My Children

I absolutely love my children! I have to say, they are the best children anyone could ask for. Except for maybe when they insist on scratching, jumping up on everything, and refusing to get on the trailer. Even so, I love every furry, four-legged, and multicolored one of them! I insist on rescuing every unfortunate animal I see despite my family's concerns of my growing population of children. These are the ones that made the cut:

Fresno 'Perfect Combination' Butler-Wheeler

He is my first born. He technically wasn't rescued. More like, he rescued me. Every year for my birthday and Christmas since I could say the word 'horse', I asked for one. Finally, just before my 19th birthday as a last effort, I created a powerpoint to convince my parents to let me have a horse. Somehow it worked! I literally cried when they told me, and I told them that they better not be joking and they couldn't take their decision back. So my searched started. Many horses and one crazy lady later, I found Fresno. Originally I didn't want to even try him. I didn't want a paint, and he was over my budget. Luckily, they convinced me to try him, and I immediately fell in love with him. And then, my first child was 'born'. He couldn't have come at a better time. I was ending my first year at Kennesaw, which I hated, and at the time I thought I would spend another semester there. So, I buried myself in riding him. Despite his lameness issues, I love him and couldn't ask for a better horse. His personality keeps me on my toes. Getting compliments on how beautiful he is at shows is nice too! :)


Snufflelupagus "Gus" Russel Butler-Wheeler

Gus, aka Gussie, Gus-a-Rus, Russie, is my second child. He was found on the side of the road close to my old barn, Foxberry Farm. Some of the girls caught all of the kittens and brought them to the barn. That day I spent an hour and a half trying to catch Fresno in the pasture. I was so annoyed, so I decided to play with the kittens. As I always do when I see cute furry things that need homes, I called my mom. When she said it was OK for me to keep one (under the condition he lived with me at school), I was completely shocked. So little Gussie moved to school with me (only for a year then he returned home, sorry Mom). He acts exactly like Fresno. They are definitely brothers. They love you unconditionally even though sometimes they act like they're too cool for you. He is also a GIANT. Not fat. Just huge!



Toulouse Peter Butler-Wheeler

Little Toulouse, aka Lucy, Lucy Poocey, Lucifer (newly acquired), is the baby of the family. He was found with two of his brothers inside the kiln at the pottery room at Berry College. Being the only one who was involved with rescuing the kittens to live off campus, I adopted the three week and a half old kittens. I fed them every 3-4 hours (including in the middle of the night) during my last semester of my senior year at Berry College. They came everywhere with either me, my roommate Rachel, or our friend Danielle. That includes class, barn, home on the weekends....everywhere. I was supposed to find homes for all of them. To my mom's 'surprise' no one wanted little Lucy. Except for me. So finally, mom caved in and let him stay. Will's condition in allowing Lucy to stay was that Gus had to like him. After a month Gus came around so it was official. Toulouse was the newest member of the Butler-Wheeler family. He's either such a sweetheart or the meanest thing in the world. He also has a hamburger shaped bow tie and is getting very fat.

Stella

Stella is just Stella. Well sometimes Stella Bella. But, as of right now, Stella is a foster child. As much as I love her and want to keep her, she needs a mom and dad with lots of property for her roam around on. Stella has the saddest story of all the kids. Kelli, who owns the barn where Fresno is, found her on the side of the road. She was so skinny and obviously beaten. I took her home and am currently trying to find her a permanent home. It's so much fun to see her grow while living with me. She started off as a lethargic shy dog and has turned into an energetic loving puppy. She gets so excited when she gets to come inside in the evening after I get home that she has to run around and howl for a couple of minutes. She's starting to fill out and not be afraid of every new person she meets. If you are interested in adopting this sweet foxhound please let me know! You won't be disappointed! She is so kind.

Here are more pictures for you to enjoy of my sweet babies:

For those of you wondering "What about Foozer??" I do have another daughter, Foozer aka Foozie. She is Will's dog that I got him for Christmas when we were seniors in high school. Not that I don't consider her as my child, she just doesn't live with me, and she doesn't like cameras so I don't have any good pictures of her. If you're wondering, Foozer is crazy. Supposedly it's only when I'm there, but it's the only side of her that I see. I do love little Foozie. She's a sweet mutt who was also rescued. She was scheduled to be put down the day after we went to the pound. We begged them to hold off until we could get Will's cats' shots updated so we could adopt her. Thankfully they did. It will be an interesting day when Gus and Toulouse move in with their sister. They are able to tolerate Stella because she doesn't want anything to do with them. Foozer however, is so excited to meet the boys that she gets in their face when she comes to visit resulting in the claws coming out!