Anthony First Track Meet, The Dalles

Anthony had his very first track meet of the year yesterday! Lucky for Sam and I, he had the day off, and the track meet was in The Dalles....close enough for us to go to! This was my very first time going to one of his track meets and I am SO happy I was feeling well enough to go. I still struggle so much with fatigue, headaches, and other various issues, but when a good day comes along, I try really hard to take advantage of it. 

Anthony ran in 3 events. The 4x1 relay, 400 meter sprint, and the 4x4 relay. Unfortuantely, he was literally just wrapping up the 4x1 relay when we arrived (we couldn't find where the track meet was being held!!), so we missed that event, which made me so mad, but he forgave us, lol. 

It was such a beautiful day out! I had a lot of fun hanging out with Anthony between his events and chatting with him, his friends, and some of the other moms. 

He took 4th in the 400 meter sprint.

And his relay team took 2nd in the the 4x4 relay! 

We always tell Anthony, as long as he feels he's done his very best and can be proud of himself, that's all we care about. We are proud of him no matter what. Always. 

With love,

Mama Hauck

St. Patty's Day Bingo

Tonight, Sammy, Timothy and I headed to the Goldendale Middle School for an evening of St. Patty's Day Bingo! 

Every year the Middle School has an evening of bingo fun for St. Patrick's Day It's a way for the school to raise money, while giving kids the opportunity to win fun Spring themed Easter baskets. Last year, because I was going through chemo, I didn't get to go, but this year I was all in! 

I slapped on my green sweatshirt, threw on our green beads, got our bingo cards and paint dabbers, and we were ready to go! 

Unfortunately, we didn't win any rounds, but we sure did have a fun time regardless. And there was a great turn out too, the whole cafeteria was full, which was great to see. Maybe next year we'll have better luck! 

With love,                                                                                                        Mama Hauck

Goats New Mineral Buffet

I always try to learn as I go. To do better as I learn. And to do what is best for my animals. So when I learned that the mixed minerals I was feeding the goats wasn't that great for them, and there was a better option, I was open to figuring out how we could make that work. 

Instead of mixed minerals, where the goats can't pick and choose what their body actually needs, leading to an overabundance of some, and a deficiency in others, there was a website called Little Avalon Farm that was selling a "mineral buffet" that consisted of 21 separate minerals. It was a bit spendy for the starter kit, but again, I always want to do what is best for my animals. It made sense to me that the goats knew what their bodies needed at any given time and needed the ability to access just what they needed. 

So I took the plunge and purchased the kit while Sam figured out how we would set the buffet up. The trouble with goats is that they are just that....TROUBLE! hahaha We knew we couldn't just put them out without some sort of guard in front. The goats would surely trash it and there would be a lot of waste from the minerals getting dirty and having to be thrown out. 

We came up with the idea to place little plastic bins we bought off Amazon into a long wooden box Sam built, and then place a panel fence in front of it so the goats could only stick their heads through to reach the minerals. This was a brilliant idea and worked perfectly! 

Rupert, Finn, and Dexter sure were excited to check out their minerals! For the first 10 days or so I had to fill the silicon DAILY! So obviously they were greatly deficient in silicon. They also chowed down on the phosphorus. I know it can take months and months for the goats to reach a homeostasis for their bodies, and their needs will change as the seasons change, so we are in this for the long haul. 

The great thing about the mineral buffet is that you can hop on the website at any time and order just the minerals that you need in 1#, 2#, or 5# bags.  I've had to do that with the silicon, phosphorus, and salt so far. 

And just for fun, here's some recent photos of the boys being their silly selves! Sam brought home this HUGE wooden spool and the goats just LOVE it. I was afraid they would be dumb and jump or fall off of it, but so far so good. 

With love,

Mama Hauck