Thankful for Friday!!

Here I am again, WAY past due on a blog post. Seems to be the trend these days. :) Life just keeps on moving forward and keeping me busy. Not all bad, but I do miss posting more often...I need to make a more conscious effort to schedule the time. :)

This week we've been enjoying Spring Break. No classes, no running, no school work to stay on top of! We've not been completely lazy though....we started off our "break" last Thursday with emptying out my pantry area and prepping the kitchen for a fresh coat of paint. I'll post about that later on with before and after pictures. :) Let's just say, it was a TON of work. The rest of our "break" we've spent deep cleaning a different area of our house each day. It's been nice to see some order in areas that rarely see it. We haven't gotten as much done as I would have liked, but that's OK. Having the "break" has been nice regardless.

So, what am I thankful for this week? OH MY! Where to start! So many blessings....so little blog space. :) I'll name a few....

• Having a break from the constant running we do for school. It's a schedule that is unavoidable at this point in time, but can be draining. 
• My seedlings that are growing nicely in my dining room. 
• A hard working man who does so much for our family...my best friend and husband. :) 
• Our pantry that is well stocked, even now at the end of the season. 
• Two baby goats that are growing to be healthy and strong!
• A mama goat who until this kidding has been as head strong and nasty as they come...often sitting ON MY HANDS while I tried to milk her....picture a 200 pound goat sitting on the milking bucket with your hands inside, not a pretty picture. This time around, she has been sweet from the moment the kids were born. She is raising her own kids this time and it seems to have totally changed her...I've wondered several times if someone didn't come in and switch goats on me. :) 
• The half gallon of beautiful milk I get from our mama goat (Tinkerbel) now that we separate her from her babies at night. Every day she's given me nearly a half gallon, I'll be making farmhouse cheddar from her milk this weekend! 
• SUNSHINE for today...we've been enduring rain, snow, hail and cloudy skies for weeks now. Today we are supposed to be near 60 and have almost two full days of sunshine! My clothesline is going to get a work out today! FINALLY!!!

It's been a great week off...sure, we've had some bumps along the way, but all in all it's been a welcomed "break"! 

Kefir!

Earlier this week, a friend of mine sent me some kefir grains in the mail. I have wanted to try this for a long time. In the past, I've used the powdered kefir cultures you can purchase and thought that they were OK, but not wonderful. OH my goodness! This new kefir is amazingly good! I made a smoothie for the kids and I for breakfast this AM, our first with this new kefir. Absolutely AMAZING! The flavor is SO much better and I didn't get the "goatie" flavor I've noticed with our other kefir. YAY! Anyone that knows me knows that I have really struggled with the whole "goat" flavor or hint of flavor in our goats milk products. The milk itself is fine, no after taste, but anything that is left out or heated leaves me with that goat flavor. No one else in the house notices it, I'm the only crazy one. LOL I love my goats and since I am the only one that notices it, we have kept going with them.

If you can get your hands on some kefir grains to make your own kefir, I highly recommend that you take the opportunity! Kefir is SO incredibly good for you. So many benefits from digestive to immune boosting! This will become an every day thing for us. I can't wait to see how it improves our digestive issues and also keeps the nasty bugs away that can make us sick. :)

Thank you Becki for being so generous to send us a kefir grain start...I'll add that to my "Thankful Friday" list! :) See....small blessings that can mean so much more than you think until you really look at them. Love it!