Wow What a Weekend!

This weekend was CRAZY!  Friday we witnessed the miracle of 4 live births.  One I told about in the last post and then as I was preparing to go watch B play basketball her goat had 2 healthy kids. A boy Elliot and a girl all brown we named Coco.  B was a little sad she missed the birth and she didn't miss it by much.  I had just returned from dropping her off at the school when I was greeted by Britches is pushing! Didn't put down my stuff just ran to the barn.  I wasn't able to get in the pen and help her but thankfully our neighbor was here helping hubs build a well house and he was able to hold her still while hubs pulled the first baby out. He came out a little weird and she was a first time mom so he aided her a little.  Second baby was born with no problems.  There's truly never a dull moment around this house.  So after seeing both babies born, I load up K and off to the game we go after picking up B's boyfriend.  The girl's coach had made a bet with them. He has a very long goatee and he told them if they won Friday he'd trim it to his chin and if they won Saturday he would shave it off.  He hasn't seen his chin in about 7 years!  This was the spark the girls needed! They were feeling bummed about a losing record in basketball and weren't playing as a team.  Well, it was an intense game Friday night and the girls ended up WINNING by 2 points in the last seconds of the game. It was AMAZING!  So Saturday they played in the sub-state championship game with the winner advancing on to state tournaments.  The boys also played Saturday night after the girls game.  Well, as a reward for winning, Friday night I took B, K and B's boyfriend to a movie. We went to see "The Vow" and let me tell you, it's a heart wrenching story.  The kids didn't seem to "get it" as much as I did but they've never been in love (even though they will be to differ but come on they are 15 and 11!) and I cried through many points in the movie and one part in particular got me REALLY GOOD because of a situation that occurred in my life that kind of takes place in the movie.  But that's another post!
Saturday was championship day!  I've been fighting a cold all week that robbed me of my voice and I'm a former cheerleader so no voice at a game is cruel punishment for me!  I was trying to rest up so I could yell and support not only my +1 but our little school.  Now, the girls team has never qualified for state tournaments and I believe if they were anything like B they were nervous.  They scored the first points of the  game and never looked back and won the game by 22 points to a team they had previously beaten by 1 and 2 points in the two times they'd met them.  It was so exciting!  Then the boys won their game as well so for the first time in school history, BOTH teams are heading to state!!!  It's an exciting time and I'm a proud Lancer momma!  Now trying to work out a plan since state is 4 hours away and in the past when we've gone to support the team before I had a kid playing we'd stayed in a hotel but that's not going to work very well since we have newborn animals and bottle babies to take care of.  Looks like my minivan is going to get some miles on her this week.
So, on top of all that excitement, my favorite NASCAR drivers did really well too!! Elliot Sadler won the race Saturday and Kevin Harvick finished 2nd on Sunday, plus the Kansas Jayhawks won their last regular season game on Saturday as well.  It was a great weekend.
Church Sunday was pretty amazing.  We sang all my favorite hymns and we are starting this new series about God's whispers.  It has gotten me thinking about the whispers God has given me in life.  Now, I'm not sure I have ever heard God actually speak to me but I do know He has communicated with me.  I've felt led by His presence and sometimes during times when I have really needed Him, scriptures will pop in my head.  Other times, I've prayed about a situation and I've felt led by His word and still other times when making important decisions in my life, I've felt peace when I chose the right path.  Our challenge this week is to just be still and listen.  So this morning, that's what I've done.  Now I just have to have the guts to follow His leadings.  It's going to be a hard week I'm afraid with lots of decisions to make and new steps to take but I know He will lead me and my family and He will give us strength to face the obstacles ahead.
Until next time, have a GREAT week and take a little time to be still and listen for God's whispers in your life!

PS: The line that got me the most in "The Vow" goes something like this........"I looked at all the good things we had, the good family we had, the good life we could have and I forgave him for the 1 wrong thing he did"  POWERFUL statement that rings sooooo true in my life and one in which I was led by God when I had to make a choice.

2 Cor 12:8-9 "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness"

The best laid plans.....

Have you ever had things all planned out only to have those plans turned completely upside down?  That happened to me this morning.  I've been battling sinus/allergy problems and I have no voice left (kids love that) and I feel like an elephant has moved into my chest. So, my other half was going to get up with the kids this morning so I could rest since I have to cheer B to victory tonight at her sub-state basketball tournament.  I took B and K to watch our high school boys play last night and it was sooooo weird not being able to cheer!  So, I'm relaxing during the morning rush in my house between chores and breakfast and picking out the "right" clothes to wear when one of the kids (I hadn't had coffee yet so I'm not quite sure which one) runs in the house and says we have a goat in labor.....yup, no sleeping in getting better for me. I rush to put on my coveralls and muck boots forget my hat and gloves and run to the barn.  This mom, Chip, well Diamond Chip but that's a mouthful so we call her Chip had been treated by the vet for edema.  Her poor legs were sooooo swollen she couldn't stand for long which means she couldn't eat which isn't good for pregnant ladies!  I've been praying every day multiple times a day for her to have a safe delivery soon because I don't like to lose babies or moms. I'm kinda attached to my goats.  Well, she delivered a bouncy baby boy with a little help from hubby which was followed right behind by a girl but she sadly died before being born.  Her sack was full of blood and her cord was detached. Poor thing.  T-man and Mae made it to barn before bus came in time to see those 2 babies.  Mae is my animal lover child so she was sad we lost one.  Well about 30 minutes later as I'm inside preparing bottles for my 3 bottle babies, hubby yells to me "here comes #3!"  What???  3 babies?? No wonder she was swelling and miserable!  I rush out to the barn with the bottles praying "Please God let this one be alive, please let it be healthy and please let it be a girl!"  Well, I got 2 of the 3 requests.  It was alive, it was healthy, it was a boy!  Oh well, maybe next year she will have a girl.....and we have another goat in labor maybe she will have a girl???  Of course it's B's goat so she's hoping for a boy she can take to shows.  I guess I will settle for healthy babies and good moms.
Yesterday our plans got all messed up too!  Hubs was going to take Mae to the farm store when she got home from school to get a new pump for the well.  Mae LOVES the farm store!  She LOVES going with daddy because he's a sucker and buys her a toy every time.  She loves the animals.  I swear we could start a zoo in her room with all the animals she's gotten.  She has just about every farm animal you can get and she's got a good collection of exotic animals as well.  So, hubs and Mae are getting ready to load up in the truck and head to town when the rock guy shows up......we needed to get some rock delivered for the goat pen because it helps keep their hooves from needing trimmed every month or so and trimming hooves isn't a very fun job.  So, Mae is heartbroken, no farm store.  Well, T-man and Mae convinced their daddy to take them to the farm store last night after the rock guy was done. Told you he was a sucker!  So, the plans of the little ones staying home with dad and getting to be on time while the big ones went to game with me went right out the window.  But I'm happy to report all 4 kids popped right out of bed this morning bright eyed and bushy-tailed.
I used to get upset when things didn't go as I'd planned.  I'm a planner. I like to have things planned out, be prepared and I have a calendar on my fridge where everything is written down and planned out. I've learned as I've gotten older that just when I think I have it all planned out and I feel I can coast on auto-pilot because I have it all figured out God lets me know He controls my plans.  Proverbs 3:5-6 says "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and He will make straight your paths."  This lets me know that although I might get frustrated when things don't go like I plan, I just have to "let go and let God."  It all has a way of working out.  It may take me a while to figure out why my plans changed but one day I will get the message.  Like today, if I'd stayed in bed, I would have missed the chance to watch new life enter the world.  And if I'd gotten up with the kids and let hubs sleep in, well then he wouldn't have been there to pull the babies out since they had a leg tucked behind them and momma was having a hard time getting them out.
Just remember, the best laid plans don't always go how we plan them to go but it's okay because if you trust in God with all your heart, He will give you better plans. :)  Have a wonderful Friday!

Oh and Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss! In honor of his birthday, we named the 2 new baby boys Theo and Horton.