Author Johanna Kerby

Thank you to all the kids who voted for my book, LITTLE PINK PUP!!!! To be nominated as a finalist was beyond belief, but to actually to have won was mind boggling!

Thank you to Putnam/Penguin for all your support and by getting this story on the bookshelves and into the hands of children all over the country. 

I am so humbled to have been in the same category with the amazing authors who were also finalists.  They are all awesome!

I can't wait to add some photos from our trip to New York City.  The gala was fantastic and everyone was so nice.  It was a truly special occasion for me and my family.  I told the kids it would be a big culture change for them especially coming from a very small town.  In fact, our county, Wirt, is only one of two counties in WV that does not have a stoplight.  Imagine us then going to the Big Apple and seeing all of the lights and Times Square?  Wow!

I will get some photos on here soon of our trip and of our new piglets and baby goats...

Once again  THANK YOU!!!!

LITTLE PINK PUP is a 2011 Children's Choice Book Award Finalist for Kindergarten to Second Grade Book of the Year!!!

I am so excited and humbled to be in this category with such great finalists!  Penguin Books and Shauna Fay are the real stars for all the hard work they did in getting my book into the hands of children all over the world.  Thank you!

The Children's Choice Book Awards Program is the only national children's book awards where winning titles are selected by the young readers for whom they are written.

 2011 winners will be announced live at the 4th Annual Children's Choice Book Awards Gala on May 2 at The Lighthouse in New York City!

This is very exciting news!!  Children and Teens all over the country can vote for their favourite books by going to www.bookweekonline.com/voting.

Today was a busy and fun day.  The weather was cool and sunny and we took the piglets from their mommies and put them in their own pen.  This was the first time that the three litters have met and it was very funny to watch!  At first they were confused and then excited to be in a different place.  After the new wore off, they started fighting with each other and then exhausted, took a nap.  Here are a few pictures of them.  They are all 4 weeks old and plenty old enough to be on their own now.  It is so amazing to watch how fast they grow and to see their personalities come out.

The piglets are checking out their new digs....

Hannah (The Hog Whisperer) is talking to her pig pack.

Pig Butts!!!!!

Hannah and Lynette ...yes they have funny names!

Spring can't come fast enough for me.  It seems like it has been a long cold winter.  I can't wait to see the grass turning green and everything bursting into bloom..everything just coming alive.

I have been very busy with work and the farm.  We have three new litters of piglets, 25 babies in all.  They are very healthy and sweet.  I will post some pictures really soon so you can see how pretty they are.  Hannah and I had our hands full when two of the sows delivered pigs at the exact same time on opposite ends of the barn.  She and I would yell back and forth to each other each time a piglet was born describing the sex and color of the newborns.  It was weird not having her right in the stall with me as she is my right hand man, but it made her feel good to do this on her own, especially since the babies she delivered was from her very own sow.  The last litter came four days later and we both got to work together.  Of course they delivered when it was 6 degrees out.....

I will have some exciting news about my book, LITTLE PINK PUP, here in a few days!!!! I can't wait to share this with everyone.

Be looking for some pictures and some news soon, so come on back!

The leaves are falling, the temps are cooling and fall is now here.  Things have been crazy around here since school has started.  Hannah is on two FFA competition teams, Mary is playing middle school volleyball (her first sport) and Logan is playing football, so needless to say all I do after work is run, run, run! Levi is busy at college and doing great.  I do enjoy watching the kids do their activities.  They are growing up so fast  and I know that I need to savor these moments (even though they are wild!). 

The piglets are now weaned from their mommies and growing like weeds.  They will be ready to go next month.  Soon I will be breeding my sows for fair pigs, so I have been looking at my sire books to figure out what boars to use for each of my girls.  I did get in a few snapshots yesterday evening as the sun was going down...God Bless everyone.

This was taken in our backyard...

Pink scratching his butt on a tree

Hannah's new kitty, Nala

Wow!  Where did this summer go?  The kids went back to school this week and Levi headed off to college....we had our fair a few weeks ago and it was so much fun!  The kids did really well with their market hogs and Hannah won Reserve Grand Champion.  We also had several first and second places.  I love the fair in our county.  I took off the whole week and spent it with the kids helping them with their projects.  Its my job to direct (the kids call it bossing!) the care and grooming of the hogs.  I usually clip them with my handy dandy clippers but this year Hannah did about half of the pigs.  We spent most of our time in the barn with the other FFA/4-H families and their projects.  There are some very nice people in our county...we love them.  I also got to visit bunches with my only sister Marianne...we like looking over all the critters and watching the shows.  Her grandkids were showing hogs and they did awesome!  Last week we had several new additions to our farm....two litters of piglets.  Both of the sows were new mommas and one of them had six and the other had 13.  Both are being great moms and I'm very happy with them.  The kids helped out with the deliveries.  It was fun watching them pop out and seeing all the different colors and personalities.  The piglets are now a week old and they are all doing great...growing and playing.  I am posting some pictures on this page and also in the photo gallery so check it out!

    2010 WIRT COUNTY FAIR RESERVE GRAND CHAMPION (Hannah and Nigal)

    FRESH OUT OF THE OVEN....A FEW SECONDS OLD!

              THIS WAS FANCY'S FIRST LITTER.....13 IN ALL

Logan and Tink

I just came in from sittin' on the porch listening to the Whip poor wills and the night sounds.  The moon is shining bright and it looks like daylight outside.  It is a perfect evening for porch sittin'!  My days are so hectic and when I do get time to do this it seems almost magical.  I get so tired of running here and there and never getting any quiet time.  I just got back today from Levi's college orientation.  It was a long day, but very informative, so I do feel better about sending him off to college.  He is going to attend Marshall University in Huntington WV.  The campus is beautiful and everything is in a short walking distance.  The freshman dorms are only 2 years old and very nice.  The recreation hall is in spitting distance from his dorm and I know that he will be spending most of his free time there.  It was outrageous!  Three stories of every kind of fun and excercise that you can imagine.  Tomorrow is another hectic day of Little League Championship games, getting Logan ready to go to 4-H camp.  Sigh....  thank God for my porch!

We had two escape attempts today!  First, one of our smaller fair pigs got out of the pen.  They had rooted up one of the wide boards on their sun porch and he apparently fell through the hole!  Logan looked out the back door and said there is a pig loose so we all took after him trying to get him back in the barn.  After chasing him all over the farm, he was successfully captured and joined his siblings.  Logan put down a new board and all was well until about an hour later I looked out and saw one of my big sows standing in front of the barn.  She hasn't been out of the barn for 1 or 2 years and she was really enjoying the mud.  She laid down and rolled in the mud and she didn't want to go back to her boring ol' stall.  We surrounded her and after much sweating, yelling and pushing, we got her back in the barn.  She wouldn't go in her stall so we put her in an empty one.   It was quite a circus!

In between the escapes, I let Tink and Sammi outside to go potty.  They usually just do their business and then come back on the porch wanting back in.  We went outside to feed and only Sammi was there waiting.  We went ahead and did our chores and went back to the house...still no Tink.  After about an hour I became very worried that something bad had happened to her.  We went on a big search, calling for her and looking around.  The boys went down the road and Hannah and I search the horse pasture and out buildings.  Finally, Hannah discovered her locked up in our little hog barn.  I think she must have followed me in there when I was feeding and I didn't see her and shut her in there.  I am so thankful she is o.k.!

This week has been busy with Little League games, BACF (Battle Against Cystic Fibrosis) football game, farm life and work.  The kids are out of school and Levi is back from his senior beach trip.  All is well.  My  new book, LITTLE PINK PUP, came out Thursday, June 10, and I was very excited to get my copies.  After a year and a half of waiting, it's finally in the bookstores!  Our local Border's store called me today to set up a book signing on July 10....very cool.

Here are a few pictures from the last several weeks of graduation, BACF football game and misc.

                                            Levi and a classmate

                                          Logan, Levi, Hannah and Mary after graduation

                        Levi, Coach Hickman and Jake H. after the BACF football game held June 11, 2010 at Warren Local High School, Vincent OH.

I'm proud to let you know that Tink and Pink are featured in the Summer Edition of Modern Dog Magazine...the best dog magazine ever!   Check it out by going to my Links or purchase an issue at your favoritie store!

My oldest son, Levi, is graduating in a few days and I have been having some mixed feelings.  I am sure this happens to every parent, but this is all new to me.  I am thrilled that I have raised such an independent, well behaved young man who is ready to go out on his own and start his life, but I am so sad to be losing him from under my wing.  I have been tearing up every time I think about him going off to college this August because I am going to miss him so much.  I have been so blessed to have been chosen to be his momma.  I realize that he doesn't belong to me but to God.  Still, it is hard to let go.  I'm sure he will always let me know what is going on with his life because we are extremely close and can talk about anything.  I have enjoyed watching him grow up and will continue to support him in whatever he decides to become....  We have had a blast and have enjoyed the whole experience of seeing him take his first step to rocking out at his senior prom. I'm sure we have many other great things to experience together but it will never be quite the same again.  Like I said....sad and happy at the same time!!  Sniff...sniff... Now just three more to go!!

I had a wonderful weekend with the kids!  They are really good kids and I love them so much.  We have a lot of fun around here and I try to listen to them and be a good mom.  Happy Mother's Day to all the mommas out there.  I am so fortunate to have my sister, Marianne Siers, who is the mother of my heart.  She is always there for me and has taken care of me.  I don't know what I would do without her.  Just like Pink, we have biological mothers, but we have a mother that took care of us when we needed it most....

The girls got a new horse.  He is a seven year old Kentucky Mountain Saddle horse.  He is a beauty and it was love at first site!  I don't think our stallion, Maverick, was too happy about the new guy!

Here are a few pictures of him and the girls.  I am posting more on the photo gallery.  As you all can tell, I absolutely love to take pictures.  I guess because I don't really have any from my youth, I want to perserve our memories for the future....and it's so much fun!!

                                                         Cooper

                                               Cooper, Hannah and Mary

It was a dark and stormy night and I loved it!!  I love hearing a thunderstorm and listening to the rain...it makes everything so fresh when it's over.  It is rather cool out this morning and we are getting ready to load our baby hogs and take them in for tagging for the fair.  They will be getting their little ears pierced...I don't think they are going to like it!

Here are a few new pictures of the puppies at 2 wks old.  They are so cute!!!  I will be looking for great homes for them soon, so if anyone is interested let me know!                                     

                                               Cream female mini dachshund

                                Black/Tan piebald male (longhair)

                                 Cream piebald miniture dachshund

I was outside tonight on the porch and I noticed a toad sitting by the house.  He just looked so cute I watched him for a long time and he didn't even move.  I went inside and got my camera just sure that when I came back out he would be gone.  Nope...he was still sitting there just the same.  I walked out into the yard and got in front of him and started taking pictures.  He didn't even move.  I really enjoyed just watching him and later I checked to see if he was still there and believe it or not he was!  We should take time to enjoy the little things (and creatures) in life....:)

Busy, busy, busy.....but I love the weekends!  Puttering around the farm and just staying home is great.  The kids are doing super....I took some great pics of the girls today.  It was a beautiful day and it was so nice being outside and enjoying God's earth.

We have four new puppies born last night to my miniature dachshund Lexi.  Two girls and two boys.  One male is a cream piebald and the other male is a black & tan piebald.  We have one cream female and one black & tan piebald female.  Here is a picture of the wee ones fresh from the oven!

I love the smell of a newly mowed lawn...I love to mow the yard because I actually have time to think.  The sound of the mower drowns out anybody who needs something and I do a lot of my thinking and planning on the mower..weird huh?  The kids are all doing well and the farm animals are growing as fast as my grass.  I took some more pictures of the pigs that I will post.  The kids tease me and tell me that I have more animal pictures than pictures of them...it's probably true!  We had a beautiful day here on the farm and I got a little sunburned while mowing.  The kids cleaned out all the stalls and fed everything and our cousin Jeremy was over most of the day for a visit.  He left with three pigs for his FFA project.  This will be his first year showing and he is super excited.  He has two of the porkers named already..Helga and Hawkeye!  I have some good news on my newest book, LITTLE PINK PUP, Shauna Fay from Putnam's called me and let me know that Toys R Us is going to promote it this summer along with three other books.  Very exciting!!!!!  Also MODERN DOG MAGAZINE, Summer Edition, will be publishing photos and a story about Tink and Pink.  Wow!

Today was a very special day.  The weather was gorgeous and I was with my family and friends.  Went to church and we had a great service.  The girls and I went to Marianne's house for dinner and I ate succulent ham, mashed potatos, pole beans and homemade rolls.  I couldn't move afterwards!  We then went home and took a nap, got up and fed the critters and took all the dogs for a walk.  We walked to a nearby pond and Lexi tried to swim out to get the two Canadian geese that were in there.  One of them attacked her and she got right out.  I think they had a nest nearby.  The girls and I are just chillin' out and going to watch a good movie.  The guys are in the mountains on a trout fishing adventure.  They left right after church.  I hope they have some male bonding time.

The baby pigs are getting so big and cute.  They are playing chase with each other and chewing on everything.  When I walk into their pen I get attacked!  They untie my boot laces in just a few short minutes and they completely surround me.  I love to sit on a bucket in the middle of the pen and let them chew on my boots and coat.  They also try biting my butt, so I have to watch out for that!

Most will be leaving next week and I'll miss them, but I will go see them in their new homes and check on them to see how big they are getting.

It is raining out today...and it's so muddy!!  I love Spring but the mud gets to me sometimes. 

I went to visit my Dad today in the hospital and he was having a good day.  I really love him so much and I pray for him all the time.  I pray for all my family.  I saw a cute sign today at the hospital that said "Prayers go up and blessings come down".  I do believe very strongly in prayer and I know that God watches over me and my family.

Today was so beautiful!  Sunny and 70 is my favorite weather.  I took my camera along today and got some good pictures of the farm.  Look in the photo gallery to see my pics.  The mud is trying to dry up a little.  It's still awful in the pig pens but they don't seem to mind at all.  Hubby got stuck yesterday trying to run new electric wire in the big pig pen.  It was so funny....I had to get him some other boots to put on because his gum boots got stuck in the muck and wouldn't come out.  He had to stand on boards and put on other boots and then pull them out of the mud.  Needless to say, he didn't find it amusing!  We were doing this in the dark with a flashlight so that didn't make it easy for him either...

Have you ever seen something that just was too cute?  That's what I thought when I was watching the new baby goats yesterday.  They are playing together and butting heads, starting to nibble on hay and are just a joy to watch!  The first litter of baby pigs are being weaned and they are missing their mommy.  They aren't eating very well..I guess they will when they get hungry enough.  The second litter is 3 weeks old.  I castrated them last week and they look to be healing nicely.  They are very friendly.  I will have to post some pictures of them soon because they grow so fast!! 

The kids have been busy.  Hannah is in track this year.  This is the first sport that she has ever attempted and she really likes it.  Levi's high school career is winding down.  He will graduate in May with honors and go off to college this fall.  This will be very hard on me and I'm sure I will use mass amounts of tissues during that time.  He is working very hard on his abs (got to look good for the ladies).  The twins just got done with science fair projects and Logan is going to be playing Little League again this year.  Mary will just cheer him on from the sidelines. 

Today is another beautiful sunny day.  I went to church this morning and I am getting ready to go to the barn and give some shots to the piglets.  We actually have 2 new baby goats.  One was born Thursday night and one on Friday morning.  Both billies...both adorable!