Brownie is the winner! Climbing goats, Tornado in the desert? and a sticky mess

Our new puppy

So last post my family and I were deciding whether which puppies to keep--at one point we wanted to keep all 6! But then we quickly becamse disenchanted when we saw how much dog poop they made and how much food they ate (at only 8 weeks old!) So we hung out on the side of the road near a busy area and in only 2 trips found homes for them all. We had a sign that said "Free puppies"

We decided to keep Brownie, my 3 year old's favorite. She was very convincing by telling us how sure she was that we wouldn't find a good home for him but all the others would find good homes. Lol! He looks like he'll be big--but he's kind of a sissy--but in a sweet way. I like that he's submissive and not over powering.

Spiderman goats!

The goats keep getting out. They CLIMB over the 6 foot high chain link fence! There are some areas that don't have a top rail, and when they start to climb it gives a little and they can get over, so my DH is going to have to put a top rail all the way around. Twice yesterday they got out! I found them once chowing down on the grain in the shed and that can be real dangerous--goats and cows can eat themselves literally to death! It's called foundering. I think they'll be fine though--I caught them right away. Next up: Buying a "Billy" goat. Got a get a boy to get some milk you know :)

Tornado-like Storm

Had a BIG storm out here that knocked power out for TWO days! Blew over a big tree and tore the tar paper off the shed roofs. Neighbor thinks it was a tornado--I could agree--at one point I was kind of scared--sounded like a freight train. But I've never seen a tornado in the desert--just dust devils. But atleast the Christmas lights stayed up! Lol!

Gingerbread houses are NOT Christmas-y fun!

Yesterday me and the kids attempted to make a gingerbread house from scratch. And of course I'm all healthy so I made the gingerbread with whole wheat flour sweetened with honey and blackstrap molasses (blackstrap is very dark and is the richest in nutrients). But the kink in the plan was the icing--I was searching for an alternative to royal icing (that is the icing that turns hard like plaster to keep the house together.) Royal icing is essentially a lot of powdered sugar and a bit of egg white.

I found one video online a woman used "honey glue" and I thought awesome! Some types of honey (usually raw or unfiltered) can get very hard and you have to heat them to make them viscous. That's what she did and just let it dry. I gave it a shot and it was a sticky frustrating disaster! The house kept falling apart and of course no matter how careful you are in baking and cutting, the peices are going to warp a little and don't go together perfectly. And then when the pieces fell they broke in 2 structurally important spots (of course!)

I was hoping to have the house done in time for my husband to come home and see this cute little gingerbread house (not to mention dinner ready and the house perfectly clean)--instead he came home to a wreck, no dinner, and me a sticky mess :( I kind of spent half the day making the silly thing from start to finish (or unfinish rather!)

So I broke down and bought powdered sugar to make the icing (*sigh*) it kind of defeats the whole healthfulness of the house but I don't think I have the patience for it any other way! But I still at least feel healthful and creative that we are going to be using nuts, dates, unsweetened coconut, and freeze dried blueberries, bananas and pomegranite seeds for decoration! You guys must think I'm so weird--- Probably true--lol! I'll post pictures after it's done. God bless and good night!