I Want My MaaMaa!

We separated the kids from their mothers this week. They are very sad. Usually when I do this they cry until they go completely hoarse. It takes about 3 days. I don't actually have to separate this group, since I have decided there is absolutely no room in my schedule for milking goats, but I separated them because they are destroying my plants. It is all their fault.

Above is Manly, crying for his Mama. I do feel sorry for him. The others butt him a lot and his best friend, Joy, has been sold. Below is Isabelle. I think she is the prettiest of the kids. She looks so soft and cuddly, like a Gund toy. She is also one of the quietest of the kids which puts her on my favorite list anyway. Listening to babies cry all day can get annoying.

Below is the new goat house my husband made for me on Mother's Day. I painted it, and then we got it out to the field on Wednesday. The kids do seem to use it, but before it got to the field it was very popular with the other kids. There were four of them playing in it one afternoon- all at once. Even the kid that is as tall as I am was in it with other children!

You can see all of the goats huddling in the corner crying to each other.

Faye is the only mother that seems angry about all of this. The other mothers will sit by the fence, but they don't have much to say about it. Faye on the other hand will butt the fence, try to push it over, even climb up it. Manly is desperate to get to her too.

Luke looks annoyed by the whole thing. We saw a bear on the way to church Wednesday evening. It wasn't too far from our house. If I were an angry bear I would go get some goat for breakfast or dinner. They really do make you look like Luke!

Even the chickens go to check them out, though I think they are hoping to find some food left over. I feel like a Nazi separating children from mothers and putting them on a train to far away. You have to have a hard heart sometimes to get through it.

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The septic guys did show up on my "Day Off" and repaired the problem. The drain field tube was split. It was a moderate expense, and nothing came back to visit in my house, so I guess I was happy.

I thought then that I would have yesterday off since the sanders weren't to come until today, but of course not. They showed up yesterday. So now the walls are hung, mudded, and sanded. I will paint primer today. No days off, but I see it as being one day closer to being finished. And that feels GREAT!

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Last night was the boys' "Fun of the Cup" event. They had friends over for a party and campfire. I told them I could not feed that many children, so they ate before they came. We had chips and drinks. Then made s'mores over the campfire. They were here from 6-9 and it wasn't that bad. I told them the only reason they could go into the house was to use the toilet. They obeyed that and everyone had a good time. The kids love to play in fire, as all children do, and so half an hour of "roasting sticks" made them pretty happy.

2 Fun of the Cups down, 1 to go. Hubby asked if we couldn't just do the third one today and be done with it. No. They want to invite friends to the beach for a day and I don't want to do that today. The water would be too cold for me.

No FotC next week as the boys head to WV for a little "Grandma Sleep Away Camp."

In case any of you are feeling terribly sorry for the goats, don't. This used to be a lovely grapevine in full leaf with budding grapes. I have tried to grow it for four years! They are bad, bad, bad little kids and deserve what they are getting. Plus they are plenty old enough to give up Mama Milk.