More bad news

Last night in Burlington, Emma got elbowed in the jaw. She has a small fracture and is in a lot of pain. X-Rays showed a very small crack. THey think it will heal just fine without doing anything. Needless to say, she is in a lot of pain.

Highs and lows

Well, Brandon played his second regional game last night. Unfortunately, his season came to an end. They lost to the #1 team which was Griggsville-Perry. On a more positive note......wait for it........wait.........

Brandon is the Southeastern Junior High School Spelling Bee Champion. Yeah! He will compete in the Hancock County Championship on Feb. 18th. Way to go B!

Brandons B-Ball game

Brandon's basketball team has had a pretty rough season. They have only won one game this year. In their defense, they are a 1A team and play nothing but 2A or 3A teams. Our school district is very small. Throughout the season, he has never got down and tries his darnedest.

Well, today was the first game of his 1A regional game. We went to Perry and played against Meredosia-Chambersburg. I was very nervous, just hoping they could win one more game at least. Well, we smoked them. 44-4. Brandon played awesome, had a lot of rebounds and steals and scored two points. GO SUNS!

Next game is Monday against the #1 seed Griggsville-Perry. Wish us luck.

Slater Creek Farm update

Well, Rileys face says it all. She is now the proud owner of Gracie. She chose the name.

Miracle is really growing. She is soon to be 4 weeks old and already climbs all over the barn and straw bales.

Meet Ted, Gracies twin. He will be banded soon and probably be sold within 2-3 months.

This is what Gracie looks like when not being held. Hard to take pictures of constantly moving objects.

This is Madeline. AKA the boss. She is the mother of Gracie and Ted. She runs all the goats and they definitely defer to her. She eats first or else.

This is Alice. She was not pregnant like we thought and has never been. She will be bred in a couple of months. She is by far the most trouble. Constantly knocking the straw over and getting in the way. She is also the friendliest and will let you pet her anytime.

This is Beatrice. She is Miracles biological mom but now just treats her like any other goat. She is older and very shy. She is second in command, answering only to Madeline.

At last we get to my favorite goat. This is Buttercup. She is very skittish and she won't let you pet her. She is at the bottom of the pecking order. All the goats push her around. She gets the least amount of grain, so Deb and I sneak her some before the greedy goats find out about it. When they do, they just ram her out of the way. She lost her two pure white kids on Dec 30th in a terrible snowstorm.

Eggs for sale

Farm fresh eggs for sale. Deb can deliver to Quincy 1 day a week. $2.00 a dozen or 2 dozen for $3.00. They are better than store bought eggs and are delish.

Kid update

Well the first 24 hours are up and the kids are doing great. Still haven't see them pee yet, so no names. They both are on their feet and nursing. The one in the picture laying down is a little smaller and took a little longer to get going. Both seem to be doing awesome!

Slater Creek Farm Birthing Center

Well I went to feed the goats this morning and SURPRISE! Two new goats had arrived sometime. Madeline, who is the momma goat in charge, finnally decided that it was time. We don't know if they are male or female yet, but that will come within the day. Names will soon follow One of them knew exactly what to do. Here she is getting what she needs. Momma's colostrum. Madeline had them all cleaned up so we are hoping she will be a good momma. Will update soon.

I am loved

I woke up this morning to find that Deb and Riley had customized the Magna Doodle just for me. What an awesome feeling when someone expresses their love to you in non-traditional ways.

Then two hours after that, I was surprised with a phone call from Ellie. I didn't quite understand everything she was saying, but I am sure that I am her favorite Uncle.

Last update on Miracle...

Miracle moved out to the barn on Wednesday, at 11-days old. She is doing well and loving being able to run and jump and play. Although she was shivering a little bit this morning. We have a bed and a heatlamp in the barn for her so she stays toasty warm. This shows how small she is. She will be bottle fed (twice a day) until she is 6 weeks old. Then hopefully she will catch on to eating grain and hay. Neither of which does she seem too interested in right now.

Thanks for checking on her.

Miracle is one week old

Sorry to those of you that are tired of this subject; but we are just thrilled with her. She really is so sweet! She just started doing this today. She will kick up with her front legs and try to get on my back or shoulders. So absolutely adorable!

Slater Creek Farm Update

Well Miracle is 5 days old and, oh how things have changed! First of all, she truly believes that Deb is her momma. Anybody can feed her but when Deb leaves the room, she goes to "bellerin". She is very healthy now and attacks the bottle like my brothers at the Memorial Day Campout. We do question her right eye. She might be blind or have reduced vision. For right now she has been a blast and has brightened this cold winter season.

We thought Madeline or Alice was ready to kid at the last update. No new kids so far.

As far as the snow goes, we have been enjoying it. The picture is from last week but Deb and Riley even went sledding today. Brrrr! Have a great weekend and stay warm.

It's a Miracle!

After losing three goat kids to the cold weather, Deb and I decided to intervene with nature and bring this little one in the house to 'thaw'. Meet 'Miracle'...she was born January 2 at approximately 8:00 a.m. Her mom had done her best to clean her up but I found her too weak to stand and nurse. Deb and I tried to help but she was shaking and the bottom of her ears were frozen stiff. I brought her into the house zipped up in my coat. Deb rubbed her and warmed her with her body temperature while I ran to the farm store to get some milk replacement.

It was touch and go for awhile, we had to force her mouth open and literally make her eat.

Last night she was able to stand alone and here she met Lou. Today she took to the bottle all by herself and is very strong. We have her in the dog crate in the laundry room until the 13th! That is when we can wean her off the milk replacement...and hopefully she will go back to the 'herd' at that time. As of tonight I have penned up one more momma goat, I believe she might be in labor as I type. It could be a long night for Deb and I. We have decided that we are not going to loose any others if we can help it. (and never have goat kids in the winter again) If you are in the area, please stop and see our little Miracle! Of course there will be more pictures as she grows.

Merry Christmas

Luke Chapter Two

1In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2(This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3And everyone went to his own town to register.4So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

It is so cool how God makes everything work. It was prophesied in the Old Testament that the Messiah would come from the town of Bethlehem. Jesus would not have been born there unless the Romans had not ordered the census. The prophet Micah foretold of this 750 years before Jesus was born.

"But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times. "

a few miscellaneous shots from the past week...

Brandon after playing basketball on his bad ankle...enjoying a 'snack'!

...after a 8th-grade girls game...several 8th-grade boys painted their faces and were the cheering section! Lots of fun...
Our crazy cat enjoying a bath with Riley...(see Kelly, you don't have the only cat who enjoys water)...I thought Lou was nuts the first time he did this. So glad I was able to get a picture this time!

Champ is a good boy!

Tess is so gorgeous...but...gone. Jeff spoke with Steven's mother a couple days ago...and Tess is happy, they absolutely love her! So it worked out good for both of us. :)

Happy Thanksgiving everyone...

Sad news, same news, good news

Greetings from West Point, Illinois. It has been awhile, so here goes.

One little lab is no longer with us. No, she did not die. Tess turned out to be a puppy who thought chickens were stuffed animals. Unfortunately , for the chickens, Tess thought it would be nice to pluck the chickens while still alive. One was so bad that I had to put it down. Tess is now residing in Warsaw with the son of a lady I work with. It is ironic because he wanted a lab out of this litter but didn't get one, so now he has one.

While Tess was the major problem, Champ did his part as well, We are praying that we can rehabilitate him. We will see. He is lonely now but he listens so much better than Tess.

The goats are doing real good. Getting fatter by the day.

Brandon suffered a really bad ankle sprain in basketball practice three weeks ago. He is back to playing but is evident that he is not healed. I doubt if it will for awhile until he quits running on it.

Riley is doing well. She does pretty good in school. but I think she would rather be with her animals. I have to remind her to do well in school or she can't be a veterinarian.

Deb helps out at school on Fridays. She enjoys it alot. She is so happy at how well her mom has done. I am happy to, but it really reminds me how much I miss mom. At deer camp this weekend, John was telling me stories about mom and dad. I envy him for remembering so much. Not all memories were good, but still, they are memories.

Can't wait to see you all this weekend. If anybody is interested, Emma plays basketball at QND on Saturday at 12:30. Hope some of you can make it.