A furry surprise!

We had us a weekend full of surprises! One of our gals that was expectin' birthed a nice little calf on Saturday. John had estimated that she wasn't due for another two weeks ,but when he went to do the evenin's milking she was in labor. About 8 o'clock a little brown fella came slidin' out and proceeded to try and get up not too long after. That calf was pretty funny trying to get up on his wobbly little legs. The children were cheering him on! 

John had let the children watch the birth. I wasn't too sure about the little ones seein' but it all worked out and they were quite amazed. Little Jim decided the little fellow would be named Stanley.  John and I had a good chuckle and asked him why Stanley and he told us in school he had read a story about a little boy who was clumsy and kinda wobbly named Stanley and this calf reminded him of the boy. Well alrighty then John said--we'll call him Stanley.

Today we attended church and Pastor Miller was preachin' on why we need our church family.  He was in the book of Ephesians and I wrote the verses down so I could study them later. I must say that it has been so nice being in fellowship with other Christians. Sundays are a day we all look forward to all week long. The little children ask me each day how many more days til church .  We don't do work like we did before, we do rest and have us a family day. I do wonder if us keepin' the Sabbath has anything to do with us getting more work done than before?

When we pulled up to the house after church the children just bolted out of the car to check on Stanley. A few minutes later Ruth Ann came running to the kitchen all excited asking for a flashlight. Seems they heard some strange noises in the hay loft but it being dark up there they needed some light.  I asked Ruth Ann what kind of strange noises they were hearin' but she couldn't say for sure. John and I exchanged a glance and decided it would be best for us to take a look . John climbed the ladder to the loft and hollered for us to come on up. Why layin' in the hay was a momma cat with her litter of kittens!  Now where did she come from we wondered?  You just never know what you might find in a big old barn .  The children were so excited they could barely contain themselves.  They were asking questions all at the same time a mile a minute. John held up his hand and said whoa now---this little mama and her kittens need some rest. Ruth Ann was concerned she wouldn't be warm enough , but her Daddy told her the bed of hay was very warm.  Throughout the day the children checked on the little kitten family and brought warm bowls of milk to the momma cat. 

After supper John told me tomorrow if our furry friends are a bit stronger he would move them into the kitchen near the woodstove. I wasn't so sure about that, but he assured me he would check the momma out carefully. Of course, the children will be thrilled.  As I was tucking Ruth Ann in she asked me if we should give her a name. Give who a name I asked? Well, momma kitten. Hmmm...I told her we could think on it tonight and ask Daddy. That seemed to satisfy her little mind enough for her to doze off pretty fast.

I told John what she had asked me and he kind of slyly smiled and said naming animals kind of means keepin' 'em.  Might be good to have a few barn cats 'round he said, keep the mice in check.  Well now you might be right there I told him.  So now we have Stanley and whoever with a bunch of kitties. I had to laugh a bit--what a day full of surprises!