Hi! I'm Mindie! I'm a wife and mother of 7, 3 boys, 4 girls, in that order. Yes, I have always wanted a lot of kids, yes, I know HOW that happened, and I'm not sure if we are going to have more or not. I would like to adopted locally some day. We are all gluten free. Well, except my husband :o) I have always had unpleasant digestive issues throughout my life that my doctors have always dismissed as "IBS". My children have also shared in my issues. During my pregnancy for my 7th child, I became very ill. On top of the usual morning sickness, I had all my "IBS" symptoms to the extreme. It got to the point that I was so weak, I could barely leave the couch. Fed up, I started doing my own research. At first I thought it must be the dairy, after all, eating cookies and milk always made me sick. Little did I know it was the cookies! After much searching, I found out about gluten intolerance and Celiacs Disease. I spoke with an OBGYN at the office, who has Celiacs, and she told me to stop all gluten and see if that helps. After a couple of weeks I was feeling amazingly better! At that point I decided to take my children off as well. Our oldest 2 children have always experienced horrible constipation, sometimes going nearly 2 weeks between bowel movements. Of course the doctors just told me to give them fiber supplements, which NEVER worked. The other children experienced the opposite problem, all the time. Almost immediately after quitting gluten their symptoms subsided. Since then I have been telling everyone who will listen how gluten free living may improve their well being. Gluten is not a dietary necessity, and isn't even "good" for you. Whether you are gluten intolerant or not, I think going gluten free and moving to a more natural diet is beneficial.
More about me! I love having farm animals and gardening! We have horses, goats, sheep seasonally (I say seasonally because the kids raise market lambs in the spring for 4h), bunnies, dogs, cats, and soon chickens and cows. I should say cows, again. We had 2...very sad story.
I am working to becoming more self sufficient. I want to have my own eggs, home grown meat and veggies, fresh cheese, everything natural and as organic as possible! Of course having my own personal petting zoo has it's disadvantages. Take for example the whole world (well all of your friends that don't have animals) will look at you like you have 2 heads when you tell them you have goats. They may call you the crazy goat lady (hey, I know the crazy goat lady personally, and she is very delightful!), be very exaggerative when speaking of your menagerie of animals ("you only have a hundred goats"...I have 5), and some just might stop coming around. One way or another, you get the comments, snickers, and eye rolling. I'm learning to blow it off and figure people like that just don't need to be in my life if that's how they feel. When you way the pros vs cons, you have to agree that growing up your own food is a great thing!
We are rather involved in 4h. This year was our 3rd year. We started off showing goats for the first 2 years, and this year moved to bunnies, market lambs, and goats. Next year we are hoping to add our horses, cows, and chickens to the line up! I believe that 4h is an excellent way to teach your kids about managing money, running a business, the responsibilities of raising animals and respecting them, and healthy living. We have an amazing 4h group that we belong to, and I am thankful for them and the support they offer.
Last but certainly not least, in fact it should be at the top of my list, I love the Lord. Without Jesus as my personal savior, I would not be where I am today. I am blessed daily by the children He has given me, the husband He has provided me with, and my many friends, animals, my home, my neighbors, everything!
