Holler Hoppin!

The babes were on spring break last week.  And I couldn't go far with so much going on here.  So we decided to hang here and do a couple of day adventures.  So the SIL and I took the 4 kids.  And they had so much fun.  We went zip lining one day in Brown County.  Then we went jumping at Sky Jump.

Little Miss found a best friend right away

there was a tepee to camp in

Fritz, our catch man.  He was awesome.

Fritz's wife.  She was our hook up girl. 
And she was lots of fun too.

that's Little Man going across

Little Miss, giggling all the way

Little Mans gear matches his shoes

Our two nephews and their momma.
they don't like getting there pictures taken

these were on the trees where we were zip lining

one of the two ramps you had to walk up to be caught.
that's the SIL


I highly recommend doing this.
I hope you all have a great day!  Take Care..

something different..

Sunday was a relaxing day.  And it was beautiful out. 

 So I grabbed the big girl camera and went walking.

I just took in the sounds: Mr. M in the field, the cattle, the kids laughing and the dogs playing

The smells: fresh dirt,cattle, fresh air, fresh mowed grass

And what was around me.

I just relaxed and took pictures of this or that.

When you pick up a camera, you look at things differently.

Have a great Tuesday!

Cute trouble makers..

We are down to just two very fat and sassy cows to calve.  The bull is happy because they are his lot mates.  Once they calve he will be alone.  And boy does that cause distress for him and I.  He tends to like to press his luck when there are open cows on the other side of that electric fence.

Anyway, we have a few very mischievous babes right now.  They like to hide.  Every morning, late afternoon and at evening feeding is a head count.  And I can usually tell when one has went hiding.  His/her momma will come running from the pasture when she sees me headed that way.  One she knows where he is and two she is engorged with milk!





This little guy kept getting out in the field on the wrong side of the fence and sleeping.
His momma was not happy.

Round bales are a great spot to hide.

Shes watching Mr. M.. because she will go back to hiding when we leave.

Our newest trouble maker. 
Also one that likes to get on the wrong side of the fence.





 

Our girl is only too happy to help move the calves back. 

 Because she gets to rub all over them.

Happy Weekend to Everyone!

The Vansickle's - Part 2

Here are a few more photos of the engagement photos I did for my friends Dave and Beth.  I wish every person I met was as easy to get along with as these two.  What a wonderful world we would live in.  They always have a smile and a nice word to say.  And you can just see the love.  It's like they have been together for many years.  I can't wait to take more photos for them!

And this boy! He's a rock star.  He was so much fun.  How can you not love him..



We learn with the good and bad..

Mr. M and I are not generational farmers.  We started farming when we got married 13 yrs ago.  And we learn as we go.  We are far from perfect, but we love every minute of it.  And especially the livestock part of the farm.  We have learned so many things. 

~how to pull calves
~how to put a chain around a calves neck when pulling without choking it
~how to do and apesiotamy on a heifer
~how to get a momma to take a calf that isn't hers

And these are just a few of the highlights we have learned.

 But what we went through last night takes the cake for now.  Little Miss's heifer was badly, badly bloated.  So bad that I wasn't sure she would survive.  Bloating is a build up of gases in a cows stomach.  And it can be deadly if left untreated.  So Mr. M gave her two tubes of stomach meds we keep for such a case.  And he proceeded to walk her and she was not having it since her belly hurt so badly.  Me not wanting to give our Little Miss news of her heifer dying, called the vet.  Here comes the scarey and oh so cool part.  We cut an old garden hose and stuck one end of it down her throat. Now the tricky part is, one side of the cows throat leads to their stomach and the other side leads to their lungs.  So you don't have much room for error.  Mr. M got the hose in and BAMB! It was like letting the air out of a balloon.  You could hear it coming out of the hose and see her belly deflating.  And the smell was one I have never smelled!  It was the coolest and scariest thing.  Dream is doing much better today.  She's a little groggy and sore, but she should be fine.  Thank goodness!

I love this life and learning all these new things. 

 I love when Mr. M and I are able to do something so amazing. 

 It makes it all worth it. 

 And I wouldn't have it any other way. 

Have a great day!

The Vansickle's-Part 1

I was contacted by a friend to take their engagement photos.  We have known each other since High School and we see them at several of the cattle shows.  When he and his fiancee asked me to do their photos, I didn't hesitate.  They are a great match! I am so excited for them.  This is the first part of the photos we took.  We will be doing another session soon.  Oh and it was 85 that day.  It's never 85 in March!

Congratulations to a great couple and their Little Man! 

Have a great week everyone..

Repairs..

Last summer we had a horrible storm.  With hail the size of golf balls.  And it did LOTS of damage to the house and barns.  The crazy part we were less than a year from having our roof, facia, trim and gutters done.  So it was all taken off and redone.  Next month the siding is getting done.  We are going from gray roof and white siding.  To brown roof and tan siding.  And the hail shredded all the skylights in the barns.  So Mr. M decided to do this part by himself.  And I decided I would clean the barn that day.  Just in case.

There was 8 skylights just on this one barn.  And we had new calves so it needed done badly so they stayed dry.  And the day before we had got a snow. Needless to say I felt much better they were done and he got off that roof.  They had to be replaced with metal because all the new barns the skylights are in the side of the barn.  But that's good, because that means that shouldn't need to be replaced again.

                                                               Have a great weekend!