I am not yet functioning. I drink half caffeinated coffee. I wish we had the real stuff in the house right now. Although it would make me sick, which is why we don't have the real stuff in the house. Kit had a hard night. I spent most of the night sleeping with her on my chest. I think she had bad dreams. I love how cuddly she is. How secure she feels when I hold her. I'll miss that, so I'll try not to let one night of poor sleep affect me too much. Its just hard in the present. I'll try not to yell, more than normal. Try to be patient. Try to find the energy to get done what needs to get done.
Kelsy finished this year's Math. Before you get too impressed she started in January. But still she had a month left. YAY KELSY!!!!
We castrated the calves yesterday. That involves catching /tackling the calves, laying them on their side, putting a really small, really strong band around their testicles. Like I said, these guys are big. Another week or 2 and our castrator would've been too small. We would have had to cut them out then. Do you know some people eat calf testicles? They are called Rocky Mountain Oysters. I told Colin when we were done doing this I was taking the family to the Turkey Testicle Festival. Actually we missed it by a few days. Its held the day before Thanksgiving and its for real. I love embarrassing that kid. Anyway, taking the calves down was a job. The best thing to do is get their head and gently but firmly turn it sideways or towards their back, then they are much more compliant. Then we take a leg and put them on their side. Well one of them came at me and I put my arm around his neck and he kept going. I held on, fell on my butt, and he came with me. Chris flops on top an Colin holds his legs and I put on the band. We let the calf up, he looks around like "was that it?" gets up and goes and eats his hay.
I also got most of the tree limbs down around the electric fence yesterday. So that fence will be goat proof and horse ready. Yes I said horse. We are going to be taking in a horse by the name of Shakespeare. He is a 20 year-old former parade horse and a perfect gentleman. He still has a lot of life in him, but like all of us he does not have the energy he did as a youngster. He was first rehomed because he was low man with the other horses where he lived. Always pushed out of the shelter, never got enough hay. So a friend of ours took him. She thought her kids would be excited for a horse, but she found after a month they weren't so excited anymore and now he's wanting for a little more attention so she offered him to us. Colin & Spencer have wanted a horse forever. The girls and Tin are very excited too. We'll see if the novelty wears out or if we have horse people here. Colin and Kiki will get bored with this horse. But its a perfect first horse because he already knows everything. Now the kids can learn with a knowledgeable horse. And he's so mellow. He'll help a person gain confidence. We'll see what happens.
*****SOAP BOX WARNING******
Last night we watched a movie called Fred Claus. Chris had wanted to see it, so that's fine. I noticed something in the movie it had in common with The Santa Clause. An adult in the movie was not given a particular toy at Christmas and it altered the outcome of their life negatively. Now as a 40 something adult Santa gives them the toy and they are reduced to tears, they see the error of their ways, and change their outlook on life. What?? No wonder parents tackle each other over "Tickle Me Elmos" or simply spend too much money on Christmas. If we don't give our kid just the "right" gift our children will be ruined. What pressure! Our kids will not be ruined by their lack of material possessions. It is not their toys that create who they are. I was going to say unless you want a spoiled brat, but even that isn't created by the toys, that is created by everyday indulgences. Now don't get me wrong. Everyone loves a gift, especially my kids. Its trite but true, its not the gift, but the thought behind the gift. Ask any mother who is given a handful of dead dandelions & thistles lovingly picked by their 4 & 6 year old. Its the idea that someone cares enough about you to spend time and thought on you. In this day of busy lives and packed schedules, I think the gift of time is even more precious than it once was. The memories it makes. Even the memory for a child working on a masterpiece he is creating for his grandmother. While he draws that picture he thinks of her and what she means to him. I think that is a gift. And in 10 years making that picture he gave to his grandma will mean more to him, and had more influence on who he is, than that PS3 he got from her. Or that Superman cape he didn't get.
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