Exploding Art

Apparently, tempera paints have baking soda in them. Who knew? So we stuck them in a snack-sized ziploc bag with some vinegar and watched them explode.

Our first attempt, the red one, didn't work because it was a sandwich bag. It needed less space in order to explode.

You can see the white paint shooting out of the bag. I didn't get anymore photos because it was so much fun to watch.

After we exploded several bags, we let them paint with it.

...and then someone got naked and slithered all in the paint.

He was very proud of his paint job.

He's just a goofball. 

Kind of reminds me of this guy: http://www.dennetts.blogspot.com/2010/09/science-experiment-goes-bad.html

June 2014

June has brought us lots of rain, which has kept the temperatures cool and the garden growing. It also brought Eli's birthday, but I'll cover that in its own post. Silas finished 2nd grade at the end of May, and the boys quickly went off to Pappy and Jammy's house for a week of fun. Since they've returned, we've been pushing hard at finishing their room and the bathroom, but all things were delayed by a brown recluse spider bite I received, along with tick fever. Here are a few pictures of the boys in the meantime:

All their stuffed animals.

Pretending to be asleep.

He's making mud lemonade. 

My mud warrior.

Having a bath outside, since the one inside wasn't finished.

Mother's Day Photos

Selfies with Eli:

Reasons Why from Colossians 3

I should seek the things above, where Christ is, because I have been raised up with Christ.

Because I have died and my life is now hidden with Christ in God, I should set my mind on things above.

I will consider the members of my earthly body dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed because I will be revealed with Him in glory, and also because it is for these things that the wrath of God will come.

Because I laid aside the old self with its evil practices, I shouldn't lie to others.

There is no distinction between Greek and Jew because Christ is all and in all.

Because we are chosen of God and are holy and beloved, we should put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.

Because the Lord forgave me, I should also forgive others.

I should be subject to my husband because it is fitting in the Lord.

Children should obey their parents because it pleases the Lord.

Fathers should not exasperate their children because they will lose heart.

We should obey our earthly masters with sincerity of heart because it is the Lord whom we serve, and because those who do wrong will receive the consequences of what he has done.

Our Goats

Wisteria

Doe

Born: Spring 2010

Purchased: July 2013

Parentage: Unknown

Full Nubian

Kidded 3 times, 2+ kids each time, last kidding 01/14 (three kids)

Wisteria's our milker. She's our only full Nubian and she's fully grown. These two things combined mean that she is bigger than all the rest of our goats. She's easy to milk and is really gentle to handle. We've been milking her for almost a year (minus a few months while she was pregnant) and it's been a pleasure. We get along great, except for a few instances of running away from the milking stand to find some greener pastures. She's a great mother, too.

Plum

Doe

Born: April 2013

Purchased: May 2013

3/4 Nubian

Sire: Mack (full Nubian)

Mother: Apricot (3/4 Nubian)

Vaccinated May 2013

Kidded May 2014 (one) 

Plum and Maggie look exactly alike, but they're actually only half sisters. They both look a little bit like gazelles. Plum is a little shy, but has gotten friendlier since having her first kid this spring. She's been a great mother, although she seems to get exasperated with her doeling and her eye problems (which caused the doeling to wander away, get tired, and plop down for a nap at the far end of the enclosure).

Maggie

Doe

Born: April 2013

Purchased: July 2013

Sire: Mack (Full Nubian)

Mother: Either Sassy, Frassy, or Dusty

Vaccinated 05/13

This picture might actually be of Plum. Her and Maggie look so much alike, the only way I can tell the difference is that Plum has a white patch on her right front hoof. Maggie and Plum used to always stick together, but since Plum had a kid Maggie has hung back more on her own. She's very shy and won't hardly come near us, unless there's a fence between us.

Humphrey (no picture)

Buck

Born: April 2013

Purchased: July 2013

Sire: Mack (Full Nubian)

Mother: Either Sassy, Frassy, or Dusty

Vaccinated 05/13

Humphrey is our buck and we have a love/hate relationship. Bucks can be gross and mean, but Humphrey is young enough still that he's not that bad. Yet. He will soon be swapped with a friend's boer buck. 

Milk Dud 

Doe

Born: 01/15/2014

Mother: Wisteria (Full Nubian)

Sire: Onion (Saanen mix)

Milk Dud and her brothers were (accidentally) conceived in the middle of August. Our old buck, Onion, could not be stopped and plowed through multiple fences to get to Wisteria. She ended up kidding in the middle of winter, which was not ideal. But Wisteria's a veteran mom and everything was absolutely fine. It's hard to believe, though, because we had one of our hardest winters ever. We plan to keep Milk Dud and eventually breed her to either a boer buck or a saanen buck and milk her (contrary to her name, we're hoping she'll be a good milker). We have high hopes!

Milkshake

Wether

Born: 01/15/2014

Mother: Wisteria (Full Nubian)

Sire: Onion (Saanen mix)

Milkshake and Milky Way are brothers to Milk Dud. We've already successfully banded them and they will probably be on the dinner table by the end of the summer.

Milky Way

Wether

Born: 01/15/2014

Mother: Wisteria (Full Nubian)

Sire: Onion (Saanen mix)

Licorice

Doe

Born:  05/03/2015

Mother: Maggie (3/4 Nubian)

Sire: Humphrey (3/4 Nubian)

Born with inverted eyelashes.

Licorice was born to Plum and is our most recent doeling. Because of her eyelash problem, she's much more docile and calm than most kids. Hopefully we'll have the problem corrected in the next few days and she'll be jumping and playing soon. In the meantime, we're enjoying the opportunity to cuddle with a sleepy kid. We're not sure yet what we're going to do with her. We've heard that inverted eyelashes are hereditary, which means that any of her future kids could potentially have they same problem. 

Spring is Springing

One of our younger does, Plum, had her first kid. This is Licorice.

Eli, Silas and Abi helping us nurse Licorice.

Her eyelashes were tucked under her eyelids, so we've had to help her along with that.

Because she's not able to see and is in some pain, she's much calmer than most kids. She enjoys being held a lot, even by little munchkins like Eli.

My irises are blooming.

And the garden is coming along really well.

The setting sun in the spring and fall are my favorites. They give off this wonderful, heavenly light and feel.

 

The dogwoods flourished.

We took our traditional photo of the boys by the daffodils

Even though it means bugs and allergies, I do really love Spring.

It almost makes the hard winter worth it.

Schoolwork

Silas has started art lessons with our friend, Jeff. 

Jeff is a local artist who even has a sculpture on display at the Ozark Botanical Gardens!

He's been teaching Silas primary and secondary colors, and the color wheel.

We also have been having fun with some of the projects for his history curriculum.

They had to build a cutaway of a Roman road using sand, gravel, concrete (or like-substance) and flat stones.

I don't know how I made it through my childhood without Plaster of Paris (our concrete-like substance)! It's been the basis for some of the funnest projects we've done.  (i.e. molds of nuts to imitate fossils, molds of his teeth, making our own seals for letters, and this project, making a road like the Romans.)

It's the Appian Way!