Mole-Be-Gone

I'm not talking about real live yard destroying moles! I'm talking about those ugly possible cancer producing moles that appear on one's body.

For two years we, along with a Doctor at the Cancer Center have been "tracking" a mole on Abbi's face at her hairline. It was a big mole, but not a big deal. Something to eventually remove. The Doctor was hoping to wait until Abbi would be old enough to remove it with just a local anesthetic. Well, that wasn't going to happen. In February at the annual check, the mole had made some significant changes and it was time to get it off! Yesterday was the scheduled removal at a 12:00 noon time slot. Nothing to eat after midnight and nothing to drink after 9:00am. We arrived at the hospital for check-in at 11:15, with Abbi already complaining about her rumbling tummy.

She covered herself up to forget about how hungry she was!

Surgery was delayed and she was finally wheeled to the OR at 2:15. By 2:45 we were with her in recovery and arrived home with her at 3:45. It was quick and successful, but coming out of anesthesia is never fun!

But Abbi was a trooper and before we left for

home she chowed down a 6" sub that we had taken with us to the hospital.

The incision is quite long and follows her hairline. The doctor removed it in a football shaped incision so that he could neatly stitch it together. The stitches are inside and will disolve on their own. I think he did a wonderful job, (not to mention he's a family friend) and as Abbi grows up, it will be completely unnoticeable.

So The Hawkins' Family continues to support our local medical community ....

Here are some pictures of more fun things that are happening here on our little farm on Amish Highway 35!

Abbi has a new horse that she is bonding with ... her name is Lucky (but it might change). Her much-loved 26 year old horse, Ginger went to the great Horse Stable in the sky this winter. She was a great horse for Abbi to start with, and we miss her.





Abbi and her friend Katie shopped for and found Lion's Head rabbits that will be shown at the fair this summer.

And here's Mitch and Abbi looking for the rabbit that escaped behind the entertainment center.

Puppy Love! Our dog Uno had 5 puppies early this spring. Uno is an Amish mutt and the hispanic neighbor's dog is the guilty dad. So we have bi-lingual puppies that wear suspenders and sombreros! Alli and a few of her college friends came to give some lovin' to the puppies and also to eat a free meal!



All lined up for a ride, then it's nap time!

Meanwhile .... two hours have passed since I wrote this post, and a lot has happened! A cousin stopped by on his bike to chat, and we heard Uno barking like crazy behind the barn. Upon inspection, she had trapped a skunk! Dave went inside to fetch one of Mitch's guns - no skunks on this property! I'm not sure what kind of gun it was, but it was a big one and mighty powerful! Dave lay on the ground to set the "sight" on the skunk that was hunkered down underneath our rusty old bobcat trailer. When he felt he had a good shot, KABOOM! We all cheered because we saw the skunk fall amidst the flying dust! Dave just kept laying there on the ground, when I finally said "are you OK?" My cousin walked around to the front of him (because you know when someone's shooting, you should all stand behind the shooter!) and said "oh my, you have blood running down your face"! I ran to the house to get some rags to stop the bleeding. The kick of the gun had shoved the sight into his forehead, and he's got two pretty cool gashes to show off. I asked Dave if he wanted to go to Julie's to have her put some butterflies on the cuts, and he said "no, she'll tell me I need stitches", so I went to Julie's to get some butterflies (she's a nurse and has everything!). Now if it would've been me, I would've gotten stitches ... I don't need any more funny lines on my face than I already have! He's all set now with butterflies and "siec schmere", our family's Amish FIX EVERYTHING salve. Can't wait to hear what he tells people in church tomorrow. By the way, I didn't even ask him if I could take pictures for my blog, because I'm pretty sure I know what his answer would've been!

Chickens and Horses and Ribbons, Oh My!

It's a Blue Ribbon Week for the Hawkins'. Well, mostly blue ....




Poultry Club ribbons Saddle Club ribbons




Abbi proudly "fluffed" her fancy before the judge made his way down the table to her. She received a blue ribbon.

Kevin and Mitch are hanging on to their broilers while the kind judge inspects the breasts of another competitors chicken. Wouldn't most men enjoy being a chicken judge??? They each received blue ribbons for their broilers and roasters, and then several Honor ribbons for some of the birds. An Honor ribbon is step above blue, and allows them to return to the table to compete only with the Honor - ees. Make sense?

Abbi has fallen in love with "contesting", which involves barrel, flags, and poles. Here she shows her fine form in barrels. She is a true cowgirl!

Then on to the fancier competitions, like Horsemanship, Showmanship, Riding, and Reining. She rides with good form in spite of never having taken any lessons. She won ribbons in all these classes except for Horsemanship! Hooray!

Here she gets a little coaching from our very own Horse Whisperer (aka Uncle Terry) before her Western Horsemanship contest. What would we do without him?!


I'm pretty sure the judge was impressed with her big smile, or perhaps it was simply the fact that Ginger is 25 years old and still looks so good!

A nice pose with Ginger before competitions got started. Please take note of the wonderful haircut on Ginger's mane ... yup, I did it and I'm proud of it!

I'm tired and I really don't know how this post is going to look. I'm pretty sure that none of the pictures are going to be lined up with the correct descriptions, but guess what? I don't care! See, that's what spending 14 hour days at the fair does to a person ... not to mention all the sugar, grease, and diet coke a person can possibly consume. Good Night All! And sweet dreams of lots of ribbons for your own kids - if you're brave enough to take the leap into 4-H!