Bentley

Bentley, the farms new pony, is fitting in wonderfully.
I took a group of kids out there to brush him the other day, and he loved it.
Bentley is a Welsh Pony, gray in color, and very fluffy. He sure isn't photo shy, which is good for my sake. So far, he is an amazing addition to the farm.

Ready. Set. Live Nativity.

The Live Nativity at the Farm (Critterbarn.org) started last week.
The farm is all dressed up with lights, the costumes are out, and the stage is set.
Some of the volunteers love to dress up and play a Shepard, while others have to be dragged kicking and screaming to help. Most of the time, if they don't want to do it (assuming we have enough kids), they can do other things. We only have so many costumes anyways, so there are normally three Shepard's.
This is where my part comes in...

I'm Mary.
The one problem that we found this year, was that I have to cover up my purple hair. The tips of my hair is purple, and that is not very authentic... so I had to hide it under the headdress.
The only person missing from this picture is Joseph. He actually showed up late on this day... we almost had to find a substitute.
Otherwise the whole thing went smoothly. It was the first day of many to come.

Pony!

Unbenounced to me, we got a new horse at the farm. Well he is technically not a horse, he is a pony. He is a pretty big pony though, if I may say so myself. His name is Bentley and he is some kind of welsh pony... or so I have been told. He is the sweetest thing. I went in there to meet him and he came right up to me, which is saying a lot compared to our other horse that struggles a bit. 

Me and a few volunteers brought him some treats last night, which he very much enjoyed. Although he did like to stay in his hut, which I don't blame him for because it was Very cold outside. That just proves how smart he is. Hopefully we will be able to ride him, once he gets settled in more. I can't wait to get to know Bentley better, he is going to be a great addition to the farm. 

The Day I Was a Man.

As the Christmas season is drawing near, I would like to do a throw back to the last Christian season.

During December, the Critter Barn always does a beautiful live nativity. There is a Mary, a Joseph, some shepherds and lots of sheep. This means that we need lots of extra help to keep the farm running and to have people in the nativity. One day last year we were a bit short staffed, and so we didn't have any males on the farm. People kept coming though, so we had to get a Joe somewhere. That is how this happened...

That is me as Joe, and another little volunteer had to be Mary. We were probably the scariest couple of all time, but the people still loved it. A few things I learned that day: beards are itchy and they taste gross. Also wigs are just as bad. I'm thankful for being a women, and not having to worry about growing or shaving a beard. That just sounds like way to much extra work. :) Though it was fun being Joseph for a day. 

Impulse Traveling.

Today at my SOGO site, I had some good life chats with a group of seniors and some other volunteers. We were playing this game where you roll a dice, and the number you get shows you what card you have to answer. Each card had a different question on it, so we would go around answering questions. The game was called, "Getting to know you better."

There was only one slight problem, we kept getting off topic. Now that wasn't actually bad, it was quite good. At one point, one of the senior (lets just call him Joe) got onto the topic of impulse traveling. Apparently he was an impulse traveler in his youth. He would decide to go there, and when he got there he would call his wife and ask, "Guess where I am?" Of course his wife didn't like that too much, but that didn't stop him one bit.

He went up to Alaska for just two days one time, without telling anyone. He said that he would always travel alone. Joe also told us the story of him calling his wife from Amsterdam, he had just decided to pop over to Europe for a bit. This was all when he had kids even. What a guy. I am surely impressed (by him and his wife), and bit inspired as well. Maybe my next blog post will be from Japan XD (if only I weren't a poor high school student.)

Volunteers + New Chicks

These are two pictures that I found from this summer. We had just gotten brand new chicks, only hours old. Looks like there are some turkey's are in there as well. This is one of my favorite parts of the critter barn, the volunteers and new experiences that are always around the next corner. These kids have all held millions of chicks, but there is nothing more special than a just hatched chick.
When I brought them into the barn and all the kids came running up, wanting to hold one of course. I then was able to teach them about what to do when you get brand new chicks. When you take them out, and put them in their new home you have to dip their beak into the water so that they know where it is. Of course it was chaotic with all these kids trying to do that all at once, but it is worth it because it is such a great learning opportunity.
Kid's connect so well with animals, and I have seen that time and time again. To realize how helpless these new borns are, they can't even find water on their own. It teaches the kids how to care, and how to help something that is weak. Also, you have to be extra careful with the new chicks. They are only hours old, and that means they are fragile.
It's the little lessons that I love at the farm. All these things are so valuable in the scheme of life, even if the kids don't realize it at the time.

Animal Adventures

This summer I was blessed to teach a class called Animal Adventures at the farm. 

These are just a few pictures that I took of some of my classes. I had one class a week. They would come in the afternoon for two days. All the kids where from the ages of 5 - 8, so it was a younger group. We sure had a whole lot of fun, while learning lots as well. As a class we got to visit every animal on the farm within those two days. Their favorite parts where petting all the different animals, and getting to hold many of them, yet they did learn a lot. It was nice being able to share all my knowledge of the animals with these kids. Some loved the information and just sucked it up. They may be young, but that doesn't mean they can't learn. It was fun trying to come up with analogies to explain the concepts of the animals to the kids.

Teaching this class really taught me what it's like to be a teacher. How to keep kids attentions, now that was a key one. There were only 10-12 kids per class, yet to hold all of their attentions you really had to be talking about something cool. One other thing I learned, is how to share. If you let one kid hold the goat, they ALL have to hold the goat. Everything had to be fair, even if one found a feather; then they all wanted a feather. Kids are funny little creatures, yet they are one of my favorite things about my job.

Potatos

This summer we had a wonderful intern, Jennie, who took care of our garden. She transformed the entire place into patches of fruit, veggies and vegetation. She knows everything there is to know about plants and the ground, and so she grew us a plethora of edible plants. This included tomato's, lettuce, gourds, spicy flowers, purple carrots, mint, and so many other things that I had never heard of. She was always getting us to try some new leaf to chew on, or something she dug out of the ground. 

One day I was feeling a bit hungry, so we decided to cook up what Jennie dug up. She was in the garden digging up red skin potatoes, so me and Audrey took them into the house and boiled them for a bit. We flavored them with a bit of salt, and garlic and served them to everyone around the farm. We had many volunteers, guests, critter campers, and staff eating what we cooked. It was such a nice little treat, and I sure wouldn't mind eating them again. 

Yuki

I would like you to meet Yuki. She is just one day old in this picture. Most people at the farm know her as Twizzler (her mothers name is licorice) but a select few call her by her real name. Yuki has a very special story. She was born at the end of June this past summer. When she was born, no person found her until about 30 minutes after her mother gave birth. The problem with that is that the sack did not break around her, so she was stuck in the sack with fluids for about 30 minutes. That is a very unusual thing to happen. She actually had a twin who did not last the 30 minutes, and she was dead by the time someone got to her. Yuki did make it, though she was never very healthy. 

She would have 'fainting spells' where she would just fall over and look dead. We had to do many a CPR on her. We later found out that her lungs had been damaged, and so her entire respiratory system was out of whack. We where not sure how long she was going to make it, but she kept surviving. After about a month, when we figured out what was going on with her body we moved her out from all the other goats and put her mother and her into a separate room. This way no one would bully them, and we could keep guests and people from holding her too often. 

One great thing about this was being able to share her story with the guests that would come past. We had a sign that said to please not pet her, mostly because we didn't want her to be handled too much and put too much stress on her lungs. But because of this, many people asked about Yuki and what was wrong. I watched many people be touched by her story of her survival, and many volunteers fell in love with the little goat. 

The best part of the day soon became the hour we would take mom and baby outside to run around and get fresh air. People loved watching that little goat. She sure had a lot of energy and ran like any other little goat. Over time she kept getting better and better, and we were sure she was going to make it.

Sadly we were wrong, Yuki passed away the beginning of September. She went into one of her fainting spells and never came out of it. It was quick, so she was never in too much pain for long. I wasn't there at the time, but I heard about it a few hours later when I came and helped bury the body. I loved this goat, and she was probably one of my favorite (maybe even my favorite) that we ever had at the farm. Now that is saying something, because we have had a Lot of goats on the farm. 

Even though her real name was Twizzler, I always loved the name Yuki more. I was the one who named her that, and there was a reason behind the name. Yuki means snow in Japanese. She was the only white pygmy goat that we have on the farm, and so she was special. I found the name fitting. 

We buried her under the marigolds, it was a fitting spot.

 Rest in Peace Yuki.

A Day of Smiles.

Yesterday was not the best day for me. I was struggling through a lot of different things and for once I was not all too thrilled to go work with the special needs kids at Holland. Normally it is my favorite part of my week, but I was just not up for it. I went anyways and for once all of the kids were in a really good mood. Only three of them were their, but still Gavin and Elise where in wonderful moods (which they normally are not).

Near the end of my time there, I was glad that I went. Those kids cheered up my entire day. My favorite quote was when the teacher turned and said to me,"Isn't it great to have someone who is always excited to see you." ~ Mrs. Oseland. Gavin was just chatting away about lots of things, and she mostly said it about him.

I love those kids :) Every time I go, I never cease to learn something from them and it's not like they are teaching me. They are just kids, living out their lives. Even Elise, who normally is not a happy camper, was having a good day. We even had a tickle fight for a little bit. I've never heard a kid laugh so much.

Story Time!

How do you determine if you have the best school ever? Start with asking yourself these three simple questions.
1) Do you have PJ day?
2) Do you take a half an hour out of your day to read children's stories?
3) Do you cram your entire school into the middle of the hall to listen to said children's stories in your PJ's?

It's even hard to see how far back all the people go. Also take note that there is a large group of people sitting where I am taking this picture from. I have never heard so many people cheer as the little blue engine chugged up the hill saying "I think I can, I think I can."

Let's just conclude that I love my school :)

Glasses Are Cool

At SOGO today, my first task was to push Gavin back to their classroom. Now Gavin and I have a special connection; we both have glasses. He likes to remind me this everyday that I come, multiple times. So he was pointing at my glasses, and then pointing to his (telling me that we both have glasses) and this small girl walking past in another class jumps in and yells "I have glasses too!" I turned quickly around and gave her a thumbs up and said, "They're sweet, I love them!" The smile on her face before she went around the corner was priceless.

Summer | BB & GG

Two baby pygmy goats where born in June this summer. Identical Twin Girls. They literally look the same, all black with white speckles on ears and nose. The picture above are from when they were first born. The one always loved to sleep in the feeder.

They were later named BB & GG, after Brad and Greg. GG is the one with less white on it's nose. It's hard to tell... So we put collars on them! The pink one is GG, and the purple one is BB. They are almost over three months now, and are still as adorable as ever - even if they have gained quite the chubby stomachs.
















They were sure a huge attraction at the farm this summer. Watching them out of their pen, running around in the grass is one of my favorite memories. They two sure got some pizzaz in their step.

What street do you live on?

At my Tuesday/Friday site for SOGO, I go to Holland East to work with low functioning special needs kids. Most of them are in kindergarden, but one of them is in second grade. There are six kids in all, but I am just going to focus on one today - Jacob.

Jacob can not walk much, or at all really and he also has trouble eating. This means that he has a very special diet of many liquidy foods. He has a cup full of a special drink that he must drink each day, and so we are always reminding him to take a sip. It takes him all day to finish it... Jacob is such a cute little boy, I still can't get how adorable he is.
Jacob also struggles with speaking up. He likes to talk in a very soft and quiet voice, which I find quite cute, but it is not acceptable. These kids are all in this class so that they can get integrated into society better, and learn what it is to be a real kid. So we have to always make sure that Jake is using his 'big boy voice.' He is getting better and better by the day.

This past week I was helping out when Jacob called me over, by my name. Out of the six kids, only Jake and Gavin really know my name. Gavin always try's to say Rachael, but it is really just a jumble of words. Jake said my name perfectly, and I was quite shocked. Firstly I was shocked at the clarity of him saying it, and secondly he remembered my name and it was only my third day there. I had been more with Gavin and him in those three days as well.
The two of us started talking and he asked me about my school. I told him I went to another school just like him and that I was in class too. He then asked what street I lived on. I was quite confused for a second, it was such a random question. I told him I lived on Norwood, and he asked what street was connected to Norwood. I told him the closet 'big' street near my house. He had to mull that over for a bit. We then headed off to lunch, Jacob talking to me the entire time. The workers could not believe he was being so 'smart', to put it in a simple way. Throughout lunch Jacob kept talking to me, asking me questions and telling me about himself. Finally we had to say he had to finish each part of his food before he could talk to me. He sure ate fast. :)

SOGO

This is a new 'series' (its not really a series, but I am not sure what else to call it), that I want to blog about. Normally I write about the farm, but I have something else that has been very inspiring to me lately - SOGO. SOGO is a class that I am taking at my school, where I go out and volunteer in the community everyday for an hour or so. I go to two different places; Holland East, and elementary school to work with low functioning special needs kids on Tuesdays and Fridays; and Evergreen Commons to work with the elderly, many with alzheimer's and other diseases of old age. I've been having such a great time that I have to share what has been going on. Hopefully I can post about each day, or at least a few times a week about what is going on at each site.

Summer | Craftswomen

Whats wrong with this picture? 

Look at how the boards are connected at the top.

Yup. Their not connected. This was Greg and Nate's doing. Mary was not too happy. So one day when the boys where gone, Mary sent Katie and I around the farm to fix all of the mistakes that the boys had made while building things. We fixed this sign, along with some water containers and a crocked pen. They still don't know that ever happened xD Now we know the true craftsmen *ahem* craftswomen of the farm. 

Summer | Scare Crow

What goes on when Greg leaves his sweat shirt lying around. 

Looks like an exact resemblance to me :D

Lesson to learn: Be careful where you leave stuff. 

Summer | FOG

FOG stands for Farm on the Go. This is where we pack up a bunch of animals from around the Critter Barn and bring them to a site, like a church or a school or a park, and set up so that people can come see the animals without having to come to the farm. We do parties, and picnics, and special events. There was one almost everyday this summer, and sometimes multiple ones in a day.

One day we even had three FOG, and I did all three. It was quite the day, let me tell you. We started off in the morning going to a VBS at a church. Mary and I started packing at around 6 in the morning, and set up at the site by 8:30. We then packed that all up and switched to a slightly smaller trailer, leaving a few animals behind and just took a few of them to the Kent District Library, which is quite far from the farm. We were there all afternoon and then we packed that all up and went back to the farm to pick up as many animals as we could get into two trailers and brought it over to another VBS. By the end I was so parched, and sick of setting up then packing it all back up. In the end I did get some ice tea and pizza, so all's good that ends well :) But it was still quite the day, and I pray we never have to do that again... Mary agrees.

Besides that one though, we went on so many other FOG's this summer. I went on most of them too. I really hope that we blessed some people as we went out and about. It's not the easiest thing to do, but it is rewarding. Some of the people we go to are not able to come down to the farm. One day we set up at a cancer center down in Grand Rapids. The joy on those kids faces, and even the nurses. There were only about 5 kids that came for the entire two hours - but we sure did have a blast. We brought two baby pygmy goats that just pranced around the entire time and the kids Loved it!

Summer | Interns

We had four interns this summer. Let me introduce you to them all :)

Jennie
She has actually been volunteering on the farm since this past January, but she took the position of Intern this summer on the farm. Jennie was our garden lady, and let me just say - she did wonders. There are gardens now in every nook and cranny of the place, and they are all up kept and well loved. I have never tried so many strange veggies before. From hot and spicy leaves, to purple carrots, mint, giant sunflowers, and so many other things that I had never heard of, let alone tried. She is actually staying with us throughout the fall and into the winter, and maybe even longer :) I don't have any pictures of her, but that doesn't make her any less awesome.

Emily
Emily just graduated from MSU this past year as an animal science major. She helped with a lot of meds around the farm this summer, and other various things. She was not around as much everyone else (she was still there a lot, don't get me wrong) so I don't have any pictures of her either... My pictures from this summer are actually quite limited. Emily was a great asset to the farm this summer, and she is also going to be helping a bit this fall around the farm.

Audrey

Audrey was actually an intern last summer as well, so this was her second time around. I have probably talked about her in this blog before. Audrey was actually a volunteer before she ever interned, and I knew her from school - so lets just say that we are pretty good friends. So many good times with this gal, I love her to bits. :)

Katie

























Where do I even start with Katie.... Firstly she is studying at MSU, hoping to get into vet school this coming year. She sure knows her stuff. She taught classes, helped with volunteers and guests, and made everyone laugh. Katie is quite a character, and you would have to meet her to understand her fully. She is so full of energy and spunk every single day, and I am so glad she took the internship this summer. Things were never dull, thats for sure. Plus I now know the owner of the struggle bus :)

Summer

As many of you know, I was lacking of a laptop this past summer. This meant no blogging... :'( But now as the school year starts up again, I'm going to get this thing rolling. To start off the year, I want to reflect back on this summer. I sure have a lot of stories to tell :D I was pretty much at the farm everyday, all day. So heres to my summer series!

Eggs Break When Thrown

Today I came to the conclusion that I have grown up. I may not be an adult, but I'm sure not a kid anymore. Two volunteers at the farm today, took the liberty to decorate the hen house with eggs. They were on the walls, and alllll over the floor. It took over an hour to clean up the entire thing. My first reflex was to yell at the kids, but surprisingly I didn't. I was able to remain composed through the whole thing. Another thing that surprised me was the talk that I had with the boys, it went really well. I didn't plan a thing about it, yet it came out really good. Those boys sure did learn their lesson. I even had to talk to both of there moms, which was honestly frightening. They were both very upset, and it sorta felt like they were mad at me - even though I know they were not. I felt bad for the two boys, it honestly wasn't THAT big of a deal, but I am sure they got in huge trouble from the looks on their mothers faces.

I am still not sure what to make of the whole thing, it was a rough day - but I think it turned out well. I am positive that those boys learned a very important lesson today about respect, listening, hard work, and consequences. At least they better have learned something from it, or they are not going to be coming back. I am also a little bit proud of myself, for handling it so well. I feel the whole thing went over as smoothly as possible in these circumstances. One last thing is that I am proud of both boys, who came up and sincerely apologized for what they had done. They didn't come together either, it was each of them separately and with out prodding from anyone. Many lessons learned today.

Copy Donkey

Yes, I know it's been a long time since I last post. But instead of ranting about it, lets jut role back into it :D Kay? Kay!

Today I was working at the farm and I was sitting out back with the donkey Jake . Jake was just eating some grass when this family visiting the farm came up to pet him. I sat there talking to the mother for a little bit about Jake and about the farm, and about her son who was copying everything his sister was doing at the time. He was the typical copy cat little brother. All of a sudden, we see him get down on all fours. He then proceeds to take a mouthful of grass, just like Jake. This kid was copying the donkey! We both burst out laughing, the poor kid found out he did not like the taste of grass all to quickly. I'm pretty sure he wins the copy cat donkey of the year award.

Molly Stands!

Molly stood.
No one could believe it.
No one.
Thankfully I got a picture.
She's Standing!!!

Sheep Stalking

Tonight at the farm we tried something out that Mary taught us to do with volunteers if we ever had some free time. We each took a feed sack and just went and sat in the pen with all the lambs from the spring. At first the sheep were wary, but soon enough they started coming over - until they were pretty much crawling onto our laps. The goal was to just stay quiet and watch them. It was a really powerful experience. While sitting there I got some time to just talk to the volunteers. I talked a lot with one little girl Kennedy. She was telling me how she wished she could come more than two times a week to the farm, because we have a limit so that all volunteers have a chance to come.  After talking some more, I really started to remember what it felt like to be there. When I was just volunteering at the farm, I was in her same shoes. She wants to grow up and work here :) it's amazing how many times I have heard that from kids. It really makes me realize how lucky I am, and I am so very truly thankful for my job.  

Bunnies & Spare Change

I'm going to start out with my good thing from yesterday. I have a rabbit that I keep outside at my house, that I got from the critterbarn a couple years back, named Clover. Now there was a slight problem that his cage has been slowly falling to peices. Bugs started to live in the wood and the whole thing was just gross. So I had to either buy a new cage, which is hundreds of dollars, or build a new one, or find Clover a new home. I wanted to build a new cage, but to find time while working would be hard. Thankfully the critter barn needed a new breeding buck, so I took him over there. I dropped him off in the morning and then I had to go to a farm on the go. When I got back, Greg and Brad told me I had to go look at my bunnies new name. Apparently, while I was gone, they named him since they didn't know his name. They both had to come with me to see my reaction, so I knew it wouldn't be good. 

They named him Moo Bunny, because he is black and white, so they said he looked like a cow. All day, any time they walked past him, either of them would yell moo bunny! But they would accually moo, like a cow. I'm pretty sure that Clover will be well loved :) 

My good thing from today was when I was in mc Donald's this morning. While I was waiting for my food, I watched two different elderly men drop all their change from their wallets into the little Ronald mc Donald's charity house fund. I guess I don't really ever see people us that. It was such a simple act, and it was so sweet. Way to go old men! 

Also one last good thing was the stars tonight. Breath taking. 

Caring

I have one more good thing from today. This morning I was at a farm on the to at the local farmers market. We had a TON of volunteers show up, at least over 15. Near the end I saw a bunch of then all crowed in one area. As I walked past I saw one of the smaller girls on the ground crying with her face all red. I sorta sat back and watched the older girls take her over into the shade and sit her down. They got her some water and a snack. Now don't think me an awful person for not doing anything, because the girls got it. I finally walked over and made sure she was alright. She was just having some stomach cramps, but they had it handled. Why it was a good thing was because of the way the girls took care of the whole thing. A few of them stayed with her for the rest of the time, and I saw them all telling funny stories just to make her laugh. We sure do have some wonderful volunteers. 

Eggs go Splat

To be honest, it has been a long and stressful week at the farm, but today was a bit different. Once all the classes were over for the day, we only had a few volunteers and somehow we started a sack race. That's when we all grabbed feed bags, got in them, and raced across the lawn in the back. I got in third :) Then we decided to do some more games, so next was an egg toss. Me and my partner Katie (who is an intern for the summer) got second! It was a close one, we almost won. Then I too am eggs and smashed it on Greg's head. Don't worry, he has it coming. I now have to watch my back for the rest of the summer xD I think it was with it though. 

Good Things.

If any of you read/follow my blog, you probally noticed I haven't been posting nearly as much as normal. That would be due to the fact that it is summer, so I am busy at the farm each day and I don't have my laptop in the summer because it is school provided. This is why I have decided to try to post just one good thing each day. It's simple, and I hope to capture this summer. 

So to start I have two good things from yesterday. 

The first one was when I was teaching the afternoon animal adventures class. We were all washing our hands and one of the girls in the class turns to m and tells me that I am wierd. Automatically I said thank you, because I take that as a compliment. She was a bit confused because I am pretty sure that she did not mean it as a compliment. I think I can say I handled that situation perfectly. 

The second thing happened after I have a tour to a group of preschoolers. At the end they all sang me a thank you song. I was so touched :)

Cows for Icecream

Yesterday, we had a farm on the go - where we bring animals from the farm out to show people. We were set up at the Ottawa county fair grounds in one of the barns, and it was sure hot out. There was a picnic going on, that's why we were there, and so they had all sorts of food booths. We were practically roasting in hat barn, and we wanted to go get some ice cream from one of the booths. So we found a good reason to go - advertising for the farm. This involved taking one of the new calfs on a halter and leading him over to the ice cream booth. It was all the way across the grounds, but we made it over eventually! The ice cre was worth practically dragging the cow over :) 

Patience

Today at the farm, we had three farm on the goes. That is when we take a bunch of animals from the farm and head out to places. Lets just say that they are not easy, so it was a busy day. Finally we were packing up the last one and there was this one kids that kept hanging around. I had helped him hold a bunny rabbit earlier so I kinda remembered his face. He has one of those faces you don't forget. The thing was that he tried to help me put all the bunnies away and it was kinda getting annoying. It had been a long day and I was tired and cranky and way done. I just wanted him to leave to be honest, I wanted to work alone. Finally I gave in and gave him a job helping put rabbits away all by himself. Thinking on it now, he seemed so proud to help. 

Later that night I was talking to Mary, who is my boss, about a women who she talked to. The women had a son who wanted to take critter camp at the farm so that he could come volunteer. The thing was that her son has a large problem with anxiety. This was when I realized it was the kid who had helped me with the bunnies. I honestly wish I had spent a little more time with him, and gotten to know him. Hopefully he will come back to the farm and I can work with him again. 

This got me thinking a bit about the kids at the farm, and how they all come from different parts of life. I won't go deeply into this now, but at the farm there is a place for everyone. I want to remember that when there is a kid getting on my nerves. I want to effect there lives, and I think that can start with a bit - or a lot - of patience. 

My Ass

This is Jake, the donkey. He lives at the Critter Barn, where I work, and he is a pure sweet heart. In the summer we let kids ride him. We have a little saddle and everything. Of course he loves it, because he gets to chomp on nice green and lush grass between kids turns. 

      We actually have two donkey's on our farm. The one with the red halter is Honey, and the one with the black is, of course, Jake. Jake is the sweetie, but Honey can be a little butt sometimes. She likes to nip you when you are not looking, and she is known for escaping.
      One time she actually escaped into the parking lot during an animal adventures class. Those kids are all 5 to 12 years old, but they are normally nearer to the lower age. Two of the kids had yellow shirts on, and so we think she thought they looked like corn and went after them. That sounds more awful than it really was, but to a 5 year old a donkey out of its pen can be scary. So Nate (who was teaching the class) got all the kids to go into a nearby horse trailer and stand in there while he caught Honey. Those kids will never forget that day, that's for sure.
      But besides that, she is not really All that bad. She is just a very energetic women. Now the two donkeys are just friends. Jake is a lot older than Honey is, so she is more like a daughter to him. Honey actually had a husband who passed away. He was a beautiful spotted donkey (that's not a type of donkey, it's just how he looked), and we even had a little donkey wedding for them. We wanted a baby donkey... but that didn't work out.
      Our donkeys are both Jerusalem donkey's. You can tell this by the cross on their back. I don't have a picture on it, but you can look it up, or even better visit the farm or another donkey in your area. Donkey's can carry twice their body weight. They each weight about 600 pounds, so they can carry up to 1,200 pounds! That is as much as a horse can carry. Donkey's are most commonly found in the middle east, because they can carry so much. Plus, since they are smaller than a horse, they are easier to take care of and feed.
      Another thing about donkeys is that they are very cautious about where they walk. Horses will just go anywhere, but donkeys will Not step on anything unless they are sure it is safe. So when we put a towel down on the ground in front of Jake and make him walk forward, he will either go around or step over it. He will never step on it. That's why people ride donkeys in the Grand Cannon, verses horses, because they have better footing. That's how donkeys got the reputation of being stubborn.
      That's just a few facts about our donkeys, and donkeys in general. I do hope you learned something new, or at least found something fascinating. Also if you are confused about the title, donkeys are also known as ass's :P Tricky play on words.

Osa

My cousins got a new puppy! Her name is Osa, and she is a golden retriever, and she is absolutely Beautiful.

It was her first day home, and she met so many new people because everyone wanted to see the new puppy, so she was pretty tired. She kept falling asleep. She especially liked her head on the table for some reason....

She is just too adorable for words. Look at that face! 

Small Things

      Yesterday, as I was coming out of my church, I was sitting in my car when I saw an elderly lady walk past my car. She stopped along the path and bent over (not very easily), to pull a weed from a flower bed.
      The fact that she would just do that. It's such a little thing, that really doesn't change much in the world, but it still shows that she is caring. One day I want to be like that old women. Either pulling out weeds, or picking up trash, just doing something small.

Cooper

      Remember Cooper? I did a bunch of posts way back when we first got him at the farm. I just wanted to do a small comparison to how big he has gotten.
      This is one of the first pictures I took of him. It was the first week he came to the farm. I'm pretty sure he was about three weeks at the time.

STOP! Don't scroll any farther until you read this: The next picture is of Cooper now. He is not even 6 months yet.....

      JUST LOOK AT THE DIFFERENCE !!!  He has grown so quickly, so fast. He is almost 70 pounds now....

      The thing is. Cooper is supposed to weigh 200 pounds. He's not even half way!!!!!!!!!! He. Is. Going. To. Be. HUGE! :D I love this puppy to death (even if he really doesn't look like a puppy anymore). Cooper is probably the sweetest dog you will ever meet. I swear his only goal in life is to get as many belly rubs as he can get out of people. You come up to him and he will sometimes just lay down for a rub. Sometimes he is too smart for his own good :P 

Mario Cart

      I would like to start of by stating that I have the best school ever. Today was the last day for the Seniors - they get out of school two weeks early. Being the last day, means that it was senior prank day. They did the normal things like write on all the cars, and squirt people with water guns, and block off the parking lot. But there were a few things that really stoof out to me.
      The first one would be putting live gold fish in the guys bathroom. They clogged the sinks, and then filled them with water and put the fish in! I didn't personally see it, because it was in the guys bathroom, but I did hear about it. Clear idea if you ask me.
      The second one is my favorite prank of all time. I've been here for three senior prank days, and this is definitely my favorite one. It all started while I was sitting in math class. I had zoned out, so I was staring out the window, when suddenly I see a guy dressed as a gorilla chasing another guy holding a banana. Our class got a good laugh out of that one. After class was over I was walking through the hall until I came to a jam. Seniors were screaming for everyone to make a path, and so we did, backing up to the walls. At this point, no one had any idea what was going on. All of a sudden, a group of seniors come flying around the corner being pushed on wheelie chairs. Each of them on the chairs were dressed as a different mario caracter. They were having a real life mario cart race! Someone even carried a boom box with the mario music. Lets just say that it was a pretty epic and intense race. Our seniors are going to be missed.

They grow up so fast! *Sniffle*

From yesterday, the first baby's born on the farm of this spring, are exactly two months old.

In this picture there are a bunch of them drinking from a nipple bucket. They still all get milk 3 times a day at this point, but this is what we use at night. This way we don't have to do bottle for all of them when guests are not around. It. Is. So. Much. Easier. These are not all our baby's, some are in a different pen. We are still waiting on one more goat to birth. Our toggenburg goats are bred for June, and one of them (out of two) is pregnant this year. So one more baby to come at least. We are still waiting for a few lambs to pop on out, but those should be any day now.

Speed Chores!

      Tonight at the farm, we had a staff meeting that went until 5:30. I was the one supposed to be working, but I had to leave right at 6 because I had a choir concert to get to. This meant that I had exactly half an hour to get chores done for the night.
      This includes making sure EVERY animal on the farm had water. Most of the time you have to fill them to, especially at night. Thats probably the hardest and longest job on the farm. But thats not all, night chores also include feeding some select animals. Select meaning about half of them. I had three other volunteers to help me, but they were not exactly the most focused ones I have ever worked with. But they did help, which was appreciated.
      The four of us were zipping around the farm. I finished the last of the waters at exactly 6:00, I watched the clock change from 5:59 to 6:00. Everyone was fed, and everyone had fresh/clean/full water. Now let me just say here that - I Have Never Done Chores SO Fast. Half an hour, and with waters. If you have never been to the farm, that probably doesn't make sense, but waters take FOREVER.
      Lets just say that in the end, I was pretty proud of myself and my volunteers. I was out on time even. :) All that was left was for Mary to milk the goats, and give bottles later that night. She normally does those though, so it worked out perfectly. All in All, it was a good night at the farm. Pretty hectic  but it turned out just swell.

Update

      So Tulip Time has been over for a couple days now, and to be honest - I am glad. I love Tulip Time, but I was ready for it to be done. We had to dance twice as much this year because their are less dancers, so it was a lot. This also means I am going to be done posting about Tulip Time. I had plenty more ideas of what to blog about, but I kinda just want to move on. I might do one more post about my group later, but I kinda want to get back to blogging about the farm. I found that the farm is my favorite thing to talk about :) Not much a surprise there.
     Anyways, thanks for reading and I hope you stay along for this wonderful journey called life that I'm on. (Cheesy endings.... :P )

Tulip Time | Boys

      There is not very many boys who Dutch Dance, and that is no secret. I heard there were about 3 this year, which is a pretty decent amount. Lucky for our group though, we have a boy! :D Adam is our resident boy. He's not the best dancer... but he is still a great kid! He's a bit awkward to be honest, but our group loves him all the same.
      Adam is not the most talkative kid, and he likes to pace a lot, so sometimes he seems distant. Although he is a freshman, dancing in a group of upper class men girls - who wouldn't be intimidated? By the end of tulip time though, he started to open up. He's actually a really funny guy, when he works up the courage to talk.
      The thing about Adam is that he was in the local paper, the Holland Sentinel. The Sentinel went around and asked different people, what their favorite Tulip Time moment was.
You can read all the other stories here: http://www.hollandsentinel.com/photo/x183057760/Word-on-the-street-05-13-13 

      This is how Adam answered the question: "Meeting all these great people I've been dancing with for a year now." Adam Zoerman, Holland
      Thats us :) To think that we actually impacted Adam... I'm glad. It took a while to get through to him, but he did finally start opening up at the end. He's kinda like our little brother, in a sense. Now I can't wait for next year!

Tulip Time | Tulips

Sorry the pictures are a bit blurry, that happens when I upload the pictures from my ipod... I'll make sure not to do that next time, I'm just too lazy to go change it now. These are just some pictures of the Tulips from this year. Enjoy :)