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.

Our new Trailer ~

I've been dreaming of a camper for a long time - like forever - and guess what - DREAMS really do come true..... My husband and I found a trailer in Alva for about half price - we were very patient and waited and the price came down. I offered a price, and he took it ! Our second oldest grandson - Moose - said it was way cooler than a house :) .. This is the picture of the rig at the Winfield Lake. We were so glad Little Buggy and Eric got to come down on our maiden voyage to try her out!! After a series of OPS checks - Eric only found that the shower head was cracked so I'll be purchasing a new one!! Boy did we make a big list of NEEDS for the trailer and what to keep in it. We sent Eric to town to get a TV since our oldie wouldn't work. Its really nice now. Sure helps when you have someone (Eric) who understands all these electronics.

Our rig before we headed back home.




Thanks hubby for our new toy! He really enjoyed it too.

Buggy enjoying a little snack.

She really loved the lake and it was way warmer than Salt Plains.

A really beautiful sandy beach to enjoy.

Everytime Buggy saw a boat she called it a fishin' boat ~

After bathtime, a little coloring was in order with a popcorn snack.

The Lake and campsite.

Buggy enjoying playing outside under our awning.

A little time to relax and enjoy the beautiful day.

Papa and Eric enjoying the camper and snacks. I'm not sure where we are off to next time but maybe over by Grandpa's where we can stay at that lake and check on Bernie also. Will be a fun addition for the whole family.

Labor Day Activities Galore!!

This year our Labor Day week was full of fun filled activities. None of it required tons of work but loads of fun!! I'd say one of the biggest hits was the Gator. Usually if I'd look at the window it was going somewhere. Another big hit was our new travel trailer. I didn't take tons of pictures of it but the kids had fun watching a movie in it while having snacks. Papa gave airplane rides on about the only wind free day we had! Most of the time it was like hurricane winds with heat!! One day we took the travel trailer to the Salt Plains Lake for a trial run to see how it would work. It passed with flying colors. The shower outside on the trailer was awesome to get sand off and the air conditioner sure was nice on a hot day. We also enjoyed digging salt crystals at the salt plains. Eric and Shawn use to go there for field trips when they were in school. It is quite interesting really!! We went to the lake and had fun in the COLD water!! We were actually quite surprised at the temp of the water!! Weird!!

On top of the fun, Carrie and I froze apples, put up applesauce, made apple butter, 3 pies, and dehydrated apples. Pies didn't last long at all. We sent a box of apples home with Theresa and also Carrie. I'm sure all the apples will be great this winter. I know Theresa has had her crockpots busy making apple butter too. We even had time to celebrate my 60th birthday which was a total surprise and also had family pictures taken here at the farm. I thought they turned out really good!!

I forgot to mention K-Girls big achievement!! We went out to Aunt Colette's to ride since Blackie is getting tuned up out there! She rode for the first time all by herself!! Wow, big achievement! and I rode on Babe next to her! Was fun seeing her smile and enjoying the same things I grew up doing!!

K-Girl and Sherman

Shawn and K-Man working on a wetland at the lake!!

Carrie and the girls at the spillway at the same lake.

Salt Plains after digging the salt crystals.

In the camper.

My birthday party! ;)

Konnor and Papa after adding his footprint to the concrete at Artie's hangar.

Konnor's first hunting trip = looking for doves!!

Our little man on the Gator's jumpseat!!

Eric and Theresa after picking more apples!!

Katie loved the Gator too!

Moose getting in on the action pulling apples off the tree. Emmy's waiting on one to fall so she can have a healthy snack!!

You guessed it - on the Gator again! We start them driving very young here on the farm....

and the video is of Konnor getting his footprints in the concrete where all of the other K-counsins handprints and footprints are!! Very special time!