Be Kind, Anyway

It's good to be back! I haven't kept up this summer because a lot of things have happened.

I want to introduce you to a few animals from our farm. Then I'll tell you some things that have made our family's summer eventful, and at times, difficult.

Echo, our cow, had new calf on May 31!

He was up and walking 20 minutes after he was born.

This is what he looks like now.
It's so fun to see him grow up!
Our neighbor wanted us to name him Loki.

You'll learn more about Loki as the year goes on.

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Some ducklings wandered onto our farm a few weeks ago.
We keep them safe in a large cage while to grow up.

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We also have goats and chickens on our farm.
This crazy chicken likes to ride the goats.
Sometimes the goats don't mind, sometimes the goats don't like it!
This goat's name is Misty.
The chicken's name is Dale Evans.

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We have also had a few new chicks born during the last week.

It was so fun to see this one pop out of it's shell and run under the mama hen.

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We have had a rough month our house. A lot of things have broken, and caused a lot of work. In fact, our month sounds like an old country song where everything goes wrong!

We had a leaky pipe, and a small flood. So we had to clean out a shed, to make room for the stuff from the storage room. Since the storage room was almost empty, we might as well take down a wall that I've wanted to take down for years.

The vacuum pump that runs the milker for the cow seized, which means it doesn't work and can't be repaired. That means I have to milk the cow by hand which takes about 30 minutes instead of 8 minutes with the milker. Echo doesn't like standing a long time. When she gets impatient, she poops on the floor of the barn.

The dishwasher broke. That means I need to wash all the dishes by hand, which takes much longer. It can be repaired, but the repair tech won't be here until September 5th. That's a long time to wash dishes by hand!

My big, brand new embroidery machine wouldn't work properly. It took a lot of calls to the company, and a lot of patience and determination to learn how to replace parts and get it working again.

What does all this mess have to do with farming? 

It doesn't matter what you do, or how you live your life, things are going to happen to make it more difficult.

I could get angry about all the things that have been troublesome. I could punch Echo when she poops on the barn floor. I could yell and scream at people because I'm upset about all the extra work cleaning up after the flood. I could break the dishes instead of washing them.

I can choose to be angry, or I can choose to be kind.

There will be many good things that happen to you this school year. There will also be some things that cause you trouble.

The best way to get rid of the frustration and anger is to do something nice for someone else.

Everyone in our family knows that bad stuff happens to good people. We still choose to be kind every day.

This year I hope that you will do something nice for someone else at school every day of the school year. If you're having a good day, do something nice for someone. If you're having a bad day, do something nice for someone else.

It will help you be happier, and it will help someone else have a nicer day. It will make this school year a wonderful year!

This year

Do Something Kind
for Someone Else
Every Day!