A Little Bit of Crazy

On Sunday, we lost our sweet goat, Sumatra. He declined quickly. He was wandering around, enjoying life, then a few hours later, unable to walk and barely able to stand. The next morning, he was unable to stand, bleating pitifully, and his head was hanging down. Nugget, his best friend, was trying to get him to do anything. He never left his side. We had to call the vet and put our baby to sleep. He was suffering and we couldn't allow it to go on any longer. My boys were strong and although it broke their heart, they agreed that it would be cruel to make him suffer any longer. I went on a search for a new buddy for Nugget. Goats are herd animals and need a buddy. It took a couple hours, but we finally found 2 bottle babies. We went to pick them up and I saw a light flicker in my oldest son's eyes. He was struggling with his goat buddy being gone, he had lost his spark when he heard we couldn't save his friend. Seeing these 3 week old tiny babies, as they tried to use his fi...

Have you ever felt alone? Truly alone? I am surrounded 24/7 with noise and kids, my husband, and all of our animals, but I still feel alone. It feels like no one sees you and you are screaming that you are right there, but they look past you. You mention it to someone and they tell you it's all in your head, but is it? We forget to check on each other, we assume that people are fine, but are they? It's so easy to put on a happy face, but feel like we are dying inside. Mental illnesses are on the rise. We need to show love, we need to show kindness, we need to be a friend. 

Quick and easy is the name of the game with small children. I try to avoid feeding them too many processed foods, but occasionally on a chilly day, we want something that warms us from the inside. This is the recipe that my son likes to make with me. As a family of 6, we double this recipe for leftovers! Any of this can be made homemade if you prefer. 1 box of noodles (any shape) 1 bag of frozen meatballs (we enjoy beef or turkey) 1 jar or container of BBQ sauce (12 to 16 ounces) 1/2 to 1 cup of water (depends on how thin you like the sauce Shredded cheese (optional) Cook noodles to desired consistency. Strain noodles. Get a large saucepan and fill it with the bag of meatballs and the water. Cover meatballs. Cook meatballs until defrosted. Pour sauce over the meatballs and stir. Recover. Cook until the meatballs are fully coated and have soaked up about half of the sauce. Pour cooked meatballs over the noodles. Add cheese, if you want. Bon appetit! Let me know in the comments if you tr...