Little Miss and A Camera

My kids see me taking LOTS of pictures.  We have pictures in every room of our house.  Even the bathroom, pictures of the kids when they were babes getting baths.  I love everthing about pictures.  Both of the kids are in 4-H now.  And both are taking photography.  Last year I decided to get a point and shoot to carry with me.  After many months of research I got a Nikon S9100.  I love everyting about it.  And it even does video.  So After the kids asking to borrow mine all the time, I started looking for the same camera for the babes.  I found them and got Little Man a silver and Little Miss a pink.  Here is why I love my kids taking pictures.  I love seeing what they take.

Have a great Week!

Cuteness everywhere!

Prince the oldest.  He is teaching the kittens how to hunt.

Nap time on one of the 100 degree days.
Keke, Peach and Charcoal.

this is discovery, napping on the feed when it was hot.

discovery hiding from me...

Mrs. E, they love the feed to sleep on.

One of our two Leopard cats.

Mrs. E again.  I couldn't resist.

Smoke, my little baby!

Lola, the smallest of them all.

Keke the trouble maker.

Peach, she's the lap kat who likes her belly rubbed.

We were having a rat/mouse problem.  We went through two 18lb buckets of rat bait in less than a month.  But when you have a 300 plus head hog barn nearby.  Livestock with feed and bedding your going to have some.  So Mr. M and I talked and decided to get a few cats to lower the mouse and bird population.

So we when we went to check on one of our donor cows we asked Mr. Newman if he wanted to get rid of a few.  So we came home with 6.  Sadly our dogs are not friendly to cats and we lost one within a week.  Then we went to get feed our feed lady had 3 cages full.  So we came home with another 6.  And then we got 2 from the vet clinic that needed a home.  And then we lost another to the dogs.  And it wasn't even the outside dogs.  It was one of the house dogs.  The kids have named each and every one.  And they are not so scared of everything in and out of the barn.

It's been a few weeks and everyone is getting along nicely now.  We just have to watch the boxer.  She's too rough with the kittens.  But they come when you rattle the feed scoop to be fed.  They are leaving the barn to investigate the other 3 barns.  And are growing by leaps and bounds.  And the best part is we have noticed a decrease in the mice and birds in the barns.

County Fair 2012

Our Little Miss with her heifer DCC Dream.  There was only two Simmental heifers this year, and our kids were showing them.  Little Miss was excited that she now has a trophy like her brother.  It was a blow and go show this year due to the heat.  And I was okay with that because Mr. M couldn't get off work. 

I would like to let everyone one that Little Man refused to get his photo taken.  After a nice talk with his dad that shouldn't be the case for the rest of his show career.  Now we are preparing for state fair.  And then we will be having our family sale.  Then time to bring in two new heifers for the new show season.  Then we NAILE.  There's never a break, but that's okay.

Summer is flying by!

So many things have been going on lately.  I truly believe my head is spinning.

 Our county fair is over.  It was tons of fun.  Our babes did well with their projects.  Little Man had Blue ribbons in photography and safe shooters. Then 2nd and Reserve Champion Simmental Heifer.  Little Miss had Blue in photography and 1st and Champion Simmental Heifer.  The funny part was they were the only 2 Simmental heifers.  But Little Miss is super excited that she now had a trophy just like her brother.

Mr. M is working 7 days a week now. So there are lots of early mornings and late days.  The heat has been awful. We have been under a burn ban lately.   We have also been trying to keep the waters fresh. All of the grass is quickly dieing off.  We have started supplementing with hay which isn't good come winter.  The heat is also messing with the breeding.  So we leased a bull to clean up.

Now that county fair is over we are keeping the show calves going for our State Fair is which is the first part of August.  Which is when we will be registering for school also.  I can't believe that they kids will be going back to school so soon.

We are weaning the last of the calves.  And going to be starting the sale calves for the family sale in September.  And somewhere in there we are going to put the last of the fence in.  Which will be nice for us and the cattle.

It's crazy busy, but I wouldn't know any other way.  I'm hoping that I can talk Mr. M into going away in December for a family trip.  BUT we will see.  I have several photos and posts that I want to share.  But I truly have been enjoying just hanging with my little people.  I hope you all understand.  I love all of your posts and pictures.  Take Care!

Happy Independence Day

Happy Independence Day From us to all of you!

Fair Time

We are more than half way through our fair.  The weather has been awesome for the kids and animals, until today.  The dairy show is today and it's supposed to be 102!  Tonight we take our cattle in for the beef show tomorrow.  We were supposed to start at 9, but now due to heat we are starting at 8.  Several of the parents are doing things to try and keep the kids hydrated while showing.

I have taken pictures all week for the kids and it's been fun.  I love the expressions on their faces.  And how the parents get so excited about how they think that their child should be doing something different. 

I am excited for our family tomorrow.  Our Little Miss is attending her first county fair.  And that means that all 4 of the Dawson kids will be showing.  Our two are extremely excited!  Their daddy cannot make it due to work.  So I will be taking lots of pictures.

Good luck to everyone in their 4-H projects.  I hope you all have fun and learn something new.

4-H Projects

It's that time of the year again.  Time for lots of heat.  County fairs and state fairs.  And that means 4-H projects.  Some of the kids projects we started last September.  And some of those projects we start in the spring.  And they have poster and projects to make to be judged.

Our cattle project is well underway.  We got the calves in September and have been taken care of daily.  They have been shown, walked and worked with.  To me, this is the kids easy project.  This is the long term project.  It won't end until November.  And these heifers will have calves that build future herds for our kids.  And hopefully help pay for cars and college.

The kids both participated in the photography project.  They have to pick 10 photos and put on a board to be judged.  This one is also near and dear to my heart.  This is something that I love seeing the kids enjoying.  I hand off my camera and off they go.  I love seeing what they take pictures of.  They have such a perspective that an adult doesn't have.  And they are really proud of the photos that they finally chose for their boards.

little mans

little mans

little mans

little mans

little miss

little miss

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little miss

Our little man is also doing shooting sports.  This is a great thing for him because it teaches firearm safety.  He loves to go hunting with his dad.  And this also gets rid of that curiostiy of the unkkown.  He would like to be a DNR officer when he grows.  So we think this will help with that.