Getting their Goats

When I heard there was a goat farm in the middle of suburban Carmel, I had to check it out.

So on a hot summer Sunday, the kids and I joined members of Slow Food Indy at a tour of What the Goat Farm, located not far off of U.S. 31 and Main Street.

My son dived in and wanted to hang out with the goats in the barn, but my daughter was a bit reluctant once she heard the eager goats might jump up on her. She finally warmed up though, and was thrilled to find out they loved the asparagus that had bolted. The kids fed them handfuls of grass and asparagus shoots for an hour.

I have to admit, they are awfully cute!

I wanted to "complete the cycle" so to speak and show the kids what the goats could contribute. Since What the Goat Farm doesn't yet sell goat milk products or have a working kitchen, we decided to take our journey elsewhere. 

After giving the goats lots of attention, we went on to Whole Foods, where we splurged on all things goat. We examined the goat milk products in the dairy aisle and settled on a yogurt smoothie. My daughter bonded with the cheese guy as he gave her sample after sample of various types of goat cheese. The kids poured over the goat milk soaps and insisted on a bar for each. So it wasn't the cheapest excursion - as anyone who has lulled into the treats at Whole Foods knows - but the kids loved their day of goats.

A Thanksgiving Tale

An oral history, as told in the back seat by "Star Dancer" and "Laughing Sun."*

This is what happens when a 3 year old and 6 year old learn American history. It started when my son starts sharing abut the history of the first Thanksgiving.

"The boys with feathers, they had naked bellies."

"All the Indians wear mocassing, and Pilgrims wear tennis shoes," my 6 year old corrected. "They were always black. The boys would wear tennis shoes which is all there were in the olden days. The girls would wear high heels.

"Then they sailed to America. There was a storm. When it got to winter, some of the Pilgrims died. Like three Pilgrims."

"We don't know how many Pilgrims died."

"I do. Only 10 of those Pilgrims. One hundred minus 10 equals 90. There were 90 Pilgrims. And after 84 days, they were back to 100 Pilgrims. And the Indians were so happy they celebrated Thanksgiving for three days."

And thus, we eat well each November, to celebrate the spontaneously reproducing Pilgrims wearing black tennies.Who knew?



* Wondering about the names? These were the Native American names their teachers had picked for them this week. If you know my children, the names fit so well!

Frogs and the pond

A story by the Green Eyed Monster, age 6

I went to the Children's Museum to see the frogs. Once I dressed up as the blue dotted poison frog and it was fun.

Little poison frogs are my favorite frog in the whole world.

This frog is the funniest frog I've ever seen.

This frog looks like a leaf. Can you find it?

I like the tomato frog best because it's awesome to me.

{Mom's note: The frog exhibit at the Children's Museum of Indianapolis is well worth the trip!}

I have a baby bird

A song by the Green Eyed Monster....

I was six and I still have a nest in my tree. And in the tree there was a nest and the nest in the tree and the tree in the hole and the green grass grows all around, all around. And the green grass grows all around.

And in the nest there was an egg, the prettiest little egg that you ever did see. And the egg in the nest and the nest in the tree and the tree in the hole and the hole in the ground and the green grass grows all around, all around, and the green grass grows all around.

And in the egg there was a bird, the prettiest little bird that you ever did see. And the bird in the egg and the egg in the nest and the nest in the tree and the tree in the hole and the hole in the ground and the green grass grows all around, all around, and the green grass grows all around.

(Whew! Mom's hands are tired from all this typing!)

Snow

As her mother has been doped up on Robittisum and DayQuill the last few days, the Green-Eyed Monster offers up a post...

I like to play in the snow. Then we go inside after we play in the snow to have hot chocolate. We drink the hot chocolate then we eat the marshmallows in the hot chocolate.

We feed birds with pine cones. We put peanut butter on the pine cones for the birds and we decorated the pine cones with food: raisins and seeds and nuts. Birds like raisins a lot. And then me and mommy hung up the pine cones. And then one bird ate all the food off one pine cone. Maybe that bird was hungry.

Thankful eyes of a 5 year old

The Green Eyed Monster shares a moment of gratitude...

I am thankful for my cousin and my brother and dad and mom.

Thanksgiving is when you get to eat turkey. It's going to be a great Thanksgiving because you get to have people come over. I like Thanksgiving. It's my favorite time of year because children's grandparents and their uncles and their aunt get to come. Kids like to play with their grandparents and uncles and aunts.

God loves me and all of us! I'm thankful for all of those stuff.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Fancy Nancy tea party: Coming soon!

Another fabulous contribution from the Green Eyed Monster, who is counting down the days until 5...

I want a Fancy Nancy tea party birthday. Mommy and I are going shopping today. I will have friends over and lots of people. We will cook parfaits. We will dance. I think that's all in my story.

Parental clarification:

The cool thing about a "Fancy Nancy" themed tea party is that the books are about a precoscious little girl who plays dress-up and uses big words and her imagination. So it's a fun opportunity to hit the resale shops for old tea cups, linens and decorative items and dress-ups! We'll write more about how we did it after next weekend's soiree.

Our Garden

A guest post from our Green Eyed Monster, "almost 5," who's begging me to write something on the computer...

Our garden is wonderful. It's special forever because I like it.

I grow tomatoes. I like cherry tomatoes because they're good. I don't like big tomatoes. They make me angry because they're yucky. I like to grow the little tomatoes.