Rabbit Life and Loss

A piece of rabbit fur blew out of Mama's cage on Tuesday, and I was really concerned.  Until I realized that she had been really busy pulling her fur and creating a lovely nest.  (Of course, it wasn't in the nest box I put in there, but it was a nest!)

I had really thought she would have had her babies already (she was bred on October 10, and 31 days later would have been Monday the 10th.  But, having never experienced bunny gestation before, I just assumed she was late. Having had two pregnancies last 42 weeks myself, I understand late babies!

A couple of handfuls of grass hay and barley hay were added to her cage so she could plump up her nest even more.  It was amazing watching her grab mouthfuls of it, and go wandering into the back section of her cage.  She went back and forth, back and forth, feathering her nest so to speak.

After watching for a while, I left her alone, expecting that we'd have baby bunnies later that day.

I went out to check on her frequently, and that evening noticed something strange.  In one corner of her cage (not in the nest she had carefully constructed) she had given birth to a tiny baby.  Next to the nest, she had given birth to a huge baby, with different coloring than the other. She also later gave birth to a second, smaller baby with the same dark coloring as the first.

All three babies were dead.  And I was in shock--I really wanted to figure out what in the world happened. My first thought was that they simply froze (it was freezing outside!).  But, all babies were under hay and one was under fur.  So after some further thinking, I decided to investigate further.

So I started researching online.  And learning.  Apparently rabbits can retain fetuses from a previous pregnancy.  I believe this is what happened.  It explains why one was so large, and had the markings of a full American Chinchilla (I had bred Mama to Raf--a dwarf/Rex cross.)  Mama's previous delivery (with her old owner) was to an American Chinchilla.

I believe that she retained a fetus from that delivery.  And it's been inside her ever since.  That caused the delay in birth, which in turn led to the still born other baby.  It also explains the small litter.

Of course, I'll never really know if that's exactly what happened or not, but it's the best guess I could make based on my knowledge.  I am going to wait a while, and then breed her again.  She seems like she'd be such a good mama bunny--she made a great nest!

Life, and loss.  It's part of life on the farm, unfortunately.   I'm hoping that the next two litters we are expecting in early December will have a happier outcome.  And that I'll have pictures of cute baby bunnies to share with you all instead of just an empty nest.

Until then, I'm going to continue reading more about rabbits and increasing my knowledge.  Perhaps I'll be able to help prevent this in the future!

Laundry & a Large Family

You know what's a fact about large families?  With more people wearing clothes each day, the laundry pile is never bare.  As soon as I think I'm all caught up, it's time for eight people to change into jammies and woolie-oop, the washer is full again.

It's a never ending battle I'm telling you! 

But through the years, I've learned some tips and tricks for keeping the laundry monster at bay.  Here are some of them:

*Doing a load of laundry means washing, drying AND putting it away...

I really struggled with that last part for years.  We'd have a large pile of clean clothes (unfolded) that we'd be digging through to find the shirt we wanted.  Our drawers would be nearly empty.  And when I got the urge to put laundry away, it took at least an hour. 

There was a better way.  It involves enlisting in the kids' help in putting away laundry.  It now gets folded immediately after coming out of the dryer, and hangs out in baskets until afternoon chore time. 

This allows all of the laundry for the day to be put away at the same time (avoiding lots of trips upstairs and waking up a sleeping baby or disturbing school time), but keeps the clothes from getting food all over them or something while waiting to be put away. 

During chore time, I put away Simon and Owen's laundry, along with Bryan's and mine, and any towels.  Ellie puts away hers, Jeffrey tackles his and Jayme does hers and Sydney's. 

Having help is wonderful!

*Washers and dryers don't stand up well to abuse....

Our washer has broken several times, especially in this past year.  Thankfully Bryan has gotten really adept at trouble shooting and fixing it! 

But, it helped me to remember that just because I CAN shove so many clothes in the washer doesn't mean I should. 

I also need to give the dryer a break.  It usually runs longer than the washer each cycle, so by spreading loads out a bit, I can give each machine a little break between cycles. 

*Hanging clothes up on a clothesline makes them smell so good! 

I really enjoyed using the line more this summer and early fall, and look forward to using it again next year.  There's nothing like crawling into sheets at night that smell like sunshine! It also kept the dryer from being used, and heating the house.  Money saved on electricity was also nice!

*Limiting the number of clothes used is important

Little kids (especially my little girls) love to change clothes.  Dress up, just trying something new, etc.  All of that can lead to a huge pile of laundry.  We keep clothes changes to a minimum, and try to only wash things when they are dirty. 

That said, we do dress up a lot, and keep our dress up clothes separate so they don't need washed each time!

*Clothes with evidence of farm chores get put in a special place, and washed ASAP!

A fall in chicken poop, clothes that stink like cow poo or socks that discovered a hole in a rubber boot....yeah--those are gross!  Life on a farm can be stinky sometimes.  It's important to not let that smell permeate ALL of the dirty laundry.  We try to keep the washer open during chore time for throwing those stinky things in.  At the very least, we keep an empty basket. 

What tips and tricks have you picked up over the years for tackling laundry.

End of Week Pics

 Just a few pictures showing highlights of our week...

Sunday

(I actually managed to remember to take a picture on Sunday this week--the first for a while!!!)

Here's how you can find Owen most mornings--curled up in his jammies in front of the fire. He loves to just lay here and soak up the heat. 

Monday

We decorated sugar cookies for Ellie's game. Simon sure enjoyed digging in! 

Tuesday

Simon is fascinated with toy cars. He apparently thought this one would run faster with a little slobber power!

Wednesday

Jeffrey's birthday! Here is the cake Jayme decorated for him. 

Thursday

No picture

Friday

I built a door for a rabbit hutch we were blessed with. I've never done a project like this solo before (usually Bryan tackles them for me), but it was fun! Sydney and Jeffrey helped me. 

We got Raf (our smaller buck) moved today and all of our rabbits are now in their own space--and will be protected from the snow and wind this winter.

Saturday

Ellie asked if I could take her picture. She's in jammies and all ready to be tucked into bed. 

I'm ready for bed too! I hope you all had a great week!

5 Tips for Surviving Pregnancy Exhaustion

I don't know if it's because I'm about 27 weeks pregnant, or because I'm up each night for a couple of hours with my sleepless son Owen (or most likely a combination of both!) but I've really been exhausted lately. Of course with six kids in the house and farm chores, laying in bed all day isn't a viable option. What's a busy mom to do? 

Here are five ways I've been managing:

1. Maximize rest during the day.

We have a two hour quiet time each day. While I normally use this time to do some catchup and prep on housework and meals, or maybe write a blog post or two, I've been more purposeful with resting for at least half of this time. I can't always fall asleep, but I can sit on the couch and at least put my feet up if sleep eludes me. 

I've also moved parts of school to the couch where I can rest a little better while teaching. 

It's not ideal, but it works! The kids love gathering around and snuggling while we read and sing together, and I get to be still for a while. 

2. Buying convenience foods

I've been making my own pasta for several months now, and just love it! But when I go grocery shopping next week, dried whole wheat pasta has once again returned to my shopping list. 

Yes, I love the taste of homemade. But by having a box of pasta on hand, I make it much easier for the kids to help cook dinner. 

And those fifteen minutes saved by not making it fresh can be huge on a day when I got little sleep and my brain is feeling foggy.

Tortillas are another convenience food I'll be buying. Yes they are easy to make, but this is not the time in my life to make every little thing. 

3. Minimize farm chores

The cows are now dried up, thanks to the doses of Tomorrow my mom gave them this morning. My parents will be out of town this weekend, so mom came over this morning instead of on Sunday. 

Not milking will save about 20 minutes every morning. I'm looking forward to not milking tomorrow! I enjoy it, but after milking for over a year, a break will be nice. 

I've also worked out some efficient ways to quickly get feeding and watering taken care of for all the animals, so chores are only taking 10 minutes twice a day when I'm solo, and even less when the kids help. 

 Being efficient and drying up the cows will save me a lot of effort.

4. Staying home 

We are being homebodies around here. Well, I guess we are all the time, but now I'm more so. It can be a challenge getting everyone ready to go and loaded up.  Not to mention keeping track of everyone and lifting Owen into and out of the car and his wheelchair. Leaving the house requires a lot of effort. 

So we are practicing contentment at home. With what we have. And I'm learning to really love shopping online. Toilet paper and diapers delivered to my door? Yes please! 

We are combining appointments and leaving less. I'm really enjoying just seeing all the days on the calendar with no where to go--it leaves room for creative play here on the farm. And it saves gas money--another bonus! 

5. Lowering expectations of myself

This is the hardest one for me. I feel like I need to continue to get it all done. But the Lord has pointed out that those feelings are just my pride. Busted! 

Carrying this new little one and spending time with the family are way more important at this stage in my life than mopping the floors. And scrubbing cupboards. 

So I'm leaning on the Lord and learning that I can't do it all. And that's ok. We do what we can each day, and ensure that essentials get done (kitchen and bathroom cleaning for instance), and then  I don't stress. Well, rather I'm learning not to stress! And I'm enjoying more snuggles and books with kids than ever before. 

What strategies have you used to survive exhaustion? 

Look Who Is 6!

Happy Birthday Jeffrey!  

Jeffrey showing off the helicopter he constructed from K'Nex.

My little boy is growing up!  Today he turns 6--a whole hand AND an additional finger.  Time certainly flies. It seems like only yesterday Bryan and I were thinking he was going to be born in the car on the way to the hospital, and now he's gone and grown into a young lad.  And a nice one at that.   
Many years ago, I read in a book somewhere that the goal of the Amish is to have their children self-sufficient (for the most part) by 7.  Bryan and I have kept this in mind as we train our children, and we're pleased to report that Jeffrey is definitely on track!  It amazes me how many parents have little or no expectations for their children.  Kids definitely rise or fall to meet parental expectations.

Anyways, back to Jeffrey...

He's a huge help around the house, and can tackle many chores by himself.  He loves giving me a hand, and often takes heavy loads from his sisters or myself.  This year--he asked if he could learn to clean the toilet for his daily bathroom chore.  Um...yes!  What five year old boy asks to clean the toilet?  He's definitely special!

In addition to being a great helper, Jeffrey is learning his way around the kitchen.  (We want to be sure both our boys and our girls can cook!) He makes peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the family on his day for lunch.  He cooks pancakes and makes cookies.

One of my favorite character traits about Jeffrey is that when it's time to work, he works hard, but he also plays hard. When he puts his mind to something, he gets it done.

He adores construction toys and builds with Legos, K'Nex or Lincoln Logs almost every day during our two hour quiet time.  He has a mathematical brain that I don't quite understand--spatial sense is definitely one of his strong areas!

I look forward to seeing him continue to learn, grow and change in the next year.  Learning to read independently is a major goal we have set.  Whatever happens in the coming year, I am thankful for this little boy the Lord gave us!

The Final Countdown to Drying Up the Cows

Wowsers--I've been milking for 13 months straight; ever since late September 2013.  It's time for the cows and I to both have a much needed break. 

The plan now is to dry up the cows this coming Sunday.  How do I know they're ready to dry up?

*Their milk production has dropped.  I'm now getting just over 1/2 a gallon a day (from both cows together).
*The grass has dried up completely, which means the cows are now eating hay exclusively.  They aren't taking in as many calories.
*If my breeding plan went according to schedule, they are going to have babies in 4 months (mid March-early April).  That means they need time to rest.  Normally you only dry up cows three months before calving, but since they've been milking for so long, I thought an extended break would be beneficial.

So...there are only a few days left in my 2013-2014 milking cycle.  It's kind of a bittersweet feeling. I'll really miss the milk.  

But...I am definitely looking forward to sleeping in a bit longer each morning, and getting a little extra rest before our new baby joins us!

Pics for Saturday

Happy November everyone!  We've got two birthdays, a Thanksgiving trip to the other side of the coast, and a zoo visit all on the docket in the next 29 days.  Wow--it'll certainly be a fun filled month!

Here's a glimpse into how we wrapped up October:

Sunday

A potluck at church took my mind off of picture taking today.  What a blessed time of fellowship!

Monday

Ellie wanted to play outside in the leaves for her game.  It was so much fun! We built a "house" complete with a nice bed and a couch.  Jeffrey and Jayme are trying out the bed.  Cozy!

Tuesday

Ellie and Sydney helped me cook dinner tonight.  They are turning into good helpers! My picture turned out blurry though--I think I was trying to do too much all at once!

Wednesday

We spent time outside again today.  Simon loved the leaves, and is finally figuring out walking on uneven ground.  He even tried to run a bit! Like the handle-less little rake he was playing with?

Thursday

I"m trying to get more exercise into our days, especially before winter hits.  We took a walk down to the creek for some outside active play.  In the meantime, I caught this shot.  Jeffrey and Jayme worked hard this past summer on getting a rock bridge in the creek.  We'll see if it holds up this winter...

Friday

Simon and his Apple Juice Jello.  He approved, but found it hard to eat.  (He's becoming very independent in eating and doesn't like help much...)

Saturday

Jeffrey loves helping in the kitchen.  He asked to make cookies for our afternoon snack tonight.  I supervised him and did some of the measuring for him.  He stirred everything together and made the balls on the cookie sheets.  Here he is showing off his newest kitchen skill--taking cookies off the sheets with a spatula.  What fun to cook together!

 You can see more apples in the background.  We're slowly turning them all into applesauce, apple juice, dried apples and apple rolls.  I'll probably try to get an apple pie made this week.  We're down to just one tub left!!!


What were you up to this week?