Wacky Wednesday

Yes, today is a wacky wednesday. I had all of the energy in the world yesterday, then in came the freeze. I think it may be about 10 degrees here, and it is supposed to stay cold like this for about a week. DH needs to work tonight, so after the kids all left for school he went back to bed. Myself, I really wanted to stay up and work on the house, after all I did get a good night's sleep last night. I ended up going back and laying down with him for about 2 hours. It was a wonderful feeling being all warm and cozy in that bed!

I am still working on the kitchen, but I got a lot done in there yesterday. I ended up cleaning the oven up after all of the baking I did for the holidays. It ended up being almost an hour of scrubbing, the worse of it at least on the bottom of the oven. I hate doing my oven because of the heating element that just lays on the bottom of the stove. But at least it is done and over with now!

K-bug's basketball coach, which is the one in charge over all of the girls, have chosen teams and emailed them out to the coaches and assistant coaches. Apparently since we got an emailed list, DH will be holding the assistant coach position for her team. This is exciting news since this will be her first team event that is through the school. From what I understand she is pretty good with the ball. Dh and I were helping her learn how to "box out" with the use of her tush. Oh I really wish I had photos of that. She really had to learn how to push that tush out and give her her space so that she can get that ball around the person "boxing" her. She also got a basket ball hoop for christmas and with the electronic games all being on hold for all of the kids, S-man has been really taking his toll on her basketball hoop, as well as any door that it resides on. Anyways, she does not know she was chosen to go forward with the basketball team yet, and I am almost positive that she is going to be very excited when she finds out.

We've been working with our stallion- actually a lab who is the size of a horse, to be able to start bringing him into the house to stay. He is a loveable dog who just adores the kids to death, though you need to watch where he is and what he is doing because I really believe that tail of his should be registered as a lethal weapon. We brought him in to have some time upstairs with us as part of his training. DH would love to get him trained for use as a cadaver dog. In the southern part of the county I don't believe we have one, and his dog I think would be a wonderful cadaver. First the training just to have him up with the family, as a protector of the house! We are seeing wonderful things from him though. He's a big baby and when he is allowed out in the house the first thing he goes for is the couch, though he is learning quickly he is not allowed on there. J-dog, the ankle biter thinks she is queen of the house and seems to like to nip at stallion to let him know that she is still the queen and won't be de-crowned. She's learning that it is unacceptable to do this, as it lands her out in a cage in the garage.

It is still snowing, adding to the good amount of snow we have on the ground. Our driveway is actually on a hill, so whenever we need to get up into the driveway it's always fun, even with 4 wheel drive. Even more fun - going out and having snow fall into your boots while feeding the animals. The rabbit's water freezes and then we have to bring the bottles in to thaw them. I am seriously thinking about getting metal water bowls just for freezing days so we can bang the ice out and get the water to them faster. We actually have a load of rabbits. We have Cinny, our senior buck, will be 2 years around July this year. He is a holland torte. He is the most fabulous rabbit we have had to date. He loves rubbings, loves to give kisses. He also likes to be held and his favorite past time is to come in the house and rock in the chair with me, where generally we fall alseep with his head cuddled up right next to my neck. He is a very cuddly rabbit. We also have hound dog, also a male buck, who has fathered the only two litters we have created. He is white and black, a holland broken (black or white? either color, but i think its broken black.).He has the most wonderful fur, very long and thick. His litters have a really nice disposition just as he has. Two of his daughters were shown at the fair as Jr.s and took first and second place in the fair. They actually had 4 kits born in the litter, though 1 passed during birth on March 23, 2008- actually real easter bunnies! The 3 survivors all looked like their momma rabbit- holland otters. They are sweethearts too, though with them being does, they have an attitude though not like momma had. Momma actually went to live back at the farm she was born in and they are planning to mix her wonderful lineage back into the group of rabbits they have there. We also have a Holland frost doe, "Frosty". We have been working on having litters with her, but since we have had her in August 2007 she has been bred many of times with no litters to date. She is an older rabbit and basically is a hutch buddy for hound dog. We took 2 rabbits in from a family who could not care for them anymore. I have not worked with them enough to name them, but one has had Cinny's only litter. I am hoping to breed the two of them together also for a chance at another beautiful litter of kits. We call her Momma B- a name from the family we got her from. We also have another rabbit that came from the second litter born the 30th of June. I call her Sweetie, as she looks like dad and same dispostion as dad(hound dog). she is a pistol though, as she loves to chew on wood. She has actually chewed her way through the back of a cage and was running rampid under the barn, with stallion actually barking at her and trying to tell us that she was out. Dh and I had to go out and chase her to a point that I could grab her. She has REALLY long hair, and also a Holland broken (white with black spots).

I actually like having the rabbits here. When possible, the kids actually care for them as they are 4H projects for the kids. During school and really cold days Dh and I care for them. It is actually a womderful task, and it seems like they are actually happy to see you, to have them talk to them, hold them, and like I said, Cinny actually gives kisses on the nose when he gets held. It is very calming to go back and spend time with them. On days that I get really frustrated I will go back and visit with them just to get away and get things in prospective. Stallion and ankle biter loves to go back and play with them also. Stallion is the protector over the rabbits, and I believe would not harm one hair on these hares. Actually Stallion is the protector over the entire back yard and will chase ankle biter around telling her to shut her loud mouth. LOL It is funny to watch!

Okay I told you it would be a wacky Wednesday, who ever thought I would be writing about my animals at the house? I can't wait until the weather breaks into spring so I can go out and work with the kids on the rabbits, how to hold them, how to walk with them, and I am hoping to get Jr. over to give them more classes on showmanship. S-man and K-bug did really well last year for skillathon, K-bug actually taking 1st place in her age group.

Yes, it's still snowing! I think hot chocolate is in order when the kids come home.

Later Tater!