Picker-Upper

Okay. I've kind of been in a stinky mood today and I'm sick of it, so I thought I'd take a minute and blog about some things that make me happy. Of course, the most important and Happiest things aren't things. For starters: my darling, adorable, fantastic, albeit challenging sweetlings. And my handsome husband, whom I wish would hurry home from work so I could kiss his sweet face.

The way Sadie looks when she sleeps. And her snore. Oh, it just warms the cockles of my heart.

Puppy Kisses. Need I say more?

The fact that my cat and puppy can co-exist happily enough to nap together. Sort of. :)

And sorry, I guess I am a material girl, because I have some things that makes me really smile. I've always wanted a steamer trunk, but they are so. stinking. expensive. Hundreds to thousands of dollars, and then shipping...yikes. Hooray for Craigslist!! I found this beauty there and scored it for thiry.five.dollars. WOOT WOOT!!!

(And I know you are all super-jealous of our amazing carpet and killer paneling. Remember, thou shalt not covet, y'all.)

Also, my cellerciser. This thing ROCKS!! I love it. It's the Rolls-Royce of mini-trampolines and I am so happy I have it.

I'm a pretty lucky girl. I'm surrounded by beautiful people and live in a beautiful place. My life is very comfortable, and I have so many things that bring me contentment and joy, so many that this blog post could be much, much longer. But, right now, I'm gonna go play with my kiddos while we wait for daddy to get home.

Goodbye, grouchy. Don't come back now, y'hear?

What's Up, Mom?

Straying well into the realm of "Mom-Should-Have-Known-Better," I let my youngest have ice cream today, unsupervised. Did it matter that she was at the kitchen table? Nope. (Well, okay. It did a little. I would have been a lot sadder had this happened on my pretty carpet.) Did it matter that her sister was sitting right next to her? Yes, in fact. It makes the story much richer. After watching B spread a lovely chocolate mural all over the table, on the wall, her chair, and dribbling it down her clothes, T finally decided she'd had enough of edible art for the day and came to claim me from my cleaning frenzy (which is what spurred the unsupervised insanity in the first place).

Coming into the kitchen, I find what I should have anticipated. Grabbing a damp rag, I head over to B to begin clean up. The little sweetness looks up at me and says, "What's up, Mom?" "What's up? I'm cleaning up your huge mess, sweetie. What's up with you?" She looks over her work, somewhat chagrined and says, "I'm dirrrrrty."

How do you not laugh at that? These kinds of moments are gifts from God, when your kids make it easy to laugh through the mess.

For My Dad

Long-Awaited Arrival

For years, Sam has wanted a Shar Pei puppy. He had one briefly as a teenager, and he's been intent on having one for his family forever. Well, the time has finally come!! We were so lucky to find a family about twenty minutes away who was selling a litter. Yesterday, we brought our angel home. This is Sadie. We love her already. She is so sweet and fun. It's impossible to not laugh out loud at her when she's at play, or stare in awe at how adorable she is when she's asleep. She's a perfect fit.

Pineapple Prize

Last Friday (June 26) our went to our first branch activity. It was a Luau theme, and the branch members were encouraged to dress up. Don't my girls look darling?


It was fun to get out and get to know a few more members' names and have fun. The girls had a blast. The surprise of the evening was when we as a family got third place in the costume contest. This lovely Certified Organic Pineapple was our prize. Fun, huh?

Meet Herman

This is Herman.

Herman the Turtle. Herman was kindly left behind by the previous owners. He graces our flower beds...or, well, at least he used to. Now he pretty much ends up wherever B leaves him, after she drags him around for a while. Herman has become B's special outdoor friend. She loves him. And so, because of this, I love Herman, too.

Thanks, Herman, for making my little girl so happy whenever she's around you.

Our Petting Zoo

Today, I want to introduce to you our barnyard family.

Meet Daisy. She's was the first lovely rabbit addition to our Illinois family. She delivered her first litter of bunnies on Monday. She's a sassy lady, and a great mom. She had ELEVEN gorgeous babies, and is fiercely protective of each one.

Liana also kindled Monday, just a few hours after Daisy. She struggled quite a bit. We kept finding her babies in various places throughout the day. Three survived, but we decided they would do better being fostered. On a side note: Liana really can't stand me. She has this funny quirk where she'll stamp her back foot every time I get near her. She actually seemed to get over it, though, while I was helping her with her babies. We'll see if it lasts.

Charlotte. Isn't she gorgeous? She kindled yesterday. Seven pink little babies. She and Daisy are sharing the responsibility of Liana's survivors. She is also a very protective mom, which we love to see. We'd rather get nipped at than having babies not making it any day.

This is B.J. Cute, huh? I call him the Slinky Rabbit, because he can shrink or expand himself at will. He's really not this small; just camera-shy. He's still really young, so he hasn't come into his "buck" own yet, but we've got our fingers crossed.

Moving to the residents of the western side of the barn...

Our goats.

I never expected I'd have a goat. Never really cared for goats much. Sure, I got a kick out of my kids chasing them around at the petting zoo, but I never felt any sort of pull to take one home. Not even close. And now....

It started as needing a companion animal for our cow. Sam brought it up several times, but I vetoed. I really didn't want a goat. They've always bugged me, and as it wouldn't be a real asset to the farm (we tried goat's milk from Wild Oats--Taylor loved it, but everyone else...pretty put off), I wanted to find another option. We went back and forth on the subject for a while. After weighing our options, we decided it was the best way to go. We found a very nice woman selling Nigerian Dwarf goats on craigslist for reasonable price, so we went to go take a look.

First let me say, my girls were on cloud nine at this place! Dogs, ponies, goats, horses, bunnies, kitties, chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys--the ultimate hobby farm. (Thanks, Chris, for your kindness in getting us started!) We tried her milk while we were there and seriously, it was awesome! Could tell no difference between it and cow's milk, except goat's milk is a bit sweeter and richer. We still don't know why it was so different, but it sold us. So, we brought home two: Tina and Angel.

Tina is a funny goat. She's a sassy old broad who doesn't take crap from anyone. She is one of the Original Three of the herd. She loves dandelions, head-butting Angel, and pooping wherever and whenever she pleases, thank you very much.

Angel is exceptionally deserving of her name. She is wonderfully patient and sweet. She loves being petted and brushed. She has this darling face she gets, where she'll cock her head to the side and look at you like she'd do anything for you. I love this Angel Face.

After that, things somehow starting getting out of hand. I found myself milking these goats, everyday, and liking it. Then Sam decided we needed to have more so that we could always have milk, and then we needed to get our own buck, so we could keep our does pregnant, and then we had to get certain ones, because we needed to get the herd registered, and then we had to take more because one couldn't be without the other, and then we had to take the last two, because they were the last two....

And now we have ten.

This darling girl is Zoe. She is Angel's mama, and shares her sweet temperament. Except when she wants oats, attention, or some lovin' from the buck. She makes me laugh, because her outburst of "ornery" are always so unexpected. She is another of the Original Three.

Meet CoCo. She's our Grande Dame of the herd, the oldest of the bunch, the leader from the Original Three. I wish she'd let me love on her, but she doesn't trust me quite yet. We'll see if we get there.

Anora. CoCo's daughter. Gorgeous. Still trying to gain her trust, too, but I think T is really helping that along. Anora's our best milker.

Snow: Anora's sister, CoCo's first born daughter. We believe the leadership torch has been passed down the line. She seems to be the second in command to CoCo. Sam thinks Snow is now the Alpha. I think CoCo's still got it. :)

Pepper. Tina's daughter. Ornery like her mama. We think she's pregnant, fingers crossed!

Jasmine. GORGEOUS! Jazzy is our hope for a beautiful and sweet herd in the future. She is so fun and darling. We all love her.

George. What a funny kid he is. He can be so irritating (because he is unbelievably loud), but he's so cute and lovable, you can't resist him. He and Jazzy were a package deal. They are so fun, like gangly puppies.

And finally....

Wash. Our buck. Check out those blue eyes! And, you gotta love the Superman curl. (I know, right?!?) In spite of all this, Wash is one of the most disgusting creatures I've ever encountered. But, he makes cute babies!

So, I would imagine you've gathered that I'm enjoying myself. I can't help it! They really are fun. And, it's actually pretty darn cool that I don't have to run to the store for milk every other day. Why is that again? Oh, yes. Because I milked that bottle full of fresh milk with my own two hands. Uh-huh. :)