Wordless Wednesday: Puppy Love

My parents got a new puppy last week, she's a 10 week old Pyrador - a cross between a Great Pyrenees and a Labrador, and she is ADORABLE!  The girls have fallen in love of course!

Wordless Wednesday: Look What I Caught!

Monkey came into the kitchen the other night while I was making supper, she was very excited about what she caught in her butterfly net and wanted me to see it....

Leroy may chew up EVERYTHING, but I think he must have a heart of gold to let her do this kind of stuff to him! 

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Just a Dog

Along with the awesome Warrior Dash this past weekend, we had some heartache as well.  Poor Leroy and Lucy were both hit by a car.  Leroy is pretty sore and badly bruised, but he's doing okay.  Lucy on the other hand, didn't make it.  Three dogs in a year's time.  Our batting average here, isn't looking so great.   

Destruction

I'm an animal lover.  I'm one of those people that sees a puppy out in the middle of the country and think that maybe some jerkface dropped it off out in the middle of nowhere to fend for itself.  And I want to pick it up and take it home with me.  I'm the type of person that will bottle feed a baby raccoon and nurse it back to health after falling out of a tree.  Yes, I'm an animal lover.  BUT, I'm not a lover of puppy teeth. 

These two adorable pups that we have now are truely testing me.  This the third pair of my boots they have gotten a hold of!  Not to mention they've ruined a pair of Monkey's shoes as well.  Seriously, this has got to stop.  Any suggestions on how to get puppies to quit chewing on things they aren't supposed to chew on?  They have all sorts of chew toys, but those are all still perfectly in tact!

Wordless Wednesday: Happiness

In case you were wondering, we named the puppies Leroy and Lucy.  Here is Monkey lapping up all the puppy love that she can.

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Introducing...

As I said last week, we couldn't go long without some puppy love in our house.  So we broke down and got not just one, but TWO puppies.  They aren't the little tiny furball pups like Hank and Dewey were when we first gome them, they are a bit older, but still all puppy no doubt.  Since they came from a local shelter, we don't know their exact birthdate, but they are estimating them at 16 weeks. 

I have a friend who is a name freak and while we have already picked out names for these two (one male, one female), I thought it would be fun to see what YOU would have named them.  So tell me, would you have gone with the two most popular dog names Max and Bella?  Or would you have chosen something a little more whimisical, like Hansel and Gretel? 

I'm not hung up on names all that much, but I will say the boy name we picked out isn't on the most popular list, but the girls is.  I kind of wish I would've looked at the list now before picking names.  It's not like we hang out at the dog park or anything, but I don't want my dog to have the same name as a bunch of other pups on the playground either.  When I call her name, I want HER to come running not six or seven other people's pets!  Oh well, we are happy with our picks... now tell me, what would you have chosen? 

All Dogs Go To Heaven

Well it just hasn't been our year for dogs.  Tuesday night our beloved Hank was hit by a car.  That comes right on the heels of losing Dewey.  Almost exactly a year to the day actually. 

It's not easy explaining to a 2 year old that her best friend isn't coming back.  How exactly do you tell her that she can't kiss her buddy goodnight anymore?  Or that there won't be any more snuggles with him?  We debated on how to go about it and finally decided that we would just tell her the truth.  (Ironic that I mulled this exact thing over just a few weeks ago.) 

Yesterday, Monkey asked for Hank and I sat her down and told her that he was playing in the road and was hit by a car.  Her little lip started trembling and eyes filled with tears.  I didn't know if that was because she actually understood what I was saying, or if she could just tell I was being serious about something.  It's times like that when I wish I could crawl inside that head of hers.  I continued and told her that Hank wasn't going to be coming back, he went to doggie Heaven with Dewey.  BUT, Daddy was going to be bringing home two new puppies that she could play with. 

Yep, that's right.  We are suckers for puppies.  JC went to the local animal shelter and found two black labs that were in need of a home, so we snatched them up.  Obviously, we can't replace Hank, but maybe having some new puppy love in our house with help. 

It's hard to believe that we didn't even have Hank for a year yet, but he certainly found a spot in our hearts.  He went from a fluffy little fur ball to a large lean dog that loved to cuddle.   

 This fella will certainly be missed. 

Wordless Wednesday: Barebackin

Monkey loves horses.  She finally had her first chance at riding bareback over the weekend, and she was not disappointed!

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One Little, Two Little, Three Little Life Lessons

Our dog Hank found himself a few fun toys to play with the other night.  He dug up a rabbit's nest.  We were able to save three of the babies from his overly joyful grips. 

We didn't really have a plan for the rabbits, just thought they would be cute to show to Monkey and didn't want Hank to unnecessarily torture them all.  Once we brought them insde though, Monkey was in love.

So then we were faced with the dilemma of what to do.  We could try to put them back in the nest, but we didn't know if the momma was still around and if she was, would she take them back after we had handled them?  Hank knows where the nest is now, so odds are good he'd just get them again.  Two of the babies were not so carefully played with by Hank, they could have internal injuries.  Would they even survive?  Do we try to raise them ourselves?  The thought of bottle feeding baby rabbits every 3 hours isn't something I relish.  I'd honestly rather have another baby if I'm going to be up during the night anyway.  

I then started thinking, what would be easier: the rabbits disappearing now and Monkey never seeing them again?  Or trying to raise them, getting attached and having them die later?  Disappearing now seems like the much easier solution.  

But, isn't that one of the great parts of growing up a farm kid?  I cherish the memories I have of bottle feeding calves, raccoons, goats, and whatever other random animals we raised throughout the years.  I want Monkey to have those experiences too. 

Yes, there was sometimes pain.  Animals died.  Some we coudn't nurse back to health, others disappeared, and some ended up on our dinner table.  We were sad, but at the same time, it taught us about life and death and we learned from these experiences.  

It seems that there is a disconnection from death in our present society.  People don't want to talk about it.  If the family's goldfish dies, the parents would rather flush it and get a new one with the child never knowing, than to deal with the possible tears.

While I don't ever want to cause Monkey pain or see tears run down her face from having her little heart break, I do want her to value the life cycle.  I want her to know where the food on her plate came from and how important it is to nurture the livestock that ends up there.  I want her to know that no matter what happens on the farm or in life, life continues.  

That was a lot of thinking inspired by three tiny creatures, but it got my wheels spinning.  And I think we might just keep the rabbits.        

Thursday Thirteen

1.  It's volleyball night.  We are back to playing indoors again and while I miss the sand, with the weather being as chilly as it has been at night, I'm glad we are inside.

2.  I won a blog giveaway, and it's so cool!  The last time I won something was probably back in 6th grade when I won the "Sponsor Wheel" on the local AM station.  I was one stoked kid.  Thanks to Hollie at Blog-o-"Holl"ic and Jill at Lime Tree Gifts for the sweet keychain.  I can't wait to get it!

3.  We have a reception on Saturday for some friends that got married in the Bahamas the same weekend as my sister-in-law's wedding.  They are so cool they even made it on Good Morning America! 

4. Pretty excited to eat leftovers from last night.  Does anyone else get excited for leftovers?  I'm having brat burgers and grilled mac n cheese.  YUM!

5. A friend joined the local roller derby team, the McLean County MissFits, and I'll admit it... I'm jeolous.  I don't have time for both volleyball and roller derby, but I really wish I could do both.  I will have to make it to watch her kick some tail at least once or twice. 

6. Monkey had her 18 month checkup on Monday, even though she won't actually be 18 months until the end of the month.  Anyway, she's in the 95th percantile for height.  Which means she's taller than 95% of the kids her age.  I was not surprised when the doc told me this, it's hard to find pants that are long enough for her!  Poor thing is destined to be like me.  She'll never be able to dry her jeans... ever.

7. I've been reading the Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins and only have 40 pages left in the final installement.  Good books, would definately recommend.  Any suggestions on what I should read next?

8. After the incident of JC busting out the bedroom window we decided it was finally time to replace all the windows and doors in the house.  We've had one estimate so far... yikes!  Who would've thought windows could be so pricey?

9.  Last Friday, I went over to my parents to visit after work.  I ended up chasing a herd of cattle through a few fields before getting them back into the pasture RIGHT at dark.  It was a workout, but it kind of made me miss living at home and doing that sort of stuff on a regular basis.

10. We have Dish Network and we love FX shows: Rescue Me, Sons of Anarchy, Justified, etc.  Apparently Dish Network and FX are having a lovers quarrel because when we tuned in Tuesday night to watch SOA, we no longer get FX!  I was quite disturbed, still am actually.  They need to resolve their spat ASAP.

11. I dreamed last night that we won the lottery.  Wishful thinking or a glimpse into the future?  Oh please, tell me I have fortune telling capabilities!  

12. Monkey and Hank have been getting along so great.  For a puppy, he's very gentle with her and she adores him.  One of their favorite games is playing fetch.

13.  Oh, and have I mentioned how much that kid makes me smile?  Like, really smile.  I think I'm going to keep her.

Hanky Doodle Dandy

What did you do on the 4th of July?  Did you go to a cookout, maybe hang out in a pool or on a lake?  Or maybe stay home and watch the fireworks with your family? 

Know what we did?  We went and got a new puppy! 

It's taken us a while to make a decision on if we should get a new dog, and if we did, what kind to get.  We knew we couldn't try to replace Dewey, but we also want Monkey to grow up with a dog since we both grew up with them.  They definately are a man's child's best friend. 

We finally settled on getting a German Shephard and I think we've made a good choice.  Hank is fitting in so well already!  He follows Monkey around everywhere and the first thing she does every morning is go searching for him, and once she finds him she lights up with a smile and points.  I think they may have taken a liking to each other.

Hank met his cousin Rosie too, she seems to like him as well.  It's hard to tell though, what do you think? 

The Pink Ladies

Remember these shoes that I just had to buy for Monkey?  Her aunt Bonnie loved them so much she had to get something similar for Rosie... so now she has a matching collar!

Ride 'Em

It was my niece's birthday over the weekend and Monkey made up for some lost puppy time at her party.  She was so happy to see Rosalita, who is just her size.

Ever since she's figured out how to rock her cow, she's tried it out on other things as well... namely my parent's dog, Hailey! 

Hailey was a very good sport about it all.

I wasn't able to get any pictures of the birthday girl; she was having too much fun running around with her friends to worry about posing for the camera.  Happy 4th birthday, Peanut! 

Here's to Super Dewey

I'm sad.  

Our family of 5 has dwindled down to a measly three within one month.

I've mentioned before how our super awesome pup, Dewey, has a ferocious protective side to him, and this time was no different.  Let me back up....

The day of Monkey's birthday party we noticed that Jinx (the cat) had disappeared.  She's not real friendly when there are a lot of people around so we thought she might just be hiding outside somewhere.  She likes to go outside at night, but always comes back in the house in the morning.  After not seeing her for a few days we accepted that she probably wasn't coming back. 

After one night last week, we had a good idea of what probably happened to her.  I woke up around 2 in the morning to Dewey barking like mad.  I got out of bed, walked to the back door to let him in the house and there I saw it.  He was not 10 feet from the back door, fighting with a coyote!  I went to the bedroom, grabbed a gun and woke up JC.  By the time I made it back to the door the coyote had been scared away.  Dewey held his ground in that fight and was just doing his best to protect his family, probably getting in a little ass kicking for taking his pal Jinx away from him as well. 

This isn't the first time Dewey has taken on a coyote.  A few years ago JC caught him fighting with one in the yard and he went out to break it up.  He's been lucky enough to stand his ground and if not come out on top, at least walk away without too many battle wounds.  Unfortunately, this weekend wasn't that way.

Saturday morning I found the poor fella in the yard.  He'd lost a fight with a coyote.  I'm sure the little guy put up a helluva fight, but he was overpowered.  I wish I would've heard him and woken up so I could've helped, but I slept through the entire thing.  The worst part of it all is Monkey just learned to say Dooo-E and kept saying it over and over again that day.  It's incredibly cute and heartbreakingly sad at the same time. 

I think we will deal with our sadness in a productive way.  Who's up for some hunting?

#1 Farmhand

My Dad's dog, Hailey, loves to help out around the farm. She's always ready to jump in the truck and go feed the cows, or nip at their heels when we are trying to round them up.

But her favorite thing to do on the farm?

It's riding the four-wheeler.  Even when there doesn't seem to be ample room for her, she makes room.

Just look at that smile.  Is that not the happiest dog you've ever seen?  And when was the last time you've seen three different species on one four-wheeler??

She's a very patient girl as well. 

Just look at that sweet face. Don't keep that dog waiting Dad, get out there and take her for a ride!

Raccoons and Heirlooms

This isn't just any old crib.  It's a very special and very old crib. 

My dad slept in this as a baby as well as my brother and sisters.  My Grandmother has passed it throughout our family so many of my cousins have slept in it as well.  Now Monkey has it.  It's not her every day crib that she uses, but she has slept in it just to carry on the tradition.

Look! The little girl on it is holding a raccoon! I love that little raccoon. Have I mentioned that as kids we had pets raccoons?  I have a certain affinity for them.  Cute little buggers.

What items has your family passed on through the generations?  Tell me about them or better yet, send me a picture of it.  I'll feature all of them in a post at the first of the year.  Come on... play along!

** I forgot to say where to send the picture, oopsie!  Send away to armsfarmsandfam@gmail.com.  Look forward to seeing what you all have!

Thursday Thirteen: Thanks

As today is Thursday, Thanksgiving is right around the corner and I am feeling a mental drain, unable to write anything really worthwhile, I thought I would list thirteen things that I am thankful for.

1. My little Monkey. She’s the best baby in the world and I’d do anything for that sweet little face.

2. My husband. I may complain about him on occasion, like when he ruins a perfectly good toaster. But I love him and am thankful he’s in my life.

3. My family. No words can express how much they mean to me, period.
This picture was taken at my baby sister’s wedding…. Please excuse the bowling ball underneath that dress, I was 8 months pregnant.

4. My friends. I’ve got some of the greatest friends in the world. We’ve seen some really hard times having to say goodbye to a handful of us, but we’ve made it through, coming out closer, stronger and tighter knit as a group, on the other side.

5. My freedom and the Bill of Rights.

6. Good food and the ability to enjoy it.

7. My dog. He makes me smile, simple as that.

8. Sunshine and blue skies. We’ve had some pretty drab, rainy days here recently, but it’s been looking good with clear skies! I love sunshine.

9. My in-laws. You hear a LOT of horror stories about the crazy Mother-in-Law and such. I’m sooo happy that I don’t have to deal with that. My in-laws are awesome and no I won't trade with you.

10. Clean air and breathing easy.

11. My husband’s job. We are in open enrollment for insurance right now and it just reminds me how lucky we are that his employer pays for 100% of our health insurance. That is something almost unheard of these days and I sometimes take it for granted. They also provide us with a chance to travel and visit new places. So far they’ve paid for us to go to Denver and Portland for a company party. Very cool.

12. My good health and the ability to run. I may not always like running, but I am able to do it!

13. Good literature. I love to read and appreciate a quiet moment to curl up with a great book.

Of Mice and Men

I’m in need of a new toaster. Why you ask? Because my husband JC thinks that I’m not always right.

I am always right. Unless I’m wrong, then I’m not right. But in those cases I just keep my mouth shut. I like being right.

This is the story of the dead toaster and why my sweet JC is wrong…..

We were sitting in the living room watching T.V. or talking, or playing with Monkey or something. We were doing something, okay? I don’t remember the specifics. Get off my back.

I do remember hearing our cat Jinx (the story behind her name is a whole nother blog post, I’ll get to it someday) in the kitchen making some odd noises. I look in there and she is up on the counter with her nose in the toaster, pawing away at it like crazy. I say to JC, “What is she doing? Oh, please tell me there’s not a mouse in the toaster!”

Jinx likes mice. She likes them a lot. And she’s great at catching them. And leaving the remains in the shower for me to step on in the morning if my eyes aren’t all the way open yet.

So we go into the kitchen to check out what all the commotion is…. And yes, there was a mouse in the toaster! We could just see his little butt and tail sticking out from the side at the bottom of it. I commence to tell JC that he needs to get that mouse out of MY toaster this very second.

Let me clarify, I’m not afraid of mice. Growing up in the country we had them all the time, they are actually kind of cute, but I certainly don’t want them anywhere around my food!

We try shaking the mouse out, no luck. Pulling the crumb catch out, no luck. The little booger was hiding in there and was not about to come out while Jinx had her eye on him.

JC gets the bright idea to TURN THE TOASTER ON. I tell him to not do that. I can live with a mouse being in the toaster, but I most definitely can not handle having a burnt up mouse in there! He proceeds to turn it on saying it will coax the mouse out.

After a few seconds of this coaxing and no mouse, I shut it off. He turns it back on and puts a cast iron skillet on top to keep the heat in, to once again, coax out the mouse. No luck. After a few seconds of this, I tell him it’s not working and to just stop because the mouse is going to burn up and I can’t have that. I like this toaster and don’t want it ruined.

This toaster isn’t anything special, but it was a wedding gift and I LIKE it. It’s big enough for bagels and toasts bread at just the right brownness without burning. You know like this:

Not this:

But most importantly, I don’t want to have to buy a new one.

Before I can reach over and shut it off, I see smoke coming up out of it, and think to myself, “This isn’t good. This is EXACTLY what I don’t want and exactly why he should listen to me in the first place!” But out loud I say, “Honey, it’s smoking. The mouse is burning up and it’s smoking. I’m not happy.”

He pulls off the skillet and gets a nice big whiff of what was cooking. It wasn’t good.

So sorry I don’t have pictures of the toaster or of the poor little mouse, but I didn’t want PETA getting on my back. We already don’t see eye to eye. Maybe when I buy a pretty new toaster I’ll show you a picture of it.

Moral of the story: Listen to your wife, especially when she’s always right!

The Other Man in my Life

I love dogs. We have one now, he’s a three year old Jack Russell Terrier that answers to the name Dewey. He’s a sweet little pup that loves to cuddle.



He has a syndrome though. A syndrome known as “Big Dog Stuck In A Little Dog’s Body”. He may be small but he’s ferocious! And he likes to protect his Momma from any and all predators.

Such as this thing that attacked me one day not long ago, while I was in the basement barefoot and pregnant.



I was minding my own business when this bat, I’ll call him Baxter, dares to swoop down right over my head! Our cat happened to be in the basement with me and pounced on the flying object. Baxter was able to get away and I very quickly grabbed the nearest trash can and trapped him underneath it. While I was debating on how to get rid of the pesky thing (Should I grab a pistol and shoot it? Stomp on it with my foot? Just leave it 'til the hubby got home?), Dewey must’ve heard the commotion and came down to see what was going on. He knocks the trash can over and gives that bat a what-for, saving me from having to make the decision on what to do. My hero!

And then a few weeks ago, once again minding my own business in the yard, when this monster makes an appearance.



Dewey got a whiff of it and came running. Or maybe I actually screamed and hollered for him to come save me. Whatever the case may be, he was there once again to protect me!







He not only looks out for me, but for my family as well. This creature was hiding outside of my parents’ house behind their front steps over the 4th of July weekend.



He took care of that waskly weasel as well.



So here’s to the other man in my life…. Dewey. You may be little, but you kick some critter ass and I love you for it.