Milestone

Mollie has been excited to have a loose tooth for about a month now. Her mother was shocked however because she was just WAY too young to be losing a tooth! Yesterday her and Daddy went out to lunch and she returned with a toothless grin. She was very excited this morning to find what the tooth fairy left her. I don't think she'll get this much for each tooth (she better not!)the tooth fairy might end up in the poorhouse!

Nature Sucks!

Nature sucks, there, I've said it (actually twice now) but it does. The guinea's little chick (see previous post) disappeared Saturday and there was a dead possum in the yard (could there be a connection? Maybe momma guinea unleashed her wrath on him after he murdered her only child...we'll never know). Also, Mollie and I came home the other day to discover that something had gotten "Milk", one of the geese (in broad daylight). She(?) was gone, vanished into thin air while "Quackers" was frantically scouring the yard to find her best friend. We found a dead chicken and just a few feet away a handful of gray feathers (Milks). Also, the black and white duck was gone as well. In the front yard I found a pile of black rooster tail feathers so I went to see if they got the twin roosters. Luckily they hadn't but both roosters are tailess. They must have out run whatever was chasing them. We've decided that it must have been a coyote. It had to be big enough to haul off that big ol' goose. I'm sure he was lurking in the corn, watching everybody stroll around the yard, just waiting for the opportune time to pounce. I know they need to eat but why my chickens (and ducks and geese!)? Nature sucks.


In memorium:
"Black and White Duck"


"Milk"

She Graduated!!!!!

Yay!! It only took 3 seasons in the beginner class but Mollie finally "graduated" to the intermediate class. You see, it's really hard to move up when you aren't willing to get your face wet! She even hates getting her hair washed in the bathtub! However, on day one of lessons, she asked me why the teacher didn't teach her anything new. I told her she couldn't until she put her whole face in the water. She also wondered why all her friends weren't in her class anymore. I told her that they had all graduated to the next class. After that she started to get more daring and each day would try harder. Finally she was putting her face in the water while kicking and using the kick board. On the last day she was even floating on her back! Each day she would ask if she would graduate when finally, on the last day, her teacher said "congratulations, Mollie, you graduated". She was so proud and so were we that she finally stepped out of her comfort zone!

Notice dripping water on the face!

Motherhood

A few weeks ago our guinea disappeared. I thought something got her but a few days later we heard her and found her hiding in a flower bed sitting on a nest of eggs. Mollie was so excited to have guinea babies and so was I until Jerry asked how we were going to have guinea babies with no guinea dad! Duh, Steph! I wasn't exactly thinking! However, Miss Guinea had other plans! A couple of days after our conversation out she came, a proud momma with newborn chick in tow! She has no idea this baby isn't a guinea and if she does she doesn't seem to care. She seems to be thrilled to finally be a mom. She proudly herds "her" baby around the yard, defending her from all evils. She has nastily chased off the dogs, Mollie and I. I think the only way we'll ever know who her "birth" parents are is to do DNA! Until then the "adopted" mom is doing a fine job!

Clover Kid Pet Show And Super Farmer

Not only did Mollie enter 3 projects she got to show one of her kittens, "Zebra", in the Clover Kids Pet Show. Each child had to answer questions about their pet by speaking into a microphone (which I think is great). She did well, spoke clearly and loud enough (no shocker there!). She had been so excited to show everyone Zebra's special trick of laying on his back in her lap and not moving, however when the announcer asked if her pet had any special qualities she would like to tell about, she just said no! Later she realized she didn't show the audience. I guess the pressure was on and it made her forget! The kids also got to participate in a "super farmer" contest. Mollie could hardly pedal the tractor but was quite adept at the "pie" in the face. She loved the whipped cream and so did Zebra, he got to lick some off of her face!

Fair Day

As in keeping with the family tradition, Mollie was working on her fair project the day before! She entered the poster from her illustrated talk on how to raise baby chicks, her terrarium and a scrapbook on raising her 3 bottle calves. We rehearsed many times her presentation to the judge. I helped her carry her projects in and had to leave the room but was able to sneak a couple of pictures of her explaining her projects to the judge. I was busting with pride! When she was done the judge came out and said she did a very nice job and that she had some very nice looking chicks and calves. Later, Mollie told me that when she was telling him about the terrarium he told her he didn't need to know anymore about it! Do you think she was a bit chatty with the judge?!! Anyway I was very proud of my "clover kid". She may only get to enter posters or scrapbooks of her raising the animals but she did all the work with the animals to get to that point. Good job Mollie!

Ginger

We have a chicken that Mollie has named Ginger. Ginger doesn't know she's a chicken. She spends all day, everyday in the barn with the cats and only goes back to the chicken house at night (sometimes). She loves to eat cat food and is right there with the cats eating their food with them. She lets Mollie carry her all over the place and is quite content to go along for the ride.