Birthday Boy

We celebrated B#1's 17th birthday yesterday. When I asked him what he wanted to do for his birthday he told me...have peace and quiet and pizza. Pretty easy to please I suppose. I just can't believe that we have a 17 year old. Time has really flown by and soon he will be ready to start out on his own. Have we done a good enough job? Have we prepared him at all to be the godly man and father he will someday be? I appreciate what a dear friend pointed out to me...none of us started out with the Lord where we are now. What encouraging words those were. Still hard for a mom to know that her children may make some of the same mistakes that we made and that we still make. I will say that B#1 is a responsible fellow who watches out for his younger siblings, drives carefully and is my Mr. Safety conscience. Proverbs 10:1 says "A wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish son is the grief of his mother." I feel that he is a wise son and I am eager to see him grow and mature in the Lord by His grace and to see what He has in store for him. I will add that when I asked my big, muscley guy what kind of birthday cake he wanted he was quick to say vanilla with strawberry filling and whipped cream topping so the girls made the cake in the picture below for their beloved brother.

Meet "the boys"

I have several different boys in my life. Sometimes when I say the boys I am referring to dad, B#1 and B#5 soon to include baby B#7(by the way the B's means blessings as children are a blessing from the Lord). But the boys I want to introduce you to today are our alpacas...or as Auntie M calls them....lopacas(she's from San Diego:). My girls like to come to me first when they want a new animal and try it on for size. If I am not opposed, then I am given the task of presenting their scheme to Dad. I am not sure how that works out in the manipulation department. Anyway the girls decided they wanted alpacas and I honestly thought they were crazy, there was no way dad was going to go for this one, goats, yes, chickens, yes, maybe even a pony if they really begged but not alpacas. Well low and behold the girls found one for $1 down in Eugene and upon talking to the owners they decided each of the girls could buy one for $1. They would even deliver them. Now supposedly we can shear them and make all this money but I am still very skeptical about that, especially for a $3 investment. But at any rate they are very cute. So meet the boys, aka the pacas...Lancelot, Sundance, and Valentino.

I Looked into the Eyes of My Children

I looked into the eyes of my children, surprised by what I did see,
For I thought I'd see the face of Jesus, staring back at me.
But instead when I looked into their hearts, what I saw was a bigsurprise.
For instead I saw me--their mother---reflected in their eyes.
All that I wish I wasn't; all that I'd like to change,
Was reflected right there in my children---in many different ways.
All the things I wanted them to change; all the things I dislike themost,
Were merely reflections of me--things I should have already known.
I cried to the Lord, "Forgive me, for pressuring them, you see,To be things that I was not willing---or even able to be.
When I heard an older one say, in a very selfish tone,"I'll give you my very best toy, if you'll only leave me alone."
I saw manipulation taking place, and suddenly knew where it waslearned,
For I, too, can be the very same way---the very way I spurned.
When I saw one of them wanting the best--I thought, "What a selfishchild,"
Then saw myself being selfish in just a very short while.
When I heard one of them talking angrily, I couldn't believe myears,Until a few minutes later--my own voice did I hear!
I saw one of them putting frivolities before the things of the Lord,
And then saw me with my magazines, instead of God's holy Word.
Day after day, God showed me, my children learn what they live,
And before I can help them to change, I must be willing to give--
Yes, give up the things that hold me from being, what God wants meto be,
And willing to be an example--of Jesus---for my children to see.
Now when I see negative character--reflected in my children's eyes,
I look into the mirror--for it's no longer such a surprise.
Instead of asking them to change, I ask God to work in me,
And day by day, changes in them take place---and Christ I am able to see.

-Donna Reish

Of Goats and Kids

Well I still couldn't manage to make it out to the barn today. Why is it that going 150 feet or so to the barn can be such a trying thing? Anyway, I sent B#2 out to take some photos of the goats. Our experience with goats came out of a love not necessarily for animals but definitely for our kids (not to be confused with goat kids). Living in town only allowed for smallish animals like rabbits and a few chickens but our kids love animals so out we moved to the country. Our place isn't huge by any means but we have enough space for some animals. Outside of the chickens, which I love to watch, our first new enterprise was goats. We started with a free goat named Zoe who must have been really old because she had only one tooth. Then we added an Alpine milker named Ruby and borrowed another milker named Gretchen. The girls enjoyed milking and most everyone enjoyed the goat milk that they provided. Skip ahead to now (to shorten the story), we bought a Nubian doe that we were told was already pregnant. We really didn't believe that to be true but low and behold she gave birth to two adorable little bucks. That was definitely a learning experience for us all and we are so grateful to some wonderful friends who put up with many phone calls and questions after the birth. B#2 made it out to the barn just in time to see the brand new babies. Her experiences out here are many and varied. The boys names are Whisper and Starbuck. We are planning to use Starbuck at a buck for future breeding and Whisper is now a wether. Papaw was just as anxious for these kids to be born and our kids were so we are putting some photos of them here so you can see how cute they are before they grow big and ugly as goats can do. So Papaw, here's for you!

The Flu has arrived

Well, after many years of our family not getting the typical flu thing I guess it was our turn. Half of us have it to varying degrees and half of us do not have it. I guess it isn't all bad since I am the one who has it the least out of those who have it. We are praying that we are all better by Tuesday as we have a conference by the Maxwell family at our church that we are excited about attending. If you aren't familiar with them visit their website at www.titus2.com. I had hoped to get out to the barn today and get some pics of the animals so you all could see why we named our blog the Mennagerie but that will have to wait I think. Maybe tomorrow.

Explaining picture and post

Okay, so this really is going to be a learning process. I have been having oldest daughter C. help me since that seems to be the way of things in our house. Have you ever noticed that when we get new electronic gadgets we have to go to our children to help us figure them out? We recently got new cell phones and I am constantly bringing it to my oldest son C. to help me or undo what I have done to it....For some reason the text of my first post doesn't appear as it should so you have to click on the first post under archives to actually read what I wrote. As for the picture, it is explained in my post that I just thought it was a neat picture. I am definitely not the photographer in the family. That priviledge belongs to my dear hubby.

Joining the blogging community

Well, after visiting a friends blog, loving the way it looks and being able to get to know her better through it I thought I might joing the goings-on and see if I could do it too. So let's just say that this is definitely a test of how in the world this all works. What are my goals for this blog?!?! Good questions. I can just hear dear hubby right now wondering when I am going to find time to keep posting. I guess my goal is just to keep friends and family updated on all of our unusual adventures and enterprises. So...check back and see if I managed to make this work.

Isn't this just a neat picture? I just liked it and I'm learning how to get pictures off the internet. Ya never stop learnin' do ya?