Return of the Stunt Toad

For those of you who visit our family journal, you may remember the video of the toad riding in the remote control truck. For those who missed it, go here. As luck would have it, we became the owners of another toad; and since the first toad had so much fun, we thought this one might like to ride as well. This time, we had safety first on our minds. Ross, with his skilled hands, crafted a crash helmet from a split, hollowed-out buckeye, complete with scarf (bread twistee-tie) waving in the wind behind him. (Disregard the masking tape holding the helmet on...hey, you gotta start somewhere. Note-to-self: use duct tape next time.)

Next, the toad is placed into position. You can feel the anticipation vibrating through the toads body. I'm not sure who is more excited at this point, the toad or us guys. Actually, I take that back. I'm pretty sure that we were more excited. The toad was probably a little more fearful (but he hid it well).


And finally, it's time to crack open the throttle and see how many horses this things got under it's hood...er...it actually doesn't have a hood. And it's really not that fast. Which is a good thing...because this could have turned out much worse than it did.


Before you call PETA, please know that no mammals were hurt during this stunt. His helmet actually stayed on until impact, which more than likely saved him from scrambling his brain. And we were pretty much able to stop the truck before it completely ran over him (sort-of).This concludes this episode of Stunt Toad.

And now a message from the star of the show, Stunt Toad himself - "Hey, tadpoles! Play it safe and don't get caught in the first place!"

It's not fair, really...

...that it's my wife's birthday today, and I'm the one who gets blessed by the gift...of her.

I love you Eshell! Happy birthday!

If only...

If only I could teach my children...No, if only I could SHOW my children to:

• Be peacemakers
• Turn the other cheek when struck on the right cheek
• Willingly give up their shirt also when they are sued for their coats
• Willingly carry the burden of one that uses them an extra mile
• Love their enemies
• Bless those that curse them
• Do good to those that hate them
• Pray for them that despitefully use them and persecute them
• Forgive others their trespasses
• Lay up their treasures in heaven
  
• Serve God rather than mammon
• Seek first the kingdom of God

"But that's not the American way".
No, but it is the way of the One we claim to follow.

Matthew 5-6

Turkey Killin'

Ever wonder how an engineer butchers a turkey? Well, I was on vacation most of last week so I thought it would be a good time to butcher the already over-grown turkeys. The biggest problem with butchering birds is plucking. We've used a feather plucker before, but don't personally own one. The one we used in the past belonged to friends who live in the Angola area (which is too far to drive to butcher two turkeys). I thought I'd try a method I'd heard about "through the grapevine". Worked great!

First things first...separate the head from the body. No pictures of the massacre, although we did have quite the time keeping the huge birds from slipping out of the cinch we had them hanging upside down in.

Next...drain the blood.


Next...separate the skin from the neck. Insert a water hose. Pinch off the neck hole and turn on the water hose. NOTE: Make sure the hose is in between the skin and the neck; if you put the hose in the neck cavity, you have a whole new mess on your hands. WARNING: Don't play the video if your at all squirmy. It's not graphic but it does show me man-handling a dead, headless turkey.



The water fills up the turkey (actually separates the skin from the turkey) and, as you see, will burst the skin like an over-filled water balloon. Worked nice. Plus, running cold water over the turkey's freshly murdered flesh helps to cool the meat quicker.

Next...cut off the feet and wings. Ross (our oldest son; 14yo) did a nice job of this.


Move on to removing the skin. We've butchered and skinned chickens before without the water method. Terrible to skin. A feathery mess! The water, although making the bird a little more slippery, keeps the loose feathers more manageable.

Finally, you gut and rinse (Brookelyn [our oldest daughter; 12yo] did a great job). We finished up by wrapping in cellophane and bagging in a clean garbage bag before introducing them to the chickens in the freezer. Actually, we only put one into the freezer. The male we put into the fridge. We knew we were going to eat him over the weekend. And let me tell you, there's nothing like a fresh turkey. And the crazy thing was over 18lbs to-boot! We put him in our big roaster and the lid wouldn't even come close to fitting on. I rolled him onto his side and lid still wouldn't go. We ended up layering the top of the roaster with aluminum foil and setting the lid on top of that. What a meal.

And as for the vacation...didn't seem like a vacation. Had a great time, but Eshell ran me ragged. Two or three trips to Ohio. One to Lagrange. The zoo. Hiking. Read about it at our family journal blog.

A Bagel Victory

My experiment is over. I have proven that a public shaming will motivate even the spiciest of people. The bagel delivery crew showed up last night. And true to her word...a burnt bagel was presented. After we laughed about the burnt bagel I asked "Okay, where are the real ones?" And wouldn't you know it, the sweet girl I wrote about earlier delivered as expected. And I was not in the least disappointed. These were the best bagels I have ever graced my mouth with. And if you know me, you can kind of deduce that I've graced my mouth with many bagels in the past. They were fresh; still warm even. We had to try one as soon as they left. I waited until they left so I wouldn't have to share with them. My mouth is watering right now just thinking about them.
Anyway, I thank you for the delicious bagels, Cassia. And for the world to see your ornery-ness, I present to you the Burnt Bagel.


No, I did not eat it. Only a fourteen year old boy would have eaten this.

Bagels

We have some very dear friends with nine (9) children. They have two young boys, six sweet girls and one, um...one "spicy" one. You see, I have a problem. I love bagels. And wouldn't you know it, it's the spicy one who's famous for making bagels. I've been gently "encouraging" this family to produce the bagels (for me). And guess what...no bagels!! And above that, I'm being threatened that if I do get bagels, they will be burnt. This young lady is famous for her more-than-lightly-browned croutons. Well, my only response is, burnt bagels would be more than what I'm getting now; NO BAGELS!!!

In honor of the new look....

In honor of the new look here at Sheep and Goats, an ode to pigs:

"A cat will look down to a man. A dog will look up to a man. But a pig will look you straight in the eye and see his equal."
-Winston Churchill

"Pigs are very beautiful animals...There is no point of view from which a really corpulent pig is not full of sumptuous and satisfying curves."
-G.K. Chesterton

"That'll do, Pig. That'll do."
-Arthur Hoggett from the movie Babe

8 Months

Eight months is a long time to be silent. Does anyone ever visit here any more? Well, the name has changed again. Now it's "Life Lessons From the Egg Basket". We have moved...again. We are now in a small town near Warsaw, Indiana called Mentone. It claims the title "Egg Basket of the Midwest". And right in the middle of town, what do you suppose they have? That's right, a giant egg!! Not giant like ostrich giant. Giant like Godzilla passed through and laid an egg giant. (Is Godzilla a male or female?)
At any rate.We've had quite the adventure(s). I told you that we moved. That's only partially accurate. We've actually moved twice since the last time I posted. No, we are not running from the law (that I know of). We moved Eshell and the children from Michigan to a house in NW Ohio (rental) as I anticipated another job offer. Once the offer came in, I realized that the company I would soon be working for had received grant money from the state of Indiana, with the stipulation that the owner pull employees from Indiana or to Indiana from other places. How delighted I was that we would be moving again!
We were in Michigan for only about two years. It's a beautiful place to live in the summer and fall. Winters...not so much. The company I was working for was growing steadily and was a great place to work. Why did we move you ask? We wanted to get closer to family. A good friend of mine had started a business and he wanted me to work for him; and I wanted to work for him. We didn't seem to fit into the more progressive (liberal) culture of the area (college town...hippies running rampant).
We had a lot of trials in Michigan. Some we fared better than others. We struggled a lot. I struggled a lot. Although we made a lot of friends up there, we just didn't jive. I believe I suffered some spiritual blows, personally. And it's all in the way that I dealt with some of the trials. I tried to work through many issues on my own. I now realize (I always really knew) that I can't always fix things on my own; in my own strength. And I was neglecting my time with the Lord. We went through phases, but I feel that I returned home drained. I now need a refill. Lord, refill me!
He truly met our needs when we lost the baby in Michigan. God strengthened us and He had us in a church full of great people that helped us a ton. We endured drunk, stoned, adulterous neighbors. We even had to hike up and down the hill we lived on because our vehicles didn't always make it up the hill in the winter time. Some things we look back at and laugh. Some things still sting to think about. We'll make a trip back to Michigan in September to see for the first time Isaiah's headstone. It will have been two years. I don't know if I'm ready for that.
And now we're back to looking for a church in our area. No luck so-far. I know God wouldn't bring us back here to keep us in our drought. He has something for us, and I'm excited to see what it is. Almost giddy. So we press on.
We (Eshell and I) have been going through a time of restructuring. We need to make some changes in our lives and in our family. Now it's just trying to keep things balanced and in perspective, while maintaining focus on the LORD. He is teaching us things; bringing us to knew revelations (old revelations for some more spiritual then us). And He is good. And He is faithful. And He will bring us through.
I also brought back baggage from Michigan that I know need to dump. Coffee became a staple while in Michigan. When it snows for nine months straight, you need something to warm you up. Well, now that we're back in the South, I still have the habit (addiction). I've tried to cut back. Two weeks ago, I did pretty good. My boss was out of town (he usually supplies the coffee at work), but last week I was like a junkie looking for a fix. Just when I think I'm doing good (in my own strength), it hits me. And I know what will happen. When I do kick it, they'll introduce bacon flavored coffee. How could a man resist anything bacon-flavored? I'll be hooked again. Pray for me. Pray that Folgers will never introduce bacon-flavored coffee.
I know that some stuff seems petty. But I do struggle with some petty things.
And lastly, I have reluctantly joined the masses and entered into the world of Facebook (against my better judgment). I only have two friends, so get on over there and be my friend!! Just search for my name and look for the guy holding the pig. You can't miss him!!
That's all. But seriously, pray for my family as we work through changes. And more changes to come.