Kids Corner: The Cox Family

Samantha Cox
17 years old
Eleventh grade

When do you do chores? I help with chores in the afternoon if I am not working, helping to milk and feed. I work at the school in our after-school lab and work with the little kids after school.

What is your favorite and least favorite chore? My least favorite is probably cleaning the nursery pens. I like feeding hay.

What project do you enjoy helping your parents with on the farm? I like working with the babies.

Tell us a fun memory you have of living on the farm. I enjoy bedding all the pens with fresh bedding after we clean everything out. I like watching the goats run, jump and play in the fresh bedding and bulldozing in the straw.

What is your favorite animal on your farm? My favorite animals are two does named Barbie and Big Mama. They are top producers and are the first goats I had.

What do you want to do after high school? I want to go to pharmaceutical school and become a pharmacist. I want to start at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire for my general education and then transfer to UW-Madison for my pharmaceutical degree.

If you had a farm, describe what it would look like. I would have a small hobby farm with a few chickens and other small animals.

What do you enjoy doing on the farm, when you are not doing chores? I enjoy reading.

What is your favorite meal that your mom or dad makes? I like unstuffed cabbage a lot; it is like cabbage rolls, just all scrambled together and with cheese on it, like a casserole.

What is your favorite thing to do off the farm with your family? I like going to a lake or something.

Are you involved in activities? I am in FFA, Future Business Leaders of America and Family and Career and Community Leaders of America, and I am an officer in all of them. I also will be in cheerleading this upcoming year and am in track. This next year will be our first year for cheerleading, so we will start in the fall for football and then for wrestling.

Elliot Cox
15 years old
Ninth grade

When do you do chores? I help with chores after school and on weekends.

What is your favorite and least favorite chore? My favorite thing to do is move babies around, especially newborn babies, because I can hold them. My least favorite is milking; it takes a while to do.

What project do you enjoy helping your parents with on the farm? I like working in the garden and driving when we are picking up hay.

Tell us a fun memory you have of living on the farm. I like when we have family friends come visit and they help with chores. I like sharing the farm with them.

What is your favorite animal on your farm? I like the cats; I do not really have a favorite in particular, I just enjoy all of them.

What do you want to do after high school? I have not really decided. I would like to do something with vocal teaching, but I also would like to be a stay-at-home mom. That is something I might be able to do on the side while staying at home.

If you had a farm, describe what it would look like. I would probably just have smaller animals like chickens.

What do you enjoy doing on the farm, when you are not doing chores? I enjoy just spending time with the baby goats.

What is your favorite meal that your mom or dad makes? There are a lot of good ones. Mom makes honey mustard ham with mashed potatoes, and she makes gravy out of it. I ask every Easter if we are going to have honey mustard ham.

What is your favorite thing to do off the farm with your family? I like going on road trips. Dad took us to see the Field of Dreams in Dyersville, Iowa. That was really fun.

Are you involved in activities? I am in FFA and choir.

Lucas Cox
13 years old
Seventh grade

When do you do chores? I help in the afternoon after school and on the weekend.

What is your favorite and least favorite chore? I like to chase the goats in and out of the parlor. I do not like to fill feed pails.

What project do you enjoy helping your parents with on the farm? I like to help clean the house and get eggs.

Tell us a fun memory you have of living on the farm. Playing with the baby goats, getting bales off the field and playing in mud puddles.

What is your favorite animal on your farm? I like Miracle, the baby goat.

What do you want to be when you grow up? I want to be a farmer like Dad and milk goats with him.

If you had a farm, describe what it would look like. I would have goats and it would be like this.

What is your favorite game to play on the farm? I like to play catch.

What is your favorite meal that your mom or dad makes? I love mac and cheese.

What is your favorite thing to do off the farm with your family? I like to go swimming.

Are you involved in activities? I am in FFA; I got the discovery award this year.

James Cox
12 years old
Sixth grade

When do you do chores? I help with chores at 4:00 in the afternoon and sometimes at noon if we are milking three times a day, as well as on weekends.

What is your favorite and least favorite chore? My least favorite chores are milking and cleaning out nursery pens. I like collecting eggs.

What project do you enjoy helping your parents with on the farm? I like collecting bales off the field.

Tell us a fun memory you have of living on the farm. After the barn fire, we met a lot of friends, and lots of people came to help us.

What is your favorite animal on your farm? I like Miracle, a baby goat. She had a hard time during birth, and I spent a lot of time heating her up and helping her.

What do you want to be when you grow up? I want to be a farmer, just like my dad.

If you had a farm, describe what it would look like. It would look just like ours, but halfway down the barn, there would be an “L” on the barn for nursery goats. It would be all done with concrete blocks and would have a heated floor to keep them warm.

What is your favorite game to play on the farm? I like to play football and catch.

What is your favorite meal that your mom or dad makes? I like meatloaf with ketchup and mashed potatoes; it is super good.

What is your favorite thing to do off the farm with your family? I like to go to our friends’ house.

Are you involved in activities? Not right now, but next year, I will probably join tackle football and FFA.

Imogene Cox
7 years old
Second grade

When do you do chores? I help with chores sometimes after school and on the weekend.

What is your favorite and least favorite chore? I like to take care of the kittens and play with them. I do not like to fill up water pails and feed pails for the nursery.

What project do you enjoy helping your parents with on the farm? I like helping my dad by opening and shutting gates for him.

Tell us a fun memory you have of living on the farm. I like helping my dad and riding in the skid loader with him sometimes.

What is your favorite animal on your farm? I like the kittens; my favorite is Lemon.

What do you want to be when you grow up? I want to be a music teacher.

If you had a farm, describe what it would look like. I would have goats and cows and kittens.

What is your favorite game to play on the farm? I like to ride my bike.

What is your favorite meal that your mom or dad makes? I like mac and cheese.

What is your favorite thing to do off the farm with your family? I like to go to my grandma’s and play on the tablets. I like to go to the pool and go swimming, too.

Warren Cox
5 years old
Pre-K

When do you do chores? I help with chores when I am not at school.

What is your favorite and least favorite chore? I like chasing goats to the parlor and feeding grain to the baby goats.

What project do you enjoy helping your parents with on the farm? I like to help Dad fix things.

Tell us a fun memory you have of living on the farm. Riding my bike really fast.

What is your favorite animal on your farm? I like the kittens. My favorite is Lickster; he licks me all the time.

What do you want to be when you grow up? I don’t know.

If you had a farm, describe what it would look like. I would like to have goats and chickens and kittens.

What is your favorite game to play on the farm? I like riding my bike and doing tricks on it. I can’t do a wheelie yet.

What is your favorite meal that your mom or dad makes? I like hot dogs on a hot summer day.

What is your favorite thing to do off the farm with your family? I like to go swimming. I put my head under the water and close my eyes and shut my mouth.

Esmae Cox
1 year old, will be 2 on July 4th

What is your favorite animal on your farm? Kitties and goats.

What is your favorite meal that your mom or dad makes? Mashed potatoes and gravy.