A little late in posting

I realize I have been less than prolific lately when it comes to this blog. Sorry about that. We have been busy and life, particularly this past week, has been frenzied. I am late in posting these pics but better late than never, right? Over Labor Day weekend we went up to our friend's camp and had a wonderful time. 6 adults and 10 children all under 10. Here are some of the pictures from the weekend:

All the kids except for Judah Michael.


This is one of Josiah's best friends... I am laughing as I write! These two act like an old married couple.

Christy, Me and Sunny through the smoke.

Adam and Judah.

There was rock throwing...


and wagon rides...

and lots of dirt bike rides...



dirty feet...

and the slipn' slide...

let's not forget baby kisses!


Did I say 10 kids?! ; )









What a great way to spend a weekend!

...Thanks Sunny and Rich!

Alpaca Birth

Last Friday around 9:30 in the morning I went out to check on our pregnant alpaca. I found her in the barn, standing by the water bucket, humming and humming. I went out again around 10:30 and she was still humming but now she was standing up and sitting down over and over and walking in circles. I had never seen an alpaca birth before but I was positive that she was starting labor! I was thrilled to actually get to witness the whole thing!

This is Oly as she was circling in the barn.

When she laid down again this is what I saw. You can see that she is definitely in labor and the cria's head is starting to crown.

After laying here for a while Oly got up and went out to the field at her favorite spot. Here she rolled to get the cria into a better position. Then she stood up and started to push a bit.
You can see the nose of the cria sticking out under Oly's tail as she is pushing.

The water sack isn't broken at this point, but the head is fully out.

She lies down again to get a short break you can see the front legs and the head of the cria. When she went down the water sack broke and you could see the cria breathing! Our other female is very interested in what is going on!

She stood up to walk around again and then went back to pushing. You can see Adam and Josiah in the background. Jojo was so excited to get to watch the baby be born. Here you can see that both front legs and shoulders are out.

Oly walked around again between pushes and to get away from the other females.

At this point Adam steps in to help with the final delivery. Sometimes a female will sit back down crushing the cria. Oly is very attentive!

Just born.

Sun drying.

Learning to walk.

Our new little guy still needs a name!

First Day

Well, today is the first day of school. My boys very eagerly set out to the bus this morning. I miss them. I really do; the house is too quiet. I can't believe I have 2 of them in full time school now. Where did the time go and when did my boys get so big? It just doesn't feel right having them gone. Maybe by next week I will be more used to it.

Isaiah wouldn't smile. He was very excited and was trying to hide it.

Elijah wanted to be sure I got his new bag in the picture.

Walking down to the bus stop. I love this picture!

Finally a smile from Isaiah!

And they will be gone all day :(

True Beauty

You need to take a look at this video. It's from Dove and it gives you some insight on how models really get their beauty. To me it is an impossible measuring stick for any female to live up to and many, many try. I wonder how many of them realize the truths in this video?

Hay is for...

...Alpacas! We got our hay delivered the for the fall and winter. About 125 bales total and the boys had a great time playing on it. We had to rush to get it all unloaded and put away because a storm was coming through. I didn't get any pictures of that but I did get a few of the boys posing for me!











We have another alpaca that was due on the 18th, so we are hoping the cria arrives soon! I will update when it does make it's entry to the world.

15K

With our return from the beach came a yearning for a motorcycle. Not by me. My husband has always wanted one but something about being in a warmer climate with the scorching sun beating down on us every day makes him crave one that much more. Not just any motorcycle - this motorcycle.


A Harley Davidson Fat Bob. Stupid name if you ask me, but no one did so I won't say any more about it. Obviously he isn't getting one any time soon but if he had an extra $15,000 just laying around he most assuredly would.

So this brings up the question if you had an extra $15,000 dollars to do anything with what would you do?

There is no specific "toy" that I want; however, there are a few things I could use. All of our appliances have reached the 10 year stretch and we are patiently waiting to see how much longer they will hold out. A new washer and dryer would be first on the list following with a new refrigerator and stove. Then I would buy all new furniture and a flat panel t.v.

The thought of adopting from a foreign country came to mind also! Oh, and my PC answer is to use it all to feed hungry children and give money to a non profit that provides books education to the illiterate.

So how about it? What would you do if you had an extra $15,000 to just spend?

Pawley's Island

We are home again from our trip to the beach. We had a great time and the boys did not want to come home! Thanks to Aunt Kathy for letting us crash her place. We got to go to the beach and swim in the pool and go shopping and play mini golf - so much fun! Enjoy the slide show!