LOVE THEM!!!

So, these are my new boots.  I love them.  They are sooooo comfy!  Usually I wear tennis shoes, untied.  It's not a great look but it's a time issue.....I don't like spending the time to tie and untie my shoes and since I don't wear shoes in the house and I'm in and out a lot, I would be constantly dealing with my shoes!

Sabrina has been looking for boots for riding.  The trainer won't let her wear tennis shoes and her black rubber boots aren't the greatest for riding.  She found these at the boot store today and brought home a pair.  I saw them, fell in love and promptly went out and got myself a pair as well!

This is my next pair.  I'm in love with them as well!

Leaving The Nest!

Can it really be true that yet another chick is ready to leave the nest?  Haha, I wrote that for Sabrina's sake.  She will do a major eye roll and yell, "Mother!!!!" from her room when she reads this!  Haha, anyway.....

18 is right around the corner for her and her world is full of possibilities!  There are so many things she wants to go do and experience!  She will graduate in the next month or so and after that the options are endless!!!

I remember that feeling of wanting to move out of the house and go experience life!  I was the youngest in my family, so there wasn't anyone at home to do things with.  For her it's the opposite: she is the oldest at home and it gets old babysitting or driving siblings here and there.  She's ready to be out on her own and hanging out with friends.  She has always seemed way more mature than the giggly girls her age.  I'm sure some of that has to do with her position in the family but a lot of it has to do with her personality. 

Her plans have not been set in stone yet......but when they are, we will miss her!  She has a great sense of humor that I will miss!  There are so many times we laugh until we cry in fact, quite often our stomachs hurt from 'laugh muscles' working so hard!  She also has a willing attitude and helps whenever I need her!

I'm anxious to see where she heads off to first!  Wherever it is, it will be an adventure!!!   

WAAAAIIITTTTT.......

I feel like the "Wait For Me Kitten"!  It's a children's book.....have you read it?  If not, it's about a little kitten that is constantly getting left behind it's siblings.  She dilly dallies along, looking and investigating at everything that crosses her path.

I have felt like that lately.  I feel kind of like I'm getting drug along, while life is briskly moving forward! 

Anywho......let's see....all the animals are doing well.  The dogs are growing so fast.  They are like the 3 amigos, they stick together like long lost pals.  They are a lot of fun to watch as they run and play in the back yard.  It wears them out and then they come back to the house and crash on their bed.  Sasha, the German Shepherd, is getting really beautiful.  She is way too smart for her own good.  She reminds us of a brown bear.  The cool thing is, she doesn't shed!  I didn't expect that!

Kenya is growing so fast.  When I look back at the pics I posted of her just a few weeks ago, I can't believe how much she has grown since then!  She is so fun to watch run!  Those long legs can cover a lot of ground in a hurry!!

And of course, little Lucky.  The only boy in the bunch.  Poor little thing.  They tag team on him all the time!  It's hilarious to watch.  But he dishes it right back and half the time the girl's never even know what hit 'em!!  He has a laser addiction.....he loves to chase the red dot on the floor and will get quite possessive if the girls get too close to his dot!  Haha, he keeps us laughing.

The bull calf is doing awesome!  He's getting fat...finally!  Still so friendly and comes running to see you when you go out to the field.  He looooves to have his neck and head rubbed, especially where those horns are poking through.  Love that guy!

Peaches and Spring are still adorable.  Spring is just sure she is your BEST friend!!!  Love that girl!  She will stand by you the entire time you are in the field, waiting for you to pet her and rub behind her ears.  Peaches is getting more and more friendly.  She was a little standoffish when we first got her.  She really wanted nothing to do with us.  But as time goes on, she realizes we=food, and that's a good combination to her!

Okie and Indy are at a horse trainer's place a few miles from here.  They are being worked and trained so that we can ride them.  Papa, Tanner and Sabrina go over a few times a week to take riding lessons and watch the lady train them so that we have some sort of idea what we're doing when they come home.

We started building our 4 car garage!!!  Yippy-ki-yay!!!  Now that is something to be excited about!!!  Hopefully a couple more weeks and we will be able to park inside!!!  Never realized how much I would miss a garage!

The biggest news ever.............SAM AND COLT ARE HAVING A BABY!!!!!!!!  You realize what that means??????  Scott and I will be grandparents!!!!!!  That seems so strange.  I don't feel old enough to be called 'grandma'.  I still have a 3 year old for crying out loud!!!!  Sigh.......

But we are so excited for them!  Such a wonderful time in their lives.  Their little peanut is due in September.

Ok, I seriously think we are up to date now.  That's got to be close anyway.

Our Louisiana Baby!!!

**This post didn't get posted yesterday when I wrote it.....what a crazy day it was!!!  More about that later!!

We are constantly talking about animals at our house!  I'm really not sure if we are normal.  Wait, what am I saying????  Of course we're not normal!  In fact this morning as Scott was leaving the house to go grocery shopping, Sabrina and I were huddled around my laptop looking at something.  He saw us and said, "Ok, you two are not to discuss animals, look at animals or go buy anything!"  Who says that to their wife???  Haha...

Craigslist is our friend.  We have found so many interesting critters on there!  For example, did you know that there is such a thing as mini bulls????  Seriously!!!  That's the most awesome sounding thing in the world!!!  Hahaha, and I love the mini donkeys!  They are a hoot!!

Anyway, for several weeks we have been looking for a Great Dane puppy!  We have searched breeders from all over the U.S.  There are some shady breeders out there and there are others that go way over the top on caring for their dogs!  When you are buying something sight unseen, it really makes you want to find just the right dog/breeder.  I'm all about personality.  I could care less about how great their markings are if they have a terrible personality.  When we finally found our "bayou baby", we loved her personality as well as her markings.  Her breeders were quite a hoot as well!  And the funniest thing is most people from the South had no idea where Idaho was!  Some lady in Texas was all, "Where ya'll from?"  Idaho, we told her.  "Where's that?  I ain't never heard a that place!  Is that over by Iowa or Illinois?"  Oh wow, lady.  There are 49 other states out there besides your great state of Texas!  You really should get out more!  Hahaha...

Anyway, after we finally found our new baby and made all the arrangements for her travel, we only had to wait a day for her to get here!

She was one scared baby when we met her at the airport.  She was shaking like a leaf!  She came home and met the other dogs and all the kiddos.  I think she was a little overwhelmed at the noise at first but she has adjusted amazingly well!  She is super sweet and has the best personality ever!!! 

We decided on Kenya for her name!!!

 Sabrina and Keyna!

 We do a lot of sitting on the floor with the puppies!  Haha...I LOVE her markings!!!  They are soooo cool!  Can't wait to see how they look when she grows into them!

Keyna and Sasha sleeping so sweetly.  I love that Keyna's paw is draped over Sasha.  They are good buddies!

Some Sad News.......

Life on the 'farm' isn't always happy.  Sometimes animals get sick....so sick that they have to be put down.  We had some very cold days the first part of the new year.  And then it was unusually warm for a few days and then it went very cold again.  That kind of weather wreaks havoc on baby calves.  Tommy's calf, Cody got very sick.  We treated him for pneumonia for days.  Unfortunately the damage to his lungs was irreversible.  He started getting very weak, couldn't eat, coughed continually, his eyes drained non-stop, he couldn't walk and was very depressed (yes, cows/bulls can get depressed when they are sick.  It's so sad). 

He got to the point where we knew he would not pull out of it.  He was suffering and needed to be put down.  That's the hardest decision for a child to understand.  It nearly broke Tommy's heart.  We knew it was for the best.  We knew it was the only option.

We found the best cattle vet around and he was there within the hour.  Even though I knew we were doing the right thing, watching a life being stopped is never an easy thing to witness.

We did a lot of talking over the next few days and even weeks.  There is still a little hole in Tommy's heart that will always be from losing his friend.

Hope to see you again someday, Cody!  Hope you are running wild and free for now!

And Then There Were 3!

Shortly after brining home our 2 mini's, we started the looooong process of finding a 'real' horse!  That took hours and hours of searching to find just the right one!  There are so many things to consider when buying a horse!  After weeks and weeks of looking at different horses, we found OKIE!!

 He is a beautiful boy!

 Love his markings!!!

 Sabrina and Okie!

Scott and his horse!!  They are quite a pair!  Okie is what you call an "in your pocket" horse.  He is right there, comes out to greet you in the field and the mini's love him!!  No, I mean they really LOVE him!!!   Haha....thank goodness he is a gelding!

Where Does The Time Go????

I should look back at my blog history and see how many times I have said this!  Every day I think, "Ok, today I will update my blog!"  And then.....life happens!  Haha, so much has happened but I will try to hit all the highlights!!

Shortly after Christmas, we decided to add to our animal family!  We decided on horses!  So much thought and planning went into our decision.  With all these little kids, we felt like we needed to start small......so we invested in two adorable mini's!

Peaches and Spring arrived!

 Jasmine on Spring!  She loves that baby!

 Spring as a baby!  Awww....She will be 1 in April!

Peaches is almost 2.  She will be big enough to pull a cart if we decide to train her.  Wouldn't that be cute??

Everyone is loving having these two cuties here!  They are so fun and quite a kick to watch run around the field.

Ok, there is our first update!  I will do separate posts so that they are not so long to read!!!  Stay tuned.....