Just Kidding!

Yesterday was certainly a day to remember! It brought back memories of when I gave birth less than 5 months ago...naturally. Poor Vanna. Our sweet Saanan goat. Our oldest son and I were out digging in our garden when he heard her bleating in an unusual way. He ran there while I grabbed the baby and was close behind. When we got there the head and two front hooves were all ready out! We could see his little white head and his pick tongue sticking out.

By this time my other kids had gathered around to help/watch. Thankfully our cat had kittens last year so everyone knew what to expect. Molly ran and grabbed the video cam and Ethan helped Vanna stay comfortable. All the while little Jack was being entertained by his older siblings.

It seemed like it was taking FOREVER so we decided to contact our local student midwife, Rahcael, who happens to have been raised on an organic dairy/meat farm. So she has tons of experience with sheep and cows goving birth. She actually caught Jack when he was born! Ok back to our story. So Rachael told us everything we should look for and can you believe it that kid was born just minutes later! It was truly amazing. Both mom and kid are doing great.

Vanna is known for huge amounts of milk she gives. So we are so excited and thrilled that we will no longer be paying for milk or cheese or yogurt or any other dairy product we can possibly think up. AND best of all...ALL the soaps at http://www.shesaponifies.com/ will be made from raw goats milk. As there are MANY health benefits to raw milk. This would be a new topic though.

I hope you enjoy the pictures!

Scarface: My Journey into natural skincare

I used to have a little indent in my cheek that I have had for just about ever. It was only about the size of a lentil. Nobody ever noticed it, that is how small it was. One day I noticed that it was no longer an indent but now stuck out. I immediately called and made an appointment with a friend's dermatologist. After looking at it, he reluctantly biopsied it. His feeling was that it was not malignant and biopsying it would just cause unnecessary scarring. I insisted due to my mother always making me paranoid about skin cancer! (It is prevelant in our family.) After a ten minute procedure and promises of phone calls of results I left and didn't give it another thought. I was so shocked when a week later his nurse called me back telling me it was a severe atypical compound nevus. WHAT!?! I was speechless,(this never happens to me I always have SOMETHING to say!) I was so shocked. I asked if this meant it was malignant? She said it did. Then she gave me a phone number of a plastic surgeon and told me they were expecting my call. No one can ever give you enough information to make you feel better. I went home and searched the internet over for more details.

Going through treatment was terrifying. They were not very good at making me feel comfortable. On the day of the "surgery" my dear husband took the day off from corporate America to take care of me. They removed 1.25in by 1in by 3.5mm deep. I had no idea how awful I was going to feel. I was so wiped out. The doctor warned me to not lift anything more than my small 4 month old baby. I slept around the clock for about 2 days. As you can imagine, this was no small feet with 6 kids that needed care!

About 2 months later our family decided to attend the Medievil Festival held in Norman Oklahoma. We had a blast as both grandmas were there and 3 out of 4 aunts were able to make it! Not to mentio, we got to go to our fave restuarant... The Greek House. FUN!!! But the reason this is so important to my story is this is the place where I was first introduced to hand crafted, homemade, natural soap. The smell and texture, size and feel was something I was so inthralled with! It would be almost a full year before I had the courage to try making it myself.

So that is how/why I got into natural skincare. But that is just the beginning! :o)

This is to address all the many sides of my online soap business. I will be posting many recipes and all the fun contests. There are so many things going on within the business that sometimes I don't get around to being able to talk about the nitty-gritty of life with seven kids, 2 goats about ready to kid(that's goat speak for having baby goats), 30+ chickens, 4? roosters, 8 ducks, 2 ganders(goose speak for male), 4 cats and one dog. I am quite certain I left something out but this will have to do for the moment. As usual I am flying by the seat of my pants and need to go get the Spiced Goat's Milk warm for the night. I just made it about an hour ago and it is supposed to stay fairly warm for about 12-24 hours after it is made. So as usual I am rambling and will be back tomorrow to let you know how the soap is coming. It should be ready for sale in as little as a week.