Show Update!

It was another great year at our annual livestock show! Thought I would share some pics before too much times gets away. Things are uber busy here! Leighton and Jacque both entered horticulture projects this year. Leighton was first in class and reserve champion horticulture and Jacque was second in class. I think they both did a great job!





Leighton's pig (Clover) was fourth place overall. Not the grand or reserve champion we are used to having but Leighton did a good job with her. Our friend Robby was grand champion and I'm really happy that he won our show. His mom has always been a great help to me and he works so hard with his animals! Yeah Robby! Our other friend, Vanessa, was reserve champion and she worked really hard with her pig too. We have a lot of people to be proud of! :-)





And then there is Bob...the goat I have fallen in love with, lol! I like Bob...can you tell? I will be so sad when he goes bye-bye. He was GRAND CHAMPION...YEAH! He was also donated back to us after the auction so we are busy finding him a good home. Hmmmmmmm....where will he go????





He was such a champ in the arena...look how calmly he walked with Leigh Leigh!



And finally, the food projects. Leighton made this yummy apple pie. The recipe is from The Pioneer Woman's cooking blog and it is the second year that we have used recipes from her site. If you haven't checked out her cooking blog you really should. There are some wonderful recipes there. You might recall that last year when Leighton was in the kitchen he was eating cookie dough off the floor. Needless to say, he has a tendency to sling things around in the kitchen. It is for this reason that I asked David to oversee his cooking session. Leighton was busy cooking while I was on the phone with a friend when David came to me and asked "where is the recipe for the crumb topping?" I said, "Well, I thought he was just cutting the flour into the butter." David (who is a wonderfully talented cook) said, "well, that made a paste." I said, "that WAS the crumb topping!" Leighton had mixed it into the apples and filled the pie crust and was ready to pop his pie into the oven. "Oh, gawd!" I moaned! I had high hopes for this pie. I had made it before and it was absolutely delicious. Suddenly I saw my aspirations of having another grand champion food entry dashed. "UGH! Just put it in the oven and bake it I said. It is what it is," I said. "It will probably taste better anyway," I added as I tried to remove the worry I had created for my son. Well, would you believe that the pie that was made totally not by the recipe was, afterall, GRAND CHAMPION! I told you this pie is GOOD!!!



Jacque made these dipped gingersnaps and they are wonderfully tasty too! She does such an excellent job in the kitchen. No one needs to watch her...she knows what she's doing. She's a big Food Channel junkie and has apparently learned a lot from watching Paula Deen and all her cooking friends, lol! Jacque was first place cookie. And these cookies taste as good as they look!



Last but not least, Jacque's photo was 3rd place. I was disappointed for her because it was really a beautiful photo. The photo was the instrument panel of a very old Case tractor that sits in front of one of the feed stores we frequent. She did make auction with her photo though so I was glad of that!

It was a very good year for us and I am so thankful for the opportunities that FFA provides to our family. I love watching our kids compete and learn new things!

Until next time!

Bob Goes to the Barber

We are busy getting ready for our annual school show so today was haircut day for Bob the Goat. Fortunately, we had a person that was more than willing to help us out and show Leighton how it is done.



Our new goat friend, Kenny...thank you Kenny! We learned a lot!



Leighton did a really good job. Especially considering this is the first time he has ever clipped a goat.



I think it is quite possible that Bob has fallen out of love with us...I can see it in his eyes.



I love the look of concentration on Leighton's face as he works...











We meet cute dogs everywhere we go. This is Roxie. She likes french fries.



Finishing touches...



Yep, yep, I think it might be possible that Bob doesn't like us anymore...



I think Leighton is very proud!



Bob, for his part, was thankful for his bed jacket!



Jacque is entering this picture in the photography division. Can you guess what it is?



Isn't this just the cutest little piglet you have ever seen. He is so tiny and belongs to Christy & Robby at out barn.



And then we have a new member of the family. The kids swear they saved this kitty's life. I have my doubts. They have been wanting a cat for a long time. I, however, haven't. What are ya gonna do? She has to stay outside, I am allergic and Jacque is too. Her name is Cotton. She has a middle name but I dare not say it. You might be wondering why a black cat is named Cotton. Well...I'll leave it to you to figure out! :-)



We have to finish horticulture projects and bake tomorrow and then Tuesday is the show!

Wish us luck!

Going Home...

This is kind of a photo journal of the day we took Allie home to Buffalo, Texas. We actually took her the week before Hurricane Ike hit but I haven't really had time to look at the pics. Allie is (or was) August's heifer (she is now a cow) that he bought during the summer of his sophomore year in high school. August participated in the Fort Worth Stock Show calf scramble and the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo calf scramble. I think I am going to try and tell all of that on my blog soon, but, first we will have the end of the story.

The time had come for Allie to leave the school barn where she made her home. August had graduated from high school and we were told she had to go. I knew this day was coming, but I was just biding my time and trying to extend her time with us as long as I could. You see, I loved her! Heck, we all did in our own way. She was part of our family, part of our daily routine. So, when the ag teacher e-mailed me to tell me that she had to get out of the barn it made me really, really sad! I talked to August about it. The options are many at the end of an ag project. Most of them involve a "little money changing hands." I wanted Allie to go to a place where I knew she would be loved. Silly, I know...but, as I said, I felt she was part of the family. I mentioned to August that it sure would be nice if we could get the breeder that we bought her from to take her back (Ed Phillips) along with her calf and to my surprise he agreed. August knew that meant he would not see any gain from his 2 year project but he assured me that he was totally okay with that. "I want her to be happy too, Mom," he told me.

I contacted Ed to see if he would be interested in Allie and her bull calf. I was a little uncertain about Ed wanting the calf, Cassius. I was worried that Cassius would be too closely related to the stock he had on his property. He asked me a little about both of them and asked me to send pictures. I let him know that we didn't want any monetary compensation but just wanted a good home for both of them. I sent the pictures to him and he e-mailed me a few days later saying that he would take them and was willing to compensate August. I was so very excited that we had found a home for them and the compensation was just an extra bonus that he certainly didn't have to offer. The next few days we began to make plans to deliver them. It was going to be hard for me to part with my little farm animals. They were beginning to eat us out of house and home but I knew this was going to be the most difficult for ME!

Allie had been "halterless"for a while but she slipped back into it easily.



Cassius, on the other hand, had a completely different idea. He hated halters and in fact would just fall out on the floor if you tried to walk him on one. We had been working with him to get him accustomed to the idea but he wasn't real happy about it this day! See what I mean...



Okay, up and at 'em, boy and let's go!



He did pretty well until we got out of the gate.



I guess you could say he was afraid of the unknown which happened to be a big white trailer waiting for him in the parking lot. Allie walked and loaded like the pro she is.









Cassius was still hanging back, even though his mother was already on the bus!



David was really struggling getting Cassus to walk. Meanwhile, Lily, the other Brahman heifer at the barn, came over to see what all the trouble was about.





She wasn't real happy to see two of her own packing up and moving out!



It was looking like David would need some help...



Cassius was definitely living up to his name of Cassius and being a fighter!



August got Allie loaded and came back to help. Cassius didn't care...he just dug in deeper. All the while this is going on while I am flitting around taking pictures and saying, "don't hurt him, don't hurt him!"



"Be nice to him," I say!



Help a brother out, Lily," I order!



"Stop bending his poor baby tail like that," I chide!



"Stop pushing on him," I yell!

August decides to get a running start...



"Oh, noooooooooooo," I screech in my best Mr. Bill voice! I've had enough. "Give me that rope," I tell them! "I'll get him on the trailer." Which, AHEM, I did! Mind you, no one got a picture of that now, did they?!? My momma always told me you can catch a lot more flies with honey, lol! Thankfully, loaded at last!



Now, let's hit the road! Ed lives in Buffalo which is a small town a couple hours up north from Houston towards Dallas. Allie was going home! Once we got to Ed's I told August I wanted to be sure and get a picture of him unloading Allie off of the trailer. I had taken a similar picture when he brought her into the barn and she had certainly grown. August had done some growing of his own. Gosh how time flies!

That was then...



This is now...







Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of Cassius leaving the trailer...he jumped off of there like he was a reindeer! Once they were off the trailer they immediately started checking out their new home.



And, yes, Ed is an Aggie so I guess that makes Allie and Cassius Aggies too. I'm okay with that...



There were lots of other cows mooing at them. I love the way Brahmans move their ears forward so they can hear better. Kind of reminds me of a puppy dog!



Is that not the most beautiful bull calf you have ever seen?!



David goes over for one last scratch. It was his job every day to go to the barn in the afternoon to let Allie and Cassius out of their stall to graze in the evening. He always spent a little time petting on them. We used to call it their "afternoon massage session."



Goodbye sweet girl!



I love you and your little bull calf!



I'll be seeing you!



I promise we'll come and visit soon!



Once we left Allie and Cassius at the barn, Ed took us on a little tour of his place. He is a hay farmer too and it just so happened that they were cutting hay. Now, I could watch that forever. Check out the cool tractor they get to drive!



That thing on the back is the baler and it was making the hay into these really big round bales. Is that not the coolest?! Yeah, it doesn't take that much to impress me!









Okay, alright, enough with the tractor pictures already! Oh, look...look at Ed's dog! He was cute too! He's even smiling at us!



We rode around in the back of Ed's truck and I took some pictures of what will soon be Allie and Cassius' new friends. I think they will like it here! The dog's ran along behind us. Heck I like it here...I think I could definitely live here!



There were these new friends...



and these new friends...



and these ones...



and then I snapped this picture and I thought, "Ack! Is that what Allie will look like one day. Poor baby, she'll only be eating hay and grass! But then I saw her number. Number 72????? Allie is Number 509. Why this must be Allie's great-great-great-great-great-grandmother! Awwwww...she's going to just love it here!



I just know it!

Proud I Am!

Two more votes for McCain/Palin! I am so proud that my voting age children went to the polls! I have been voting since I was 18 years old in every presidential election and many others. It's an important right that we have and we should all let our voice be heard!