Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Life on the Farm (well, 24 hours on the farm)

So here is the thing, I never blog. I have had this for a year (or two), and have blogged 3 times. I'm going to try to be better about this. Here it goes.

Let me tell you about my Spring Break on the Farm.

Me, Molly Mercker, the girl who wears high heals every single day, thought it would be fun to visit a couple with 5 children who have recently moved to a farm.

I walked up in my heals, dark jeans, silky shirt, cardigan sweater, and sunglasses fashionably on my head and immediately started to mentally going through my suitcase. "Did I bring farm clothes? Do I even own farm clothes? I should have gone shopping for farm clothes before I came. What was I thinking?! Oh gosh my heals just sunk in this dirt."

Right when I breathed a sigh of relief in remembering that I had packed an all black, non-dressy shirt and tennis shoes I hear, "Miss Molly! Come see the goats!" So off I went to see the goats. After about 10 minutes of the kids convincing me that the goats would not bite me if I petted them, I sheepishly put my hand through the gate at patted "Sparkles" on the head. Next I hear, "Miss Molly! Come see my chicks!" I was then taken the basement of the house where the chicks lived. Whenever I have thought of chicks, I have always imagined the cute, little, yellow, fluffy ones that are on Easter decorations. These "chicks" were much bigger and not fluffy. As the 7 year old dove into the chicken pen to pick one up, I started backing away. But did that stop her, NOPE! After me fighting it for quite sometime, the cute little faces (of the kids, not the chicks) got to me. The last time they said "Miss Molly, PLEASE hold our chick! They won't hurt you, we promise!" I gave in. I held the chicken. For about 2.5 seconds.

It was now past time for me to put on my "farm clothes." So I went upstairs to put on the attire and headed outside for four wheeler rides around the farm. Believe it or not, I spent the first 10 years of my childhood on a Christmas Tree Farm. Thankfully the outdoorsy skills of driving a four wheeler had not left me. 2 kids climbed on the four wheeler with me while 3 climbed on with their momma. And off we went! We drove around for quite some time over great hills, stopping at beautiful creeks for the kidos to play in while their mom and I caught up on life. And I only got stuck going up a hill once!

When riding was over for the day, we all sat/ played outside until dinner time. The kids got me INTO the goat pen at this point. In case you didn't know, goats spit. And it is gross. The kids watched the goats jump off hay bails while I carefully kept an eye on the momma goat, terrified she would go into labor and I would be there to watch it all happen. About this time, the fearless child picked up a baby goat and put it right in my lap. I took a picture for proof (no one would believe that I held a goat otherwise). We then went down to see "Bud" the cow. Bud had a rough day yesterday. He went from a "bull" to being a "steer" (I think that's right anyway. You get my drift). Poor bud.

I told the parents to go out for the evening and leave me with the kids. It had been so long since I had the chance to babysit them. I was highly anticipating it. As we ate dinner and watched "Daniel Boone", followed by a little "Sound of Music," so many memories came back to me of babysitting them over the past few years, first when there were only 3 kids, then 4, and now 5. Seeing how God has provided for them is such an encouragement to me. That family is so faithful to raise their children in a way that is obedient to God. There has never been a time when I have not left their house being spiritually encouraged.

Nighttime came. I shared a bedroom with 4 of the kids. I was so happy to be there it didn't even bother me that my air mattress deflated in the middle of the night . . . . . . . . .

The next morning the older ones were off at school with their daddy while I was at home with their mommy and 3 little brothers. We had a real farm breakfast with bacon, eggs, toast, and pineapple. The chicks they have are not large enough to lay eggs yet, so we ate store bought eggs -- which was just fine by me (not that I don't love a good fresh egg - - who wouldn't?!).

It was time to check on the goats. Had the mommy goat had her baby goats? Nope. Whew! I, still worried I was going to see the miracle of birth, saw a goat have a contraction. I felt so sorry for the poor thing. She looked miserable.

Not wanting to see anymore goat-labor, we went on a little hike to the "cemetery." I put "cemetery" in quote because I didn't believe the boys that there were actually grave stones on the property. But there WERE! Not 1, not 2. The more we started looking, the more we found. These were gravestones that dated back to the late 19th/early 20th century. Interesting? Yes. Cool? Kinda. Creepy? DEFINITELY!

It was such a beautiful day and I wanted to (surprisingly!) spend as much time outside as I possibly could. So I volunteered to take the 2 oldest boys on a four-wheeler ride. They told me that if you drive up to the cows, the cows will move. Well maybe for anyone else they will move. But for Miss Molly, the cows decided they would play a little game. There was only one way that I could see to get off one hill and onto the next. It was this little dirt road, where the cows were. All of them were on this path. And none of them had any intention of moving for me. After starting to drive down there 3 times to see if they would move and chickening out, I finally went for it. Let me back up, the 5 year old warned me not to get the "red four wheeler" because cows don't like red. He was right. But did I listen? Nope. Of course a 20 year old would know more than an 5 year old. WRONG. As we started down the hill, attempting to get the cows to move, they gave me a not so nice look (and yes, cows can give mean looks. You would believe me if you where there). Me, trying to keep my cool, gently went to put the four wheeler in reverse. Then the loud "moo-ing" came. I hurried to back the four wheeler up. When I am at a spot where the four wheeler no longer needs to go backwards, but forwards, I can't get it out of reverse. Cows are coming towards me. I can't get the four wheeler out of reverse. I frantically keep trying (but still keeping my cool for the little boys sake) for what seemed like an eternity before I finally got the four wheeler back in gear and drove off the hill.

We get back to the house and all is well. It was then time for Miss Molly to pack up and head out. The good news IS: I am spending a whole week by myself with the KIDS and the ANIMALS this summer while the parents are on a vacation! I am SO excited. I promise www.mollys-wisdom.blogspot.com updated. I have no doubt that this will be quite an adventure.

So does anyone know where one can purchase "farm clothes?" :)