This Isn`t The Sticks. It`s Wild Kingdom.

So. After all of this chicken-hatching excitement (there are FOUR now!), we decided to expand our menagerie of animals. Honey convinced me that we should start a hobby farm. Not only would it be cool for the kids, we would get a HUGE cut in our property taxes if we achieve `farm`status. We went to a local farm and have arranged to purchase a couple of pigs and some sheep.

I`M KIDDING!

Though Matthew keeps telling me that we`ll have horses someday because Emily will want one. He thinks that all girls want horses. I never wanted a horse. I think his fondness for The Horse Whisperer is shining through. I have yet to see that movie…but he stands by his belief that it`s one of the classics. I think I need to reiterate again that my hubby is a man`s man, despite his fondness for this particular chick flick. He generally shares my disdain for chick flicks, but says he loves that one because he loves animals. I still won’t watch it.

Anyways.

We have the big chickens, the baby chicks and Kitty. Did you know that we have a cat? We do. She was given to us by a family from our church that moved away three years ago. Her name was Millie when we got her, but Graham was only one and a half at the time. He couldn’t say “Millie”, but he could say Kitty. So? Kitty she is.

She’s only allowed in the office and downstairs. I don’t want cat hair everywhere, and she’s too old and lazy to try anything. It works well for us.

Moving on.

Yesterday morning the birds outside were making quite a ruckus. We have a wide array different birds that frequent our yard, bathe in our fish pond, and dive bomb our heads. Again, kidding. Sort of. Two years ago there were a bunch of black birds that hadn’t gotten the “personal space” memo, so Matthew did what any man would do. He bought a pellet gun and started target practice. Those of you that hate birds are rejoicing…and those of you that love birds can rest assured that he didn’t kill any. Just scared them, is all.

The reason for all of the bird related squawking yesterday? This baby Blue Jay had fallen from its nest and was next to our house.

We decided to let it be and see if it was still there after church. It wasn’t, so it either learned to fly…or was eaten by another wild animal. It wasn’t eaten by Kitty – she doesn’t move that fast.

We’ve had bears in our yard before. Do bears eat birds? I don’t think so. They do eat garbage…and spread it all over creation. Matthew doesn’t shoot the bears with a pellet gun though. When they come around he pulls out the paintball gun. One of our neighbours has a photo of a bear with blue paint all over it. Good shot, Honey!

As part of his Father’s Day, Matthew took the boys on the quad down to the creek to throw rocks in the water and such. On their drive down the trail a big dog followed them. He hung out with them and seemed to be quite friendly. The dog then followed the guys home, much to the boys’ delight. We left shortly thereafter to go out for supper and we led the dog back down to where he had first started to follow the guys. We got home and he wasn’t here, so we thought he had returned home. We thought wrong.

Excuse the dirty windows. After I took this picture I actually got out the window cleaner and cleaned the windows. There’s hope for me yet.

Once the kids were in bed Matthew hopped back on the quad and drove to a bunch of our neighbours’ houses to see if anyone knew this dog. No luck. One guy said that people often drop off animals by the mailboxes. And drive away! He said he spent one winter taking care of six kittens that were left there. The dog was still here this morning so we’re going to put some posters up. And if no response? Then we might just have a dog. What’s one more animal, hey?

Because in addition to the birds, cat and a dog, we have a monkey.

And also? A turkey.

And…a stinker.

I know. That’s not an animal nickname. It happens to be the other nickname I use for these three. Besides, animals are stinky…so it works.

I just had to share this picture because Emily isn’t much of a cuddler, but she snuggled into Daddy’s chest last night before we put her to bed. She cut one of her top teeth last night (with three more almost through), so she’s been a little more cuddly as of late. It’s nice. Helps make up for all of the yelling she’s been doing.

So, yeah. It’s wild kingdom over at our place. The boys are really excited about the dog. If we find this one his home we might look into getting one of our own this summer. Or maybe next year. But probably not a puppy…I just got out of the newborn stage and I kind of like this somewhat coherent stage I’ve come back into. I’m not ready to give that up quite yet. Or ever.