It has taken me a few days to get over Saturday’s piano recital.
The children have been taking lessons from Mary across the street since February. She is the nicest, sweetest, most kind piano teacher that has ever lived. For two months, they have been working on their recital songs. For two months, Emma Lynn has bounced around the house excited and playing the piano for about 2 hours a day. For two months, Adrienne has had her recital songs memorized and has been planning on being “sick” for the recital.
Adrienne has a little bit of an anxiety issue.
The morning of the recital, Adrienne has a talent show in which her and I play a duet. She on her viola and me on my cello. It was slightly disastrous as she played it about one thousand times faster than she had ever played it. However, Adrienne was pleased with her performance.
Adrienne seemed in pretty good spirits during the day albeit a little mopey. We get to the piano recital and she is nervous. She is fifth on the program.
When her turn came up, she went limp as I walked her up to the front of the room. I said her name for her and the pieces she was going to play. She sits at the piano and does nothing. I encourage her and Mary encourages her. We spend about three minutes up there before I say, “we will try again later”. We head out of the room.
I spend the next hour loving on her, praying with her, and encouraging her. A girl her age comes and finds us and tells Adrienne, “I did it! If I can play in front of people, you can!”
Adrienne insisted that she couldn’t do it and that she wants to go home. How do you encourage a child to do something hard so they can learn they can do hard things? I do not know.
Finally, the close of the recital was coming. Adrienne agreed to try, with tears in her eyes. After the last performance, Adrienne and I walked again to the front of the room.
There we sat at the piano. She blubbered and cried and said she couldn’t do it. I encouraged and encouraged. I loved and loved. I realized after a while that it wasn’t just Adrienne on the stage, it was me and my parenting. It was uncomfortable. It was uncomfortable for me, Adrienne, Mary, and especially the audience.
We were up there for 8 minutes. It was unreal! What was I supposed to do? Take her down and bring her home? I didn’t think I could do that. So I bribed. I promised Adrienne everything. I even promised a car. A car! I was serious! I would have gone and bought her a hot wheels. She would expect a Mercedes but the details are not important.
8 minutes are a lot of minutes when you are in front of an audience. They watch with breathless anticipation while I promise movie nights, ice cream, and cars.
Finally, she plays. One song perfectly and crumples with exhaustion. A man on the front row stands as he applauds. I thought he was being nice. It turns out, he is glad it’s over. Nice.
We go home and I cry from the emotional overload of the last hour and a half. All the frustration and yelling that I did not let out comes out now in tears. My father says, ” I was about to go up there and bring you down and tell you ‘enough is enough’”.
Enough is enough.
Water and more babies
We wake up to a phone call from a neighbor informing us that our pasture is flooded. The water from the ditch has been overflowing all night leaving our goats ankle deep in water.
We call Kent and let him know that his water needs to be turned down. We then get our goats that are penned up separately (Billy and Ornery Cocoa) and tethered them in hire ground. Goats, FYI, don’t like to be walked, pulled, pushed, or dragged through standing water.
Times like this I am always reminded of a picture farm book that my children had when they were toddlers. One page was all about opposites. It would say “open” and then you would lift the flap and it would say “close” with coordinating pictures. “Push” and “pull” was paired up with a cute farmer girl who was struggling with a stubborn goat. Boy, can I relate.
It took all morning for the water to seep into the dry earth. What a great day to finally give birth.
Wilma has been waddling and large FOREVER. I was starting to think about goat Pitocin.
This picture is from two weeks ago. The poor thing was hardly walking!
So when I check on things and she is dribbling bloody goo, I thought “hallelujah!” And I am so glad she wasn’t kidding in this:
She panted and pushed for a long time after her first bubble appeared and her water broke.
She drank up her amniotic fluid and I thought that we can all learn a tip from goats. Clean as you go, no matter what.
When big baby number 1 came, she was breech. No wonder it was a rough go!
Wilma instantly started licking the birth film off baby #1 and within minutes she was pawing at her to get her to stand. At one point, Wilma turned around and there was a hoof coming out!
Kid #2 came sliding out next, perfectly positioned “superman” style with hooves in front of her little nose. Wilma starts licking both babies and we help stimulate with a towel.
Baby #3 presented himself by just popping out his little head. No hooves in sight.
I put my phone down to help assist with baby #3. The head was hanging out for a while so I took the liberty to reach inside and help ease out baby #3.
She licked and pawed and we toweled off. Wilma carried around a huge sack of fluid filled of afterbirth.
It took her hours to pass that and the placenta. We put her and babies in the barn to give them some privacy while they licked and nursed and passed and ate placenta.
So the kids count is now 6: 3 girls and 3 boys.
Happy birthday!
Mother’s Day
I cannot believe that I have not blogged in ten days! I was sick with a spring cold and thought of blogging many times but decided I didn’t want to discuss mucus or equilibriums or missed girls’ nights.
Mother’s Day is always an interesting day because though there are people celebrated you (your children), there are people you are stressing over too (mothers, step-mothers, mother-in-laws, and randomly your grandma-in-law). It ends up being a day of flowers and mothers and a strong desire for a nap that never gets fulfilled.
Jesse had to work. Which, I had decided didn’t bother me since there was nothing I can do about it. But, it bothered me a little. My children, being neither old enough to drive nor make purchases of significant value, shower me with homemade goodies ranging from paper cut outs to jewelry to a jewelry holder made from a pill box to gluten free cake pops. It is a perfect array of presents that are both surprising and typical.
Church is typical. Primary children sing a song, Adrienne ducks out to the bathroom for 20 minutes to avoid singing. I am presented with an ambiguous plant by the men and the speakers praise their mothers to the heavens. Lizzie was supposed to say the scripture and chickened out giving me a solo performance at the mic in primary. Jesse’s Sunday school class is fun and boring at the same time. The kids are showered with glutenous licorice. I make lots of points that are barely applicable to the lesson. I sit next to my dear friend during relief society. She is a gorgeous skinny blonde with adorable children and has been struggling lately with this and that. I feel for her and her lack of domestic happiness and jealous beyond words of her face and figure.
I come home to a relatively tidy house with children that are excited to play. I tell them that for the next few hours it is quiet time and they need to watch as many veggie tales as they can handle.
I go a massage Betty’s tender and swollen udder. The poor thing has some goat version of plugged ducts. Bill Cosby, her giant newly born son, is not able to get enough milk and we have started giving him a bottle or two a day of colostrum from Peppermint Patty that we milked when she was engorged.
I spend the afternoon sewing and getting ready for family to come over and talking to my mom. My in-laws come over along with my dad and step-mom. It’s super fun. Jesse brings home hanging baskets for them and we have a lovely dinner of pulled pork sandwiches, cole slaw, and potato salad.
I secretly would love to pull out the cards and have an awesome game of poker but my in-laws don’t play. Instead we share stories of pot smoking. How or why this came up, I don’t remember. But this is the scene: my father and step-mom, my clean past husband, my bishopric member father-in-law, and myself. My father turns the conversation to why or how substances were discovered to give people euphoria. My contributions to the conversation come mostly from the Sonlight Christian homeschool curriculum for world history and old Sherlock Holmes episodes, both of which are fairly accurate and make me sound mildly informed.
My father tells hilarious stories of pot smoking with my brother (in recent years) and of shady wax museums of opium lairs. My step-mom tells of her one experience with pot and how it made her sick. I share my one experience with pot and how it was dumb and led me to believe the slumber parties are for the birds. My father-in-law laughs politely though in a way that makes me feel he is enjoying himself and Jesse does the dishes. Overall, I have a great time.
Then, it’s time to feel up Betty and give Cosby a bottle. I try boiling water but instead melt the chord to the crock pot. My penny pinching in-laws discuss with Jesse how to repair it while I am secretly and happily thinking of buying another crock pot since mine is so dirty.
We all go out to tend to the goats. I wrap hot towels are Betty’s udder while rubbing and trying to squeeze milk out of her. Jesse gives the kid a bottle. My in-laws stay and help. They are not only the most helpful people on the planet but also not at all afraid of a little dirt, straw, and goat poop.
Overall, It was a fine Mother’s Day. We ate good food, shared good stories, and made my mama goat feel more comfortable. I can’t think of a better way to spend the day.
Paige’s 7th Birthday
Jesse woke up this morning to Paige’s face a few inches away from his. “Today is my birthday!” She says in an eager whisper.
Birthdays are a big deal in our house. I have made it that way. When people tell me of their birthday traditions that include no parties, presents that kids need, or belated celebrations, I cry inside. What!?! What do you mean that your kids have never celebrated their birthday with friends surrounding them while eating a pile of frosting on a tiny cupcake?!? I am all about celebration and fun. We don’t have huge parties normally. Usually it is a few friends and games and cupcakes made by Emma Lynn. We play games and violently hit a piñata. Today was a typical birthday bash.
Started off with the traditional birthday outfit (usually involving frill and/or lots of tulle) and donuts from the local gas station. Then out to visit the goats while Lizzie cried that there was not complete attention on her.
We then did chores (birthday girls get their chores done for them) and making “lady bug” pretzels.
We color the birthday banner that I got on clearance at Walmart for $.35. Lunch is fried eggs and toast, by order of the birthday girl.
Our good friends, the Ridleys, come over for party time at 1:30. I have, stupidly, mopped the floors in preparation for my cleanest friend coming over. It soon gets covered in a curious mixture of frosting, candy, dirt, and straw.
We take out all of our anger on a lady bug piñata from Amazon. It falls from its hanging place long before it burst, making it necessary for the kids to wrestle the candy, stickers, and rubber band bracelets out of it.
After much sugar is consumed, we do our “balloon activity”. This idea from Pinterest involves putting vinegar in a small soda bottle and putting a tablespoon of baking soda in a balloon. The balloon is then put on the bottle. When we are all ready the kids shake the balloon, letting the baking soda drop into the vinegar. Super fun! The balloons end up being heavier than balloons filled with your breath making them extra fun to play with.
Paige has been asking us for a harp for about a year. So, for this birthday we got her a small harp and piano lessons. When she is reading music well and gets a little older, she can start harp lessons. She LOVED it!
We end the evening with dinner at Paige’s number one choice: Chuck-a-Rama where she consumes countless drum sticks and Jesse makes himself sick on cinnamon pull-aparts. I am given a lovely, though short, list of gluten free options. I am satisfied with salad, roast beef, mashed potatoes, and rice crispy treats. Paige opens up an obscene amount of presents from the grandparents (like I should talk, I gave the child a harp!)
We head home tired and a little ill. Lizzie says hilarious things like,” I hate the milk from your breasts, that’s why I don’t nurse any more” and “Why don’t you kill Percy?” Percy is our rooster who has started attacking the kids once they started kicking him.
I finish off the night with some NyQuil and some blogging. My head cold has made my voice sound more and more manly over the course of the day. Paige comes in showing us that all of her new presents (excluding the harp) fill a garbage bag.
I am contented that she feels special. And that is the point of my absurd spoiling on birthdays. It is the day to feel special and appreciated for just being them and being alive and being part of this family.
More pics from the farm
We have been checking on the new babies about a hundred times a day. They are doing so well and the other pregnant does are looking like they might explode at any minute.
The girls love holding the kids and watching them nurse and play with their mamma.
Ifamily orchestra spring concert
Friday was our “Spring Showcase” for Ifamily. The orchestra played three pieces. A medley of hoe down songs that Jesse and I put together called Go Tell Aunt Rhody Hoe Down. The next two were Simple Gifts and Pioneers Tale. We have been working on the later all year.
I am so proud of the kids. They have worked so hard and some of them even memorized their pieces. Overall, the performance went very well. There was a couple of rough spots but nothing that the audience noticed. Only my friend, who plays with the first violins, made the remark “well, kind of” after I said, “we did it!”, but she is a glass is half empty kind of person.
Other than that, we had great reviews. People came and congratulated me and told me we were better than the school orchestras and one mom even told me that their child, who duel enrolls, said that our orchestra was so fun and so much better. I chalk it up to that fact that everyone, for the most part, is thrilled to be there.
It was a proud moment for me and my students.
Video coming soon 
New Babies!
We got home from the Earth Day celebration to find two baby goats in our pasture. Peppermint Patty had given birth just an hour or so before. We put her and her kids in the barn on some fresh straw. We got Patty some warm water and Karo syrup. She drank that right up and then I trimmed the umbilical chords. They kids, a boy and a girl, are super healthy. They are nursing well and Patty is an awesome first time mama! She even had a great time eating her afterbirth (pic included!)
