, reminding me of my own childhood spent in barns with baby animals, snuggling them and giving them weird names, making them little human-like friends.  I thanked God for the childhood I had, where my parents were around, giving us the opportunities to learn about anything we wanted to, listening to us and helping us, acting like they wanted us around.  And I thank God for putting Jim and I in a position that my kids can sit in a barn with the rain dripping on an old tin roof laughing about baby goats and feeling peaceful.  They can talk to us about any subject without feeling ashamed.  They can be who they are without us judging them.  I hope that when they grow up, they will remember these kinds of things about their childhood and know that they had parents who loved them unconditionally.  This is the last year I will be teaching RE.  I never did fill Ms. Debbie's shoes, but I am thankful for the lessons I have learned, and for the opportunity to continue to learn.  Maybe I have made a difference for at least one child, at least I hope.  

Deals with children

Preston has become quite talented with woodworking and fixing things.  Tonight, he was sort of being dramatic about not wanting to attend the 4-H meeting.  After hearing him whine for a while, I finally said fine - build me a goat bottle holder without spending any money and you can stay home to work on that while I take the girls to the meeting. I showed him a video of what I had in mind.  He said deal!  He did indeed build the holder, and it is going to be amazing, but he was installing it while we were doing the last feeding.   Tomorrow we will try it out!   If we can get them trained to use it, it will definitely make life easier!  

In the meantime, we have done well getting the babies fed and loved!  Quincy even stayed home to try training them to eat better.  She managed to do all the feedings but when we did the late feed, I’m not convinced that they are trained as of yet!   She is rarely home, I appreciate her efforts!  They are just so little!  Today the girls will do the early feeding, and then my assistant and I will tackle the mid-day feeding.  My assistant is goat crazy!  

Last night, as I was folding the last load of laundry, and getting ready for bed I had a face time call from Cameron.  There was a kitten in the courtyard behind Lauren’s apartment.  The mother had not been there for a couple of days, and the kitten was absolutely yowling.  They wondered what they should do.  It was so loud I could hear it through the phone.   I told them I felt like it needed help, and that it was crying because it was hungry.   Lauren was begging Cameron to crawl down into some hole under her building and save it.  Cameron was saying no, he felt like it wasn’t a problem they needed, plus Lauren is allergic to cats.  I told them I was too far away to help, offered my best kitten raising advice and hung up.  I went to bed.  Lauren sent me the photo of Cameron’s legs hanging out from under the building.  He is a lot like his dad.  They have to hear all the reasons you want to do something, will tell you all the reasons you shouldn’t. But in the end, they are giant softies who will always help you do the things they think you shouldn’t do.  I love that about them.  

The kitten has been saved.  Lauren spent her day looking for a cat rescue. Nobody she called will take the kitty.  So Lauren and her friend are bottle feeding him.  I’ve been amused by this.  My guess is that Cameron now owns a small black kitty, and that his girlfriend will be getting allergy shots.   

Lauren repaid Cameron’s cat rescuing skills by helping out at his dorm’s late night pancake breakfast.  Seems like a good trade to me!  

Primo weekend

This was exactly the weekend I needed.  Low key, not a lot of activity, got a few things accomplished but not in a hurried, rushing sort of way.  Had some time with some kids and with my boy.   

Jim and I were working around the house when he asked me if he could go fishing with Andrew. I had made arrangements to pick up a load of bottle goats, and as such, needed supplies from Tractor Supply.  I ran my way, he ran his.  We were both happy (Jim cramps my style at Tractor supply- I had my brain focused on sneaking home babies from chick days- luckily for my marriage, they had zero babies in the store).   Jim reported that he was out-fished by the grandkid! 

I also had girls night with a couple of my best girls.  It was amazing to have a little time to get caught up.  I enjoyed it immensely.  

I got home at a decent hour, and started cooking for a family at church who had a baby this week.  I completely trashed the kitchen…and knowing I wouldn’t be home some of Sunday I decided to clean it last night. I’m so glad I made that decision!   When I got done, I realized I meant to re-caulk the bath tub, as the caulking I put on last weekend seemed to be defective.   Next thing I knew, it was 1 in the morning.  I do not know the last time I stayed up that late!   But,  the food was made, and the bathtub has a new, hopefully better caulking job, and the kitchen was clean.    

Essentially, that is the story of how I ended up forgetting to set an alarm and not getting up in time for mass. I wasn’t upset, because I thought it would allow me a little more time to get the goats I was planning to buy.  I found a load of bottle goats in Moran.   I knew they would be small, a couple of them were born on the 2nd and one was born yesterday.   I told Jim I was concerned about them riding in the back of the truck and I thought we could put down some trash bags, towels and a few blankets and throw them in the trunk of the Nissan.   He agreed it was a good idea.  Unfortunately, the Nissan was hit in the rear a year or so ago at Sam’s club. The trunk latch was moved around by the accident.  It had worked until we were on vacation a couple weeks ago.  Today we could not get it to work at all. Adjustments were made, and Harper and Quincy took off with me.   Preston was tasked with delivering the food, and picking up Saige, who was at a friend’s house.  Jim was moving a pen over for the baby goats.  We made it to Moran, to a commercial goat farm. We drove in just in time to see a goat give birth to triplets!   

We had spoken for 5 goats, but between the time we reserved them, and when we drove in today, they had 2 more who were abandoned by their moms.   This is common with goats - they have twins or triplets and will reject one.  It is also common, if you aren’t paying attention, for them to die if you don’t intervene.  We bought a baby that was born yesterday, but passed on the one who was born this morning, although I would have loaded all of them up!  We got home with 6 bottle babies.  Four of them are not real good on the bottle yet, and one had only been fed on the bottle twice.   Needless to say, we have a lot of training to do with them! It might be a little bit of a mess until we get them all eating well, but in my mind, that gives me an excuse to hang out in the barn with the babies.  

Our neighbor’s dog has had a few snacks from our barns - a few chickens and rabbits have lost battles.  I didn’t want to spend money and have her get the baby goats.  Jim decided the pen I was planning to use wasn’t critter proof enough, and so he ran to tractor supply and picked up a kennel I had been wanting for a few months.  Mallory, Madison, Andrew and Evie showed up as we were getting things settled in.  It worked  perfect!   Jim had to run in to a work meeting. The girls got everyone a full belly, and the boys got the pen completed. We also bred a couple of does for early April baby bunnies!   Jim was back in time for Sunday dinner.  I am in baby heaven.  

We had dinner, and then Evie and Saige hosted a solid gold dance party.  A perfect end to a great day!  

Quincy and I just went out to make sure everyone was full before bed.  The goat that was born yesterday finally discovered his hunger!  I’m so relieved about that!  Fingers crossed that they all do well and will make great 4-H projects!   At least we won’t have to worry about taming them down!   

This will be a short week- we have Friday off and that will be the first day of spring break.  I’m beyond ready for a little time with the kids!