Guilt

Can I just say that Jody and I definately get the award for the worst parents. Savanna lost one of her top teeth yesterday and was so excited to have the tooth fairy come last night, but guess what parents forgot about her arrival. I am so ashamed and feel so guilty and Jody feels it as well. Savanna was such a trooper this morning and said that she must have been really busy last night. She was excited because now she could take her tooth to school and show all of her friends and still be able to bring it back tonight and have her take it. She is such a precious girl and we love her and her attitude so much!! She will definately be getting an apology letter and bonus from the tooth fairy tonight.

Baby Goats

They are finally here!

We purchased two mama goats a few weeks back and when we bought them, they looked as though they could have had their babies on the way home in the trailer. But yesterday was the day for one mama goat. She had twins. I was so excited about twins when Jody called to tell me at work, but he said that it was common for them to have twins. Needless to say, when we got home, that is the first place we went - to see the baby goats. And they are sooooo cute!! Of course, I was ready to leave pretty quick after I took pictures so I could get out of my work clothes and start supper, but the kids would have none of that. They wanted to stay. Shane even said he wanted to spend the night with them. Mimi was there and she said she would bring them home later. She wanted to stay and get the babies to find the milk on their mother. About 30 minutes later they came in, Shane's shirt was wet with something and he was saying that the mama goat had tee teed on his shirt. But Mimi quickly corrected him and said that it was goat's milk on his shirt. He argued and argued that it was tee tee until he was so worked up and upset that we finally agreed that it was goat tee tee. Leave it to Shane to WANT goat tee tee on his shirt.

Switch Made

Well, I have made the switch to private and I am so glad because now I can talk about people that I couldn't talk about before. Ha ha - just kidding. Even though I won't have as many readers now, I am glad that I have done it. The main reason I am blogging anyway is so that I can look back over the years. I have read about other bloggers looking into printing out their blog entries and making a book and I definately want to do that in the future. I guess I should get to researching myself unless someone knows how to do it and can let me know.

Why am I paranoid....

I have only 4 sign ups. So sad. I can't wait to tell Jody that I am going private for four readers, lol. Oh well, I still plan to go private next week. Till then, have a great weekend.

Sign ups

After much thought, I have decided to go private. I think it will be for the best. I will know exactly who is reading and know exactly who I might be offending if I stick my foot in my mouth. And hopefully they won't come hunt me down. Ha! So now is your chance to sign up and continue reading or you could just simply let the opportunity pass by. You will not hurt my feelings, because I agree - our life can be pretty boring. All work and no play.



P.S. - This will require that an account be setup within blogger (which is very easily done), so I apologize to my anonymous readers (Mom, I will help set up an account for you).

Need Advice

I have wanted to post, but after having a discussion/argument with Jody, I have been in a weird or paranoid mood. When I first started this blog thing about a year ago, I was so excited about documenting about the things going on in our life and keeping others informed. And at that time Jody had some reservations about it. He is not that computer and internet literate, so I would explain to him what it was and he was not keen on the idea that EVERYONE in the whole wide world would see into our little family world. I kinda blew it off and have convinced myself that not that many people read my little blog and those that do are not serial killers, robbers, rapist, etc. who are going to come hunt us down and hurt me or the kids when Jody is away (that's what he thinks could happen). I haven't really wanted to go private, but should I compromise so that Jody will have peace of mind? I just need some advice. Thanks.

Invisible Mom

My mom sent me the following email and for some reason it just touched or spoke to me. I guess knowing all that she did for us growing up and then how I feel most of the time at our home. It is lengthy, but I just thought I would share it with all the other moms out there who feel this way sometimes.

The Invisible Mom

It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?' Obviously not; no one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because noone can see me at all. I'm invisible.

The invisible Mom. Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more. Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this?? Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?' I'm a satellite guide to answer, 'What number is the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, 'Right around 5:30, please.'

I was certain that my hands once held books and my eyes were ones that once studied and it was my mind that helped me to graduate - but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going, she's going, she's gone!

One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England . Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, 'I brought you this.' It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe . Iwasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription:

'To Charlotte , with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.'

In the days ahead I would read - no, devour- the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work:

* No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names.
* These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished.
* They made great sacrifices and expected no credit.
* The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.

A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, 'Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof, no one will ever see it. And the workman replied,'Because God sees.'

I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you, I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you've done, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become.

At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own self centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride. I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on.

The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree. When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, 'My Mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table.' That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, 'You're gonna love it there.'

As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.