Does this goat look pregnant to you?

DOES THIS GOAT LOOK PREGNANT TO YOU?

If you answered yes, then you are right. This goat's name is Ester and she is indeed pregnant and due sometime this winter. (By my calculation, between February 13th and 23rd)

The trouble is she looks MORE pregnant than any other goat on our farm which makes me wonder.........Did she visit our buck, Jericho, when no only was looking? (highly unlikely)....or.......

Is she pregnant with multiples? (likely) You see, most goat breeds have twins but this breed (Nigerian Dwarf) can have more. And last year, the first year that Ester ever had kids, she gave birth to triplets. So.........would anyone care to guess how many she'll have this year?

"All by myself!"

Today, Sarah made up her bed all by herself ! Yea Sarah ! This is not easy, first, because she is only four and second, she still has a guard rail on the side of her bed.

When she first moved into a "big girl bed" we didn't have the guard rail. But hearing a loud thump in the middle of the night coming from the direction of the girl's room got me wondering. I quickly learned that this was Sarah falling off the side of her bed to the floor. So, now we have a guard rail. And since then there have not been any thumps in the middle of the night. During the day - yes - but not the middle of the night.

Halloween at DISNEY !!!

With the kids in 4 different schools, it can be hard to get the same days off. So when the vacation days line up, we go for it! We had a great long weekend at Disney and celebrated halloween too. The girls went to the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique in Cinderella's castle to get princess hair to match their costumes. This was a first and so much fun. (Although the magic "fairy dust" is still in Sarah's hair 3 days later.) And the boys won't stand by just any character now. So getting them to stand with Tigger is a plus. All in all, we had a truly magical time. We LOVE Disney.

Kevin - A.K.A. Chewbacca

CHEWBACA

(Kevin)

Kevin wore this costume to Disney at Halloween and it was SO MUCH FUN. We did some trick or treating at Downtown Disney and people were coming up to him all night wanting their picture taken with him. As strangers passed by they would smile and yell, "CHEWIE!" . I snapped this picture on the bus going back to our hotel. Even though it was warm on the bus Kevin kept the mask on and interacted with two little girls and their mom all the way. I couldn't stop laughing and smiling. I also know that a year ago Kevin would not have been able to pull this off. Not because he didn't have the personality but because he did not have the height.

A short Chewbaca just would not have been the same.

A Name for the Pig.

Naming a pig is harder than we thought.
Ranae has liked many names and tried them all out. So, the past few weeks we have called her Olivia, Lily, Stinker Bell, Porkahontas, and Miss Piggy. But none of those names seemed right.

Then......
Her brother Alex suggested she name her H1N1.

But I was quick to point out that it might be hard for someone to buy a pig named H1N1. And since Ranae is raising this pig as a 4-H project with the ulitmate goal being to sell her pig for a profit at the county fair..... she decided on something else.

So Ranae's beautiful, healthy pig is named....................."Piggy Sue".
A great name for a great pig.

Our small farm life.

When I think back on all the changes, improvements and additions we've put into our small farm life it becomes amazing to me.

It has been so much fun building this life together.

This is indeed a wonderful home and farm.

A great place for my children to grow. An oasis that warms my heart.

A small, peaceful, kingdom.

Thanks, honey. For this, and more.

The pig came home yesterday.

Ranae's 4-H Fair pig came home to our farm yesterday. She is cute and pink and making herself at home in her very own pig pen. Ranae is thrilled and thinking about what her name should be.
Stay tuned......