Please Lord--

Help my pride!!

I never knew that being part of a large family living on a Goat dairy would make us famous!! lol

I know this is going to sound weird, boastful, and prideful, and if you had told me about this part of having a family owned and run dairy I would have told you, that you were off your rocker! But it's true!! (Ask my parents!!) Running our goat dairy has made us famous in the greater Houston area!! lol

We have people who come up to us at market and ask to shake because we are the farmers! Or come up and thank us for taking time to run the dairy and provide healthy milk, chocolate milk, yogurt, and cheese. Or in other cases we have people run us down in stores to talk to us because we ARE dairy farmers!

Not to mention we've been in a movie, newspaper articles, and I believe a magazine.

And that's just for being dairy farmers. We get even more attention when the entire family goes out together or when it gets around that there are 11 ('soon' to be 12) children in our family.

Very rarely can I go anywhere now a days without having someone say something along the lines of--"Oh!! You’re from the large family!!" Or "Your family owns goats and runs the dairy!” --Yes, that's me I'm from the big family and we own goats. lol

One of these days I am going to keep my word and make a yes/no shirt.....

Yes--We are all one family
Yes--You are counting correctly
Yes--We do home school
Yes--I am socialized
Yes--We do run a dairy
Yes--We do own our goats
Yes--We do milk the goats ourselves
No--I am not the mom
No--We are not the Duggars
No--I do not date

Postseason

This is my favorite time of the baseball season and yet it also my least favorite time of the season. Yes, I know that I just contradicted myself, but it's true.

I enjoy the start of the season, I enjoy watching baseball at any and every chance that I can get during the six months that the season is running (and with MLB.TV I can get a game every day of the week for that entire six months except for the All-Star break).

But I also enjoy the end of the season, to see who comes out as the best team in baseball this year, I enjoy watching all the replays of the best plays that happened this season, and seeing who is this year's best player. I also enjoy knowing that this is the time of year when all the best plays are made, that the broadcasting is at its best and that the teams are all number one in their division.

No, I do not enjoy knowing that within three weeks there will not be another game until mid March, nor do I like the fact that the Astros' season is over.

But I do enjoy knowing that for the next two weeks there will be a game every day of the week, and in most cases there will be a game playing every minute of the day from 1:30 until midnight. (Not like I will stay up that late, but I do have an option if I am still up then.)

Now normally this is one of those times when I am off the wall--"You know if Roy pitches a great game today, then Lance and Carlos can help with their bats tomorrow while Wandy is pitching." Or "They just have to win 11 straight games and they are the Champs".

But not this year, this year my family will not have to tiptoe around me when the Astros lose, since they didn't even have a chance for the play-offs. Thankfully this year I didn't have heartbreak. The Astros were eliminated weeks before the last game of the season and didn't spend the final month making a run for it. So I knew over a month ago that there was not going to be that mad dash for the finish, that they normally make and that there was not going to be any chance that this was "The Year" for them. Oh well maybe next year!

Now, I'm off to root for the Red Sox, as I was raised first an Astros' fan and second a Red Sox fan. At least they have a chance! :D Y’all have fun this fall day as I waste away my time frying my brain watching Baseball. lol

Some Things Amaze Me

Such as the fact that one of my siblings asked me last night about something that happened, when I was a kid. lol--I forget that to them I am an adult.

Or Noah's look when he asked me about what City I used to live in--I forget that he was born in the country.

Or that there are some people at market who more readily believe that I am the oldest of 11 children, then that I am 21!

Saturdays

If you've followed my blog for a while you will know that Saturday's are our second busiest days of the week. They are also the days when we get up at the crack of dawn or before. :)

Every Saturday since mid November of last year I have been getting up somewhere between 4 and 5, sometimes early, but never later. :D And I was always leaving the property somewhere between 5:30 and 7, depending on the market that I was going to. To be honest I haven't spent an entire Saturday on our property since last December. :D

A few weeks ago we stopped going to one market, leaving us going to only two until the second week of October. I thought it would be really nice just one of those Saturdays to sleep in, not go to a market, sleep till noon, watch This Week in Baseball, relax, and just take the day off. Until I thought of three things

1) I would still have to get up at 4 to pack the ice chests, as that is my job.
2) I would feel guilty for taking the day off while mom and dad were busy at a market and Chris was busy babysitting. :)
3) I really enjoy going to markets--talking with our customers and other vendors, selling out product and buying other vendor's product, going to the library after wards, etc.

Now, here I sit with tomorrow being our last day of only two markets and my last "free Saturday" and what do I do?? I offer to take the big market in Houston all by myself with one sister and a Grandfather, sending mom and dad to Austin so that they can have a break. (Not sure how much of a break it will be with market, but at least they won't have kids around and can have coffee after wards. :D )

Oh, well sleeping in was a nice thought anyways.

Now, that I have had my pity party I'm off to flavor cheese. :)

Our Family and Books..

Cats

I don't know what it is but cats do not like me.

When we lived in Houston we had this cat that my parents had before I was born. Who was named after the Red Sox outfield Carl Yastrzemski--Yaz was the cat I grew up with, half the time he lived in my room, because that is where Chris wanted him.

But there was something about me that he did not like, as long as I can remember I would have to walk about two feet around him to avoid his claws. The Claws that always seemed to be able reach a lot farther than one would think possible. And those times when I wasn't careful or he was sharing a bed with Chris and me? Well, let’s just say I have more scares from him than anything else!!

Once he died a few months after moved out here. I thought (as well as my parents) that we were done with cats in our live. What we weren't counting on were the cats that people drop out in the country to live "the idyllic country life", or that I have a few cat crazy sisters, or that we might need some to keep mice down, or, or.....

Well, now we own 8 cats (just watch me be wrong and have a sister leave a comment with the correct amount). Only one is a house cat, in that I mean she is known to sleep in the house and be very annoying when you are trying to relax while watching TV with a cup of coffee. :D

Other than that all our cats are outside cats, 6 of them will NOT come in the house, 5 of them will not let you touch them, and well--I am happy with that as they all do not like me. I wonder what it is, is there something on my forehead that only cats can read that says "She is not a cat lover"? I wonder.....

And how did this all come up? Well, while I was sitting on the coach minding my own business and watching the Astros' game, one of my sisters walked in with one of the 'wild' cats to show dad that she had captured it. While she was handing it to dad it looked at me and gave that evil cat eye that normally is followed by a claw being sunk into my skin. So, I skedaddled out of there leaving the cat to dad and Sara and came in here. Now that it's gone and the living room is cat free, I am going back to the Astros' game. :D

And for all you cat lovers out there have fun teasing them with a piece of string for me, since they won't let me close to them. :D

Just So Y'all Know

If you would like to know where I have been then check out my mom's blog--Dairy Berries

You never really think about how much morning sickness can affect the whole family until you are dealing with it. :-S Chris and I did Tuesday's farmer's market with GrandDavid, while mom stayed home because she wasn't feeling to good. Then I spent all of yesterday and part of today running errands for mom. Hopefully in a couple weeks things will be slightly back to normal. :D

So, now you know where I have been, some of what I have been doing, and why I have been doing it. :D