Say Cheese!

I just finished my third batch of goat milk cheese. So far I've made chevre, fromage blanc, and fromagina. All 3 are soft spreadable cheeses, similar to cream cheese. Yum! I made one batch into a cheese spread seasoned with creole seasoning, black pepper and onion powder. It was so good! I spread some on a tortilla, added some fresh lettuce (from our garden) and made a roll up.

I'm hooked! This is so much fun. :>) I need to get this baby goat sold so we can have more milk for the house.

I want to try mozzarella next.

2.5 months

Wow, has it really been two and a half months since I updated here? Time flies when you're having fun. :)

We got our first foster care placement in December. An adorable 23 month old boy who was only with us for nine days. We knew from the beginning that he would probably go to a family placement and with Christmas coming we knew the judge would likely push for their paperwork to be rushed so the child could be with them for Christmas. It did indeed work out that way. I'm glad we knew the placement would be short because that made us prepared for when he left. We enjoyed caring for him. Hopefully we will have another placement soon.

Since then I've done some babysitting for the 11 month old foster son of a good friend. He is a precious child too and it is a pleasure to care for him. In the near future we may be doing some respite care for a sibling group of three that is currently placed with another local foster family.

I have so many thoughts about foster care that I would like to blog about. The emotions involved with it are so complex. It's late though, so I will save those posts to blog another day.

I've made soap several times this winter. It is my new hobby. Soaping is addictive! I have a notebook full of different soaping ideas I want to try. I set up a store on ETSY but haven't listed anything yet. That is one of my projects for February.

Our does are looking pregnant and we are looking forward to having goat kids in March. I'm so excited about these bloodlines---I can't wait to see what the kids look like. Plus once the does freshen I will have more milk to make into soap. lol

We are taking a new approach with school this semester. We're using a unit study method called "lapbooking" which is something I've never tried before. We've done some unit study work in the past (years ago) but never lapbooking. I'm finding it to be really enjoyable. Currently we are working on a "Sled Dogs" lapbook. In a few weeks we will follow the Iditarod sled dog race in Alaska as the final part of our unit study.

I also changed up our math curriculum. We set aside the Saxon math in favor of a worksheet generator. C (age 11)and I are both liking this much better. Saxon (in spite of being one of the most popular homeschool math curriculums) is rather boring. I find their review method confusing also because so many different types of problems are included in each lesson. It's nice to shake things up for a change of pace once in a while. :)

M & C are getting ready for an ice-fishing trip with M's grandfather. I know they will have a great time. T has a list of 12 "girl things" she wants us to do together while they are gone. The list includes 1) Go out to eat at Red Lobster (She asked if I could wear my wedding dress for that occasion! lol ) 2) Take R to have her ears pierced among other things. M & C will only be gone 4 days but I think it would take us 2 weeks to do everything on T's list. She likes to dream big!

Random updates

We started 24 eggs in the incubator Friday. Hopefully we will have some chicks in a few weeks! The eggs are from Buff Orpingtons, Black Orpingtons, and also some Partridge Wyandotte bantams. We have one hen in with our Blue Orpington rooster but she doesn't seem to be laying right now.

The does joined the buck in his pen on the 15th. If all goes well we will have some kids in March! The children are very excited.

Still waiting on documents for our foster care license. Everything else is completed. The licensing worker says we are "a click away" from getting our license as soon as the documents are turned in to her. I am frustrated by the delay. However, it is very likely we will get kids within a few days of getting our license so I just keep telling myself that the kids God intends to place with our family are not ready yet. His timing is always perfect. It is also an odd feeling to be excited about having children placed with us....but at the same time realizing that in order for children to land in our home that will mean their own family is going through the trauma of being split up. Very very sobering thought.

Tomorrow is my follow up appointment with my rheumatologist. We will be going over the labwork (12 vials of blood, $2330!) that I had done in September. This is to see if there is a cause for my recurring miscarriages. I hope we find some answers but I realize we may not.

I have been doing really well since the miscarriage but the last few days have been rough. Since July I have filled up my days with getting the foster care stuff underway. Now that that is at a standstill I have more time to think again. Thinking isn't good when you are grieving. I also have a friend due around the same time I was. Every time she mentions a pregnancy milestone it is a painful reminder to me of where I 'should' be. I am happy for her and I love to hear her updates but they do sting sometimes.

I'll leave you with some recent kid funnies:

My 5yo calls Miracle Whip "American Whoop"
***************

Lyrics from my 2yo Stinker, Stinker, Little Star
How I wonder, where's your car?
*********************

I told my 2yo that I loved her. She grinned and replied, "You sure do!" Got to love that confidence!
*********************