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The Magic Word
Yesterday, Hewitt came into the living room where Jim and I were. He went up to Jim and was clearly upset about something. He started to complain and yell about something that had happened. He said...
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What a Guy!
Today is Father’s Day and we’re not doing a whole lot to celebrate it. Part of the reason is because we don’t make a big fuss about celebrations. Part of the reason is because we’re super busy. And...
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Soap Room Construction
Today we went to see the progress on our new soap room! The kids had so much fun playing on the huge pile of gravel and Jim and I were really happy to see the structure coming together. It’s starting...
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A Happy Anniversary
Today is the 18th anniversary of my first date with Jim. Jim and I met during my first weekend at college – the University of Virginia. September 8th was the football game against Clemson. UVa had not...
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The Water Bill
I just sat down to pay bills. I looked at the water bill and said to myself out loud, “Hmmm… wonder why the water bill is so high?” Apparently Jim heard me and replied, “Because I filled up the...
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Now THAT is Talent
As homeschooling parents, we try very hard to teach our children things that will be useful for their future. Things that show how talented they are. Things that when other people see them, they say,...
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Date Night
Well, it has been an exhausting week. Thursday morning the last of the April goat kids were finally born (I’ll get photos up later). Twins – 1 buckling and 1 doeling, both adorable and healthy. But the...
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You Are The…
Jim and I have been taking a walk together every day. It’s awesome. We leave the children with some chores to do and a reward if they get them done by the time we return, and then we disappear. For at...
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The Three Sweetest Words You Can Hear (according to Jim)
. Any guesses what those words are? Brett (who is reading over my shoulder even though she is supposed to be in bed and I have reminded her 3 times to get to bed) just whispered, “I love you.” Good...
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Wow, That Really Is Scary
Jim and I were in the living room talking with visitors when the boys started carrying in garbage bags of clothes and dumping them in the middle of the living room floor. What the heck?… Turns out our...
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Ohana
Our absolute favorite restaurant of our entire Disney vacation (and this is unanimous) was: It had the most amazing family buffet you can imagine. We didn’t take pictures of the food (because we...
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Attack!
Jim and the older children were away selling soap at a Bar-B-Q Festival this weekend. I never sleep well when Jim is away, so last night I went to bed early and fell sound asleep. I woke up to being...
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Daddy Time
The girls were in need of some Daddy Time. So Jim gave Jade her first set of braids: So then of course Indigo needed her hair braided too: He eventually had them both braided and looking beautiful:...
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Healthy? or Not?
I generally feed my family very healthy food. In fact, the whole reason we got dairy goats in the first place was so that we would have healthy, raw milk for the family. I do believe that it’s ok to...
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Who Is Scaring Whom?
Jade decided to scare Daddy: Then she decided to be silly: Then she went back to being scary: But you really have to watch the video to see Jim’s reaction: I love watching him play with the children....
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Autumn on the River
One of the first festivals we ever sold soap at was Autumn on the River in Bethlehem, Indiana. It’s this little town right on the river filled with very friendly people. It’s our last outdoor show of...
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Massage Therapy Gone Wrong
Jim has been making lots and lots of soap lately. In fact, he recently broke two records. First, he made the most soap ever in a single day on July 30th. Second, he made the most soap he’s ever made in...
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Lake Fun
The other day I got an email inviting the family to come swim at a local lake with some friends. The invite was last minute (the way I like them), so I told her we would try. I gathered the children...
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Outside Exercise
The weather here has been gorgeous lately. (Nope, hurricane Irene didn’t reach us here in Indiana.) We’ve had hot days, cooler nights, and low humidity. We took advantage of the lovely weather to...
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Watermelon Football
We have a great garden in Indiana. One of the things that grow very well for us each year is watermelon. As much as we love our watermelons, I admit I was a little surprised when Jim decided to bring...
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Eight of Them
The three girls were snuggling in bed with us this morning. Indigo was with me and Brett and Jade snuggled with Jim. Jade: “Dad, you have one child.” Dad: “What about Brett?” Jade: “ok, you have two...
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The Importance of Free Wi-Fi
We love living in the country. There is only one problem - the lack of high speed internet. Right now we have satellite internet, which is better than dial-up. Most of the time. The biggest problem is...
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How to Make Marinade
My wife orchestrates what we eat around here. Periodically, she goes food shopping, brings home what she bought, and drops it in front of me and asks, “Will you marinate this for me?” When I’m...
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San Francisco
This summer, Jim and I were flown out to San Francisco by one of our vendors. We really enjoy having time together just the two of us, but it was strange to be out there without the children. We got...
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Grammy’s Gift Baskets
For any skills I have in craftiness and gifting, I credit my mother. While growing up, she and I spent countless happy hours creating themed gifts for friends and family members. We used items that...
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The Goat Milk Stuff Logo
We’ve worked hard over the years to make sure that Goat Milk Stuff has a uniform look and feel and solid branding. During this video, Jim discusses how the GMS logo evolved and the symbolism present...
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How To Use Shaving Soap
Many men have only used shaving cream to shave. In this video, Emery learns how to use our shaving soap to shave Jim. Please be aware that even though we didn’t show the entire thing, Emery actually...
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Disney Wild Africa Trek
While we were in Disney World, we decided it was time to do something we’d never done before. The Wild Africa Trek! Indigo and Jade were too young, so while we were doing it, they went off and toured...
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7 Reasons You Should Read “Lemonade Stand Economics”
Yes, you really should read Lemonade Stand Economics by Geof White. I did, but that’s not such a great reason, so I won’t count that one. My daughter, Brett, read it as well. Of course, she...
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Happy Birthday, Jim!
Jim and I met at The University of Virginia, so Thomas Jefferson is very important to us. Here is an interesting fact – Thomas Jefferson was born on Jim’s birthday (April 13) and died on Jade’s...
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Fly Eating Wasp
When you have a herd of milking goats, or any farm animals for that matter, flies are inevitable. We regularly clean the stalls and remove the organic matter, but we still have flies. Because we don’t...
View ArticleHappy Anniversary, Mom and Dad!
Sometimes I think about the past and realize that a lot of things had to happen for me to be where I am today. A big thing happened nineteen years ago, on July 8, 1995. Can you guess what happened?...
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Work Yourself Out of a Job
I recently was introduced to the blogging fathersphere. There I found a lot of really cool Dads who spend a lot of time reflecting on fatherhood and making some excellent points about the whole...
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Top Three Dangers at Disney World
Having just spent time at Disney World with my 8 children, my wife, and her parents, I decided it was high time I alerted the public to the greatest hazards to be found at the “Most Magical Place on...
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Half Way to Perfection
I love the concept of halfway there. The idea is that a distance between two things can always be cut in half, bringing them very close together in a few steps. Unfortunately, going halfway can never...
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Another year, another “Big Game”.
Maybe it’s because I’ve been too busy to watch more than one NFL game this year. Maybe it’s because I’m not part of a fantasy football league anymore. Maybe it’s because my favorite team since I was...
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Ask A Jonas – Jim’s Thoughts On Choosing Scents
We get asked lots of questions when we’re doing farm tours, selling soap at craft fairs, or simply running errands. Since most of those answers are heard only by the person who asked, we decided to...
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Ginger and Jade
Our house cat, Ginger, is a Daddy’s girl. But Jade thinks that Ginger is hers, and will spend hours with her. Ginger has always been good with Jade, despite hours of too much snuggle time. Bonus points...
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Local Flavor
I feel sorry for people who regularly eat at chain restaurants. Don’t get me wrong, I understand why people (myself included at times) do; especially when traveling. If I have my history right, chains...
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The Treadmill Desk Conversion
My wife likes to stay active. Of course, as the CEO of a family business, as well as the family bookkeeper, she has a LOT of desk work to do. So I converted our treadmill into a treadmill desk using...
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Sometimes The Solution is Simple… and FUN!
I have a confession to make. I am not a big fan of mowing a lawn. Oh sure, it was one of my first businesses when I was a kid, and I did plenty of it for my own family as well. I just don’t feel...
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Happy Birthday, Dad!
Dad’s birthday was a couple of weeks ago, and I’m just now getting around to writing the blog post about it. Whoops! The most notable thing about this birthday was that we all got up at 6:00, so...
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11 Years and Holding
Did you know that our sun is constantly changing? It has varying levels of radiation, sunspots, flares, and all of the other solar activities that sooner or later have their effects on Earth’s...
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5K Color Run
Exercise is something important to our family so we can stay healthy. All of the boys run cross country and track. Last Saturday we all participated in a 5K Color Run, to help raise money to fight...
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