32 Hours Old

Here is "The Grinch" at about 32 hours old.
Here's the link to Smart Stinger, The Grinch's Sire.
http://www.smartstinger.com/
This is the link to The Grinch's Grandpa, Color Me Smart. He is a VERY FAMOUS Paint stallion.
http://www.colormesmart.com/

2008 Spring Calves

Here are some of the cute calves we have this spring. Phantom is the youngest, just a week old now. We think he has a Phantom of the Opera mask on!
This is Spider Boy. He was born completely deformed. He could barely walk. With each step, his legs would fold over and almost collapse. I emailed video and pictures to the vet and he told us this was contracted tendons from his position in the womb. I didn't believe him. I thought Spider Boy was deformed in the bones and would need to be put down. Spider was in such misery, we did almost put him out of it. But after a week, we noticed that if Spider Boy was laying down and then got up, he looked a little less crippled. He would walk a few strides and then start to collapse again. Each time we saw him, he would walk a few more "normal" strides then the last time before crippling up. After about three weeks, Spider Boy had stretched out those tendons completely and now, you can't tell him from the others. I'm sure it was a painful process, but he struggled through it and now is a healthy happy calf. He'll never know how close he came......

"The Grinch" is Here!

Well, after getting up in the middle of the night for over a week to check on Cindy, I was finally too tired to wake up last night. By the time I did, it was 6:30 AM. I raced to the barn to find this little guy, born, dry and nursing. Figures! He is a bay tobiano, very minimally marked. By 7:00 AM, he was cantering circles around his Mama and leaping into the air. He is VERY spunky! He is just what ClaireAnna wanted. These pictures were all taken by noon today when he was less then 12 hours old.

Why "The Grinch" you ask? Well, Cindy's full name is "Cindy Lu Who" from How the Grinch Stole Christmas. For two years ClaireAnna has planned to name Cindy's foal, "The Grinch" if it was a boy. Well, she got her boy and can you believe he has a Grinch right on his face?! Look at the blaze. I'll be darned if it's not a Grinch with the hat flopped forward just like this picture from the book!

For those who can't see it!
A special and sincere thank you to Gary and Jolene Epperson, owners of Smart Singer, The Grinch's sire. Thank you so much for working with us and helping to make ClaireAnna's dream come true! She is thrilled!

4-H Spring Horse Show

Pope County 4-H Wrangler's Horse Club Spring Show , April 19th, 2008This is ClaireAnna's first show to ride in by herself. Last year, I lead her in. This year, she is in the driver's seat and Dad and Mom nervously watched from the bleachers. Here she is about to go into trail class, getting a confidence boost from Dad.ClaireAnna entered the goat tying class. The Cloverbuds only had to run to the end of the arena, dismount, catch the goat and grab a ribbon off of it's tail and hold it up in the air. Here she is climbing down after she trotted to the end of the arena. (There is a goat staked just off the picture.) We practiced this so she would be confident getting off this huge horse. She's just glad she didn't have to get back on by herself! We're so grateful to have Missy, who stands so patiently still for Claire. What a great horse! A quiet moment, waiting for the next class.ClaireAnna riding Missy in Walk/Trot, a class they took first place in. ClaireAnna told me, "Mom, I smiled at the judge a lot! Maybe that helped me win."



Video of the Poles class. ClaireAnna didn't place high in the speed events since she was only walking and trotting, but she had a blast, did all her patterns correctly and actually loped Missy home one time. Her first lope EVER! She was SO proud of herself!

Video of trail class. For some reason, (maybe Claire was cuing with the wrong leg?) Missy moved away from the mailbox instead of towards it. Claire got 4th place in this class.

Video of Walk/ Trot. Claire and Missy won first place.

Happy Birthday ClaireAnna

ClaireAnna's 7th Birthday was March 17th. I am very late getting this post up. She had a big party last year, so we didn't have one this year. All she wanted was to go to Build-A-Bear and make herself a pet. Plus, we knew that she was getting "The Grinch" in a few weeks and you can't get a better present then your own pony foal! ( See post titled, "The Grinch is Here!") So...The whole family went to Build-A-Bear in Little Rock. ( Josh was busy)

She picked out a Cheetah, as you can see......
She recorded her voice on a little disc and stuffed it inside the Cheetah along with a little red heart.
She helped pump the stuffing into Cheetahs body......
Here is Cheetah, all stuffed.
And groomed.....
She had to try on the outfit she picked out to make sure it would fit.....Then she picked a name and entered it into the computer to create a birth certificate.....And here is ClaireAnna and "Princess" outside Build-A-Bear - new best friends.

Afterwards, we all went to Red Lobster for a delicious lunch. Happy Birthday Claire!

She's On Her Way

Well, she did it. She told us from the day she got here that she wasn't going to stay. She did her time, got her diploma and that was it. On March 22, the day before Easter, Jes packed up her stuff and drove off in her little yellow Saturn. She is staying with some friends in Illinois for now. She has landed a GREAT job working at Baxter Laboratories in Deerfield as a Customer Service Specialist. The job offers 401K w/ matching, great health insurance and an awesome salary and the hours allow her plenty of time for culinary school at night. Now she needs to find herself a little apartment and then maybe a husband!

Way to go, Jes! We are so proud of you. We will miss you every single day. But we are happy that your dreams are coming true and that you have gotten such a good start in life. You are doing GREAT! Your dad and I thank the Lord daily for the blessing of you for a daughter. We love you.

Thunder's Gone

He's gone.....he wasn't really a barn cat...he never stayed at the barn....only went there in the morning to get some cat food...sometimes......he slept on the bench outside our back door on the carport........ We would make him a cardboard box with a hole in it and stuffed with a towel each winter for a bed.....he was a great hunter... he could kill an adult rabbit or squirrel.....he was an expert ripper of garbage bags.....he would leap up along our back door window to beg for a treat which he always got....a hot dog, cheese or some left over meat.....he was fat and very healthy......he DIDN'T like it in the house......he was a great cat......but one day a couple of weeks ago we realized we hadn't seen him in a couple of days........he hasn't been back since.....he's been know to wander down the road....but he always came home.......for four years he came home. We miss you Thunder. We wish you'd come home....hope you are safe.

Me and My Shadow

1970

2005 to 2007
She's my little "Mini Me" only cuter!

Anticipation!

We have been waiting for this foal for TWO FULL years! We bred Cindy in the spring of 2006. She miscarried that foal during the winter so we rebred her in 2007. Happily, this time she has carried the foal to term and is due ANY DAY NOW! We are just so excited. This will be ClaireAnna's foal to keep, raise and ride someday. What sex will it be? What color? What markings? We can't stand it! Hurry up Cindy!
Poor fat girl! We haven't seen Cindy run in quite awhile now. She is just bulging with foal. And is getting edema along her belly and chest. It probably doesn't help that she is fat with fat too...but she gets no grain, even while pregnant. She needs only hay to keep her fat and healthy. It is quite sad during graining time when she has to be tied up and the other horses get to eat. Poor Cindy. We'll give you a treat of grain after your baby is born!
Cindy has made a beautiful bag and it is starting to leak, an indication she's getting close! Check back in a couple of days for pictures of the foal and a full report!

Easter

Easter, 2008

We always have the holidays at the Eoff's. (Our house is just too small) There is usually enough food to feed 20 extra people and this year was no exception - ham, roast beef and lots of sides and desserts. Here are the girls getting ready to hunt eggs: Kaylee, Cianna and ClaireAnna with Levi's face stuck in the middle.

ClaireAnna with Daddy
Kate helping Cianna find some eggs.
Baskets full!

And Flood Again

Just a couple of weeks after our fence destroying flood, we flooded again. This time I was able to get pictures of the pasture and hay fields during the worst of it. ALL the water you see, ALL THE WAY TO THOSE TREES, is flooded Illinois Bayou. Normally, the river is on the other side of that tree line......WOW! Some of this water is up to four feet deep. They say the river floods like this about once every 25 years. (These are what we call our "bottoms". Our home and barns are about 1/4 mile from the river on higher ground and were not involved at all.)

Our Angel Sings

Much to our surprise, ClaireAnna decided to sing a song for a 4-H talent competition. She chose the song from the ones her homeschool music class is singing for their spring concert. She practiced and practiced and was determined to get it right. And she was perfect!

Oh, and she also danced with her best little 4-H friend, Dayna.....they were adorable. We are shocked to have a Harmon child that WANTS to perform! But delighted too!