What's Got Your Goat?

Wow! What an exciting weekend we have had at the farm! We welcomed Sophie and Ellie, three month old pygmy goats for our kiddos. And we started our dairy goat venture by bringing in Cocoa, a three year old Nigerian Dwarf. She is bred and due in July.
Within 30 minutes of being here, Sophie took off and busted right through the electric fence. She was so nervous and scared. Who could blame her since we took her from her Mama?! It took us almost an hour to get her contained and in the barn. Ellie is a little calmer. Our goal is to train them to be on leads. We are going to work with them every day so they can get used to us and not be afraid. Miss Cocoa has discovered all the green leafy goodies that she can handle. She does great on a lead but sure did take Drew for a ride when she first hit the pasture area. Hopefully, by the weekend, everyone can leave the barn for good and be comfortable in their new home.
We still have so much to learn, especially with Cocoa expecting her babies in July. I'm excited to milk her and learn to make different things with her milk. I'm nervous...but I gotta start somewhere and just get my feet wet.

Stopping To Take A Breath....Busy Times On The Farm

The past couple of weeks at Ellis Farms have been a whirlwind of activity. We are busy prepping our garden, bringing more chickens onto the farm, putting up cedar fencing and learning all about DAIRY GOATS! In about 3 weeks, we will be bringing a registered Nigerian Dwarf named Cocoa to the farm. She is pregnant, due in July. Our kids are super excited for these new additions. I'm self-educating myself and learning all I can about dairy goats before she gets here. Our goal is to milk her, help her raise her babies, and hopefully grow a dairy herd from there. I'd like to learn how to make cheese and soap once we get the hang of things.

 I have to brag on the hubby and my father-in-law. He has worked his rear off building the goat barn, putting up the fencing, and getting our garden ready. All that while working 40-50 hours a week at his full time job. He even built the most beautiful cedar gate leading to the chicken coop. I'm so proud of it. He did a wonderful job!

Our next goal, once the veggies get going is to sign up to be vendors at our local farmers market. I'm so excited about this!!! I think it will be fun dealing with the public in a very different want than I do during the "8-5". Stay tuned!

Growing Pains

Lately, as a parent, I look at myself and I think....What the hell are you doing? I hear from friends that it's normal to question yourself in terms of "Am I doing this right? Am I saying the right thing? Did I handle this correctly?" But sometimes, especially now, I feel like I walk around with a big DUNCE cap on my head.

Our oldest is 11. He starts middle school in 4 months. I AM NOT READY!!!!! He's my baby boy. Yes he hates when I refer to him as this (only at home, not in public). But that's how I feel. I'm not ready for him to grow up. I'm not ready for him to be exposed to what's coming. I am a control freak. I am self-diagnosed as OCD....haha. And I hate, with a passion, that I don't have control over this. I like him being naive. I like him not knowing about alot of things.

Drew has been a Cub Scout for the past two years. Last week, he "crossed over" to the Boy Scout program......a big ceremony to symbolize going from a boy to a man. Last week, the "sex" video was shown to the 5th graders so that was Drew's first exposure (or at least I prefer to think it was) to the topic in any great detail. That night, I went to him and talked to him about it. I asked him if he had any questions or if there was anything he wanted to talk to his Dad or I about. In typical boy fashion, his answer was "Nope". So now I'm left to wonder what the heck is going on in his head?

But...I'm realistic. But that doesn't mean I have to like it.

I'm scared. Deep down, I'm scared as hell for him and society as it stands now. Working with juvenile delinquents, I see and hear all kinds of things. I don't want my son to even remotely know what being a juvenile delinquent might be like. My niece started middle school this year and as a pre-teen female...it has flipped her for a loop!!!!

The changes are happening. I see it. His moods are bonkers. He's testing his limits with us more. Most days I want to kill him. 

I just pray that we can lead him in the right direction, help him to make the right choices, and pray to God that we don't screw up too bad.