Kidding Season on the Caffee Farm

Kidding season is not over yet, we still have one more mama due any day, but I wanted to share these pictures before I got too far behind. I have to say that we have learned so much over the last few weeks! It has been so very full of the joy and excitement that new life brings, life lessons, struggles, hard work, and yes....even a little pain; but I feel even more now than I ever have that we are in the right place. Ben and I sat  last night and talked about how we never imagined that we would end up here, on a farm! It's like somehow over time it has just become who we are, like some sort of instinct brought on by having all of this beautiful land. Our children are naturals and they love it more every day. The bonds that form between us while we work as a family for a common goal are incredibly strong, equally incredible is the bond that we feel toward our animals and this soil. I found this "Farmers Creed" tonight and I loved the way it explained so many of the things I was thinking perfectly.

Farmer's Creed

I believe a man's greatest possession is his dignity and that no calling bestows this more abundantly than farming.

I believe hard work and honest sweat are the building blocks of a person's character.

I believe that farming, despite its hardships and disappointments, is the most honest and honorable way a man can spend his days on this earth.

I believe farming nurtures the close family ties that make life rich in ways money can't buy.

I believe my children are learning values that will last a lifetime and can be learned in no other way.

I believe farming provides education for life and that no other occupation teaches so much about birth, growth, and maturity in such a variety of ways.

I believe many of the best things in life are indeed free: the splendor of a sunrise, the rapture of wide open spaces, the exhilarating sight of your land greening each spring.

I believe that true happiness comes from watching your crops ripen in the field, your children grow tall in the sun, your whole family feel the pride that springs from their shared experience.

I believe that by my toil I am giving more to the world than I am taking from it, an honor that does not come to all men.

I believe my life will be measured ultimately by what I have done for my fellowman, and by this standard I fear no judgement.

I believe when a man grows old and sums up his days, he should be able to stand tall and feel pride in the life he's lived.

I believe in farming because it makes all this possible.

- 1975 Author Unknown

Our little Abby lost her fight this evening, and even in that I learned something about myself. I learned that It's much harder to watch a helpless animal suffer than it is to let go after they are gone, that at the end of the fight you can feel good as long as you know you did your best, and once more, that life is precious and not to be taken for granted. Our little twins Bo and Lizzy are strong, healthy, and as sweet as they can be.

Thank you all for sharing this beautiful farming experience with us! We hope to be back soon with pictures of more babies!