Goodbye flu and happy 1st birthday puppies!

Thankfully the stomach flu seems to have run its course and Tabby, Hunter, and I are almost back to 100%.  I've decided I'd much rather go through the pains of childbirth than have the stomach flu.  Tabby wins the prize for the highest puking score this time around:  27 times.  Poor thing.  Hats off to Solomon and Frank for coming through it all completely healthy and unfazed.

Hunter and I got in some extra reading time together this week, while laying around.  We are reading Charlotte's Web by E.B. White.  This was one of my favorite books when I was a child.  I still love looking at the illustrations by Garth Williams.  Hunter has been enjoying the book and has laughed so much.  The book has not turned out to be what he thought it would be.  When I told him we were going to read Charlotte's Web he thought that it was a book about a website by a girl named Charlotte therefore it would be really boring!  LOL!  Only a kid in this day and time would associate "web" with the "world wide web" instead of a spider web.

"Hilarious indeed!" agrees Solomon

Tabby is our usual "animal care specialist" and goes out and feeds the animals every morning.  However, when the wrath of the flu descended upon us, Frank took care of them Monday.  Then I have been able to the rest of the week.  I have found I LOVE being outside early in the morning, breathing the fresh air, seeing the sun coming up, and being surrounded by the animals.  I told Tabby today if she ever wants to switch - she can handle breakfast and inside morning chores and I will take care of the animals.  Unsurprisingly she said "no thanks!"  Phooey.

This morning I took my camera out with me and got several photos of our birthday stars of the day:  Exhaust Pipe and Sherlotta.  Yep - the puppies are 1 year old today.  If only their mama were here to celebrate with them.  :( 

Exhaust Pipe - he seems to still be getting taller!

Sherlotta aka Bomb-lotta

 Tabby has pictures of our two pups in a post on her Goat Chick blog today - including a funny thing she did with this picture (click here):

"So ... what's our present??!!"

"All creatures great and small, the Lord God made them all."

A beautiful Lilly collage

Lilly collage by C.T.

I had a special treat in my inbox today - the above beautiful collage by one of Tabby's online friends, C.T.   I think she did such a wonderful job!  Thank you C.!

I mentioned in my last post that my dear friend, my camera!, had broken.  A camera shop in Raleigh was highly recommended to us by a number of people so Frank took my camera there for me.  Well apparently I own a pretty ancient camera!  They wanted to know how old it was and then said they couldn't fix it.  (It is a Kodak EasyShare Z980.  I bought it - refurbished - in June 2011.)  So I found an out-of-state camera shop that said they could fix it.  But they wanted $120 to do so!  I could buy the same camera - refurbished - for less than that.  So I'm not sure what to do.  In the meantime, Tabby kindly loaned me her old camera, which I'm thankful for.

Today Bongle found a new home.  Tabby and I were delighted with his new owner.  She is a young woman who said she and her mother have been looking for a puppy.  When she saw my ad and pictures about Bongle on CraigsList, she felt a connection with him.  She even had a present for him waiting for him the car - a big fuzzy pink pillow, which he promptly snuggled up on.  Seeing how happy she was with him made it easier to let him go.

Bongle

Today I heard from the family that took Watsonia.  They asked for an extension of a few days of the trial period they wanted to give her.  I said yes.  But at this point, since they are still questioning her fit with their family, I feel like maybe they should just bring her back.  (I guess I want to  know her owners instantly loved her.)  If they do bring her back, Tabby and I decided we will keep her, and find a home for Sherlotta instead.  That would be too traumatic for Watsonia to be hopping homes.  (OK - maybe that's too traumatic for us!)

Watsonia and Sherlotta

I had to spend a lot of time in the kitchen yesterday and Solomon was there to "help."  I finally decided it was easiest to give him his own bowl and spoon to play with.  So I gave him a few scoops of baking soda and some water to pour in.  He had fun and I got to accomplish my tasks quicker.

Solomon was also thrilled to be able to join his big brother and sister last week for one of our character study stories.  He wants to do everything the "big kids" are doing:

Hunter likes using our couch to create all kinds of things.  Last week he made part into a washing machine.  He used a whiteboard for the washer's control board.  (Our current dryer plays a song - Shubert's The Trout Quintett - which is why there is a song reference on Hunter's "control panel.")  Hunter asked me to put the pictures on this blog - LOL he thought the readers would be very interested (especially C. W-H. - our soap nuts lady):

control panel

inside the washing machine - the blankets and pillows are around the "agitator"

Have a blessed week!

The Goat Chick's Udderly Natural Goat Milk Soap

In case you missed Tabby's blogpost earlier this week, we have about 9 bars of goat milk soap left to sell.

From Tabby:

Soap is $4.50. (Plus shipping.)  This is VERY high quality soap.  The ingredients are:  Goat's Milk, Coconut Oil, Olive Oil, Palm Kernel Oil, Rice Bran Oil, Shea Butter, Palm Oil, Castor Oil, Eucalyptus and Spearmint Essential Oils.  

This is a very moisturizing soap. 


This soap smells really good too.  We've been using it this winter.  Thankfully Christa's milk supply is slowly increasing again, so hopefully we'll be able to start making soap regularly.  

If you're interested in purchasing some, just let one of us know.  FYI - the cost of shipping on one bar is $2.50.  Several bars could be packed into a priority mail small flat rate box for $5.80 shipping.  (I haven't yet figured out how many bars would fit.)

I need to get a more up-to-date picture of Tabby milking Christa (the goat that supplied the milk for the soap we made.  But here is one from last summer:

In the chicken world, we are still waiting for the chicks to hatch.  Chicks normally hatch at 21 days, which would have been yesterday.  I did read that it can take 25 days during cold weather.  I hope that that is the problem.  It will be so very disappointing if no chicks hatch.  A friend told us that we should be able to hear the chicks peeping inside the eggs.  We can't hear a thing and one egg was sloshy sounding.  :)

Earlier today a family came and got Watsonia to take home.  They have a dog and are going to keep Watsonia if she gets along with their dog.  As Tabby and I tearfully watched the family leave, we agreed we could never be dog breeders.  We'd be too sad every time a puppy left.

Watsonia (left) and Exhaust Pipe (Hunter's dog)

 Bongle is the last puppy needing a home.  I've had a few inquiries so we'll see if any pan out.
 

Bongle - feeling sleepy in the sun

 Finally, here's a quick science experiment that Hunter enjoyed recently.  Very easy to do if you have kids that like fizzy foamy type experiments.  It has sort of a lava lamp effect.

Pour some water into a plastic bottle.  Add a few drops of food coloring - your choice of color.  Then add corn oil.  (I think this is the only time I've ever bought corn oil!  I imagine it's awful GMO stuff.)  The water and oil separate.  Then the fun part - drop in 2 alka seltzer tablets.  Fun to watch!

Hunter added alka seltzer tablets several times and really enjoyed watching it as we talked about what was going on in the bottle to cause the reaction.

Two puppies still needing a good home

This is just a quick post with cute puppies needing homes information.

We have two puppies left.  These puppies are FREE.  And we need them to leave soon or our hearts will break when they go as we keep getting more attached to them!

This is Watsonia.  She is a sweet girl:

This handsome boy is Bongle:

 

We do not know what kind of dog the father of the puppies is.  The puppies mother, Dixie, is a German Shepherd - Collie mix.  She is very sweet and great with animals and children.  We are not giving her away, but I wanted to share a picture of her:

 

Please let us know asap if you are interested in one - or both - of the puppies!

Solomon's lead level, book giveaway reminder, and puppies

REMINDER ABOUT MY BOOK GIVEAWAY! In honor of Trisomy 18 day (Tuesday, March 18) and for Trisomy Awareness month, I am giving away a copy of the book "Audrey Bunny" by Angie Smith. (Angie has also written "I Will Carry You: The Sacred Dance of Grief and Joy" about her daughter Audrey, who had an "incompatible with life" diagnoses and lived 2.5 hours on this earth.) This is a very sweet children's book about a stuffed bunny, named Audrey, who fears that a mark on her body - an imperfection - has made her unworthy of love. She soon learns though, that that is untrue. And that everyone is special and wonderfully made by God.
You can enter by:
1) leave a comment to this post (with your contact info) OR
2) e-mail me at: LittleFirecrackerLilly @ gmail. com (remove spaces) OR
3) message me on Facebook
I will randomly select a winner on Wed., March 19.

Good luck!  :)

Today Solomon had a re-test to check his lead levels.  Praise God they have dropped!  His blood test came back under 3 which means great improvement.  He is no longer in a range where there is really much concern.  He will be tested once more at his 2 year check-up, in September. 

The government worker with the lead detection gun never did show up.  (Bureaucracy!)  So we don't know if something environmental was causing it.   But perhaps the combination of the detox I've been doing with Solomon, the fact that he no longer puts EVERYTHING in his mouth anymore, and God's mercy, is what dropped his lead level back into the more normal range.

What else would a boy push in a stroller but a dump truck!

Here is what I have been giving Solomon to work as a lead detox:  Vitamin C, multivitamin (I use Beeyoutiful's Superkids), cod liver oil (Green Pasture fermented), calcium (from Meadow Mountain Herbs) and iron (also from Meadow Mountain Herbs).  I was also prepared to bath him in bentonite clay (see article here from Bulk Herb Store).  Also, I washed his hands frequently throughout the day, gave him several snacks, and damp mopped our wood floors a bit more than usual.  (Those were suggestions I received in my educational packet from the government workers that visited us in January.)


"Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." - Lamentations 3:22-23

Today my favorite puppy Houdini was the first of the litter to leave home.  I was happy for Houdini but I sure miss the furry little guy and was surprised I wanted to cry after he left with his new family.  Bye Houdini!

Houdini

We just have two puppies needing good homes.  The first is Watsonia, a girl:

Watsonia

 The other is Bongle, a boy:

Bongle

Let us know if you are interested in either of these two cuties! 

Signs of Spring and a few odds and ends

It's hard to believe it was so snowy and cold earlier this month.  This past week has been warm - 60s and even 70 degrees.  Some sunny days and some rainy days.  Our yard has been a mess of mud from the melted snow and then rain:

Yesterday I took a few pictures of flowers beginning to say "hello":

We took the puppies out into the sunshine today.  They had so much fun!  And so did we:

The pups were worn out after and promptly piled up and went to sleep:

Solomon and I took a walk around the goat area of our property to make sure the fencing was all secure.  He liked the sounds of the gravel from the neighbor's driveway on his shoes.

 

Our resident chicken whisperer chatted with her feathered friends some.  Tabby really can talk like a chicken:

 

Our house is very old (over 100 years).  Obviously there was no trash pickup back then!  (Well there still isn't here.  We take our trash to a nearby dump.)  The original owners used to throw things out in a certain area outside.  That means that whenever it rains, broken glass and rusted objects sometimes come up out of the ground.  (Another reason we always wear boots outside.)  Today I spent about 15 minutes picking up glass pieces out of the mud.  I love the cobalt blue glass.  I found a little bottle today too (see top area of bowl):

We've got a collection going of whole bottles we've found.  (I found a neat spice jar from the 1930s last year too!)  Someday when I have time (TIME? HAHAHA!) I want to go through the bottles, clean them up, and then display the most interesting ones.

"Light is sweet, and it pleases the eyes to see the sun." - Ecclesiastes 11:7

Last week, the kids and I finished going through a book called Jashub's Journal: An Old Testament Law Story and Bible Study by Simply Charlotte Mason.  (More info and sample page here.)  This was a "living story" that taught several old testament laws for every day situations.  You read the story and then read the Bible passages and answer a few questions.  It was really interesting!  And it made the old laws make a lot more sense to me.  When we finished, Tabby asked if we could get some more Bible studies like that.  I do not know of any so I am looking into it.  If you know of any - please let me know!

In response to my post last Sunday about dealing with digital picture overload, I have concluded most of us are in the same boat.  (Must be the S.S. I'm Drowning In Photos!)  No one seems to have a system they are thrilled with.  People dabble in albums, boxes, scrapbooks, digital scrapbooks, and printed photo books.  Each system has pros and cons.  It does seem that making photo books online and having them printed is becoming one of the most popular choices.  I like them.  I've made one for each family member of them with Lilly.  But they can be pricey if you don't have a discount, and seem very time consuming to me.  But then I guess every system is. 

So phooey - no easy answers.  I will continue to back up my photos on my expansion drive.  I also get my blog printed and bound each year and give a copy to each of my children.  (That is a journal for us and it can be our photo album too.)  I think I need to just go back to taking one hour a week and sorting through the photos that I do have printed.  Put them in order in boxes.  (Labeling them can happen in another season in my life.)  Then put some in themed photo albums.  (The smaller albums with slots to slip pictures in.)  Baby albums and maybe some highlights of the year albums.  I have a digital scrapbooking program I got free (which you can buy at discount from My Memories - see the ad near the top right area of this blog) but I really prefer paper.  I like making things with my hands.  Maybe I'll just finish using the scrapbooking supplies I have and then try digital again.  Finally, when I receive the "free photo book" offers from Shutterfly, I will continue to take advantage of them! (I seem to get one every March.)

Finally I'm happy to report that Frank's kidney stone(s) seems to be completely gone!  Thanks to the good Lord and home remedies!  I gave him all the things I mentioned in this post.  Remember that if you're struggling with a kidney stone!

The puppies are 4 weeks old today

UPDATE: Regarding puppies available - Tabby has decided she is keeping Watson and Hunter is keeping Exhaust Pipe.  I had wanted Houdini but decided I will let him go to a good home so that we are not overwhelmed with dogs!  So that means Sherlock, Houdini, and Bongle are available.  Note that Sherlock is a girl, and the other two are boys.

The puppies are growing fast!  They are 4 weeks old today.  Yesterday the kids and I set up a new area for them on our enclosed porch, because the puppies kept jumping out of the little kiddie pool they were in.

 Our new design is pretty crazy - it is made of 3 folding closet doors we had taken off closets in our home, arranged in a triangle.  It's very sturdy though and is working.  Dixie is able to jump in and out.

Last week, Tabby did a photo shoot with each puppy.  Here are some of the pictures she took:

Sherlock

Houdini

Bongle

Exhaust Pipe

Watson

I am laughing as I type those names ...  Funny thing is I think Exhaust Pipe is the sweetest puppy of all.

It seemed to Tabby and I that Dixie was starting to be a lazy mama, shirking her mama duties because we were seeing her running around in the yard so much.  Plus she isn't getting in with her puppies as much.  Of course we know nothing about puppies and are learning as we go.  So I googled it.

Turns out, Dixie knows way way more than we do.  Tabby and I learned that mama dogs naturally began to wean their puppies between 3-4 weeks old.  They'll even stand up in the middle of nursing and all the puppies will fall off.

I find animals so amazing.  God put these instincts in them and they know exactly what to do and when! Why does it tend to be different with people?  Why do we often find it hard to follow our instincts?  I guess because we spend to much time reading or listening to other people with opinions about how we should be doing things.  It does make me wonder, if we did not have outside influences, would we more naturally "know what to do?"  At least with our children?  I'm shaking my head because it's hard for me to imagine.  I turn to books for information and answers all the time.  And I pray for wisdom every day.  Often many times a day.

"who teaches us more than he teaches the beasts of the earth and makes us wiser than the birds in the sky?" - Job 35:11

Last week we learned to deworm the puppies.  I read a hint to soak a little piece of bread in the liquid dewormer and they would love it.  Hmmmm.  Didn't work.  So we used a syringe.  (First we weighed the puppies to see how much to feed them.  They were all 5 pounds.)

We are halfway to the date that the puppies will be available for adoption.  (They will be FREE.)         Tabby is keeping Watson.  Hunter may keep Exhaust Pipe.  Frank told me I could keep Houdini, but since all these animals are getting so expensive, I would be fine with someone adopting her to a good home.  So I guess we'll just see what kind of response we get.

If you think you might be interested in one of these little cuties, then just let us know!  Again - we do not know what kind of dog the father is.  If you have an idea, based on pictures, we'd love to hear from you.

Solomon says the dogs are very kissable!

 

 "And the most important piece of clothing you must wear is love. Love is what binds us all together in perfect harmony." - Colossians 3:14 (New Living Translation)