Our World

Zoo field trip!

2009-08-26T22:46:00.008-05:00

Michael drove all night bringing the two new alpacas home on August 9-10. The morning of August 10th we (the boys and I) headed out to Greenville zoo for most of the day. We left at about 6:30 and arrived at about 8:00am. The boys were THRILLED that we had the park to ourselves for about an hour and a half.

They were especially excited that this thing did not have it's usual long line. I really get nervous when they are on it. It's like a neck injury just waiting to happen!

But THEY love it. :)

Gideon giving biggest brother a ride.

He's really into climbing things... He's a boy.

See? :)

My oldest two FINALLY learned to start themselves on the swing this year. I could hardly contain my excitement!!! Thomas got going really high here.

Judah was not feeling safe that high so he kept it a little lower.

Gideon cannot start himself and since the shoulder surgery I really should not be pushing him so he just had fun a different way.

Planes go high!!!

I like how Judah matches the truck. lol!

I'm finished swinging now Mom.

It's climbing time now!

Thomas had to get in on the action.

Gideon joined them too.

Only, he wasn't too sure about it once he got a little higher. :)

They love to spin on these things. It makes my stomach churn just to watch.

Gideon went at a slower pace thank goodness.

TWO HOURS later the zoo finally opened...

Elephants are so cool!

They really are!

The boys thought the lemurs with their loud shrieking noise were the coolest thing ever!! (They've seen them many times but I don't think they've ever heard them make that noise up close before.)

So cute!

We're having so much fun!!

I think the giraffes have got to be my favorite animal here.

I'm also partial to tortoises.

A fun time was had by all.

First Day of School Pics... about 4 weeks late.

2009-08-26T22:31:00.004-05:00

My crazy homeschooled kids have no idea that summer is supposed to last as long as possible. So, they begged to start school the last week of July... so we did. :)

Here are pics from the first day...

Special first day of school breakfast and NO it was NOT healthy!!! Normally we make muffins at home but I wanted something fast that day. Lemon cake from Walmart with Fresh strawberries and whipped cream.

Gideon "smiles" this way for the camera now. EEK! If I want a natural smile I have to catch him unaware. LOL!

My Thomas!

There is no need for backpacks here at Basics and Beyond Academy but we do get them new school supplies each year. The usual; scissors, glue, pencils, erasers, etc.
This year they also got colored baskets to keep them in. The gifts were a big hit.

Gideon loved that he got scissors this year like a big boy!

I hope they are this easy to please in a few years.

Then again, I got practically giddy with excitment purchasing the supplies so there's hope. LOL!!

New Additions

2009-08-11T21:52:00.005-05:00

Well, Cocoa Powder isn't exactly a "new" edition (we officially bought and paid for her in December) but she is now living here!!!

I don't know if I made this public here or not but after the excitement of the beautiful boy cria she gave birth to in June, a definite loss was felt when he died about 2 weeks after birth. He was fine for about 10 days and then suddenly took sick. The other farm did all they could for him but in the end it just wasn't enough.

This proposed another problem besides the loss of the cria. Pregnant girls cannot be TOO stressed or they will lose their babies. No alpaca wants to be alone (you cannot have just one- ever!) and she was going to have to travel about 8 hours to get here. :( So, Erin gave us a great deal on a pet fiber male. This is a male who didn't quite make their herdsire cut. :) He's a beautiful silver grey male that we named Silver Bullet. :) We call him bullet for short. He seems to be fine with that.

Cocoa and Bullet are adjusting well to our farm. They aren't used to living in a small herd and they aren't used to as much interaction from 2 legged things as ours are. Today though I saw definite progress. I walked about 5 feet away from Cocoa and she didn't bolt. That's progress. When I went to hose them off this afternoon she came right up next to me to let me do it. :) I think I have found a way to her heart. hehe They are also getting used to our dogs. Cygwyn is ENAMOURED with Cocoa. He just follows her around. It's hilarious. She hates it. She is so skittish. But she's getting used to him. :) Destiny is helping out too by loving on me and showing her new buddies that I am okay. She's such a doll!

I have some pictures for you to see but I have to warn you... Cocoa photographs horribly! She is really pretty up close but bay blacks are hard to photograph since their eyes get lost in the darkness of their faces. We really have a rainbow of colors out in the field now.

See for yourself...

Grazing together

"Oh look! Mommy's here!!" Bottle babies are always special. :)

"Oh it's the 2 legged thing again."

Such a looker!

Ignoring me

Goofy look. She really is pretty in person.

Such a sweet girl.

All together

The "boss" of the pasture. This was taken after I hosed down their bellies. :)

Sleep well everyone.
Blessings!-
Angela :)

2009-07-28T16:12:00.007-05:00

If you have to wear a sling for 6 weeks... Fashion ones can be fun! I ordered it off EBAY. Ignore the tired look on my face. I was exhausted. :)

It's especially cool if you already have a zebra print shirt. LOL!

I also got a John Deer one! Pretty cool huh?

About a week and a half ago we went over to my friend K's pool for an afternoon. It was a MUCH needed outing after being cooped up with the boys for several weeks since the surgery.

"I think I'll just watch cuz my mommy can't get in."

"MOM! Watch me swim underwater!!"

When they both did it at the same time it reminded me a bit of a show at Sea World. LOL!

Diving board fun. (I pouted on the sidelines. Don't worry the kids didn't see me pout. I was very discreet.)

Nice one Judah!

This was a nice dive by Judah.

Thomas flying high

"You want us to try WHAT?!"

I love this picture. I was worried however that they would land on each other's head. Didn't happen. I was greatly relieved.

"I'm not too sure about this."

"I think I can do this!"

SPLASH!!

Thomas tried to dive but mostly belly flopped. He told us it didn't hurt. (Yeah right!)

Noodles are so much fun. :)

I told Judah he reminded me of a jet ski. :D He loved that.

So they spent the afternoon having a water fight. :)

Gideon finally got back in!

He blew lots of bubbles. :)

A fun time was had by all. K, thanks so much for blessing us like that!!

Shoulder Update

2009-07-07T15:57:00.002-05:00

Here's the scoop for those who don't know...

My surgery was last Thursday.

All didn't go exactly as planned.

I ended up having to stay at the hospital for quite a few hours after the surgery. I was under anesthesia much longer than expected and got sick from it.

Things were worse than they thought and the dr ended up going in and suturing tendons back together.

The whole recovery was supposed to take around 6 weeks originally.

Here's the scoop now-
The doctor and physical therapist say that I have to keep my arm in the sling and immobile (except for twice weekly PT) for six weeks. That will be hard. Then, I am looking at 3-4 months of physical therapy, and a total of 9-12 months before my shoulder is fully functioning again.

Pray for me that I will not go crazy. Thank-you.

TGIF!

2009-06-26T12:26:00.002-05:00

Well we have almost finished another summer week here and I just have to say, "I SO love summer!" I would love it even more if I didn't have to deal with this shoulder thing. It makes playing with the kids harder! But, I can be thankful that I still have one shoulder. :)

The boys have had swim lessons the last 2 weeks and they have enjoyed them. The only prob is that, this year, not very many kids signed up for lessons so they put the whole age group in one class and didn't have levels. Most of the things the boys did they learned last year. Michael and I were a little frustrated because we wanted them to progress but they did learn to patiently wait even though they were bored. (This is a good life skill.) They also fine tuned some of last year's skills and that was good. So, it wasn't a total waste of money. :) They enjoyed being in the water for 2 weeks. Gideon just took the pre-school class again. He did learn to jump in by himself, dive for rings, and kick and move his arms simultaneously. He still can't keep himself totally above water without help but he is getting close!

Yesterday we went to a friend's pool and we had a great afternoon. The older boys are swimming like fish now. It's SO nice to be able to sit and slightly relax while they swim. The big surprise there was Gideon. He hasn't liked jumping in at the pool because he doesn't like to go under for long. Yesterday I had a life jacket on him because of my shoulder and he decided he wanted to jump off the diving board like Judah and Thomas. I told him to go ahead. Karen and I moved into the deep end and away he went. His smile was HUGE when he resurfaced. He did it over and over!! I was so proud of him. YAY!

I'm not sure what we are doing this weekend. I'm hoping to do our monthly shopping for July on Monday. I need to get that out of the way before the surgery on Thursday. :)

I hope that y'all have a wonderful weekend!

Blessings!-Angela

Busy Busy Busy!!!

2009-06-20T18:06:00.002-05:00

We're all doing just fine here. :) We've just been crazy busy. What have we been up to? Well, I'll tell you...

First of all we're busy doing summer things; playing outside a lot, drinking lots of water, and hosing down the hot alpacas.

The boys started swim lessons last week and they will finish up the session this week. The coach is going S L O W L Y! In fact it's too slow but at least they get to be in the pool and have fun with other kids. :)

The alpacas are doing well despite the high heat. If you scroll down to the post before this one you will see the new alpaca news. :)

Our worship pastor called me on Tuesday morning and asked me for a favor. The choir is doing a service of encouragement through song tomorrow and one of the women who had 2 solos had to go out of town for a death in the family. :( He asked me to fill in for her. So I have been BUSY learning 8 songs this week, two of which I have solos in. OY! It's been FUN but definite work. Please pray for a strong voice anointed by Him tomorrow. My vocal chords are tired from all the hours of rehearsal. THANKS!

Michael's mom was here a couple weeks ago and we had fun spending time with her! She's such delightful company. She is so easy to please and not critical! We love her. :)

Michael and I celebrated 10 years of marriage on June 12th. We went away for the weekend. That's the first time we've ever done that! The boys had a fabulous time with good friends of ours who stayed at our house for the weekend and watched not only our boys but took care of the animals too. We are now indebted to them for LIFE! Hehe!!

I guess the only other thing is my shoulder. I don't remember posting about it before here. Here's the deal...

I noticed some pain in my shoulder about 4 (or so) months ago. It gradually got worse until it was pretty painful a lot of the time. I finally went to an orthopedic surgeon. I had already tried resting it and slinging it. He gave me a Cortisone shot and I waited 3 weeks. I got A LOT of relief from that shot. Then, I went back for a second one. Didn't finish it off. Tried physical therapy for a few weeks. Didn't help. Doc ordered an MRI and found out that I had 2 things wrong. Bursitis and arthritis. WHAT?! I'm only 32!! Anyway, the bursitis is swelling and the arthritis is swelling and they are irritating each other and pinching things and impeding movement, causing lots of pain, etc.

I am scheduled for surgery on July 2. Please pray that God will guide the Dr's eyes and hands. Pray for a complete and total healing!!

I know that I COULD PROBABLY try to rest it and do enough PT to bring down the swelling but it's pretty much impossible with the 3 young boys and the farm. I just have to do too much. Plus, I forget not to do things. I cannot sling it all the time because it could "freeze". That would be BAD! So, I feel, that this is the best option for me at this time.

After surgery I will have 6-8 weeks of Physical Therapy 3Xs a week. Fun, fun!!

So, that's what's been going on around here. :)

Hope that all of my readers and friends are having a wonderful summer!

Blessings!-
Angela :)

It's a BOY!

2009-06-20T17:57:00.003-05:00

We have a new addition at Sweetwater Farm! Well to be exact, Mommy and new cria still live in VA. We will re breed her there, next month, and pick her and baby boy up probably in August. :)

This is not the greatest pic but you can still get a glimpse. :)

Cocoa and baby are the darkest ones in the pic! Cocoa looks weird because she was newly sheared. Hehe!!

We are SO excited! I can't wait to bring them home to live HERE!

Family Day At Stone Mountain

2009-05-21T18:53:00.014-05:00

We don't give a lot of presents on birthdays here. Usually, we go a special place to celebrate. This year Thomas wanted to go to Stone Mountain park. It's a great place!
His real birthday is tomorrow and Daddy will be working. We will take a field trip to the zoo tomorrow. :) However, Daddy wanted to go with us to Stone Mountain. Here are some pics from today. Enjoy!

Gideon has been asking for weeks now to ride a train. He was so excited!!

He does not LOOK very excited because he was wanting me to get on with them, not take pictures. Hehe!

He wanted to ride that one too and was disappointed when I told him it was just there so we could see it.

Michael bought us all a chocolate snack for the train. Thomas is eating a chocolate covered marshmallow.

So is Judah.

Gideon chose the chocolate covered Oreo. Isn't that a sweet little cookie face?

And we're off. He was so mesmerized!
We all enjoyed watching his expressions.

After the train it was lunch time at Miss Katie's Sideboard Restaurant. Thomas is pretending to be a King. The table was BIG and Michael said that's what he felt like.

Judah loves having his picture taken.

The Great Barn. It was a fun place to play for awhile. There are different games you can play inside. They all involve foam balls. Michael's favorite involved the guns you could shoot with the balls (of course!).

After the Barn, Michael and the boys decided to go on the Sky Hike. It looked awesome but with my shoulder thing I couldn't do it. Gideon was too little anyway. So, while they were suspended in the air on a ropes course, Gideon and I went on the train again!!! Yeah! He fell asleep almost as soon as we pulled out of the station.

Here is the relief carving on the side of the mountain.

It's really quite something!!

What a goof! I wanted to take our picture so, of course, he put his hand over his face. :) Silly boy!!

Isn't this the sweetest picture EVER??!!

AS we were walking back to the Sky Hike to see how the boys were coming, we saw the bubble man. Gideon loved that!

The guy made HUGE bubbles!

Michael said that both of the boys were scared during the "hike". He was really proud of them though because they both worked THROUGH the fear and finished the course. Thomas was afraid the whole time but Michael said he kept saying, "I'm NOT going to let the fear win!" Judah was afraid in the beginning but Michael said about halfway through he just took off on his own and didn't even need Daddy next to him! Yeah!!! That's HUGE for him!

Thomas is waiting for Michael to cross.

Here he comes.

Oh look! Daddy spotted Mommy and Gideon...

and decided to clown around for the pictures! I rolled my eyes of course.

Since they were only about 1/2way through... we went on a short walk.

Gideon was just fascinated by

this waterwheel. He watched it for awhile.

Okay back to the carving, it's HUGE! It really doesn't look so big from far away.

But in perspective... this is a tree.

Here's some info I gleaned from the web:
The entire carved surface measures 3 acres (12,000 m2), about the size of three football fields. The carving of the three men towers 400 feet (120 m) above the ground, measures 90 by 190 feet (58 m), and is recessed 42 feet (13 m) into the mountain. The deepest point of the carving is at Lee's elbow, which is 12 feet (3.7 m) to the mountain's surface.

Gideon wanted to climb too.

He was so cute!

He enjoyed himself immensely. I enjoyed watching him!

This is what we saw when we returned to the others. Thomas being brave.

Judah waiting his turn.

Look at him go! He's got it now!!

Every once in a while though he would get this serious look. I'm sure it had something to do with the height.

C'mon Thomas!

You can do it!!

DON'T LOOK DOWN!

It really was HIGH.

There was a small rope course for little kids. After the big boys completed the real course this was a cakewalk for them.

They practically ran through it. LOL!

Gideon could do it too but he needed a little help from...

Goofy Dad!

At the end of the little rope course there was a zipline. That was a HUGE hit!!!

Even Michael tried it out.

Judah loved it too.

Can you see the sheer joy on Thomas' face?

He was like an old pro.

Gideon's first try.

Gideon's second try. He kept falling off after about 10 feet. He just kept going back over and over until he

GOT IT!!! YEAH GIDEON!! Look at that beautiful smile!

Thomas was pushing Gideon and there was music playing. He started moving the stroller like he was dancing. It was so funny! Gideon loved it.

These last two aren't from Stone Mountain but I just couldn't resist...

Some people have normal woodpiles...

Others landscape their woodpiles.

Scary isn't it? Heehee!!

Boyhood!

2009-05-19T21:49:00.002-05:00

My boys are always doing boy things. Sometimes this can be, um, challenging. (Mothers of boys understand this statement I'm sure!)
While I was taking pics of the dogs yesterday, this is what the big boys were doing...

Let's work together and see if we can tie this piece of stump to the rope and make a swing!

Let me test it and see if it will hold.

We got it! Now how do we get on it?

Judah always uses his head in situations like this. :) Smart boy.

I held my breath knowing that it would fall off in a few minutes. It did but thankfully it didn't crush anyone. :)

Puffy? Dogs

2009-05-18T22:53:00.004-05:00

Well we had these great big puffy/poofy dogs...

They looked like this...

and this.

BUT NO MORE! Michael shaved them. Now they look like

THIS!

AND THIS!

Cygwyn, how do you like all that nice cool air?

Thank-you my kind Master for making me Georgia summer ready!

Isn't that wild?! I still do a double take. It's almost like they are HUGE hounds or labs or something. :)

Putting it Into Practice

2009-05-18T11:14:00.002-05:00

If you are confused you need to read yesterday's post. :)

Psalm 138:2 I will bow down toward your holy temple
and will praise Your Name
for Your love and Your faithfulness,
for You have exalted above all things
Your Name and Your Word.

Thank-you Lord for Your love and Your faithfulness! Thank-you that because Your Word is true that all your promises are also true! You are so good to us!

Everything? Really God?

2009-05-17T13:00:00.002-05:00

Our interm Preacher has been preaching for awhile out of the book of Ephesians. I wasn't able to make a lot of those Sundays because the business had been so crazy busy. We have only been going to Sunday school and then leaving so Michael could work. Well, I've been there for about a month now and I must say- WOW!

A little background: I have always been a very black and white person with a lot of passion for Jesus. These are just things that God put in me. :) These things can be good but the negative side to them is when you get legalistic and prideful, etc. :)

In the last few years I have been really working on many things but I haven't always spent as much time in the Word as I used to. I have also been realizing that not EVERYTHING is black and white. (Go ahead, laugh! Really this was a big revelation to me!) Sometimes people are in different places in their walks with the Lord. Some verses are open to interpretation. Anyway, I have been working on extending grace. This is also a good thing. Except that, I have extended a little too much grace with myself. I realize where I have been lax in certain areas. Today I was reminded of another area. :)

Ephesians 5:15 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is. 18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. 19 Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I haven't been living as carefully as I could be. In some areas I have grown tremendously! In others- not so much.

I was reminded today that I don't give thanks for everything. I definitely don't give thanks enough during the hard times. Part of that is that the last 10 years have been really hard with lots of struggles and rough patches, new lessons to learn, old habits to break, betrayals by friends, etc. I have gotten out of the habit of simply giving thanks to God.

In His mercy, He gave up HIS LIFE for me on the cross. His life!! He also gives those of us Who choose to follow Him the precious gift of the Holy Spirit! He is always with us. He holds us during the rough times. He laughs with us during the good times. He is faithful! He is truth! He never goes back on His promises!

So many things to be thankful for! I'm going to make a conscious effort to give thanks MUCH more often. I want to "make the most of every opportunity because the days are evil". God is good! He is worthy to be praised!!

What has God done for you lately? What do you have to praise Him for?

Happy Boy!

2009-05-03T13:53:00.003-05:00

Okay, I feel I must preface this with a statement... We definitely have bad attitudes crop up here. There are lots of stubborn faces here as well. Apparently, though, my kids cannot make a sad face on command. I have proof and it's HILARIOUS!

Okay Gideon. Make a sad face for me, please.

You call that a SAD face?

Try again.

Nope. Not even close.

C'mon Gideon. You can do it. Again.

GIDEON! heehee

Thomas thought he would give it a shot. He was just as hopeless. (and let me just say that, not on command, he is very dramatic and makes the saddest faces around here)

But on command, that's as close as he could get.

I think that's more contemplative than sad dear boy!

Even Gideon's recent black eye couldn't make him frown.

It was a beauty!

He and Thomas bumped heads. OUCH!

He proudly posed for pictures.

It turned many shades before it faded.

I love my Happy Boys!

I Don't Get It

2009-05-03T13:45:00.001-05:00

If you know you are going to be disciplined for writing on the wall...

WHY OH WHY would you SIGN YOUR NAME????!!!!!

I laughed for a good long time over this one.

EIGHT

2009-04-30T17:59:00.002-05:00

JANE tagged me for this little exercise. :)

Here's how 8 THINGS works:
- Mention the person that tagged you.
- Complete the lists of 8's.
- Tag 8 of your wonderful bloggy friends.
- Go tell them you tagged them!

8 Things I am looking forward to:
1. Summer
2. Singing at church on May 17th
3. Stone Mountain for Thomas' birthday in May
4. More time with friends
5. Shooting my new gun
6. Losing weight
7. Leaves on the trees
8. Making alpaca garments

8 Things I did yesterday:
1. Exercised
2. Ate
3. Feed animals
4. Cleaned up animal poop
5. Did the monthly shopping
6. Helped at my boys' Awana hike.
7. Sang
8. Played my guitar

8 Things I wish I could do:
1. Ride horses (I'm very allergic)
2. Sleeeeep Innnnnnn
3. Stop talking so much
4. play the flute
5. Leave the mess in the kitchen
6. Have more patience
7. Eat whatever I want to with no consequences
8. Sleep through the night

8 Shows I watch:
1. The Biggest Loser
2. DWTS

I tag whomever wants to be tagged. :)

DATE NIGHTS

2009-04-28T22:01:00.005-05:00

Every once in a while I like to take all the boys out separately. Judah goes with me, then Thomas, and then Gideon. This is especially helpful when we are having lots of discipline issues. :) It's a chance to reconnect and tie some heart strings. The older boys LOVE to go to the local coffee shop. They call it "the pretzel place". It's really named the Perk Up. They call it the pretzel place because this shop has the best soft pretzels in town and sometimes, on special occasions, I take them there and get them each one, or one to split. The other draw for them is that there are board games you can play. The boys love this. Those pretzel shop owners sure are smart. ;)

Here's how the date nights came about this time...
We (Judah and I) were having a terrible time on Tuesday. His behavior was horrid. My attitude was horrid. It was not good. So, I decided that we needed a date. We ate together at Quincy's and then went to the Perk Up to play games. That's when he fell in love with Monopoly. We had a great time. Our relationship needed it. :) He had just finished his second grade math book that day and I said it was a celebration!! We went by Walmart on the way home (of course) to pick up a few things and he bought Monopoly with some of his birthday money he had saved. (I can't even save money for 2months!!! He's an awesome kid!)

So, Thomas was REALLY wanting to go on a date to "The Pretzel Place". However, he still had 24 pages left to do in his Math book. Wouldn't you know that the child sat down and did them ALL in one day on Friday!! He was SO DETERMINED!!! It was impressive. Normally he is DONE after 2 pages. For real. His eyes start glazing over, etc. hehe TWENTY FOUR PAGES!!!!! So, we went out to celebrate together. Here are pictures from the date.

YEAH! It's my turn now!! We're playing Candyland while we wait for our food. :)

Special hot chocolate!

My attention span is much shorter than Judah's. Let's play a different game!

Chutes and Ladders will be a good choice I think.

We ate sandwiches and drank our drinks. We also shared a soft pretzel- of course. :)

I think this was our fourth game after Candyland, Chutes and Ladders, and a very brief partial game of Monopoly. Connect Four!

The boy actually beat me twice!!! I was so ashamed!! I was also proud of him. :)

We had so much fun!! So did Judah and I. Gideon is counting down the days till he can go with me. I think we will skip the coffee house though. We'll do something like the park for our date night. :)

Blessings everyone!-
Angela :)

Outside Fun!

2009-04-20T22:37:00.004-05:00

When you have 3 boys close in age...socialization is not really an issue. There is always someone to play with. :) They have been enjoying their swing set more this year than the last 2 years. They have a "fort" on top. They have lined it with hay. :) They are unconventional children and like to stand on the slide. I don't mind. As long as we don't have to go to the ER it's perfectly fine with me. :)

Gideon still prefers to sit. Thankfully. :)

Judah loves to have his picture taken. He's such a handsome big guy!

I love big dogs!

They are fun to watch when they shake.

They are always together. They are good buddies!

They are fun to take pictures of with the kids.

There is just something so cute and funny about watching 100+ pounds puppies wrestle together. :D

See what I mean? :)

Blessings!-
Angela :)

FLEECE!

2009-04-20T22:17:00.004-05:00

Bags of fleece are beautiful things! I'm just imagining the possibilities!! :)
I also like running my hands over the fleece. Especially Delight's because she will not let people touch her normally. heehee

The bag on the left is Destiny's fleece. Delight's first cut is in the middle and second cut is on the right. The first cut is the "show blanket" and the second cut is the neck and leg fiber. All of the blanket can be used at the mill. Some of the 2nd cut can go. I will have to wade through it. :)

Destiny's fiber is a pretty color.

She also has a nice crimp structure to her fleece. Crimp= more value. We like crimp.

Look at all that fluffy goodness! She is a beige girl. The reddish color is GA clay.

Have I mentioned that I like to touch it?!

Shearing Day!

2009-04-19T21:26:00.006-05:00

Though it went pretty well, both the humans and the alpacas in this family are GLAD that it's over!! :)

We loaded up the girls around 12:30pm. Yes we took them in the van. They did NOT like the trip. Delight was totally stressed as was Destiny.

You can see the looks of slight horror on their sweet faces.

When we arrived at the farm they were SO glad to be let out. They practically ran over the three boy alpacas who were all waiting in line to be sheared.

When the shearers were getting their equipment ready and started the electric shears up (they sounded like a buzz saw) I thought that our girls were going to just skip the shearing and JUMP out of their fleeces. Poor things. Shearing day really is the most stressful day for an alpaca.

They are SO little and skinny under all that fleece. Well, most of them are. Delight is large for an alpaca and Destiny is a little porky too. But that's beside the point...

So, the shearers started in on the first alpaca. Hampton screeched the whole time. You can imagine what this did for the morale of the ones who were waiting in line. :grin: Jaxson was much calmer. Dante spit and drooled spit pretty much the whole time. It was not a pretty sight. Funny, but not pretty. Heehee

Delight went next. She actually did great! She is 5 years old though so she's seen this whole thing a few times now. It has to be scary to them. Here is a link with pics and it shows the process. This is not our shearing day but it's basically the same process... Under the picture on the left, click on the "click for more" and you will get access to all their photos.
http://hamptonroads.com/2009/04/photos-shear-madness-nc-alpacas-are-fleeced
Interesting eh? :)

While they were down we vaccinated them also. MUCH easier to do while they are tied. Destiny was let up early and that was a little tough. She's a little spitfire and it took three of us to give her the shot. That's my girl!

Speaking of Destiny she didn't squeal while she was being sheared but she did buck and kick while they were tying her legs. Poor baby. I wanted to watch but Delight was so perturbed that they were messing with her baby that she kept spraying spit into the air so I took her for a walk. The group was grateful. :)

After the trauma, we loaded our girls and the bags of fiber into the van. I cannot wait to get this fiber to the mill and then make it into super soft hats, etc. :)

Here are a few before and after photos.

Taken on March 10th.

Taken on March 13th.

Taken on March 27th.

These next two were taken today after we got home from shearing.

Delight

Destiny

Different eh? :)

We're Still Here!

2009-04-11T12:51:00.002-05:00

Life has just gotten so busy since the addition of the animals. of course they were added to: homeschooling, Michael training a new driver, and my newest endeavor. What's that? Well I'm glad you asked. ;)

Weight Loss.

Before the addition of my third child 3 years ago, I ALWAYS exercised and mostly ate very well. Then came Gideon and something happened. heehee

I had gotten down to a great weight last year but then I got pneumonia. Dum, Du-Dum Dum. I had to eat every few hrs (for a MONTH) to keep down the meds. Then, I decided I like that. It all went downhill from there. Since I couldn't exercise I couldn't burn it off.
Well, now I AM burning it off but it's taking almost all of the "spare" time I have. I'm determined though! I just passed the halfway point!! YEAH!!

So that's about all that's new. How boring. Hopefully I didn't just scare off the last few readers.

Other than that, we are looking ahead to a busy summer. Hopefully we can get the boys into swim lessons again. My MIL is coming to visit at the end of May. Michael and I will celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary on June 12th. My parents are possibly coming at the end of June. We pick up Cocoa Powder in late July. Whew!
We will be officially finished with school for the year just in time for all the craziness. :) School continues to go pretty well. We are ready for a break though.

Judah had a birthday in February and turned SEVEN! I was traumatized. :) I do have pics of that and I PROMISE to post them sometime in the near future.

Michael turned 43 last week. His birthday was a quiet, relaxing family evening. He enjoyed it. He didn't want too big of a deal made because he has been working 7 days a week for awhile. He just didn't have the time for a trip or anything like that. So, he requested a special meal. A very thick (1 1/2 inch) Ribeye grilled Pittsburgh style, topped with Blue Cheese Butter (homemade and it's a GREAT recipe), Texas Garlic Toast, and grilled zucchini and squash. The meal ended with a homemade coconut cream pie. That's Michael's favorite and I haven't made one for quite some time. He was very pleased. All the men really enjoyed the feast.

Then he opened presents the boys picked out. heehee

Thomas got him a new tool belt, Judah got "him" a hot wheels track, and Gid gave him 5 hot wheels cars. I gave him a new spatula for the range. Our other metal one he always used went missing. I like the plastic ones. :)

I hope that everyone has a wonderful Resurrection Day tomorrow!!!
I won't take so long to post next time.

Blessings!-Angela :)

Ahhhhhh

2009-03-25T21:22:00.001-05:00

In case you are wondering, that is a sigh of relief! Nobody is sick this week. No animals have died or gotten sick. We have done homeschool every day. Life is looking up!! :)

In fact, even Math has gone well this week during homeschool- for BOTH boys!! I'm in Heaven!!

They had both been struggling just a tad. Judah kept pressing through but I kicked Thomas out of Math for about 4 weeks. (He didn't notice. I just didn't ask him to do any.) This week I started Thomas back and it's like a light bulb went on!!! Yeah!

Today Judah asked to do an extra 8 pages of Math ABOVE his required 2. Hehe. Seriously, was I hit over the head in the last few days and I just don't remember????

We have made homemade muffins twice this week. The boys love them and they love to help. Gideon is proving to be just as avid of a cook as the other two.

OH! This last week has been a breakthrough week for Gid in the speech dept. Most of you know that he is severely delayed. He has been diagnosed with speech apraxia. He is VERY smart (his speech pathologist confirms this) and his motor skills are super but he's about 2 years behind in language. Anyway, he has been working with my friend Karen for about 6 months now and he can say a few WHOLE words now!! Up. Help. and soup are now complete and consistent! We are very proud of him and very grateful to Karen. Also, Karen thinks that he is on the verge of really getting it. She is expecting a big breakthrough soon. :) That would be GREAT!

So, good things this week. Thanks for praying for our family the last 3 weeks. We are all over the flu and sick or dying animals and we are very happy about that. :)

Blessings!- Angela :)

Mommy's Brain

2009-03-20T22:04:00.001-05:00

As most of you know, the last few weeks here have been extremely busy and stressful here. At the end of last week I decided that the kids had been put off for most of 2 weeks with Rico dying, paperwork for the insurance co, Rowdy getting sick, visits to the vet at least 4 times, etc. We hadn't done school (some spring break) and we hadn't really played together much in those two weeks. So, on one of the nights last week (I think it was Thursday) I decided to surprise the 2 oldest.

Michael and Gideon had gone to bed. The other boys were coloring in the dining room. I snuck around the corner and they looked up like they were going to try to talk me out of going to bed. Before they could say anything I said, "Wanna go get some ice cream?" They looked at me like I had perhaps fallen off another planet. (we don't do much sugar here) I smiled and repeated the question. Thomas asked, "Right now?" with a very perplexed look on his cute little face. "Yes! Right now. Do you want to go get some ice cream at Sonic?" Someone (I cannot remember which one) reminded me that it was "night time". I said, "I know. Let's go on an adventure!"

They quickly and quietly got ready lest I change my mind. I think they still weren't sure whether I was kidding or not. We drove there without music which was very rare for me. We enjoyed looking at the stars and the moon. We live in the sticks so there are no streetlights for a bit. You can see them well. We decided that we would go to Dairy Queen instead of Sonic since it was still open.

Judah was shocked when I let him get a whole banana split. (I KNEW he wouldn't finish it!) Thomas got a normal sized treat. For those who are wondering I got the Brownie Earthquake.

The funny part was on the way to the ice cream place. Judah was just sitting there and out of the blue said, "Mom, tomorrow when Daddy hears about this he's going to think that you have something wrong with your brain." I just laughed.

Then he added, "But don't worry, I think that your brain is working JUST FINE!" ROFLOL!!

Alpaca Q and A

2009-03-19T21:15:00.003-05:00

Several people have asked questions... I will attempt to answer them.

A few months ago I was asked and I answered these questions:

Jane asked:Cocoa Powder is so perdeee! to bad she can't give cocoa flavored milk;) If she is giving birth in June, can they bread her and have her ready for shipping by July? Poor girl...nothing but prego for her!

Answer- Yes Jane that is the life of an alpaca. Breed, give birth, re breed in 14-17 days. They don't seem to suffer at all with it. :)

She won't be shipped. We will bring her home in our van. :) Seriously. All the alpaca owners do that. :)

Veronica asked:
OK,
A. How long, or how many times can they breed, give birth, re breed in a lifetime? Still seems tough :)

B. Will she sit in the front seat like dogs do? Or are alpacas too dignified for that?

Answer:
A. They can start having babies at 1 1/2 years old. They can continue having babies all the way up to old age (15-20 years). If a vet recommends you retire them, then you do. Other than that, they are very stoic animals.

B. Haha! Not on the front seat. They are WAY too dignified for that. :)

Jane asked:
how long is their gestation period?
how long do they nurse their babies?
why don't they shave their legs too?

Answer: (3 months later- SORRY Jane)
Gestation period= 11- 11 1/2 months

Alpacas nurse for approx 6 months

I have no idea why they don't shave the legs. Probably because it's too short to spin it and some of the owners might do it for show purposes. ????

A few days ago I was asked these questions:

Jane asked:
why the need for the working dogs???? to keep wild animals away?

and Lea asked: I was also wondering why you need the guard dogs for protection. What is the threat to the alpacas?

Answer:
One of the biggest threats here is the coyote. We also have bears here and bobcats. A bobcat wouldn't take down an adult alpaca but they might a baby. A coyote would try for any of the herd. We also have a rogue dog pack that runs this area.
Our dogs would be able to defend the animals. Alpacas cannot take care of themselves like llamas can.

Lea asked:
Also, why do the alpacas need to have on the covers when they are covered with their own fleece. One would think that their own fleece would keep them very warm but I think you mentioned they can get hypothermia very easily?

Answer:
Healthy adult alpacas don't need coats. They can be out in the snow and be just fine.
In the picture you saw Destiny, who was a few days old, wearing a coat because little crias don't have the fiber length that the older ones do. They need the warmth, so, you use cria coats and you can also use warming lamps.
Rico was underweight a bit and that's why he was susceptible to the hypothermia. Also, he was very ill and we didn't know it. That was probably why he couldn't get his body temp back up on his own. :(

Lea asked:
Are you planning to use the fleece yourselves to make things or will you sell it? It is hard to imagine that the fleece alone would make enough money to cover a return on your investment, but I'm sure it must be or you (and others) would not have gotten into the business.

Answer:
Yes we are planning to use the fleece to make things to sell. We will take it to the fiber mill (located somewhere near here- can't remember the exact location) , get it spun into yarn, and have FUN!
The fleece does NOT cover the investment. The money is in the breeding and selling of the alpacas. The fleece is just a side business/hobby that HOPEFULLY will become more popular in America. It's VERY VERY warm and repels water. It's also hypoallergenic and comes in a WIDE variety of colors.

Kidcraze asked:
When will the new cria be due, assuming her re-breed went well?

Answer:
Sometime in January

Andie asked:
Hey, how is Cygwyn's leg?

Answer:
I had mentioned a few days ago that he developed a pretty serious limp. I also mentioned that we were praying for a divine healing. He limps less every day! Today he was using it almost full weight! We're still praying. :)

Why Alpacas?

2009-03-16T20:09:00.008-05:00

I'm sure that some of you are wondering WHY in the world we got into alpacas. If not, surely some of you are wondering HOW we got into alpacas. If none of you are wondering those and you're still reading I am going to assume that you want something to read while you finish that cup of tea/coffee and get ready to start your day. :)

Here's the scoop:

For like forever Michael had been wanting to have a small farm. He figured that this would be something that would keep the boys busy and earn a little extra income for us.

Idea #1- Chicken houses. Seriously. He wanted chicken houses. I didn't. At all. I made my opinion known and also let him know that honestly if I had to live near them I might throw up; if I ever had to set foot in one I would DEFINITELY throw up; and I also didn't like the inhumane way they are raised. (lights on to overproduce/grow rapidly, crammed quarters, etc) Plus, there is the little thing (HA!) of chicken poop. Ew.

Idea #2- Cattle. This was an idea that I was okay with because I like to eat beef raised without hormones/steroids, etc. Yum! However, I would have been a FREAK about cow poop. I hate germs. A lot. I was okay with this option but a bit nervous about me or the kids getting kicked in the head by a large animal. I also would NEVER have let the kids play in the field with the cows. Two words- Kick & Poop.

Idea #3- Goats. Michael decided this wasn't something he wanted to do. In his words, "Goats are a pain in the butt."

I will add here that I am VERY allergic to horses. I am also allergic to dogs and cats. Different breeds vary on the severity.

One day about 2 years ago Michael came home from the route and told me about this woman he had met (new customer) that had just moved to town. They had a family and raised alpacas. "Al-what?" I said (or something to that affect) He was explaining that she made things out of the fleece of the animals and that they homeschooled, etc. He said they were really nice. I thought, "They sound weird."
I KNOW! It was NOT NICE of me. I'm not saying it was right. I'm just being honest. *snicker, snicker*

Fast forward to the last Sunday in September 2007- Alpaca Farm Day. Yes, there is a national Alpaca Farm Day. Who knew? Anyway, Michael wanted us to visit the farm. He was interested in alpacas. I had never seen one and figured this would be a nice field trip that we could count as school. Sounded good.

We arrived and there were these three beautiful animals in a pen in their side yard.

Donna Juanita

Rico Arcani

and Wade Hampton who I don't have a picture of. (Yes, I do realize that I just ended a sentence with a preposition. Get over it. )

They were letting people pet them through the pen. I was intrigued. I had seen llamas before and liked them but I didn't like that they spit on people. Ew! These animals were about 1/2 the size of a llama (well Donna was, the other 2 were much younger) and much more gentle. Their fleece was so beautiful! I touched it over and over even though the animals didn't necessarily love it. Alpacas are hypoallergenic! Who knew?!! Michael made sure that I RUBBED my FACE all over the animals' fleece. No hives. No wheezing! Wahoo!!

Then I went up the driveway to talk to this petite and very smiley lady about alpacas. I realized they homeschooled. I told her that we did as well. They had 2 teens and 2 young boys. Hmmmm. We have 3 young boys. They were obviously Believers. We are too. Hmmm. Interesting. I practically DROOLED over Rico's picture. I just FELL IN LOVE with that alpaca. I also noticed that EVERYONE else was asking about him too. He was such a looker! A heart stealer for SURE!

Our boys LOVED the alpacas. When we were pulling away to go home I said, "I want to breed those!" Michael said that he was VERY interested too but that we had to go slowly because of the economic status of the country. I replied, "I want Ryan!!" (That was Rico's first name) Gideon, who wasn't saying more than 5-6 words at the time piped up, "PACA! PACA!" We all were shocked! He continued to ask about the pacas over and over for the next few weeks. I started a "Bring Ryan Home!" campaign with Michael. Michael decided that this might be a good time to pull our stocks in the market and buy a few alpacas. We talked a lot with Becky and Lee (who I discovered were NOT weird! Shame on me! LOL! I actually told Becky that story awhile back and she LOL!) and they came over and looked at our property. They told us what we would need to get started. I became "obsessed" with researching the animals, the industry, getting financial information for Michael. I wanted to HURRY so that we could "bring Ryan home"!!! I was worried that someone else would buy him before we made up our minds. Turns out others WERE interested in him. Becky and Lee called to let us know and we made our decision- We bought both him and a pregnant Delight. They would board there till Delight had here baby and was re bred. We would get our fencing up, our shelter built, etc.

We also needed dogs for protection. So we found both the dogs (who were living in different homes) on puppyfinder.com. We bought them and paid to board them at their current homes until we brought the "pacas" home.

Then life got crazy busy and we lost our driver!

During that time the boys and I went over to visit.

I always spent the most time with Rico/Ryan. I LOVED that guy!!

We were there hours after Delight gave birth to a little GIRL cria. We named here Delight's Destiny.

She was such a doll!!

Then we visited even more often! I couldn't wait to "Bring Ryan/Rico home!"

The first week of December we purchased Cocoa Powder from another farm. She will live there until after she gives birth to her cria in June. She will be re bred and then come to live with us here.

A few weeks ago we brought them home for the first time. Two short weeks later our beloved Rico died. It was such a blow! Then Destiny had to go back till her Mom was finished breeding.

Now Delight and Destiny live here happily.

And THAT'S how we got into the alpaca business. :)

p.s. We still love our family pet/border control dog Ginger! Just in case you were wondering. ;)