A windy day

Daddy bought Ella a new kite. And it is so much fun.

Cute kite. So perfect for the little princess.

 Ella loves her sunflowers that she planted a couple months ago. They are coming to the end of their beauty stage, but she still likes to go pick out her favorite one, which is usually a different one every day. I think we will plant many more for years to come.

Running into the wind. So funny. Great hair.

Such a wonderfully windy day.

Love,

Kellie

The pink tutu

Aaron's store went through Grand Opening over the weekend... Congratulations Daddy!!  And the festivities were a big deal. I had prior obligations so Poppy, Grammy, and Aunt Haley took Ella out to have a little outdoor fun.

I am still in shock that it went very well. Of course, Ella is a risk-seeking litle girl, so I guess I should really not be at all surprised that she loved this first-time activity.

I am so thankful to Grammy for capturing this first for Ella.

I am pretty sure that this little diva is the only cowgirl wearing a pink tutu. This was her outfit of choice for the day. No arguments from Mommy. I love my frilly girl.

Also, they went for a little "Tractor Ply" shopping. Definitely a favorite activity for Ella. She is already a professional shopper.

Poppy and Ella just look so cute walking holding hands... aww... so much love... and so much play. I am sure they are discussing tractors (a.k.a. lawn mowers).

Supporting Tractor Ply,

Kellie

A girl and her kitten

Aaron and I have been discussing getting Ella a kitty. Well, to tell you the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, Aaron has been trying to convince me that she needs one.

Lucky for both of them, a friend of Ella's, Lauren, gave her one. I will admit, it is precious. Of course Aaron is excited too. Mommy is still trying to be convinced.... or 'purred to' in kitty language, that a small, hairy, mischevious feline belongs in a family with so many dogs, and not to mention all the other mouths I feed on a daily basis.

This was the purr-fect kitty for Ella because she told me she wanted a little kitty that turns into a big kitty, and you know, she showed me hand signals and everything, so she must have done the appropriate research. 

The name of this little one is still to be determined. However, Ella is calling her Katty. Cute name. It just may stick.

I must say, there is not a lot that will come between this girl and her kitten.

Until next time,

Kellie

The farm turns to frills

I have been having a serious need to create/make/work/do something productive, so I decided to join Etsy. I created this little shop and I hand-make all my own bows. Hair comes natural for this family, and Ella loves a good hair bow, so this sort of kills two birds with one stone.

www.etsy.com/shop/ellabastella

Oh, and about the work comment, not so much work, but more like do something. And, of course, I must have an activity I can share with the almost three-year-old in the house. However, she is a truthful critic.

Back to creating,
Kellie

Pickled Okra

Grandmama, Ella and I made pickled okra.

And I cannot wait to pop open a jar. 

Will Work For Food

So, this week, we added a new puppy to the premises. This is the fluffiest puppy I have ever seen. He sure is a wild one. You know, puppies sure can run and bite/chew and squeal and so on... just all the normal puppy stuff.

We knew for a couple days we would be bringing him home, so we talked about a name. After deliberation, and Aaron and I spouting out semi-normal names and Ella insisting we name him something that starts with an "L", for example; Lizzy, Lilly, Lucy etc., she names everything an "L" name, even the boys. We decided the only appropriate name for this boy would be, Willie the Giant, you know, from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. After all, he is 10 months old and already weighs 125 pounds.....

YES, your eyes do not deceive you, one hundred twenty-five pounds. It is hard for me to take in every time.

His size really resembles the miniture pony a few doors down.

And that is just a rough estimate. I hear he will be huge when full-grown. I think I will look up the word 'huge' in the dictionary, because I thought he was already HUGE.

This picture does this puppy's size no justice. I think I will have "Will Work For Food" put on the name plate on his collar. I wonder if this will convince the neighbors to feed him too. He sure does eat a lot.

By the way, Willie is a full-blooded Pyrenees, Great Pyrenees to be correct. He will handle our light-work and keep the goats safe and sound so we can sleep at night.

I could not convince Lizzy to get close enough to compare the two.

I am pretty sure she was giving me the silent treatment. She has not been thrilled with Willie the Giant intruding on her territory. I tried explaning that with Willie here, she can focus on her beauty sleep.

I felt like I was being looked at through the eyes of a teenager. I could almost hear her mumble, "Mom, come on. All that monster is good for is barking and eating."

I just love this face.

Blue Kot, Bandaids & Barns

We are all a little tired today. Last night was basically and all-nighter on the farm. Sometimes, not very often for us thankfully, things happen and you have no choice but to stay up and alert.

Yesterday we started on the new barn. It is going to be about 16' by 20' or so when complete. Just something small that we can control easily and keep all the animals in cozy at night. Also, we will have a loft in it for Ella to play in. This will keep her occupied when we have to be the ones chasing goats, doing the not-so-fun parts of dealing with animals.

Today, I wish we would have started the barn earlier, like about a week ago, because an unexpected visitor, or visitors, changed our lives at about 2:00 a.m.

Lizzy woke me up barking and I woke Aaron up quickly telling him to go check on her. She doesn't bark unless there is something to be telling mommy and daddy about. In this case, she was a good little alert doggie.

As Aaron was running out the back door, down to the goats, my farmer instinct kicked in. I grabbed my weapon of choice(which will remain untold) and took off outside too. Thankfully my baby girl is a professional sleeper, I did not hesitate to leave Chochy in charge as I was running to assist Aaron. After a considerable amount of fighting off dogs and searching for all 14 goats, we were only able to round up 12 of them. Aaron did find the other 2 but they went to goat heaven. Only 2 others had injuries and so far, we are able to say they will heal just fine.



We did have to use some at-home farm medication called Blu-Kot. This is powerful and staining to anything and everything in it's path. Needless to say, Aaron and I have blue hands and thanks to my trusty flip flops, my feet are blue too. I asked him what to do to get it off, his reply, "It has to wear off." Oh well.

I will leave you in peace knowing the goats will be making a short ride later this evening back to my parents' house to the other fenced in area where they will be protected by 10,000 volts.

All I have to say is, 'Take that you crazy dogs, I hope you are introduced to those 10,000 volts. I can only handle so many band-aids on this heart at one time'.