Some Autumn Activities~

I haven't taken much for pictures lately - although the fall trees here have been gorgeous!! Maybe I'll venture outside and take some tomorrow if the wind doesn't blow them all to the next county.... Bruce said it is suppose to be super windy! :( We have officially started calving season last sunday. Fuzzy was the first to have her calf. Noticed a cow was missing in the morning on Thursday so I saddled up Blackie to find her! She was way out north with no baby but she wasn't thrilled to see Blackie, me or Emmy. We left and later that evening, we had another new baby. I don't have any pictures to show because neither Mama lets us get very close. Very protective Mamas. Isn't it amazing how God has equipped all of the mothers on this planet to protect their young? I'll see if I can get close enough to get a picture later this week.



I found this picture on my camera that I hadn't erased and thought it was really cool! When Carrie and I were gone to a quilting meeting, Bruce created this house (Fort) for the kids! It even had a carpet inside! Pretty creative!! Papa even hauled it to the shed for all the grandkids to enjoy when they are here.

Notice the entrance to the Fort with a chimney and window!

Here it is - the triticayle! sp

Another picture so you can see how straight the rows are drilled. Good job of planting K-Man and Papa! Notice Blackie in the coral.....

This is Blackie out in the pasture with his good buddy Frankie Donkey! It's the first time that Blackie's been turned out for over 3 months! He sure enjoyed grazing on some sweet grass!! Isn't he pretty????

I hope all my beautiful Grandkids have a wonderful and spooky Halloween - I'm sure they will all be so excited to get dressed up and bring in a ton of candy on sunday! I still have wonderful memories of our boys doing that - it seems like it was only yesterday! Happy Halloween!!

A Bountiful Harvest!!

After Nascar weekend with the grandsons and our boys, Carrie and the kids got to stay in Kansas while Shawn returned home to work. Spending time at the farm included harvesting the indian corn, pumpkins, and sweet potatoes. We all had a lot of fun gathering everything (except for the scratchy vines) and the gator came in real handy to haul everything to the house. Besides normal chores of feeding Blackie and riding him, we found time to go to an old schoolhouse and Cherokee Strip Museum in Alva for some school time. We did some phonics, math, ABC's, and learned history of the schoolhouse and what was expected of the students and teacher. Very Interesting!! Glad I didn't teach back then...... The museum was interesting and had some quite fascinating collections but the kids liked the outside farm equipment the best.

Doing schoolwork at the old desks with slates and chalk.
Mom giving her students a helping hand!

Papa even got to take a few minutes off to learn about the old school. DeeDee had fun too.

Back on the farm, K-Man is using the gator to go pick pumpkins.

DeeDee had a ball outside falling her siblings....

My crop of cowgirls are increasing - K-Sis loves to ride as well as older sis and little peewee sis.

Blackie was really good with them all and looked forward to the feeding crew every morning.

K-Girl would love nothing more than to ride all day and by herself!! Hard to find a pony, but we're looking....

Blackie had to endure a little dressage - some pink vet wrap to help spruce him up. K-Man wasn't thrilled with all the pink when he rode - wonder why???

This is the first year we tried sweet potatoes in the garden. The one K-Man is holding is as big as a football - I think it weighed 9 lbs. We have to cure them for 6-8 weeks so they sweeten as they ripen. Kinda weird but we'll wait! Should be ready for Thanksgiving. :)

Papa and K-Man after washing all the sweet potatoes.

A shot of the kids on the gator after picking the pumpkins and indian corn. Was pretty hot out!

Quite a Bounty! God is good!

Yes, we are hot and ready for a treat after our work in the garden.

Makes me itchy to see us standing amongst the vines.

Great times!! Papa and I are looking forward to a little rest after roofing season. We're taking off to go somewhere! and we can't wait!!

Below is DeeDee driving her horse. We weren't paying attention to her but she ended up finding Bruce's exercise band and she got the desk chair and put behind the horse. Anyway - the display was quite entertaining - Enjoy :-)

Nascar Weekend - WOW!

Nascar was great this weekend, but it was all about the boys!! They are truly such great and devoted fans AND they were very supportive for each other's drivers. The newbies were Shawn, K-man and me! and we were indeed in for a treat! Everyone warned me how loud it would be but until you experience it - you don't really understand!! The seven of us, all Papon boys and Tom and me, met up at the hotel right across from the Royals Stadium. We all got there about the same time. As soon as Shawn and K-Man got there from MN and got their stuff inside, the Fireworks started. It was something else..... A great way to start off our fantastic weekend - with a big BOOM!

We left early after our breakfast at the hotel and parked without any snafu. Eric was our driver and he did great navigating through all that insane traffic. The boys went to the fan walk and Tom and I were the pack mules carrying all our snacks, drinks, coats, etc. Got to see some of the cars qualify as well! The entire trip, the boys played so well together - was great seeing them play football in the parking lot, nascar in the motel, and laughing at breakfast.. They will truly miss each other.

K-Man and Moose discussing the cars.

Moose - the Nascar guru...

K-Man - the Nascar statistician....

in front of the M&M truck...

and in front of Jeff Gordon's truck.

Eric, Bruce, Shawn, and Tom looking on the action!!

Shawn and K-Man at the #24....

Eric and Moose enjoying time together and cheering on Kyle Busch.

The Start! vroom...... (an understatement)

Intros of the drivers and the cars!

I am such a newbie at this sport, I constantly was asking questions to whoever I was setting next to. Sorry Eric, Shawn, Bruce, Tom, K-Man, and Moose. Was a great weekend with mostly beautiful weather - if only the wind wouldn't have blown.