7am and Oh Deer!

At 7am this foggy morning this is what we saw from our front porch...

Mind you all we saw were bucks! I counted 8 all together.

It seems our Does and fawns decided to go else where this morning...I wonder why?

This was taken about 9am while going down the driveway, aren't they beautiful?

Our little "Cowboy"

Our little "Cowboy" at 8am this morning watching Cartoons!!

He loves this hat, can you tell (grin)! I couldn't resist as he had no clue what I was up to until the flash went off...

Clueless to the camera...

Uh Oh he is no longer clueless and is grimacing! Thinking about how he can handle Momma and the camera....think, think, think!

Well Umph! Guess that takes care of me and my camera! LOL...he knows how to handle his Momma...Bye-Bye!

Photo Challenge ~ Signs~

This week the photo challenge is Signs!

You can check out the Challenge blog here to see exactly what type of signs we are supposed to photograph!

Below are a few that I found...

How many people actually read this sign and still park next to it? I've seen what a bb can do to a truck, I sure as heck wouldn't want to try out a baseball!!

Anyone want to rent a tire?

Ahh anyone having suction problems, talk to Tom he can help you!! LOL...

Yep you read it correctly, Shop Naked and Save!! I dare you!!

Warning: This is not for the faint hearted!

We have Feral HOGS!

They are very destructive and we do everything in our power to keep them off the property. It doesn't always work out like we want it too and if you don't like seeing dead animals then stop reading right NOW!!

SOME FAST FACTS AS OF 2006 regarding Feral Hogs:

STATES WITH FERAL HOGS: 39, plus 4 Canadian provinces.

TEXAS COUNTIES with Feral Hogs, 225 out of 254 counties.

HOG POULATION IN TEXAS; 2,000,000 (MILLION)+!

NATIONAL POPULATION is estimated at around 4,000,000.

ESTIMATED ANNUAL AG DAMAGE from feral swine $52 MILLION!

LANDOWNER ANNUAL EXPENSE to control feral swine $7 MILLION

NATURAL LIFE EXPECTANCY OF A FERAL SWINE IS 6 to 8 years.

AVERAGE SIZE of feral swine is 100 to 150 pounds, but depending on the region can obtain sizes in excess of 600 lbs.

REPRODUCTION OF FERAL SWINE: Once a sow reaches breeding age at 7 or 8 months of age they can be responsible for 1,000 plus feral swine in a 5 year period. The State of Texas had an estimated population of around 2 MILLION at last check.( If 1/4 are breeding sows!? )

http://www.texasboars.com/articles/facts.html

Last year in one night we had a 2 acre field completely destroyed by Hogs!

It's a pain in the rear and I hate the destruction they do, we are NOT rich and can't afford to be constantly fixing and reseeding these fields. So we borrow Hog traps from my Father in Law and try to trap them. If any are caught we take them and sell them.

Sometimes it doesn't always work out like you would like and the Hogs die in the traps. It's Hot and it's South Texas and if they are in the traps to long they won't live. Not something I like but one less Hog tearing up our property is fine by me!!

Michael and I went down today to check the traps. I forgot to check them yesterday, Oops!

But we finally caught a Hog...He is a boar and probably about 150lbs...bye bye Mr. Boar, next time stay off our land!!

This evening we will take him out of the trap so the vulures and other critters can clean him up...believe me he won't go to waste! I asked Fred if he wanted dinner before or after moving the hog, lol...he's going to try before, brave boy!! Lets see if tosses his cookies, yikes!!

At least I'll have a photo opportunity for photos of scavengers this weekend!! Yippee!!

A wonderful day at the park

We went to the park after storytime and I am so glad. The children had a blast playing and I enjoyed some photo therapy and visiting.

This is part of the gang! We missed Penny and her grandchildren today!

Look at all those beautiful smiles!! Well kind of sorta of...Jordan what are you doing, you are supposed to be smiling not drinking!! There is always one in the bunch, lol!!

I just love the tubes at the park they make excellant frames!! Michael, Ashley and Kaden had soo much fun today! I am so proud of these 3, they've come so far and are growing up!!

Yes I had my photo model today!! Oh how I love taking photos of Jordan!! Today he was being silly and it was just too funny!! Thank you Jordan for the laughs! Jordan starts football soon and was picked to play for the oilers, Yea!! He also had his photo on the front page of the local papers sport section....Good job Jordan!!

Yes I was playing with the bees again...can't help myself!

Here is Kaden, Ashley and Michael tackling Jordan!! Jordan took a lot of abuse today from these three...but they had fun!!

There are more photos at my flickr site. We had a good day! And have a date for the park next week and I can't wait!

We are starting a new chapter in our lives...

The end of our storytime chapter...

I am not sure when we started going to the libraries storytime, at least 2 yrs ago, but we've come a long way since that first time. We started at the toddler time and then moved up to the preschool time and Michael has come so far...From clinging to me and not participating, to today running into the library and back to the storytime area without me...and then going in when it was time by himself with his best buddie Kaden! And actually participating in the songs and conversations!! I have watched my little M.A.N. grow up and I am so PROUD of him!

Today was our last storytime. Next week they do the end of summer program and then no more storytimes until after school starts...And Michael starts Kindergarten all day all week long..sigh! I'm going to miss my buddy!

We made so many friends and had so many good times at the library! I hope to keep in touch with everyone and yes we will still go to the library for our books just not sure when or I will going during the day while Michael is in school...

Michael (being silly), Ms. Claire and Kaden!

Ms. Claire means the world to these two boys, they love her! She is so attentive and full of energy and you can see the love for the children in her eyes!! Thank you Ms. Claire for all you have done, you are a wonderful person!

Okay it seems as though the sillies have come out and the true colors too!! LOL....

Front row and listening intently, best buddies!! It has been so much fun watching Kaden and Michael grow together. They were drawn to each other out of all the kids and have been friends since...I hope we can continue that friendship, even with School starting for one of them...We are going to miss you Kaden!! Because of Kaden being born the first week of Sept. he is ineligible to attend Kindergarten this year! The cut off date is August 31st. Not fair in my opinion at all as he is more mature than Michael at times...I think someone needs to get on the ball in our state and change some rules and laws...ridiculous!! But on with the show...

Ms. Claire talking with the children before Ms. Felisha comes into to do the storytime session!

Here is Ms. Felisha reading a book. It was also her last day doing storytime, she has been promoted. Congrats! Ms. Felisha.

And of course lets not forget Ms. Jessica! She is taking a break behind the desk today but she also does storytime sessions.

Thank you ladies for all the wonderful times! We truly enjoyed it!!

And there is one more person we don't want to forget and that is Ms. Fallon (pardon me if I didn't spell it right, I apologize). Ms. Fallon was a clerk at the front desk and Michael adores her...in fact he says she is his girlfriend (grin)...Thank you Fallon for being so sweet and good natured with Michael's infatuation!! Hugs to you Ma'am!

So another chapter begins in our lives...We are looking forward to it and hope you watch it unfold with us...

Busy Day!

We started fairly early today and headed out at 7am...

I had to run over to the Dodge Dealership to have a trailer brake controller put in the "Beast"! Seems I can't hook the lights up on the flatbed trailer now without a brake controller...The trailer brakes lock up, grrr...Just another dooHicky in the truck to contend with...Oh and Michael doesn't like me calling the truck "Beast" so he has named it "Grover", ugh!! Can any of you seeing Fred driving a truck called "Grover", lol!! Anyways we were there for about 1.5 hrs and I had taken the camera bag so you can just guess what we did for a bit...took photos!! Michael saw his reflection in our truck (only clean vehicle on the lot, no joke either) and decided to take his own photo!

LOL...and you can see me in his reflection photo taking a photo of him! Silly Boy!!

We then headed over to Kelly's Mother house to spend time with Kelly and the boys! She was visiting her Mother for the week and Michael enjoyed himself playing with Colby and Zac! Of course I had a bit of fun with the camera and enjoyed chatting with Kelly too...another adult to talk too!! LOL...

Sean is such a sweetie! He was ready for a nap but I got a smile out of him!

Water hose fun!

Wow something new to figure out!

Pool time too!!

It was an early day but we did manage a nap so not to bad of a day if you ask me!! Now hopefully I will sleep tonight, Ekkk