Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Two new additions to our "family"!

Can you guess what our new additions are?

They were once called kids. 
They have hair. 
Two eyes, two ears, a nose and a mouth.
 
Did you take a guess?

Here are two more clues:
They each have a tail.
They each have 4 legs.

One more hint.
They go "maa maaaaa"

Did ya' get it?


We have goats!  I know.  I never ever would have imagined that we would have goats (let alone chickens, turkeys, guineas, rabbits...) 

Their names are Velvet and DD (short for Dip n Dots!).  DD is Velvet's mom, and we are currently getting fresh milk from Velvet twice a day.  Her milk is WONDERFUL!  And that is coming from a once-upon-a-time non-milk drinker.  The only thing I used milk for growing up was for my cereal and the occasional dunk from a chocolate chip cookie (and even then I forced myself to drink the rest of the glass of milk).  The milk is just ever-so-slightly sweet and it does not smell "goaty" at all.  Did I mention that is is wonderful?

Before we got Velvet and DD we had to put up the fence.  That just happened to coincide with the 100 degree to 106 degree weather that we were having here in Indiana.  It was HOT!  We drank lots of water and had lots of water pouring out of us.  Our foreheads would drip (a fast drip) with sweat.  But it was fun, and we got it done!

Since then we have been getting used to milking twice a day.  I think I must be a little protective or possessive because so far I haven't let anyone else do the milking! 

In addition to drinking the fresh milk, we have also made "farmer's cheese", pudding, ice-cream (without an ice cream maker) and yogurt!  They are all surprisingly simple to make.   I am very excited about all the other things we are going to try making from the goat's milk - including our own soap!  We ordered the soap supplies, and they should get here tomorrow - which means that within a number of days I could have a batch of fresh, all-natural goat's milk soap bars curing!

In between milking, the children have all stayed busy with 4H.  This year projects included photography, health, electric and woodworking.  For livestock, they entered rabbits, chickens and ducks.  It was a busy, fun week for us, but I am really glad that it's over!  Now we can get into a routine again.  We should have that down just about the time we travel to get the new children :)

Speaking of new children... we are slowly creeping along.  The other day Kevin and I got our letters in the mail telling us that we could get fingerprinted the first week in August (this is all a part of getting our paperwork updated to approve us for the five children and to extend our I800a at the same time).  Thankfully, the Indy office doesn't turn you away if you go in before your appointment date, and we were able to get our fingerprints done a few days ago!  It felt sooo good to have that done.

Now we are waiting.  (I think there should be a new word made to describe the consistent waiting for paperwork to be completed during the adoption process - maybe call it adoptaiting???) Within a week or two we should hear back from USCIS on our approval.   We will then get that sent to our agency who will get it to Colombia.  And then we will be "adoptaiting" again for the official referral of the children.  Just thinking about it makes be a bit nervous and excited at the same time!  After the official referral of the children and our acceptance we would be traveling in 8 to 10 weeks.  (And I think I'm busy now!)

Thank you for all the prayers for the children and our family.  We continue to pray for their health and for an easy transition for them into our family (as well as for our children to transition well to having more siblings).  We pray also that all the children are able to attach well and grow to love us.  I can't wait to hold them in my arms.

May God bless you,

Karen




3 comments:

  1. Hi Karen
    I am so excited to see paperwork progressing for FIVE children!!
    Oh my goodness-you are going to be one busy mama!
    And love the goat milking-that is wonderful-you can sell goat milk soap for a fundraiser if you had enough-that is a huge seller!!!!
    Just popped by to see what was going on, and so thrilled to see things moving along for you
    Blessings on your wait!

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    1. Thank you, Chris! We are really excited. I have all the supplies for the goat milk soap except the molds, which my husband is making tonight after work. Very excited about it! I'm also going to try my hand at lotion, shampoo bars, and maybe a few other things as well.

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