Brand

Well most of you know that we homeschool. Sometimes, it is hard to get Brand to do his work. He would rather be outside like most of us would. So, I decided to bring him on out...... He got his work done in no time and off to the playing he went. We are so blessed to have land, animals, and freedom that most who live in town don't have. I hated it out here 4 years ago. I WAS NOT going to live out here in the flatlands with all this alkali dirt, wind and rattlesnakes.. NO WAY... Well here it is and 2 more kids and over 4 years later and I would not move for nothing.... I have realized over the last years that sometimes God knows what you need, not you..... I groaned, complained, whined......... And now I love it here. I love the land, I can see the beautiful sunsets every evening. I can hear the quiet that one doesn't have in town. I can hear the wind blow in the salt cedars and it almost makes a beautiful song. John even killed our first rattler the other day and it didn't even bother me and I still walk out there barefoot... I love our little zoo that we have and I love raising our children out of town. God was blessing me the whole time and I was too caught up in what "I" wanted to realize what he was giving me. Now some can't see what I see. That is because God only shares the special things like this with his special child... One that has grown in him and can truely love ALL things he has given me... God Bless

Opal

This is Shi and her hen "Opal"... She loves this poor girl to death.. Literally. She walks behind her real slow and then eases up on her and grabs a tail feather (or two), and then slowly grabs the rest of her... Opal never makes a sound... She goes just about every where with Shi... I think Shi thinks she is her baby (doll).... The poor ol' girl just sits there with her mouth wide open, can't even work up even a cluck, by then end of the day... Shi even puts her in the swing. Lord only knows what is going on in Opals head. I am sure she is thinking, either this kid is trying to kill me or she just doesn't even care..... The other Rooster (Willy) and hen (Hazel) just look up and walk away. They don't even care at all... What is wrong with them???? Poor Opal needs rescueing.. CHICKENS and CHILDREN, they are too funny to watch... I can't figure out what is going on in either of there minds... Or why they do the things they do.. I have been missing the tops off of my green bean plants and couldn't figure out what was going on. I put the powder bug stuff on them and it was still happening. Lo' and behold one day I see Mr. Willy Rooster sticking his head through the fence eating them.... UGHHHHHH !!!!! Now you know what I was thinking...... Need I say more. He is still around eating the edge of my garden... I kinda gave up on the garden idea anyhow... Maybe next year...... Well off I go to milk my goat.. God Bless...

busy

I have been so busy lately that I haven't had time to BLOG!!! It seems that summer brings more chores and somehow more animals. We are up to 4 horses, a donkey (that is totally cool), 6 goats, 10 geuineas ( actually not sure how many of those are left, one of the dogs decided she likes to eat them), 6 dogs, 2 hens and a rooster. Not only are my days filled with chores and children but now my wonderful husband gets a discount at work so we have fencing and building happening as well.. I put a garden in this year for the first time. Some of it is growing and some not. This soil is so bad I can't imagine why anything would grow.... I am still trying to get the grass and tree's going as well. I am still doing school with Brand since he needs to start 2nd grade in August. Yes we are about a month behind schedule. Of course all the other kiddo's do school as well just not as much as Brand.. My Dad had heart surgery last week in Phoenix and is doing well. He got released from the hospital today and now it in a motel/apartment for this week. Something about he can't leave the valley and go to higher ground or his lungs may burst.. Yikes for sure... He is filling much better now that he is out of the hospital though. Shiloh had her appt with the eye doctor a few weeks ago and she can see 14ft now. Praise GOD!! She is legally not blind anymore. Yipee.. Although the dr. did say that if she were 16 she could get her drivers license. Now that is one scarey thought... They give licenses to people who can only see 14ft.. OMG!!! LOOK OUT NM..... The coolest thing that I have done in the last few weeks in milk a goat. And I must say I was ALMOST good at it... LOL... Now I gotta get me one....... Brand is a professional milker also... He was pretty proud too.. What a kid.. Well this is kinda ramblin', but just needed to catch ya'll up on some of the happenings going on at the sturzoo.... I promise to be better in the coming weeks... I have taken some cool pictures recently so will start my saga again soon. The kids are always cracking me up, in more ways than one... God Bless!!

Pets

This is our newest pet... Yes it is a donkey named Jack. Most of you know how John is about strangers.. Well let's just say for those of you who don't know him that there are NO strangers to him. We met a guy at the dumpster and we ended up with a free donkey. The kids love him and so do we. He has one issue though. He is not cut.... Which creates a problem with our mare.... They seem to have taken a liken' to one another.... I, however, cannot see us with a mule so tomorrow he is going to the vet and then he will not be little stud donkey any longer.... Adam seems to think this is somehow not right. He says "A guy has to keep his manhood"...... Typical teen.... He has been trained to pull a cart so we are on the search for one. He is pretty good at letting us know when anything odd is around. We claim that he is our guard donkey.... Pretty neat... I think we have enough pets now... 4 horses, 1 donkey, 6 dogs, 6 goats, 1 gold fish & 3 cats...... Oh not to mention the neighbors guinea's that I am bribing with feed to stay a while..... Well I better get. Tons to do and daylight is burnin'.... GOD Bless!!!!

Siblings

I have been so busy lately with the new "kids" and school and everything else a mom does that I haven't had time to blog much. But this picture has such a great story to go with it... First it was a normal day here at the Sturzoo. At least normal in a Sturza kinda way. I am doing my usual piddln' around busy work. I notice the children are all silent with a giggle here and there. I sit back and enjoy the quiet. Then I notice the children are all starting to giggle more..... But this time with whispers involved. I slowly sneak around the corner and lo' and behold, this is what I saw...... Little Shi with a rope tied around her and a scarf around her mouth. Of course the only thing I could thing of at that moment was "What have you boys done?" The boys start saying "she wanted us to do it." Then I realize she is laughing as well.... Of course I notice the shirt say "Daddy's Girl" on it. So I thought what a perfect blog title... The Boys jealious of Shi because she is Daddy's little girl.... I tried to work it out that way but as you can tell Shiloh is cracking up so that didn't work. Since they were all having fun it worked out in the end. But can you imagine what I was thinking when I walked around the corner and saw her standing there like that..... The Princess is caught.. They captured her..... Anywho I got a good laugh and so did John. However, we put the ropes where they are suppose to be OUTSIDE!!!! And made a new rule of no tying sister up.... Or anyone or anything for that matter..... God Bless!!!!

Wednesday

Well today is Wed. It seems like this week is flying by. I guess because I am so busy. We are bottle feeding one of the babies. We named her Milley, because the miller bugs were attacking her one night. She couldn't seem to get away from them all with her 2 day old little legs. She is solid black with one white dot on her side of her belly. Just too cute. All 3 of the kids are growing and getting stronger everyday. I have thoroughly enjoyed them. They will definitely be kid broke by the time they realize what is going on. The children have played with them for hours on end. Who needs games and toys when you have goats..

I was given a copier by a friend of ours. I absolutely love it. I have been what my children say "A COPYING FOOL". I think I have spent several hours just trying to figure it out. I even copied Adams face. His idea of course. Now the kids are fighting over who gets to push to start button... I can't imagine life without it now. It makes things so much faster and easier than I ever imagined. I say I am old fashioned... I may be, however some of life's great things, like copiers, have to stay... Oh and running water and electricity..... Thanks again Karin... I love it...

Well I guess I better get up and do something productive like school, cleaning, watering and feeding. God Bless!!!

New Kids!!!

Finally our goat Letty had her babies. Yes that is right 3!!! They are now 24 hours old. They are the cutest things ever for sure. 1 buck and 2 precious girls..... I was so excited yesterday morning I flew out of bed when Adam told me she had them. You would have thought I was in labor, not her.... She had just had the last one right before we went outside. The children get all dressed and come outside as well. Then Shiloh asks the big question... "Did you get them in town?" How funny... I had to explain the whole baby thing again.. I said no, Letty had them in her tummy... "How did they get out?" I go through the whole thing and explain that, in a 3 year old kinda way... I had to use our dear friend Jennifer who had just had her first baby as an example..... Shi was good with the whole thing after that... The kids are nursing well, I think... I am new to this goat farming thing... We got a nipple just in case and made up a special recipe for the little critters. It seem as if she is shunning the runt a bit so I am bottle feeding her just as a precaution. She doesn't seem that hungry though... So guess I am an over protective step mom.... Next week will be the dehorning, vaccinating and castration. I am a hoping John steps up to the plate on that one.. I am just the Nannie not the vet... Although I did deworm and give some Pro-Bios to the momma yesterday. I think it was a bit awkward for the both of us, seeing how most of it ended up in her eye..... Well I guess I better get on with my day. Daylight is burning.... Isn't that what all goat farmers say???? God Bless!