Spring Style

Today was another beautiful 'unofficial' spring day. We were outside enjoying it as much as possible.

This morning and afternoon I plucked the 'wool' from Sophia and Arthur...they look like they went on a major diet! I'll have to get pics posted for you to see their new look.

I do have pictures of Rachael's new look. She's been wanting her hair cut and today was the day.
We also received some good news yesterday...workers' comp has approved the implant of the neuro-stimulator. Wayne will have the surgery on March 30th (a year to the day of his cancer surgery).

Kids of Both Kinds

Today was a beautiful spring day (and everyone who came into the office was sure to tell me that!). Even though I had to be indoors all day, Wayne and the kids were able to get outside and enjoy the warm sunshine.

Brittany seems to have accepted the new 'kids' on the farm without any problem. As a matter of fact, when she first discovered them on the back porch in her old dog kennel (which she strongly disliked) she wagged her tail heartily. Maybe she was just happy to see some other animal confined in that nasty kennel.



Jonathan loves to gather eggs and he's getting much better at it. He hasn't put any eggs in his pockets for a long time, and very carefully places them in the basket.

The boys are always eager to climb on anything and woodpiles come in handy.

As you can see, Rachael has her arms full of kids. The smaller of the two goats (Timmy) follows Rachael around like a puppy and loves to curl up in her lap for a nap. Here Charlie decided to join Timmy for his siesta.

Artist in the Making

Ian has developed a great interest in art. Thanks to Little Einstein DVDs and Poptropicia games on the internet he has learned about Vincent Van Gogh, DaVinci, and many others. He's also developed an ear for classical music and is frequently asking me if I like "....." and he'll name some piece of music.

Today Matt brought home a costume that one of his friend's mothers thought one of the boys would like. It's a pirate costume, but with the beret that was in the dress up box, Ian became an artist. Here he is posing for "Miss Tami" who had just finished cutting his hair.
We had no paints (that mom would let him use) so the artist requested that I buy him some when I went to do errands.

Here are the two artists at work. Notice the book on the counter facing Ian. (It's a book of Van Gogh's paintings that we borrowed from the library.) Ian was trying to copy "Starry Night", but he was having a great deal of trouble getting the yellow to stay yellow and not green when it hit the blue of the sky. If it's true that artists can be a bit emotional over their work, then Ian is a true artist. (You should have heard the crying over those green stars!)

Thankfully, we were able to console the young man and he happily posed for the camera before putting his brush down for the evening.

Arrivals...

Spring weather brought lots of outdoor activity today. The boys had their first picnic lunch of 2010. Jonathan is telling me in this picture that he's blind because of the sunlight.
Our friend brought in a load of gravel to help build up the very muddy driveway. It's so nice to have a bit of solid ground to walk on again.

This evening the "Jackson Goat Transport" headed to Binghamton to pick up the newest animals for the farm. Here are the new guys...I'm sure there will be more pictures in the coming days of these two cuties.

Waiting...

I've learned not to pray for patience, but sometimes I think I'm getting a crash course in that virtue...AGAIN!

Wayne had the trial neuro-stimulator device put in on Feb. 18th and it was a great success. Unfortunately, it had to be removed a week later since it was a 'trial' device and there was a risk of infection where the wire went into his spine. When it was removed, the pain came back with a vengeance. Now we have to wait for workers' comp to approve the permanent implant of a neuro-stimulator. They have 30 days. Their history has been to push the full 30 days to the max and beyond. It's very hard being patient when the pain meds and all the side effects take their toll--not to mention the pain that Wayne still experiences with the medication. We were back in the ER this past Thursday due to the severity of the pain.

Marc is waiting for another event...the arrival of 2 new goats. Yes, he's getting more. This time he's getting 2 bucks. One will be neutered and will be the companion goat to the other buck since they will be housed separately from the does. Marc is looking forward to continuing his milk production endeavors by having a male on the farm to keep the does producing. We're hoping that it'll be a positive experience and not an extreme adventure! Pics will be posted as soon as they arrive (possibly tomorrow).

Jonathan and Ian are waiting for the snow to disappear so they can go dig for worms in the garden again. They are already dreaming of what to plant in the garden and eating the fresh veggies. (I guess this farming thing may just be in the blood after all!)

The snow is melting slowly, the goats will arrive soon, and God will give us the grace to get through another day of pain. Waiting isn't fun, but it will be worth it in the end.