I would give anything to have been recording video just before this happened, it would’ve gone crazy viral, I’m sure of it.

Just before this picture was snapped my girls & a handful of other kids were happily walking through the goat pen at the petting zoo. There were sweet baby goats & all of the children were gathering around feeding them. It was lovely. In slow motion I saw this crazy heffer goat work her way into the group of kids without them noticing & then, with impeccable timing, she reached her neck out, stuck out her tongue & let out the loudest “maaaaahhhhh!!” I’ve ever heard! The kids all went running in different directions screaming their heads off & that darn goat just kept egging them on. If the utter chaos wasn’t so darn funny maybe I’d have been a little more defensive but this was just priceless.

We left for lunch after that. Thanks goat.

Before what shall from here on be known as ‘the incident’ we were having a pretty awesome time. If you’re in the Maryland area I highly recommend Green Meadows Farm. Just check their website first to make sure they’re open…

And I thought I had my hands full. Who ever knew being turned into bacon would be such a relief. (JOKE people, it’s a JOKE)

Sam is a natural with animals.

Sophie tends to wrap her hands around their necks. The look on that little guy’s face says it all.

She & donkeys however seem to have an understanding.

I understood that I know want a baby cow. BAD.

HOW many gallons come out there? Holy lactating bovine batman.

I consider myself a pretty well informed individual when it comes to animals. I have to admit though I have no clue what that is.

It was a good day.

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They say it takes a village to raise a child. Unfortunately now a days we don’t always get to raise our children with grandparents, aunts, uncles & cousins all down the street. There aren’t 3 generations of women each helping the younger to get through the tough years with more than just imparting their wisdom.

When I was young my great-grandfather picked me up from school everyday. Then he, my great-grandmother & I would all make the 10 minute drive down the road to visit their daughter, my grandmother. My cousins lived a handful of blocks away from there & we’d walk to each other’s houses & play. All of the older, retired generations chipping in to take care of the younger. Everyday.

It’s sad on some levels that this isn’t the world my daughters are being raised in but it’s not necessarily worse, it’s just different. We’ve adapted to a life where we’ve had to move for my husband’s job & extended family aren’t the ones who are chipping in, babysitters are.

It’s a different world today where kid’s don’t always stick around home after school. It’s not uncommon to take a job across the country. Then you meet someone, start a family & before you know it you’re in my situation. A mother, doing her best at the toughest job she’ll ever have, on her own. Actually, I take that back. I’m not on my own & neither are you. If you’ve been reading this blog for any extended amount of time then you know it’s more than just a place on the internet to post pretty pictures. It’s a community. We might not have a sister down the street but we’ve managed to create something else…online. It’s a friendship between strangers who might never meet but are helping each other just the same.

It’s the way we’ve adapted so we can do more than just survive.

I can completely understand why some people don’t get why I blog about such personal issues in my life. I can see how it could come across as embarrassing but I ask you to look further. Don’t just read my words, read the comments that follow. ‘Mommy blogs’ aren’t just a place for bored housewives to vent…they’re powerful communities of women who have found a way to survive by relating & bonding to other women who are in their same shoes. The medium might seem unconventional, even unnatural, but the results can’t be disputed. We are making a difference by sharing.

I firmly believe in what I’m doing here on LPM. Yes I write about frilly stuff like crafts or put up silly videos but it’s the posts about marriage being hard or my struggle with post partum depression that I hold dear. With each of those posts I’ve had a fear right before hitting the ‘publish’ button but afterwards that anxiety was blown to bits by the overwhelming amount of comments, emails & social networking messages I receive that scream that other women feel the same way & my ‘putting it out there’ made them feel like they weren’t alone. Like they had a friend.

This isn’t just a blog. It’s a relationship between people. Hiding what’s really going on in our lives because of modesty or fear of judgement just precipitates the problem of women feeling not good enough & isolating themselves. I refuse to be afraid of what I’m writing. Last night I re-read my archives & I don’t think one word of it shows anything but love & devotion to every member of my dear sweet family.

At it’s core this blog is also a family, the purpose is love for other human beings. I don’t write about my life because I want to be snarky or a gossip, I write to share because I believe it makes a difference.

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