Sunday, September 30, 2007

Recipes with a twist





Over the years, my love for cooking has went from cooking 'all things terrible' to trying to turn that same passion into being creative and healthy in what I'm cooking.

There was a time, as in two summers ago, that our breakfast looked liked this. We went on vacation with some friends of ours. One morning while on this vacation, it was our turn to cook breakfast so here is how the breakfast went down.
Step one, fry a whole package of bacon in an electric skillet.

Step two, pour half of the good ole' bacon grease in a jar to save.

Step three, fry pancakes in the remaining bacon grease that is left in the skillet.

Step four, pour bacon grease that was in the jar back into the skillet to fry our eggs in.

Now, if that doesn't give you a bad case of IBS just reading that I don't know what will. Notice how all four steps involved bacon grease.

Our friends were in shock. They were even more in shock to find that this breakfast was a regular occurrence in the Kramer home. There were lots of things fried in bacon grease in our home. Along with many recipes that included processed foods, fatty foods, foods containing lots of sugars, and the list goes on and on downhill.

If it were awful, you can guarantee that we ate it. Velveeta was a staple food in our home. I took pride in seeing how many ways I could incorporate this fake nastiness into my recipes. Really, what IS Velveeta anyways?

When we got home from our vacation, we were convicted to the core about what our eating habits had turned into. We were living to eat and not eating to live. And we WERE NOT treating our bodies the way we knew the Lord was calling us too.

We were so unhealthy that it was affecting a lot of things in our lives. During this time, Jason also had the cholesterol of a 70 year old man and I had the hormones of a 70 year old woman. Our food was affecting every thing within our bodies.

Before you think that I have this diet down pat and it is a breeze let me just say this. For me, food is an idol the Lord has clearly shown me that I, well......IDOLIZE. It doesn't help that a hobby of mine is cooking and recipe searching. My television use to stay on the Food Network all day. I know, this is really bad. But, for real, I thoroughly enjoy cooking just like someone would enjoy playing a guitar, or knitting, or collecting postcards. You get the drift.

Food is a source of comfort for me. It makes me feel good. I get all giddy when I know I'm about to consume something insanely good and unhealthy at that. It's just so wrong.

Jason has been so patient with me and encouraging while I work through all of this by the grace and power of the Lord. It hasn't been as easy for me as it has for him. I still struggle. But, the motivation to honor my husband's wishes to cook healthy nutritious meals and also the command to honor our bodies has kept me hopeful.

Jason is definitely the more knowledgeable one when it comes to why we do what we do. If I can ever get him off that tractor, I will have him sit down and write it all down in detail. My brain has problems processing details so for now, you get the 'Lynsey's Notes'.

I was able to take his research and turn it into real live recipes.

For the most part, our diet consists of fruits, vegetables, meats, & whole grains. If it isn't in its natural state, we don't eat it. This means we have eliminated everything that is processed, homogenized, pasteurized, chemically altered, has sugar added (high fructose corn syrup), or whatever the case may be. We also try and eat grass-fed grass-finished meats & free-range eggs, thus the vision of Yonder Way Farm.

Also, if it is an option with certain products, we try and buy organic like in the instance of tomato sauces or chicken broth or frozen veggies. We do have a garden and try to incorporate what is in season in our recipes.

To simplify things, we just stick to the basic rule of 'is it in its natural state?' Unless we are fellow shipping with friends or it is out of our control or I digress and give into to temptation. The last one mentioned is no fun. I think it is at the time, but it is just a lie of the devil.

A lot of people have asked what actual recipes look like so I thought I would post a few. You won't see any fish recipes mainly because I don't like fish and we don't trust where the fish is coming from. But, mainly it is because I STILL don't like fish.

You will also see a lot of repeat ingredients. We pretty much buy the same things every week. I just try and change up the recipes a bit. It also makes for quick and easy grocery shopping. I know the products that we can eat and what we can't. We don't buy hardly any snack foods except for pretzels or organic cereal bars for Kaylyn to have. We try and snack on fruit instead. Jason is so nifty. He washes and cuts it all up right when I get home from the grocery store while we are still in the mindset and puts it in cute little baggies in the fridge.

We have found a few favorites that we love.

Brianna's
is a staple salad dressing in our house. We love mostly all of her dressings and they are located in Brenham.

We buy our chicken from THIS local farm in Hempstead. They raise and process all of their chicken.

You will also notice that my recipes aren't too wacky and do not contain food that we cannot pronounce. It is just easier for us to take something that we like and try and find a way to make it healthy for you.

These aren't all of them. I try and make up new stuff like different stir-fry recipes or a meat and two different veggies.

On to the recipes!

Spaghetti

This is your basic spaghetti recipe with a few things changed up a bit like grass-fed beef, whole-wheat pasta, and homemade sauce because most every sauce you buy has corn syrup in it, which is what we are trying to avoid. You can eliminate any veggies you don’t like, but the more the merrier for us!

1 lb. Grass-fed Beef
1 Onion- chopped
3 Cloves Garlic- chopped
3 small cans of Hunts tomato sauce
1 small can of Hunts tomato paste
1 can diced tomatoes
1 cup of shredded carrots
1 package of mushrooms- chopped
1 green bell pepper- chopped
1 tablespoon of basil
1 teaspoon of oregano
½ teaspoon red pepper
1 tsp of Natural Evaporated Cane Sugar
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Garlic
1 package of Whole-wheat spaghetti pasta

Brown the meat in ½ of the chopped onion and ½ of the chopped garlic. Add the remaining ingredients- except the noodles. Simmer for about 30 minutes until all of the veggies are soft. While sauce is simmering, boil noodles until they are done. I serve this with Garlic toast using the whole-wheat sugar-free buns. Sprinkle olive oil over the toast along with garlic powder, basil, and dried minced onions. Broil for about 1 minute of until brown.

Burgers


These are a great alternative to regular burgers. You can add any of your favorite toppings that you like. I serve them with red potatoes cut up like French fries sauteed in olive oil and seasoned with garlic, salt, pepper, and parsley.

1 lb. Grass-fed Beef- makes about 6 patties
Garlic Powder
Salt
Pepper
1 avocado- sliced
1 onion- sliced
1 package of mushrooms- chopped
1 tomato- sliced
Mustard or Organic Ketchup (one w/o high fructose corn-syrup)
1 package of Whole-wheat sugar-free buns
5 Red Potatoes for “fries”

Mix meat with salt, pepper, and garlic, Make meat into patties and cooked in a skillet. In a separate skillet, sauté the onions and mushrooms together olive oil. Serve on buns with avocado slices, onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, and spicy mustard.

Chicken Soft Tacos


Delicious! Serve this with Spanish Rice & Black Beans. Recipe follows.

1 free-range chicken cooked & deboned
Salt, Pepper Garlic (let’s call this SPG for remaining recipes since it is on everything!)
1 can of Hunts tomato sauce
1 onion- chopped
1 tablespoon of cumin
1 teaspoon of chili powder
Avocados- sliced
Tomato- chopped
Lettuce
Olives
Cilantro
1 package of whole-wheat tortillas

After chicken is finished, shred chicken up. Put back in skillet and saute for about 5 minutes with onions. Add tomato sauce and the remaining seasonings. Serve with all of the fixings above on whole-wheat tortillas and a side of Spanish Rice & Black Beans.

Spanish Rice

Brown Rice = Lots of patience. It takes about 45 minutes to cook brown rice, so I usually start this first.

1 cup of 100% Whole Grain Brown Rice
2 ½ cups of water
1 capful of vinegar (this is a tip that helps the rice get fluffy and not stick together)
1 sprinkle of salt
1 can of Hunt’s tomato sauce
1 can of Diced tomatoes- DRAINED
½ cup Shredded Carrots
2 tsp of Cumin
1 tsp of Garlic
1 tsp of Chili Powder
½ tsp of Red Pepper (optional- makes it spicy)
Salt & Pepper

Bring the water, vinegar, and salt to a boil. Add the rice and simmer on medium for about 45 minutes covered. Check and stir the rice occasionally so that is doesn’t stick to pan. When rice is almost done add the remaining ingredients and stir it in. Cover the rice back up and simmer a little longer until finished. Taste the rice and make sure that it is completely done. Brown Rice has a different texture than white rice, which is that it is a little firmer. You just want to make sure it isn’t still crunchy.

Chicken Parmesan

This is a great alternative to regular Chicken Parmesan minus the Parmesan.

4 Chicken Breasts
2 cups of Whole Wheat Flour
Italian Seasoning Blend (Mc Cormick)
½ cup of Olive Oil (or enough to cover the pan you are using)
4 small cans of Hunt’s tomato sauce
1 small can of Hunt’s tomato paste
1 can of petite diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon of basil
1 teaspoon of oregano
½ teaspoon red pepper
2 tsp of Natural Evaporated Cane Sugar
1 package of mushrooms, sliced
1 bell pepper, diced
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Garlic
1 package of Whole Wheat pasta noodles

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Rinse Chicken off. In a flat dish, put your flour and mix in the Italian seasoning blend. Put your olive oil in a skillet on medium-high to high heat. Let it get really hot so flour will stick to the chicken. Coat chicken with the flour mixture and place in the oil in skillet. Brown both sides, but don’t worry about cooking all of the way through. After chicken is brown, place in a baking dish. In the meantime, make the sauce to pour over the chicken by adding all of tomato sauces, seasonings, bell pepper, mushrooms, and sugar in a saucepan and simmer for about 5 minutes. You can do this step while chicken is browning. After sauce is done, pour over chicken in the baking dish and place in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes. While chicken is baking, boil noodles. When everything is finished you will serve the chicken over a bed of pasta. Any kind of pasta is perfect. It depends on what you prefer.

Chicken Fajitas

Everyone has their own way of cooking fajitas. We use chicken tenders and marinate ours in pineapple juice and fajita seasoning for about 1 hour before grilling. Also, we use the typical onions, bell peppers, and mushrooms. We substitute Whole Wheat tortillas for the regular ones and don’t use cheese or sour cream. Some good toppings to use are guacamole, cilantro, lime juice, bell peppers, onions, and mushrooms. We serve with Black Beans and Spanish Rice.

Tortilla Soup

This is one of our favorite soups. You can cook it a million different ways. The only thing that is different about this other than traditional tortilla soup is we don’t top it with cheese or tortilla chips.

1 free-range chicken cooked & deboned
2 cups of sliced carrots
3 zucchini
3 squash
1 bunch of chopped cilantro
2 cans of black beans- drained & rinsed
2 cans of diced tomatoes
1 white onion chopped
1 bell pepper- cut in half for seasoning

Boil chicken in a soup pan for about 1 hour. Take chicken out of the broth and then let it cool. Pick chicken off of bone. Strain broth in a strainer and re-use for the soup. You will need about 6 cups of broth. Add all of the ingredients and chicken to broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes.

Healthy Chicken Tenders


The great thing about this recipe is that you can add any seasoning that you like. The wheat flour makes them really crispy and easy to enjoy.

1 package of Chicken Tenders
2 cups of Whole Wheat Flour
2 tbsp of Complete Seasoning
Olive Oil

Wash Chicken. Mix seasoning with flour. Coat the bottom of the pan with Olive Oil and put it on high heat. Make sure it is hot before you put the chicken in. Coat the chicken in the flour and then place in the hot oil. Cook on both sides until they are a golden brown and crispy. We serve with a side of red potatoes and another veggie.

Pasta Fagoli Soup


3 tbsp of Olive Oil
1 cup of chopped celery
1 cup of chopped onion
1 cup of julienne carrots
1 lb. of ground lean turkey meat
4 cans of beef broth
3 cans of Italian diced tomatoes
1 tsp of basil
1 tsp of oregano
1 can kidney beans (drained)
1 can of navy beans (drained)
1 lg. zucchini cut into fourths
1 cup of uncooked whole wheat pasta- Ditalini

Saute celery, onion, and carrots in oil in soup pot. Add turkey meat and brown. Add tomatoes, basil, and oregano. Boil for 15 minutes, stirring often. Add broth, beans, and zucchini. Boil for 5 minutes. Then add noodles and boil until noodles are done.

Jason’s Excellent Chicken Beans

1 free-range chicken cooked & deboned
2 pounds of pinto beans in bag
2 cans of Diced Tomatoes
1 chopped onion
SPG
1 bunch of cilantro
1 whole jalapeno (don’t cut it up)

Boil chicken in a soup pan for about 1 hour. Take chicken out of the broth and then let it cool. Pick chicken off of bone. Strain broth in a strainer and re-use for the soup. You will need all of broth for beans. Add the remaining ingredients and boil for until beans are soft. This takes about 2-3 hours. Stir occasionally and check the firmness of the beans. Take jalapeno out before serving.

The BEST Salad

Leafy Greens (we buy Spring Mix & Spinach)
Shaved Almonds
Cranberries
Avocado
Carrots
Chicken
Brianna's Honey Mustard Dressing

All I have to say is 'Yummy'! We eat this A LOT. I never get tired of it.

Friday, September 21, 2007

May I help you?





Do any other moms out there dread going to the post office?

Can I get a witness up in here?

Prior to children, I actually liked going to the post office. I felt so grown-up standing in line to buy stamps, or mail a package, or change my address. I would always think of how proud my parents would be to see me standing in line being an official person in the world. That is what always came to mind while I was there for some reason.

This is not the case any longer. I think I would pay my mom to go to the post office for me.

For some reason, the Lord likes to test me and search my heart while I'm there. It never fails. There is always a story to tell, a lesson to learn, and prayer to pray.

Today was just like any other day. And then, the post office came into my life.

I took both of my children in with me because that is just what moms do when running errands with children. Brenham has a busy little post office with a parking lot the size of a small swimming pool. There is always people coming in and out.

One time, when I was enormously pregnant with Laney Rae, KK and I went to the post office for some insane reason. We were walking across the parking lot when her flip-flop flipped and flopped off of her foot right smack dab in the middle. Kaylyn turned into a crazy deranged toddler at the sight of her lonely flip-flop laying helplessly in the road. You just have to love girls and their need for drama the minute they feel like an accessory is being threatened.

I turned around and bent over (which was a challenge in and of itself) to reach down and pick up her flip-flop. I was so focused on the task of bending over and clinging to my toddlers hand at the same time that I failed to see this Buick headed straight for us in reverse. It appeared to this driver that there wasn't anyone behind him in his rear view mirror because I was bent over on all fours.

Another driver that had stopped to let us walk in front of her vehicle to pick up KK's flip flop had front row seats to this fiasco and actually saved us a trip to the hospital or morgue.

She saw the same Buick headed straight for us and started blaring on the horn. The elderly Buick driver didn't hear the horn honking and continued to push on the gas.

p.s.- This is also a commercial for hearing aids.

However, this momma DID hear that horn. So, in what seemed like one uniform action I swept the flip-flop, my toddler, and my uterus up off of the pavement and high-tailed it to the curb. Pregnant women look so funny when they run.

By this time we most definitely had a crowd. The horn honker walked over to apologize for scaring KK but she didn't know what else to do but honk in her attempt to get the attention of the car headed straight at us. I expressed my appreciation for her heroic horn honking and we got in the car, thanked Jesus for saving us, and went home.

That was a story within a story about the trials of the post office. On with the original story!

So, I'm at the post office with my toddler and the baby on my hip instead of in my uterus this time around. As we were waiting in line for what seemed like an eternity, my always shy three year old decides she is no longer shy and starts talking to this very sweet elderly woman.

The funny thing about post offices is the fact that they are so quiet. Conversations even in whispers seem like people are shouting at one another. And Kaylyn never whispers when she is talking. I'm pretty sure everyone in that entire line knew more than they cared to know about this sweet woman entertaining Kaylyn by answering every single question. I was like, 'Who are you? Katie Couric or something?'

Our turn comes up and we proceed to the next postal worker who says 'May I help you?' We walk up to the counter and the man in blue is greeted by projectile baby barf.

That's right!

Laney Rae spews all over the counter, the debit machine, the scale, the floor, my entire front side, and creates a lovely little puddle of disgorgement for me to stand in........in my flip-flops. It was like a scene out of 'The Blob' or something.

In the midst of this hurl-fest, Kaylyn is still interviewing this saint of a woman now standing at the next counter over from us. She asked this woman where her mommy was. Well, by the looks of her she could have had all but two answers.

Her mommy was either....

a. the oldest living human on the planet
b. a goner

Her answer was the latter. Except she told Kaylyn that her mommy was in heaven with Jesus, which spurred on even more questions.

At what point do you tell your child to quit being friendly and stop talking? I didn't think before we got out of the car to tell her to not talk to anyone or turn into Barbara Walters on me. The thought never crossed my mind because she usually doesn't talk.

You see, it was Jesus and all of the many talks we've had with Kaylyn about being kind and speaking to people when spoken too. All it took was 'You sure are a pretty girl' from this nice lady to answer the prayer of 'Lord, teach Kaylyn to speak with kindness and love to others' or even 'Lord, teach Kaylyn to speak to others'.

Being the wise mom I am and knowing my little girl the way I do and how she loves accessories, I said 'Kaylyn, what do you think of my belt?'

Before we left home, Kaylyn asked me repeatedly to take off my belt because it wasn't a 'real' belt. She didn't give reasons why it wasn't a 'real' belt, but she was definitely apalled at the sight of her mother wearing something out of the Beverly Hillbillies.

I know, who says that?

These people were probably thinking I was even more bizarre than they already thought I was. But, that was all I had people to get her mind off of Mrs. Smith's mommy living with Jesus thus creating more questions which I did not need at this point in my life. My shoes were sitting in a puddle of puke and I was bent over on all fours again cleaning the floor and all of the other contraptions with upchuck all over them.

I loved Kaylyn's answer though. It made me laugh and pause the head swivel action and think 'you are so cute and wonderful'.

She said (not whispering again),'Silly girl, that isn't a belt, it's a rope you rope cows with.'



Yep, that's what she said. We were at the rodeo last night and she thought it was hilarious that I was wearing a cow roper for a belt. Ha! (self portrait obtained by myself:)

I just had to laugh and so did everyone else in line.

I was just glad my post office experience was ending so I could go sit in the car and laugh, cry, pray, and then go take a nice cold shower.

I learn so much when I go the post office.

He teaches me patience. He teaches me kindness. He teaches me that He is my rescuer and my rock. He teaches me to carry Chlorox wet wipes everywhere I go.

'Since you are my rock and my fortress, for the sake of your name lead and guide me.'
Psalm 31:3

He is a good, loving, and faithful God.

I needed to go through this today.

I needed to be reminded to slow down and appreciate the sweet things in life like these two precious girls growing so fast before my eyes. In what will seem like an instant, these stories will be just that......stories.

I needed to be reminded that in the midst of wacky and bizarre He is still my fortress and my rock to cling to.

If you made it to the end of this post, WOW!

It's also alright for those who didn't. I understand.

I write about things such as this to....

#1- Document our family's lives since I don't have the best memory. I haven't successfully accomplished the scrapbook side of mommy-hood. This is the best I can do right now.
#2- See how many times I can use a word to describe regurgitating- 6, that is.

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Wisdom at your fingertips






Ephesians 5:15-16 tells us to "Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil."

This scripture speaks sweetly to me as to how I should be living out my days. I know the Lord has called me to serve my family daily. Serve can mean so many things and be so many different hats to wear.

But, when the Word says to 'make the best use of the time' it doesn't mean to just let your days happen and try and deal with the result. We shouldn't be in a reactive state all day long. I'm learning this more and more the bigger our family gets and the older our children get. I still have so far to go.

If you are like me, you are always looking for ways to improve your 'serve' in your home. You are always looking for ways to make your life a little less chaotic and a lot more organized so that you can spend time on what really matters.

My favorite sister-in-law, Heather Hendrick, is doing a series on her blog that will address anything and everything on the nuts and bolts of running a house effectively. Many women from our church are offering wisdom and insight to various issues such as laundry, organizing, toy control, time management, and the list goes on.

I feel it is worthy to address and so that is the reason for this post. I've already gained wonderful insight into the area of laundry. I love the body of Christ and gaining wisdom from women who have been there, done that, and bought a t-shirt.

Go read and comment. Click HERE to view the Hendrick blog.

Friday, September 14, 2007

Grow some hair on that chest




See this cute little guy?

We are one less.

You see, today was a sad day on the farm.

Last night the girls and I were doing our chores outside with the animals and I noticed that one of our four newly acquired cute little piglets was out of the pigpen. As I walked closer and closer to it, I realized that something wasn't right. It was shoving its face in the dirt and scooting around like a wheelbarrow.

I was mystified about what exactly happened and why he was acting so weird. With three years under my belt as a vet tech, I thought I was going to do something about this and go CSI on the pig.

As I went to pick up this little guy, I heard something come from him that I didn't even know existed in the world. There is great truth to the saying 'Squeal like a pig'. It should be 'Squeal like a pig, then pee your pants'. The shriek was deafening and I knew instantly that he was in pain.

I discovered that both of his front two legs were broken. Somehow he broke them during his escape from the pen. My heart hurt for him because I knew what was in store for him.

I wanted to be like Fern to the rescue in Charlotte’s Web and take 'Wilbur' in as my very own and push him around in a stroller and feed him his supper in a bottle and dress him up in bonnets. And then reality set in. I do that with my own human piglet. That is what the mama/girl in me wanted to do. However, I knew if I were going to make it as a farmer's wife I had to toughen up.

I consulted with farmer Jason about this last night over the phone because he was at the fire station. Although there wasn’t much said about this piglet’s fate, we both knew what had to be done.

How could he live like this? He was in too much pain. It would have been different if it was just one leg, but both of them.

Jason got home this morning gave me the ‘I am man’ look and headed straight out to the barn, gun in tote with his pants tucked into his boots. I wanted no part of the details. I just wanted to remain in my state of toughness because it had taken me sooo long to get there.

I know that you must be thinking ‘They were going to kill it anyways and make Christmas ham out of him’. Although that may be true, he didn’t get to live out his life’s purpose.

I have had to come to grips with that very fact. All animals here have a purpose. We grow and raise some animals solely to eat them. That’s it. How sad is that? Our goal is to let them live a life free of stress and grow up to be big healthy animals so we can eat good healthy meat and know exactly where it came from and exactly what we are consuming. Our pigs eat grass and for scraps they get our fruit and veggie clippings. Not buckets of slop with a bunch of miscellaneous in it.

Jason is amazing to me. He was somber and yet strong at the same time. He has a good balance. I know that must be so difficult to do something like that and remain sane. But then again, I forget what his other job is too. He truly has the mind of superman to be able to do the things he does. And he most definitely has what it takes to be a farmer. I need to take a course is Farmer’s Wife 101 or something. Do they offer that in the Ag Dept at A&M?

We could see the vultures from our back porch. And occasionally I would catch the two of us gazing off into the pasture in that direction with blank stares on our faces. Then we would look back at each other, sigh, and go about our day.

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

Chicks, Improvements, & Goats




To all of you faithful readers who entered a name in the 'Name that chick' contest, thanks! I appreciate all 6 of you.

BTW, Yonder Way comments are dwindling before our very eyes. What's up wit dat yo?

I would like to inform you that ALL 6 of you have won and we are using your names to name the 13 of the chicks that hatched. We were hopeful that just one would hatch, but 13! Are we farmers or what???

Here are the names that we have selected to be the first 13 baby chicks.

Aristotle- really who came first here?
Plutarch
Humpty Dumpty
Leggo
Waffle
Yolko Ono- for our more eclectic readers
Stan- when we determine which one is a rooster, this rocks as a roosters name 'Stan the Man'
Indeed (Because even though Brandon didn't post a name, he still posted a comment.)
NaShell- how funny is this?
Skillet
Ducky
Clucky
Princess (this ones KK's)

I'm sorry. There are no portraits to follow of the individual chicks with their cute little names below. So, this will have to do.

The chicks


Out with the old, and in with the new!

Jason also made improvements to the previous beach house chicken coop and re-invented the chicken coop as we at Yonder Way know it. Its pure genius if you ask me and much more farm-esque complete with tin siding and wheels. We have 60 chickens here on the farm. The new ones needed somewhere to go.



This coop is much easier for Jason to transport around the farm and also much easier for us to get the eggs due to the lower and light weight door on the back. Aunt Debbie and I appreciate this feature very much.

We've also learned that chickens don't really need the cute little metal chicken coop boxes to lay eggs in. Sad, I know.

So Jason built little wooden squares and put hay in them for them to lay in. And they work like a champ. We had some lay in them yesterday.

We also have 4 cute little goats running around the chicken pen. Jason adopted the natural way of mowing by putting the goats in the pen to eat down the grass. Brilliant. Less mowing, less gas being used, fun little goats for our children to play with.



Billy, Nanny, Lucy, & Ethel

Our goats are full grown Pygmy (pronounced pig-me) goats. They are adorable and have such cute personalities. I think that more people should have these as their pets. It might not be so great on the landscaping, but you get cute little goats to adore!

I think that is all of the news for now.

Saturday, September 1, 2007

5 amazing months!




Laney Rae is 5 months old!

I really can't believe in just 5 short months she has went from a sleepy newborn to a giggly baby. She is all smiles.

Her personality is already starting to show and silly faces are starting to appear.

So are two tiny teeth on the bottom of her mouth. I have thought that she might be teething but it is always anyones guess until you actually see something. Yesterday morning, there was a something. Two of them to be exact.

Laney Rae is your typical bouncing baby with enough sweet faces to go around.

Our two girls bring us so much delight and joy.