National Donut Day '09 and free donuts?...

Time to make the donuts....

Yep it is THAT time again...National Donut Day, is this coming Friday...read all about this holiday when you click on my own farm funnies link to an older post that shares one of our yummy donut recipes...

National Donut Day

or read about my search for a TEXAS donut in my post...
Death of the Texas donut

No time to make a donut?
Then bundle up the family and head out to your local dunkin donut or krispie kreme,

I believe they are giving a free donut per customer on National donut day...perhaps other donut shops are too.


Even better, do like me, sign up for Ed Chastain's newsletter, wow! he will mail you one of his
donut recipes... want to watch him make donuts?

click on his YouTube - Donut Recipe
I loved to watch him make donuts so much I actually bought his donut course..

(well I did have a "hidden" agenda, while I can make a pretty "mean" donut.
I really wanted to "revive" a REAL Texas donut for our family for Christmas, (umm tradition ! alas none could be found, so I will have to learn how to make one),

Right now a number of family members are gettin' SKINNY, so donuts are low priority...until
goals are met...THEN watch out, since all of us have discovered the "secret" to maintaining weight loss ...:-)

Now find a good donut , somewhere on National donut day , dunk it in a cup of coffee ,while you say a prayer for the Salvation Army, AND our service guys and gals...


















go to

Who is your Best Friend ? (stanger danger)

I had a crazy dream last night, We went to a theater to watch a ballet performance. sometime during or after the ballet, the Wiggles were on stage.

They had everyone get up to dance, I can't remember the name of the first one, but the second one was the caterpillar dance, it was "wild". You lifted and stomped your feet really crazy , as you wiggled like a caterpillar,
The next dance was called ...Do the Martian.

Some where in that dance, you bent over and picked up an imaginary rock or something, as you stood up you pulled back on an imaginary bow, and "shot" the rock which must have been attached to you , in some fashion, as then you reached out and tickled the person next to you.
As I straightened up with my "rock" I looked around for family members, some were just laughing and not dancing.( I am the silly one of the bunch, remember)

One grandson was sitting a ways away , he was sitting next to a young man I didn't know.
I ran like a "Martian" ( I don't remember now just how that was :-), but i can guarantee you it was silly..) over to where my grandson was sitting.
I can't remember his name, but he looked different than any of my grandkids in real life. He was about 7 years old and he looked kind of sad.
Well, of course ,I bent over and got my "rock" and sent it right to his tummy in the form of a tickle, then I pulled him into a hug, ending with a kiss on the cheek, (grandma's who love their grandkids do that automatically, by the way, even when she isn't a "Martian"

Now here is the really interesting part, (if being a wiggly caterpillar and Martian wasn't interesting enough for you ! :-) )
The young man sitting next to my grandson wanted to know who I was ? huh? ...

Of course I said I'm his grandma, shook hands with him and then since the
program was still going on and the dance was over I returned to my seat.

I remember thinking how sad my grandson looked and how I didn't like the looks of the young man who I had learned (somewhere in my dream) was my grandsons best friend.

When I woke up, I was still thinking of this.

I started thinking of best friends , relationships and of course here at farm funnies ,thinking quickly can become "rumination"...(contentedly "chewing" of previous ingested material...in my case things of the mind .
I discussed in an early post, meditation comes from the word ruminating)

I started thinking of the grandchildren I have, of my children , of others I knew.,as children and now adults.
I remembered how , as a child who moved numerous times per year, how lonely I often was..
One year I attended 6 different schools . Such can cause a child to grow up and become instabile, and ,of course, have no roots. It can also create an environment where there is never a lasting
friendship, if in fact one ever began.

I do remember being in a couple of schools with out someone to even eat lunch with,
Being on the chunky side ,in a new school, was not a help.

I also learned early in life, if you eat ANYTHING,no matter how sparse or healthy it is, it often brought unkind unsolicited remarks and taunts. I remember dreading lunch times.

I also remembered what wonderful times I enjoyed .growing up ...AFTER... I learned to enjoy life, with someone who became my best friend...
He taught me a way to center my life around the good things, based on His principals, these became my core values.
(most of these can be found in what is called the love chapter of the Bible)

When I was nine, I asked Jesus to come into my heart...
When we moved shortly after this momentous event, I remember being in a school
and "friendless" and I came home crying to my mom, after some tragic incident.
She ,good mom taht she is, seeking to comfort me with the injustices, reminded me ... that since I now knew Jesus, to remember He is my friend. I could talk to Him anytime and tell Him everything...so I did.
When I was a little older I even wrote letters to Him. I would read in my Bible, which I had learned was His letter of love to me..

In my dream last night I remember thinking I needed to tell my grandson,when I was a little girl

I too was lonely and about getting my BEST friend.
That when you know Jesus, He really is your BEST friend, and that if you ever have a
close friend here on earth, it is better ,if your friend loves Jesus too.

When our children were growing up, I reminded them often ,to be a friend ( friendly) to all but to have Jesus for their BEST friend.

As I ruminated further, I started thinking of different ones I knew, or read about.

I often read stories of well known missionaries.,and true stories of people (like George Washington Carver, Ralph Moody,etc...
...Most people really do not have a best friend during their younger years(think about it)but we are under the delusion that EVERYONE (else) does...
Now days it is easy to see so many sad children.
I think society has done an injustice to our youth..."we" have painted this "picture" that to be normal, you are well loved,you have fun,you always have a "best" friend...

Actually when you think of it most grade schoolers don't really "fit"..at they same time they are chastised in some form (even silence can be a form of chastisement) for not "fitting"...
Looking back over the years ,all the kids I knew who "fit" tended to be the ones who shouldn't have.
They were often the ones others looked up to ,or who were held up for recognition in some form... on the play ground it was the "bossy,pushy,bully or accomplished athlete" types who were "in control"
in the class room the teachers held up the "works" of the "best" students, for an example of what "we" should "be/do"..and the selected student mostly learned far to much self pride.....

I know there is much good in striving to be ,do the best...(in the proper context), perhaps I'll have another silly "dream" and then post about such...
For this post friends and being alone is what I am wanting to "munch" on.
When you think of it, most of the true "great ones" grew up friendless...in their formative years....

I think even Jesus was alone , as a young child. ( his own earthly brothers and sisters, and towns people rejected Him)
Moses, Jacob, Able, even David, (his brothers were older, he spent his early years tending sheep, only when he was a young man did he become best friends with Jonathan)
Then there are many of our famous people, I think Abe Lincoln and so many others grew up "alone"... we tend to "put" them in our "society" filled with the same experiences, etc, but most grew up in the wilderness...alone....

BUT if you can locate a dusty history book, blow off the dust and do a bit of reading, you'll discover the primary book they learned from was...(oh no..not popular now...) the BIBLE.... (these history books are out of vogue now too, but they are the ones with real history and thus real valuable truths. Unlike the cotton candy ones in our schools today, too sweet and consisting mostly of air.)

I believe the focus of childhood shouldn't be on "friends",fun,etc. and thus if you are "alone" then you are the odd one...
It seems it would be better to teach children in their formative years more about God's love.

Jesus alone is who we "need" even when we are "alone" . That Jesus and only Him can and should be our best friend, then learning His principals for our core values so we can know
how to choose all things wisely, even friends...The truth being that those who "seem" to have best friends don't really, (unless Jesus is first and BEST,otherwise they don't really know what a best friend is.....(how can they?)

It is only when you understand what a best friend really is that you can have one, and that generally comes with age...
until then you are in a learning mode, and in the learning mode you are a friend to others(kind , sharing, etc).............

As for me, I am glad I learned Jesus was and always will be my" bestest "of best friends....

How about you, He is the only one who really knows and understands you...why not write a note to Him
tell Him anything and everything, He will always understand,always care,always be there.

I can promise you that, because I know Him, He promised me that, for me and guess what?
He promised that for you to, first you need to ask Him...He never comes uninvited...

(the photo above is to remind you , when you let the wrong friend into your "heart"

your core values can destroyed.

This is photo of a tree on our place.

It was dying , inside we discovered the reason....in the heart of the tree was a huge "caterpillar, it had been quietly eating away all of the strength of one of our favorite trees, it was turning the inside(heart) into a soupy icky mush...

The next time you see a caterpillar ( or caterpillar dance :-)...remember to check your core values, check on who you have allowed inside(to influence) your heart.. then get rid of any pests..before they cause damage....Jesus can and will help you, if you let Him, just ask...

Tinkerbell a Babe?

Did you hear me right?

Here at farm funnies how did Tinkerbell become a Babe, I'll bet you are wondering.

It started out to be a typical day, I woke at 5 a.m. Hubby had the day off so he slept in.

I was working on renewing an order on line when.....

Woof woof from Annie and Roo, both on watch duty outside ....and then voices, "little" voices,

ahh grandkids for the day....

We fed the horses, cleaned up the paddocks,walked the fence line in the WILD woods to be sure

it wasn't shorting.

En route kids ,dogs and Gwendolyn ( one cat who loves doing a farm walk-a-bout), looked

for signs of BEARS (which we do not have) studied the mound of a gopher, watched for various

critters. Arriving back to our starting point, our work was done s0-0-o-

Yee Ha mount up cowboys.. Barbie and Ginger enthusiastically became trusty steeds

to ride the "range". After the 'west" was won...we mozied on to greener "pastures" in order to

pick an arm load of grass for the laying hens....

Now we were all hot so after a quick climb on the hay bales,

while grandma loaded enough flakes into a wheel barrow for the alpaca "gang',

we headed to the house for some water and a sandwich.

101 cat and dog jokes later, grandma turned on the tv

to see if there was any worthwhile kid show....

TaDa Peter Pan...

Thanks to dish, grandma could backtrack on Peter's "trail" and return to the start of the

movie...

As the movie (cartoon version) started Tinkerbell glitters across the screen in the dark...

ahhh I sighed, enjoying the artwork at the start ( I love the dark blue)

I said "I love Tinkerbell shes so pretty".

"Shes' beautiful" says my oldest grandson adding : "Tinkerbell is a real Babe in my book"....

ohhhh , not only has my oldest grown taller the past few months,

he has g-r-o-w-n : out of babyhood, no longer a babe...

But Tinkerbell sure Is, just ask me...I have it on good authority....wow....

Here she is, judge for yourself ...

www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYnZXA39lBY

fun, fun, fun. Smile and put on a happy face...

Great inspirational video link below)

----One of my grandchildren helped me put on my happy face,
can you believe a six year old applied all of this w/o getting any make up on me? WOW ! ---
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It's time to stop what you are doing, stand up, bend over with your arms at your side
now kind of "drape" yourself like a silly monkey ...

hop or jump around until you reach a room where others (2 or 4 footed) are (or if you are like me and reserve hopping for only very special occasions due to "older" knees)

shrieking eee eee eee as you do....

I can nearly guarantee everyone will liven up...some might wonder about you...S-O-O-O ??

then go to a window or the door open it and breath in some fresh air..or close your eyes and pretend to,listen to a bird sing as you do)

Now don't you feel better? Your head should be a tad clearer
you should be revived and perhaps have a better perspective ...

And didn't you have some fun?

Wherever you are, what would make this day end a 10 for you?
( winning the lottery, doesn't count)

I asked my hubby this question about noon today ...He told me ,
then he then ask me the same question in return...

My day was already a 10...
I had already enjoyed my day

I love life....(the good and the bad, it is all GOOD, below in the video is one reason why,

I loved the answers given about surviving by the courageous gal in the video below
and her invitation to join her I decided to ...why don't you?

http://www.tangle.com/view_video.php?viewkey=0a7932ee9fc975495dd9

The squeeky wheel...or he who barks "last"

ANNIE...tips for parenting

What a cute, fluffy cuddly little plush "toy" she was....
What a bundle of energy she has been for her older "sister" Katie, and big "brother" Roo

Farm funnies mom has been down the past week with a "bug" .
Translation: not much going "down" on the farm, walks,work or anything past bare necessities...
feeding,bare bone critter clean up, fresh water. So what is a dog to do?

Aha figure out new ways to get "sis" and big "brother" into trouble...fun ,fun ,fun...

I have been aware of Annie's "bugging" qualities, and correct them somewhat, but today
realized how much they correlated to another time, which seems long but again not long ago...umm same place.. in fact the very same room...

This post is especially for moms and dads with more than one child...or like me "now" more than one 4 footed "kid"...

Perhaps the parallel dawned on me, while searching for an important piece of paper..I know, it will be the last place I look, so why not look there first you ask..And miss all the reminiscing while I am sick and want a mommie myself? ( yes my mom is ok and in fact lives close and we have a good relationship, BUT I am "grown" so shouldn't "need" a mom, while sick, but the kid in me sometimes misses that).

Here I am "sifting" through boxes of saved papers, and "seeing" my children's childhood years
in a different light. I can "see" the changes in their lives even in the drawings they made.
I wonder about how, what I did or didn't do , impacted them. I can see, if I had only had a better understanding or perception ...just a little from me at the right time could have perhaps prevented or made a difference for the better.

For you with young children, be very careful how you answer their questions, stop look and listen to their tender hearts.
Learn from someone who wished she had always seen the real question
in tender hearts, especially the "key" ones. ( I did try, despite my failings, we have wonderful kids, so if you've already blundered, don't be disheartened. Do like me pray a lot . God will work with what you've done, or not done. With Him there is always hope.

Here is an example of one of my biggest parenting mistakes. When one of our children wanting to know about "life" came to me and asked about being born, and if this child was "planned" for.

Little did I know that the real question was : Did you want me.

Of course this child happened to be an unexpected pregnancy...did I have enough sense to explain that I wanted at least 4 kids but only got 3, of course this kid was wanted. At the time I was on a be "real" with your kids bend...and since not actually "planned" ,
I said as much while trying to explain why. I made the answer worse ,since I was fearful of not having enough love for this child( or any additional child,by the way, I mean when your heart is full of love for your first one and you're young , ignorant, perhaps blinded by that love, it doesn't seem possible to have as much for another one. I knew I didn't want to give less to any further children,or have favorites (even though 2 of my kids are sure I did play favorites, again, blind sided, as Annie will "show", as soon as this child was placed in my arms I had the answer, Love expands) . Ignorant like, I added something along the line of being afraid of not having enough love or something probable even less brillant....not a good thing, especially after hearing what Dad had said, in response to the same question. I placed coals upon my head when he expressed what damage he thought I had caused, completely undoing his correct and much wiser answer.
To this day I wish that day could be a do over, especially when I hear my own kids respond with wiser answers to questions raised by our grandchildren ..unfortunely I've blundered worse, over the years.

Moral: Stop and Listen to the hearts question/s ...even if it/they are simple ones.
Remember the truth can always be expressed in a better "package".

Now then the ground is laid for today's ,TaDa : Annie's "lesson"

This week, I can see , better.
Where our kids got the idea there was "favoritism" during their childhood...
Annie , Kate and Roo, this past week have been demonstrating what I missed it with my kids...
Now you don't have to miss it with yours..

Roo is taking a nap, Kate is warming herself in front of the fire with her "dolly"
Mom, trying to get over the "bug"..and really not capable of much except sipping som diet pop
Annie, bored, restless, "bipps" Roo, he growls. Mom , not looking, hollers: Roo that's enough be quiet, be nice to your little sister (who comes over and gives a silly grin)
Annie, a shade later, then goes to Kate, takes her dolly, or chews on Kates ears, Kate gets up and moves around, Annie follows, quietly pestering her...Lights ,ACTION, stage set...
Mom: Katie, settle down, that's enough pacing..

Annie comes over and puts a cute nose on mom and licks her...
Oh no.. I'm missed it again...
So now I'm working hard not to correct Roo and Kate, when "it" is not their fault and correcting the little instigator , when it is hers : as another day dawns..

How about you?
Today is a new day, what heart question will you hear?
Who's action will you really "catch"
Be aware of the RIPPLE EFFECT...don't correct the "edge" when it's the first "stone" that needs "catching"
(and no the youngest child isn't/wasn't always the instigator, I just happened to miss some of the key "times" of such in our family, thus fostering the favoritism concept, perhaps now you won't)

Now hug your kids, and give the dogs a bone...
( well ,it better be a bone each or you'll create a new problem.
At farm funnies even with a bone each , the question arises : who does mom love best, who got the BEST bone...
oh I need another nap....
Tomorrow is a day away , I SHALL be back on all cylinders I SHALL....
where is my diet pop.... ANNIE-E-E stop pestering..,bring back Kate's Dol-l-i-e-e-e-e

Can't sleep or Sleep where are you?

Well, at least this little "red hen's" buddy is getting a decent nights sleep.
Because farm funnies "MOM" isn't and didn't....

Fun to wake up with a tremendous leg cramp NOT..then take some pain med with caffeine to "speed" it along (caffeine puts this farmfunnies mom into energizer bunny super mode,w/o the capacity to keep up , yikes )
So what is a farmfunnies "mom" goin' do?

Well , it was technically May 7th , (when I first awoke) and of course it still is!
May 7th is our National Day of prayer for 2009
So I started praying for ...our Nation, then for those I e-mailed a card to about praying for our nation
As I write this post, a prayer is sent "up"for you, my readers.

May you be touched with God's blessings,guidance,love,healing,peace,restoration,protection and deliverance.

Here are the links to the prayer cards I sent to those I know and love (this includes each of you, clients ,coaches and team members)

Please join me in prayer for our Nation

One has beautiful pictures of our nation,
One asks for prayer for those defending our nation.

http://www.dayspring.com/ecards/card.asp?ID=01d38137-fot (click on next page for my personal message as you listen to this)

http://www.dayspring.com/ecards/card.asp?ID=01d37bbc-fot ( beautiful pics)