Buddy & Bambi George - or George Bambi

Bayleigh has decided to show goats for 4H this year. This is her first year to do so. Joey took her to a 4H goat clinic to learn the ins and outs of raising a goat. Then the folks at the clinic helped them choose a "show goat" aka Buddy. Well, Buddy needed a friend so they bought "Bambi George" or "George Bambi" from a neighbor of ours - who is also Mama Reid's cousin. Anywho...Bayleigh wants to name him Bambi (ok) and Jolie wants to name him George. I thought it would be nice to let Jolie have some sort of say since she isn't old enough to have a goat of her own, and BG/GB is not a show goat - but a playmate for Buddy.

(Pics are of Buddy - BG/GB hadn't arrived yet)

It appears that even Joey likes Buddy :)

Below is a video of Jolie making goat sounds to Buddy and Buddy replying. Then Jolie decides to bark like a dog. Our neighbor Jim says Jolie should teach Buddy not to talk with his mouth full. It's really silly, but I got a kick out of it!

5th Grader

Bayleigh is officially a 5th grader. Where does time go? She is absolutely loving Florence Elementary and her teacher Mrs. Gower. It's really nice to have her just blocks from my office so we can meet on foot after school.

The Greatest Show on Earth

Judy and I took the three little girls to the Ringling B&B Circus at the Erwin Center today. (Joey and Bayleigh were at a goat clinic...more to come on that soon)

So Judy and I have decided that while we enjoyed taking our kids to the circus, it really is a bit creepy when you think about it. I mean c'mon....those big elephants are not really meant to sit on a pedestal on their bottoms....and tigers don't look real natural hopping on around on their hind legs as if they were gigantic bunny rabbits. If you allow your brain to seriously digest the components of a circus, it's all a little odd. Having said that, we had a great time! lol (Oh, and by the way, if you haven't been to a circus lately then you are missing out on the "new" domestic animal acts...the little doggy show was just so darn cute).

As Jolie would say....."Yeeesssss!"

Let the countdown begin....two more days til school starts!!! Can I get a WOO HOO?!!! Yeeesssss! (Uh, yeah, I'm just a little bit excited). I'm more excited this year, than I've ever been about summer ending and school beginning. Maybe it has to do with the fact that I...me, myself and I...decided to do a silly little thing like START A NEWSPAPER. Don't get me wrong...I love, love, love it....but having such a new company during summer when the kids are home with me...not so cool. The kids were troopers though. They got up and listened to me holler from downstairs "Hurry up, get your DS and Barbies and let's go. The phone is ringing. We have to get to the office!" (Ok, so I bribed them a few times with Krispy Kreme donuts)

I think the kids decided to get mom back today...for a long summer of playing at the office. They were just INSANE today. Cannot explain it. Is there a full moon? My goodness. INSANE I say. Every time the phone would ring and I'd answer "Main Street N...." and before I got the "...ews" out, my kids were lashing at each other, hair flying, Barbies and mega key chain collection blasting across the room...and then the squeal....that Jolie squeal...followed by Bayleigh's "I DID NOT do ANYthing!" Yeah, uh huh, neither of them ever do. My perfect angels. Needless to say, today was the last straw. Mom is ready for school to start!

There's always good and bad news. Jolie has one more year until kindergarten. (That's the sound of me crying like a baby) BUT, my hubby is so supportive that he's allowing her to go (you like that...allowing) to preschool FULL TIME starting in September. Now you hear the angels singing "Hallelujah!"

Ok, I'm done. Time for a little TV watching (well, one of my Florence boys is on the news for breeding top of the line border collies....I gotta watch!) and then off to bed...with sweet dreams of school days.

Home from Port A

Pics from Port A are here.

While at the pool in Port A, Jolie makes a friend. She persuades this woman to play with her in the pool. Joey notices that his koozie says "Rattlesnake Inn." Where else would there be a Rattlesnake Inn but in Florence. Joey and Dad get to talking to the couple and sure enough, they are from Florence. To top it off, the guy went to school with my Uncle Larry. Wow...small world.

We got home from Port A around 5pm today. Bayleigh's dog, Tanner, stayed at Grandma's house with Drago, Bo & Roxy. Well, when we got back....no Tanner in sight. Come to find out, Tanner must have followed mom and dad's ranch hand out after he fed the dogs. He ended up at a neighbor's house (who had never seen Tanner), that neighbor thought he was a stray and didn't want him so she took him to another neighbor. That neighbor didn't want him, but thought he was cute so she took him to another neighbor. THAT neighbor thought he was too cute, sweet, and old to take to the pound so decided to keep him. Luckily, mom found him after calling all of her neighbors. Bayleigh will learn to KEEP his collar/tags on him! This photo of him was after we got him home tonight and gave him a bath.

It's back to work at the paper tomorrow - and then back to school for Bayleigh on Monday - woo hoo!