Just because I love baby goats.....

Day 2 of Springbreak........so much to do......so many projects.....so much cleaning & organizing......so many animals to play with:)

I can get so sidetracked out in the barn. Every where I look there is something to be cleaned, things to be organized out there too. And always a picture to take:)

Watching Sassy's kids are quite a treat and she is being an awesome mom! She just hangs out while they hang out on her. She will not leave their side and has a fit when I hold them. They are official one week old today and it is amazing how much they have already grown!

Today I let these LaMancha babies out with me while I was doing chores around the yard. They were so happy to be free and running around in the yard. I am still working on a name for the little girl pictured above. She is such a little lover.

This handsome, 6 week old LaMancha buck is going to be "Autumn Acres T.S. Elliot". T.S. stands for "Total Stud"......LOL. He is so ridiculously friendly its pathetic.
Wishing Everyone A Happy Easter!!!!!!!

The Power of Kids

Today I took 2 of my kids to school with me.

Today I shared part of my world with my students.

Today my students shared a part of themselves with me.

Today a 6 year old blind girl touched the face of a 4 week old baby goat for the first time.

Today this same little girl asked to hold my hand so she could touch me also.

Today this little girl said thank you to me.

Today I was in awe of what a special little girl this was.

When school started this year a certain student pictured above did not like me or school.

This certain student and I had many words back in forth for quite a few weeks.

This certain student comes from a rough background.

Over the past few months this certain student began to loose that chip on his shoulder.

This certain student is doing really well in my classes now.

This certain student and I get a long now.

Today this certain student asked if he could bottle feed this little baby goat.

Today I made a difference in his life.

Today he made a difference in my life.

Today my "kids" brought a smile to so many kids who have never experienced a farm animal like a goat. They giggled when they chewed on their shirts, they liked petting them, they laughed when they jumped......they smiled.

It is so easy to take for grant it what is right around you. Sometimes you think you do not have as much as someone else when in fact you may have something that they may wish they had.

90 % of the school where I teach is at or below the poverty level. There are many, many students that have special learning needs there. So many have so little.

Today I saw how the power of kids can make a difference.

Flat Stanley comes to Harvest Thyme!!!!

Today in the mail I received a very special visitor!!

Flat Stanley has come visit me at Harvest Thyme!!!

Flat Stanley was sent to me by Taylor, a wonderful 1st grader and the daughter of one of the teacher's that I work with. Taylor has visited my farm before and I am very honored that she choose my place to send Flat Stanley!

Now for those of you who are wondering who the heck Flat Stanley is I will tell you. Flat Stanley was written by Jeff Brown. Stanley was accidentally flattened by a poster when he was sleeping and because he was only 14 mm thick, he was able to go and do things no one else could do or go. Stanley is known for all the places he travels to.
When Stanley first got to me today, I wanted to show him the Nigerian Dwarf babies......the little girl was quite curious about him!!!

Then Stanley got to help me feed the chickens. He was a little nervous because the chickens kept trying to peak at him so I had to take his picture really quick!!! I have to send him back to Taylor and I would hate to have him full of holes:)

I was able to get this nice picture of him with one of the Dominques however:)

So, Flat Stanley will be hanging out with me and the animals at the farm for one week. I'll take lots of pictures of him with the animals and he will be going to Amish country with me next week. I will make a little scrapbook of his adventure and send it to Taylor so she can share it with her first grade class.

Gee, 8th grade teachers don't do these kinda of things!! Just as a little FYI, I am actually certified to teach elementary grades 1-8 and I am certified to teach history for grades 7-12 (BA & MA in history). I love the little things the elementary kids do but I am afraid of those little people......I much rather have those know-it-all 8th graders:)

Spring break starts in 2 days!!!!! Yippee!!!!

Its Only Monday but...........

Today is Monday and I only have to go to school for 4 days this week!!! Spring break starts on Friday and I will pray that the weather next week will be much better than this week.....right now it looks like a blizzard out outside. Spring in Northeast Ohio at its finest...oh, I forget the Indians home opener is Friday so it has to snow here.

Sassy's babies are doing very well! They are enjoying the heat lamp, attempting to do a little hopping, falling down a few times, and just being cute little stinkers. But that little girl has a set of lungs on her when she wants to be heard!

The other day I brought the big bucket in to get hot water for the goats, (gosh knows goats love their hot water on cold days) and just as I set it down, Tasha jumped in. At 19 years old, she still has her own sense of humor.........I told her that I did not appreciate her "kicking the bucket" humor:) At 19 she is skinny, little hard of hearing, but doing very well.

I will end with a sunny picture I took on Saturday. I was trying to get a picture of Dixie with the Easter Bunny. That is Casper the flying cat in the background. I think Casper is pushing 10 years old now. He is a Himalayan/Angora mix, the result of one of those famous "cat breeders". He was one of 5 kittens I was able to save when I was working at the vet. The litter was dieing quite quickly due to all kinds of issues and the woman did not want to spend the money. I basically told the lady I was taking the kitten before it too died.
So, anyways, did I mention that my spring break starts this week????
So much house cleaning to do, curtains to make, pictures to be hung, organization to be done.....where shall I start? Playing with baby goats sounds good:)