Life of the Farm Kid....

When farm kids show livestock....often the reality is that they will have to learn to say goodbye. Regan showed "Phantom" at the fair this past weekend and "Phantom" did very well. He was the 3rd best goat in the show of more than 100 goats.

"Phantom" made it into the sale...which meant that "Phantom" would not be

going home with Regan.

"Phantom" was a special goat since he was out of her herd of goats. Often, show animals are bought and brought to the farm.

"Phantom" was sold for over $600.00.

So goes the life of a farm child.

Goodbye Phantom....we love you and will miss you!!

You Won't Believe What This Kid Did!!!

This is Sydni. Sydni is a middle child. Need I say more?

Sydni scared the bejeebies out of me....I thought she was getting sick or something.
I felt her forehead.

I took her temperature.

I checked for her tale-tale birthmark on her leg that looks like

a little pork chop.

(I did notice the nasty shirt that she just fed livestock in during a rain storm)

(I also noticed that she either has an oven mit on wrong or she REALLY

doesn't know how to use it)

I pinched myself to see if I was dreaming.

It was REALLY Sydni and I WASN'T dreaming!

SYDNI COOKED DINNER!

I made sure I documented this experience because I'm sure there will have to

be flying pigs or something before it happens again.

It was good and I didn't have to help!!

THANKS SYDNI!!

There is one thing I can't figure out though....when I cook, I clean the kitchen.

When kids cook, I clean the kitchen....is there something wrong

with this picture?

(On a side note: Carly cooked the next night, but unfortunately I was not able to

document it because I was grocery shopping and there was only a lone

pork chop left)

Thanks girls....I appreciate it like you will NEVER know!!!

Getting Started with "Pooky" Decor

We use the word "pooky" because when Sydni was little, she would often tell people that we lived in a "pooky" house....she had trouble getting the "S" onto spooky.

OK, I like Halloween....and that shouldn't be a surprise to you since I like to scare the bejeebies out of my children...or friends' children...or husband...or dog...or anything that I think will jump. I'm sick, I know.

So, when you see my latest Halloween decor, it shouldn't surprise you.

I took regular cheap frames that I've had FOREVER...(do you say just like the kid in The Sandlot?)....FORRRRREVER!

I spray painted them WHITE.

Laid a piece of lace over them and

spray painted BLACK.

I think one of the frames has the colors reversed.

I used some scrapbook paper to make the mat.

I googled and stole....er, uh...borrowed the images.

I will hang them w/ my Halloween decorations...if I ever

get up to the "pooky" attic and get the decorations.

OK, just to let you know....the scaring bit is like a legacy in our family.

My grandfather got the biggest kick out of scaring us...

I was once so scared by him that all I could do was make a

primal sound....couldn't even cry or scream.

My Papa lives on.....because I now catch my children scaring each other

or some that shall remain NAMELESS...cough, sydni cough....

get a thrill out of tormenting the little Cooper boy she

babysits!!! Yes, this is the same daughter that SWORE she would

NEVER NEVER NEVER scare her kids.....tsk, tsk.

Are you sick like me or do you just do the fall decorations?

Homemade State Fair Corn Dogs with PICTURES

I've never attempted homemade corn dogs.

I just saw a neat recipe on ALLRECIPES.COM that sure sounded easy.

I like finding recipes that have at least 4 1/2 stars w/ tons of reviews.

Always make sure you read the reviews, because sometimes people will give a recipe a 5 star rating but change 10 things to the recipe.

Click the link above to see the recipe.

I bought the only skewers I could find...which of course would have made great foot long corn dogs. I just used the wire cutters and snipped off the ends.

I couldn't make foot longs because my pan wouldn't hold them....and it was a large pan.

In the reviews, I lucked out and a reviewer was an old Carny....who made corn dogs.

He said to make sure you have the batter extra cold.

So, while I was skewing the dogs....I put the batter in the freezer.

Mr. Carney also said to DRY OFF THE DOGS...so, there I was patting the little pups

with a paper towel.

Another reviewer said to use a tall container...well, it just so happened that

I stopped and got a malt on the way home and had this Styrofoam cup...just

waiting to be recycled.

The batter all fit in the cup....UNTIL I put it in the freezer....

THEN IT GREW AND GREW AND GREW....

So, don't put ALL THE BATTER in a cup....you'll be cleaning up a mess.
I wasted a lot of batter because it was too thick....I think from the freezing...

So, make sure you add more milk if needed to make

it more along the lines of somewhat runny pancake batter.

Because if you don't....you will have really weird PUFFY corn dogs.

I finally got the hang of it..and they started looking more like what you get at the fair.

The recipe was awesome and I will be making them again....

I should just make them up and keep them under a heat lamp while we are at the

fairs this fall.....

The Fairies are Ready for Fall!

Well, the fairies were busy last night.....

They beat me getting ready for fall....

Pumpkin lights and a BLACK wreath!

A basket of pumpkins.....

Oh look, they even have gold glitter added to the black wreath....how creepy.

What a bright "fallish" doormat!

Yep, they beat me to it....I still haven't got out my fall decorations.

I guess the fairies are trying to tell me to get busy, huh?

The Goat Whisperer...er, uh, Chaser......

When it is time to show goats, you can't just grab them out of the pen and hope they look good enough for a blue ribbon. It takes work. We started out walking the goats. Then we found that running them builds better muscle. I'm not talking about running them to death. It is more like a sprint.

We would walk the goats to the end of the lane and then REGAN would

with all of her might...and giant rubber boots chase the goats back to their pen.

We had a dog that could do the same thing...but he met his fate when he chased a car one too many times. So, it was back to Regan....

Until......
Daisy came along on a goat exorcising...er, uh, exercising adventure.
Now we walk them to the end of the driveway instead of the fenced in lane.
One particular day Daisy decided to join us....I noticed she was acting strangely.....


She was REALLY SMACKING HER LIPS....I tried to ignore it.
When we let the goats go.....and Regan began to run...something strange happened....

Little bitty Daisy started chasing the goats and barking!

Now, remember, we ARE a farm family and what is a farm without 1.2 million dogs? The big dog is Rascal, remember him? He is the REAL pillow thief.

He is the reason I can't have a magazine perfect porch complete w/ pillows.

See the little cotton ball that is running up there to the right?

That is Sydni's froo froo poodle....JOJO.

He is a wimp.

See! He is running like a mad dog from that terror goat....

Look at them go!!!!

Now, let's take a closer look, shall we?

Daisy is so busy chasing one of the goats that she doesn't even realize she is about to be trampled by Little Bo Peep.

Isn't that an amazing picture? Sorry for the poor quality....it is very hard to shoot

these pictures when they are running all over the place and then...see that hand? That is David....he just decides to mosey on right in front of the camera.

Don't these people know I am a true amateur here?

Now this picture is a little deceitful.

JOJO actually looks as if he is becoming a goat chaser....

when in actuality, he is running FROM a goat and just happens to be running

in the direction of another goat....he totally freaking at this point

and would probably bet that his life was about to come to an abrupt end.

But look at the goat whisperer go.....

She manages to chase them back to their pen.

Yep, and the pillow thief is not doing a darn thing.......

He figures that if he raises his ears, that maybe we will think HE is the goat whisperer.....FAT CHANCE!

See, his feet are barely moving.....neither is his tail...he is trying to be tricky.

When I see him, I always have that bumblebee song in my head...

"I'mmmmm bringing home a baby bumblebee...won't my mama be so proud of me?"

Oh look, Regan and David completely forget that I am busy taking pictures....

Ladies and gentlemen...meet the newest goat whisperer....er, uh....chaser.

She can bound across rocky driveways....leap the tallest goat....

she is DAISY DOODLE!!

This first time she chased the goats, she got into trouble because David thought she was going to chase them through that barbed fence.

The next night....he sweetly says...."Honey, want to come exercise the goats with us?" then he quickly throws in, "If you do, bring Daisy."

Sheesh....I thought I was the one doing such a great job leading the goat down the driveway...and it was really the fact that Daisy wouldn't come if I didn't come....

We are a package deal!!!

See her laughing?

A Lesson on a Navigation Channel Lock & Dam

Here is the gang who went up the river on a pontoon boat for Regan's 14th birthday.

Don't forget that I am in that gang...I'm just behind the camera.

Last year, we went downstream.

This year is upstream.

I want to thank my mom and dad for providing the boat for this excursion.

Oh, and I might mention here that we did run out of gas....

just as we pulled back into the cove to unload.

God is AWESOME!!

It was a very beautiful day....we experienced rain and winds...but, it was still a wonderful trip.

Last year we went through Lock and Dam #17.

We are on the McClellan Kerr Arkansas River Navigation channel.

Notice where the lady is...because at the end of this post, you will be
looking at pictures of the lock from that perspective.

While we are in the lock...the north end is leaking and is a little unnerving.

There is a HUGE wall of water on the other side of that gate....

notice the water line....

There is grass growing in the gates....Hellllloooooo.

This is the SOUTH gate (looking behind us)...we are now in the lock.

Regan is holding the wall because as they pump water into the lock, it bounces the boat around which makes it hit the wall. We have to tie up to a rig that inside the wall and raises and lowers with the water.

The gates are closing behind us...notice the watermark on the gate.

The gate is closed and to give you a perspective of the size...that is the engineer driving in a golf cart ON TOP OF THE GATE to inspect it before they start pumping the water.

We start seeing the whirlpools forming....which means the water is being pumped into the lock.

The whole process takes at least 30 minutes.

I often wonder if they roll their eyes when little boats come through this....

it seems like so much work for one little boat.

They are very friendly and will stand on the wall and talk to you as you wait for the water to rise.

They told us of a sailboat that came through and was headed all the way to the gulf!

They had NO ENGINE...just the wind and paddles.

They said they must have made it because they didn't have to send out the coast guard.

The water level is now full and the gates on the north end start to open.

As we exit, we get to see the U. S. Army Corp of Engineers HUGE

barge that will be doing some repairs to the lock and dam.

Say hello to Mr. Pat....to get perspective on the size of this barge...the tug on the left is

a normal tug for this river.

Now you are looking from the visitor's center...because they've pumped out almost all of the water to do some repairs. It has been 17 years since they last did any repairs of this magnitude.

The engineer told us that since this system was built back in the 50's, they've only done this TWICE.

I am sooooo glad I found this bit of information out AFTER we had traveled through the lock or I doubt I would have gone through it....lol.

You are looking at a lot of sludge and rocks on the bottom.

This is the SOUTH gate....

This is the NORTH gate...remember where the leak was?

They also have put up a temporary dam.

We were told that there was about 7 ft. of mud that they've been removing.

See Mister Pat back there behind the gate?

See that hole? That hole is big enough for a person to stand up and walk through.

That is where the water is pumped into and out of the lock.

There are several of them all down both sides of the lock.

Those holes are what creates the whirlpools when filling up the lock.
They have working on Lock 17 and Lock 18 for about 2 weeks.

All travel has been suspended until the repairs can be made.

One lock said they are on schedule to open on Sunday, but this one said...NO WAY.

It was only supposed to be for 2 weeks.