AND I SAY TO MYSELF...

(Wow!) What a wonderful day! Begins with some Van waffles, Griffin syrup and fresh blackberries from Sprouts. If you don't have a Sprouts near you, I am truly and deeply sorry. I think I've written about this farmers market type grocer. Love it. On Wednesdays it's everything from last week's sales flyer PLUS next week's. Cool! Thus the fresh blackberries-- 77 cents for a 6 oz box.

Blackberries are important to this story. This is the good non-EMF kind. Packs a wallop of Vitamins C and E, and loads of anti-oxidants. I like 'em because they remind me of picking those and wild berries as a kid at Grandmas. Like nature's little candies while we were outside playing... could just pop one in your mouth, and keep going.

Back to current events, though. It's the second visit of our new house cleaner. A kind friend we don't mind helping out for helping us out with all the nitty-gritty, down-and-dirty domestic stuff I'm not very strong at. Truth is, the kitchen my domain. I can prep, cook, clean like a pro who works in one all day. Perhaps because I work in one all day, with 3 meals, a million snacks and an awesome island we like to hang out at, even when we're doing school stuff. Plus the cool Bunn coffeepot's in this room! But the dusting, mopping, remembering laundry... not my expertise. And we don't hafta burn a fun Saturday morning doing chores when we could be goofing off as a family. It's a win/win.

THEN, tonight I get to go catch up with my old college roomies/band buddies. One I see a few times a year. The other I've seen only twice in the last 16 years. We all still live pretty close to Denton-- where a lot of our history lies. And we'll meet at the square. I've blogged about this before too, only not on the homeschool blog, but the town is a great place to start up a chat with anyone-- young, old, wearing a tie or tattoo... everyone seems to get along. A wonderful backdrop for the occasion. So it'll be great! 

And finally, tomorrow, we have a guest lecturer, or fieldtrip guide. Basically, Mom's taking the day off for a 3 day weekend. All we know for sure is schools starts off-site at the bagel shop. Who knows after that what adventures lie in wait! I'm sure you'll hear about it soon.

POST-logue, of the goat thang

The weekend was crazy... a few items stand out:

So far as the 12th annual Goat Cook-off is concerned, it went well. Perhaps too well. And by that I mean if you find yourself in Goldthwaite, Texas this time next year, with about a thousand pounds of goat meat on ya, you'll stand to make a moderate fortune. After about 11:00-- the shindig started at 10:00-- EVERYONE was outta goat meat. And for the next six hours hours, no less than 5000 people walked around craft and food booths asking if they had any... that's crazy.

Aside from that, we still had a farm to run. One with milk goats that needed addressing twice a day, nannies birthing, kids bottle-feeding, feed buying and distributing and hay-tossing. This particular weekend included rescueing a young one out of a feeding trough they were stuck in overnight, along with its being drenched in a day's worth panic excrement. Gross, yes. Not a real regular part of day-to-day living back in the burbs. Next time I blog about going down to the inlaws to help, someone comment to remind me not to wear my good clogs either. Okay?

At this time, I need to point out: This is no serious complaint. We all come home tired, hungry and incredibly appreciative of menial things. PLUS we've the benefit of the feelgood from helping loved ones. So much so, we're looking for a regular volunteer oportunity around town. Cool, huh? I lean towards the retirement homes and terminal wards. Wifey leans toward services. 

Sweet fodder for future blogs, I am sure...

A Really Boer'ing Weekend!

Anyone who knows me knows we have family with a goat farm, and we frequent visits to help out with things. All kinds of things. Things like milking, feeding, cleaning, building... ocassionally even birthing. Things that make us appreciate the little stuff like sleeping in one's own bed in their own room, jaunting down to the grocery store and back in 30 minutes, wearing clean shoes and not smelling like all kinds of nast. Stuff like that... 

"What's your point there, Todd?" I hear instinctively in my mind. And send out telepathic apologies to those which whom I've intrigued and then bored. Bear with me, please...

Well, this up and coming weekend is the grandparents Big One. The one where their little town, located smack dab on the bullseye of the middle of a Texas dartboard, holds its 12th Annual BBQ and Goat Cook-off & Arts and Crafts Fair. And it's a doozie! You see, Mills County is Meat Goat Capital of America! So this is kinda crucial.

All the vendors put their best foot forward for folks from-- well-- all over the world. That's right... the world. That's because we sheltered and blessed citizens here in the States hardly realize how much other nations depend on comodities such as "goat" for mere survival. It's crazy! Crazy and fun. For us, it's a real education of how countries like India, Africa, Mexico and others live day to day. That's awesome!

And furthermore, it's insight into farm-life, economy, responsibility and even humanity. I won't go into detail because the opportunity to explore stuff like this is pure gold! And I'm no 49'er... would rob anyone of such riches! Of course, my oldest on this weekend every year declared vegitarianism. So I annually remind her how I was a Veggie-tan for 4 years/Vegan for one, and how it doesn't mean we don't have to try and have a little protein to balance our diets--hers, a 80% sugar and starch diet. She tries a reluctant bite and says, "it's not terrible..." every year.

My challenge-- and gift to you-- is "Check It Out For Yourself!" As a sidenote, I was gonna throw CIOFY (pronounced "see-o-fie") in there, but somehow sounded too cliche and "el stupido." Sorry... 

Oh, and as for the title? Boer is a classification of meat goats. Tee hee.

By the way... if you happen to be around Goldthwaite, Texas next weekend... make sure you find me. I'm related to "The Longs." Ask anyone...

i'm gonna live to be a hundred and three!

Maybe just shy. No matter, " 'cause I'm no fool..."

Does anyone else feel that certain anxieties of parenting/schooling is cutting short our very lives? It worries me sometimes, in my selfish thoughts. I mean, we all know for a fact that stress is the number one killer. Nothing else comes close. To boot, nothing I've even heard about comes close to the pressure of raising and education children to their fullest potential

To add pressure, we have to model it to give our gang a reasonable chance of learning it. But here's where the "hundred and three" (a quote I picked up from Jiminy) part comes in: As we claw and strive to provide the best possible for our kids, we grow... we enhance ourselves. It's been said that a teacher learns far more by way of preparation than what they end up "teaching." It's one of those side benefits we homeschool educators quickly learn the benefits of.

But I encourage you guys to take full adavantage of this. What we strive for is ultimately the Big Picture for our little "loves." And what we avail ourselves to, is nothing less than a total reformation of the TEACHER, as well. And this fulfillment is a breath of fresh air, if you allow it. A life-giving, chunk of inspiration we can use to enrich not just our kiddos, but ourselves and the world around us.

So be that kinda "full" today, and breathe it in! Besides, if our kids end up wanting what they had growing up, we can count on being solicited to schooling our grands and great-grands as well! 

Blessing to us all! ~Mister Dad

MORE PAY AND SHORTER HOURS!!!

Do you guys ever get that way? Being a homeschool parent has to be the one way to get paid even less than a public school teacher. But that's not my REAL issue, here. It's this one:

My kiddos wanna raise in their allowance. 

"You see, Dad," I'm being told, "toys just aren't as cheap as way-back when you were a kid."

Way-back? They're not trying to appeal by flattery, are they. But I do hear their point. An average action figure runs $10. And playsets smaller than my Omega-3 caps, range all the way up to a $20!

They already feel the pinch ravaging through a box of vanilla wafers. You see, they've cut the quantity and thickness down over the last few years. The once 20 oz box's been cut to 15 and then 12 before dwindling down to the current 10.78...

Modern economics is a tough lesson for us grown-ups, too. So I'm trying to be sensitive to the kids' request. One of the biggest obstacles I notice is overcoming this mentality, even for adults. When life was sweet in the pocket, we spent a ton on whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted it. That's a hard habit to break, let alone not pass down. But like my wife and I learning the way to do more with less, we approach Bear and Jay's problem creatively.

We have shelves and buckets of rather forgotten and somewhat forlorn toys. "To think outside the toybox, how can use what we have in a fresh and fun kinda way?" I pose...

"Is this another recycling lesson, Dad?"

"Dudes... we can just give it all away to someone who WILL choose to have fun--"

"No no no, that's okay! We get your point!" they chime in, grabbing Barbie and superhero clothes. Next I see them walk over to the vat of stuffed animals... "Dad look! My bear with the stretchy arms looks good in plaid!"

And they're missing in playland a full work day. One can learn a lot from a Webkinz in a princess gown...

Our Recent Field Trip

This is one we take several times every year. The grandparents often can use help on their goat farm, about a four hour drive away. It's a "five" if you include the frequent u-turns back home within the first 10 minutes for forgotten items. Of course this time, I remembered not packing the camera after mile 25-- too far along to retrieve, so you will hafta use your imagination when prompted. I'm not worried. You're a creative bunch...

The Journey

It begins with piling into a cute little Mazda 5. Fun, because it has three rows of seating but still zippy. We pack two grown-ups in the front-- stands to reason-- two kids, in the not-so-far back-- they love it-- and all the loot in-between. A pair of poodles roam, one settling down at the adult passenger's floorboard, and the other changing laps and shoulders. He's our pup, and we think he has ADHD. (Imagine, if you will, a picture of a cream-colored miniature poodle with short hair and an Einstein mop and mustache on his face. Cute dog. Not real smart, though.)

It's rather ordinary the first half of the drive, a giant racetrack and municipal airport serve as the only interesting scenes. But around Thurber/Mingus, it get's interesting. The tiny town has an enormous smoke stack on the north, left over from something, and an intriguing castle on a hill to the south. Then, we get into the top part of hill country and quite scenic part of the trip. (Can you picture Hogwarts with dragons circling above? It's nothing like that. More of a towerless sand castle-shaped restaurant. Still cool though.)

Right off the bat we can see a wind farm with two dozen turbines towering over 400 feet each. (Unbelievable, even if I did photograph it.) For the following hour and a half we pass alongside a steady view of small hills, a few small towns and we're there at the farm.

Like I said, We're There

Upon immediate arrival, the kids have the unique pleasure of experiencing the miracle of goat birth. More disgusting than awe-inspiring to watch in real life, though. That made for 30 new Boers and 10 new milk goats this go-round. Plus another 20, mostly Alpines and Saanens, are on the way. We were there primarily to help with the additional feeding and milking, and we needed to move some pens around. 

Of course the wind made things a real challenge. It was straight outta the Wizard of Oz, I even thought I saw someone pedaling a bike in mid-air. Conditions like that really sap the enengy, but we knew we could count on a hardy meal when we were done. (Imagine Thanksgiving, every day; drumstick in one hand, corncob the other...)

The next morning we got up for more of the same, only less wind. Whew! Sat down for another big spread. This one, a heaping of eggs, hashbrowns, pancakes, deer sausage, biscuits and gravy. Sure we were all glad to help, but it's this meal that always makes the work worth while. Thankfully, we packed up before it, too, because we could hardly budge from having such full tummies. (Pictured here are a couple giant beachballs, and their dogs.) We then waddle to the car, stuff ourselves inside and return home.

And even though the field was covered in goat poo, we look forward to another trip back. (Visualize a typical family of four, wearing dirty boots and smiles. Then thank God that mental pictures have no odors...)

MASSIVE input

and somewhat, overload...

truth is, we've had a sheer stupid number of insightful blogs whom've-- whoa... say that again;d sounds cool, eh-- massive contributions of cold-hard-stuff or contributions or subtle influences to our day-to-day stuff. so forgive me for not scrumiging re-hashed nutriments... but credit belongs to those who have earned it.

and hate to sound like an LP, but, see side links... you'll be moved, i am sure.