I brought our Uno baby to the vet today, and the results were not that great. The first thing he asked me was how old she was, to which I replied "I don't know for sure."  I told him how we have had her for three years, and the farmer we got her from said she was a rescue goat and had several owners. He did not know how old she was, so we really can only guestimate. The vet thought she was probably around 10 years old, but she thats just a guess. He said that he thinks her kidneys are shutting down, and if thats the case then we might want to put her down. He did say that she looked pretty rugged, but her eyes still looked bright. I guess a caught a glimmer of hope and asked him what our options were. He said: put her down; baby her for awhile and see if she pulls out of it. The way we would baby her is to give her water with mollasses. We would have to force it into her, probably by a turkey baster. He also said that we could get her vitamins and mix them with water and again "force" it into her. So, thats what we'll be doing.

If you are reading this blog, I am going to ask you to pray for Uno. I know that God is a big God and He cares even about goats. If its her time then go, then I pray it will happen quickly and without pain. However, if she can be saved by being "babied", then I pray it works. Please pray for her as well as for us as we care for her.

Our goat is still hanging in there. She is still skinny, but she does seem to be eating more!! :0)  She is v-e-r-y finiky, and that usually is not what goats are. As a matter of fact they are eptiome of 'finiky', as they pretty much anything and everything. So, we have continued to watch her, make sure she eats something, drinks water, and pray.

Onto other things, soccer season is almost over and of course we all know that after soccer season is the ONLY season.....Basketball Season!! :0)  This year my two dds will be playing, and I am looking forward to watching them. My dd (15) is a sophmore and has yet to play sports at the high school level. She played from third grade to eigth grade, but took a year off to get acclamated to high school work. I talked to the Althletic Director and I need to send a letter to the principal stating that she would like to play. I also need to send her grades and show that she is taking at least 5 credits. This is not really for the school, but for the division they play in. I really don't mind doing those things, because she really wants/loves to play and it is a joy watching her.

Well, thats it for now. Have a blessed day in the Lord and I will 'visit' again with you another time. :0)

One of our goats seems to be under the weather. She is extremely thin, all the other goats are nice and plump. She eats only a little at a time, the other goats eat like...pigs. She gets shunned out of the barn, the other goats are nice and cozy.

We have pulled her out of the herd and she is hanging with the chickens. My dd made a coat type thing for her, because it is getting cold up her and as I mentioned she is skinny. We have been feeding her pretty much by hand. She loves: Corn flakes; Oatmeal; Tortillas; and once in awhile she eats....goat food. She only takes the food in small portions and in all honesty I think her teeth may be wearing down.

I called the vets office today to see if I could drop a sample of her...poop off to them. We did deworm all the goats about 4 weeks ago, but if she has another kind of worm it might show up under the microscope. In the mean time she's bedded down in the coop with her homemade blankie for the night. I really hope and pray that in the morning she is doing better.

I will continue the post on shopping another time....

I have been in the frugal mode lately and the $100.00 I spend at the grocery store seems like too much. I am trying to get it down and as I do that I will post about it for those who might be interested.

Here is whats on the menu this week:

B~ oatmeal w/ brown sugar

B~ french toast w/ apples and brown sugar

B~ scrambled eggs and toast

B~ Blueberry Muffins

L~ Mac. and Cheese with broccoli

L~ PB&J with chips

L~ Egg Noodles & Parm. Cheese and veggies mixed in

L~ Left over chili and corn bread

L~ Soup from another meal

S~ Broccoli and Cheese Quiche

S~ Beef Barley Soup with Homemade Biscuits

S~ Speg. with Italian Sausage and Garlic Bread

S~ Cheeseburgers, French Fries & Pink Stuff

S~ BBQ Chicken, Coleslaw & Homemade Baked Beans

S~ Homemade Chili & Corn Bread

For those of us herbivores, I usually substute the meat with a soy type product or fill in with more veggies. One my favorite soy products is Morning Star Grilled Veggie Burgers. Yummy!!

Here is my list of to do's for the week:

* Homeschool the kiddos in way that is interesting to them and me.

* Make a lesson plan for the month. I REALLY need to get going and get some plans down. It is easy for me to "fly by the seat of my pants", but it is just as easy for me to get distraced and not "fly" at all. ;0)

* Visit the apple orchard and get lots of yummy apples to "put up" for winter.

* Visit the county "farm", otherwise known as a prison, and buy some 50lb. bags of potatoes and lots of squash.

* Go to dds soccer game and be real life soccer mom. LOL

* Mail out a check to MarmeeDear for something I bought someone. I can give no more details on that. Shhh.....

* Get a list together for items needed for "Light Night", held at our church on Oct. 31st.

* Get a sign up sheet ready for "Light Night", for the much needed helpers.

* Go and paint a sign for "Light Night".

* Go to dr. (Ugg) I have to have a much overdo physical.

* Clean the house so that this weekend we can have family time and not have to worry about it.

* Go to the bookstore and buy a much needed copy of Around the World in 80 days.

* Huggle my children and snuggle with hubby.

* Last but not least, read the Word of God.

As a wife to a hard working hubby and mom to 3 growing teens and 1 growing pre-teen, I understand about food and the cost of it. In our home, the grocery bill varies from under $100.00 a week to $200.00 a week. On the weeks that I spend $200.00 the food usually lasts another week, but we may need to buy extra milk, bread, ect...  I count our grocery bill as every item we use. That includes paper products, dog/cat food, laundry det. , food, and everything that I get while grocery shopping. I probably should try a grocery food budget, of just food but I need to get the other things any way and I usually get them at the same time.

This is what I do:  Every week I make a menu, or use one already pre-made. The menu consists of 7 breakfasts, 7 lunches, 7 suppers, and snacks. It is not set up daily, but instead as a list of breakfasts, lunches, suppers, and possible snacks. I tried having a daily menu, but everyone liked it better having a list of possible meals and going from there. I guess we all like spontanity. ;0)

Once the menu is made, I write out EVERY single food item that is needed to complete the menu. If I have something already in house, I don't write it down unless it is needing to be refilled or replaced. For instance if I'm making meatloaf and already have bread crumbs, I don't write it down on the list. If, however, the bread crumbs are almost gone then I write it down and buy more.

I try to go to 3 seperate stores. The first one is the discount food place. I get things like cereal, bagels, sauces, ect... there. This place can be just as expensive as the reg. store, so I really need to pay attention to the prices. However, there are usually great deals on many things. The only thing is that the package it comes in will be dented, marked, ect.... If that bothers you, then don't shop at one of those places. ;0)  I mark off my list anything that I got there, so I don't accidently pick it up at another store. Then I usually head to Wal Mart....... (to be continued)

Today is the second day of fall, and it is gorgeous!! :0)  The leaves are changing more rapidly and the colors are just beautiful!! I need to bring my camera in my van, so that way when I happen upon a great scene I have my camera at the ready. ;0) 

I am planning on going to the apple orchard in a couple weeks and then I will put up lots of apple goodies. :0) I'm thinking of making some apple pie filling, apple jam, and apple butter. That way this winter we will have lots of yummy good things to munch on.

Well, thats it for today. I need to scoot and bring my dd to the school because she has a soccer game today. I am not the biggest soccer fan in the world, but I do love watching all the kids play!! :0)

I got about 8 doz. plus ears of corn and I'm going to be freezing it over the next few evenings. The reason I'm waiting till evening is because we have little bit of summer weather that has crept back in and it too hot to heat up the kitchen.  The plan is to freeze some on the cob and some off the cob and then in the middle of winter we will have some yummy corn to eat!! :0) 

Tomorrow is my dds 16 birthday!! I cannot believe that 16 years flew by so very quickly!! She was born on her due date, how many babies are actually born the natural way on their due date?? Its kind of funny because she was always a punctual child. LOL She is a great kid, really I'm  not just saying that. She has great personality and is pretty comfy with herself. She is very artistic, creative, and definatly has her own sense of style. I often ask her for advice on what I'm wearing, and she lets me know if she approves or not.

She loves the Lord with all her heart and hopes to one day go into missions. She is planning to go on a missions trip this coming summer, but she is not sure where. She is currently praying about it and saving her money, knowing the Lord will certainly open a door. :0)  She is on a Bible Quiz team and though she is dyslexic, she is putting much effort into her memory work. It can be painstakingly hard watching her spend hours trying to memorize a phrase or two, especially when her siblings pick it right up. She is not deterred though, she is determined to do good this year and help the team by doing her part.

My dd is fun to be around. She has a great sense of humor and we laugh a lot!! :0)  She loves shopping, and TJ Maxx is currently her favorite store. She also loves to swing, yes on a real old fashioned swing! :0)  When her dad took down their swing set she was heartbroken and he has since put a bigger swing up for her down in the backyard. She loves to go back there and swing. As she swings she prays, she sings, she studies, ect.... I guess it helps her because she is using both sides of her brain.

It is great to see both my dds play and hang out together. I cannot tell you how many people have commented on how close they are. Some people cannot even believe their sisters because they are so close. Many siblings are seperated during the school day, so they develop their own friends and don't have much to do with their family. I know that homeschooling is not perfect, but this has been one very big blessing!! :0)  Actually, all the kids are close so its kinds cool to see that.

Well, thats it about one of my "babies". Have a blessed day in the Lord and I will visit again with you soon. :0)

The other day I sat down with hubs and begged asked him to help me with a schedule for school. Three of the kids are taking outside classes and one is doing ps sports, so we need a firm but yet flexible schedule. Hubs was up to the monumental   challenge and he sat down with me and asked me to tell him all our classes. Then he asked me how long I would need for each class and who would need me actually be with them during the alloted time. Then he set to work making a great schedule for me. :0)

We have only done the shedule for 5 days, but so far so good. On the days that we miss things, we just go to the next spot on the schedule and we do not try to back track all morning. Hubs also did block scheduling for me for history and science. So, instead of doing those subjects daily, we do them twice a week on seperate days. We also spend 2 hours on each class, as opposed to an hour at a time.

I have found that having more time for the subjects is really working out. We are delving into things that we might otherwise miss and since we have an ending time, we are not overwhelmed with materials. If the kids are too ansy, I do stop in between for a short break to let them streach, get a drink, ect....

Now I need to get a schedule going for household chores. I noticed that in the summer the house was much cleaner and now that I am busy with school the house is.....well, not as clean. ;0)  I know that I can do both school and housework, I just need to find a schedule that works.

I know summer is still here and autumn does not officially start till Sunday, but fall is in the air!! :0) I love the cool crisp days and the even cooler evenings. I love the sky being so blue and the stars being so bright at night. I love the leaves turning colors and the crunch under my feet as I walk throug the fallen ones. I love the smell of wood smoke, from the woodstoves that are in our neighborhood. I love going to the apple orchard and getting big bags of apples to eat and to store. I love going to the local farm and buying lots and lots veggies to put up for winter. I love the mums and all their wonderful colors. I love putting away my shorts and sandels and pulling out my sweaters and sweat shirts. I love the smell of apple pie, pumpkin pie, and all those other fally types of pies. ;0)  I love the speciality coffees that out this time of year, the yummy "pumpkin spice" or "autumn harvest". I love going and picking out pumpkins with the kids and either cutting them up or decorating with them. I love having my anniversay in the fall, my favorite person AND my favorite season, together. LOL  ....I love fall!! :0)

I was reading in the Boston Globe about a town that wants to ban leaf blowers. One side says the leaf blowers are too noisy, create too much dust and debris in the air, and are an all around nuisance for thier surburan lifestyle. The other side says that the neighbors should talk to each other and not make it a "law".

Apparently these people spend big bucks to keep their postage stamp lots looking good. One landscapper said his clients pay upward of $3,000.00 a MONTH on their piece of ground. If this ban goes into effect and the landscappers have to get rid of leaves the old fashioned way, raking, it could cost them $1,000.00 or more!!! Yikes!!!

I do not live in an affluent suburb of Boston, so I don't get the whole dynamics of this. However, I do know that the police are very busy and I'm sure they could spend their time better tracking down real criminals as opossed to leaf blowers.   Just my 2 cents. ;0)