Rich Wins Award

I'm proud to announce that Rich has received an award at an awards banquet held on Saturday, November 7, 2009, for a C.P.R. Save on a Shawnee Heights Fire Department call that he arrived to on-scene earlier this year. I thought I would put up the initial posting hoping that he will fill in the details later as he is modest and probably let the world know that I married a hero. Congratulations Babe - you are my hero too.

I try not to think about the dangers of your job or the stre

ss and skill it takes to save a life but just know that I do think about those things and how much it means to me that you do what you do for others.... and that is what I'm proud of.

Here's a photo of us at the banquet. I love my handsome guy in a uniform. And, yes, that is an actual Kansas sunset that evening (looking out the window - lake reflection) and not just a painting on the wall.

Trick or Treat

Grant, Nate & Spidey (Harlan)!

Dog & Beth - Bounty Hunters (The Oettings)

The Moore's

You should have seen the tats

Momdusa & Harlan

Ally Fisher & Shelby

The Fishers

Sheriff Daddy & Shelby

Time has flown

I know that's no news to anyone else. But I was just looking a couple nights ago and realized just how long it's been since we posted. Shame on us. Lot's of activity on this end. I will try to put it all in a short story for you. Versus a novel. Here we go.

We'll start with Harlan. He is now five years old. He in in kindergarten. He is loving school. Gets to ride the school bus like a big boy. He is a very good big brother. We are very lucky he is that way with Shelby. He started playing soccer this year. He seems to be liking it pretty well. Neither I nor Karen know much of anything about it outside the fact that there is a black and white ball, a couple goals and 6 little boys running around kicking said ball. It's just fun for me to watch him run up and down the field. Saturday he scored two goals! Every once in a while you have to remind him to stop trying to talk and worry about playing ball. It doesn't take him very long to make a new buddy despite how shy he may seem on the surface.

Moving on to Shelby. She is growing up very fast. Expanding her vocabulary a little more everyday. She has 'no' down. And pretty much knows how to use it. She came up with her first ear infection of the fall week before last. So her pediatrician lined us up with an ENT doc. Long story short she goes in tomorrow morning to get ear tubes put in. I know that it's a relatively common procedure these days. But still. I'm sure that she will come through it just fine. She is not going to like not getting her milk first thing in the morning like she's used to. My bet is she will be quite the bear.

We have a regular little egg factory out back. We are averaging around 10 eggs a day. I have already sold a couple dozen at work. Not trying to make a bunch of money. But we can't give them away. That would make us look like pushovers. But all the reviews I have gotten back have been good. The hogs are coming along fine. One goes to slaughter next week. The other two go the first Monday of November. I am definitely looking forward to tasting that pork.
Well, there you have it. Hopefully the next posting won't be so far down the road.

Shelby's Dandelion

I must add this cute photo of Shelby. She was all dressed up and nowhere to go this day. She was pointing at all the flowers and I didn't know what words she was trying to say but her sweet voice would go up and down as if she knew exactly what she was talking about.

She giggled when mommy picked up this dandelion and blew the seeds in the wind.

I just love this photo of her in pretty outfit and curly blonde hair. My beautiful princess.

Watermelon Heads

Here is Harlan and his cousin, Mikey. The first photo was taken last summer and the second photo was taken this year. I love the comparison and to see how much they have grown and both are a little more tan, I might add. They seem to be growing out of their baby faces a little. Mikey didn't really want to finish his watermelon but he hung in there for a few photos taken by Auntie Karen. Harlan and Mikey had a great time again this year. They played in the pool, treehouse and Mikey and Aunt Janet were here for the annual 4th of July Watson BBQ party. We really miss them around but I'm hoping this will be an annual visit...especially around 4th of July time. Hopefully, more family and friends will be able to join us next year.

Shelby Kate's 1st Birthday

Shelby's 1st birthday was a beautiful Saturday evening with balloons, cake with bright pink icing, lots of kids & families and great fun. Shelby really enjoyed her very own cupcake and Muddle, our kitten, ate every last bit of pieces that fell to the floor. I didn't know kittens loved icing.  Thanks to all near and far that helped Shelby celebrate her first year of her life.  The little diva loves all of her pretty little dresses and her wardrobe is complete for the summer for sure!

She is walking now and her first 2 words were "thank you" and "uh-oh." She says da-da now too but no ma-ma yet. She doesn't have to say it, she sends telepathic messages to me... or is that crying message until I pick her up.  Yes, she is still rotten and wants to be held by mama. I have tried to not carry her around but I get a little monkey that hangs on my leg or I trip over her because she is always by my side... I mean always! I have to sneak in house just to go to the bathroom when I get home from work so I can be in there by myself.  Oh, the joys to be so loved.

I had to share these pictures. Big brother is always so good to his sissy and watches out for her often. He gets a sweeet high voice when he talks to her and usually says "watcha doin girl!" in that high voice.

We have another party coming up for those that will be in the area on the 4th of July. Come out and shoot fireworks, bring your family and enjoy some food and fun at the annual Watson 4th of July. Here is a sneak peak of the country bumpkins ready to celebrate!

New life on the farm

Easter weekend saw an influx of new life on the 'farm'. At least we can use that word now that we have more than just a cat and dog.

Friday evening we brought home our chickens. I wanted Road Island Red's, but due to some logistical issues at the feed store, all they had was a straight run batch (mixture of male/female birds). We only wanted pullets for laying eggs. So we chose Buff Orpingtons. They are a heritage breed brought over from England way back when. We brought home 20 of them. The theory is that not all will survive to adulthood.

Next weekend we will go get our hogs. We are going to raise 3 feeder hogs this year. They are Duroc/Hampshire cross. One is for us, one is to trade for beef with my Fire Chief. He raises Angus cattle. I hadn't planned on three initially, but a couple guys at work asked if I would raise one for them to split. So......

And last but not least, Mommy got a new kitten. Sharon, the kids daycare provider's cat had kittens. I new that Karen wanted another one. I had let her know that I wanted one of the females early on. But she couldn't let Karen in on it. The whole time, Karen was working on me to convince me to get one. But I wasn't letting on to her about my plans. So last Thursday, we brought Muddle (name picked by Karen) home. So far Daisy, the older cat, hasn't quite warmed up to her. Give her time I think. Either she will or she won't but at least when Muddle gets a little older, she will be able to hold her own. This is the first time since Karen and I have been together that we've had a cat with a color other than all or almost all gray.

So, it's going to be a busy Spring getting up to speed on all the animals, especially the chickens and hogs. I have to admit on the chickens I didn't do all the homework I could or should have. I had my mind set on the red's. When we had to choose another breed, it was a last minute pick. So once we had them home I did a little Googling on the ones we chose. The biggest thing that we took note of was the potential egg production from these birds. On the average each chicken will lay 2-3 eggs per week. If only 15 chickens live to start egg production, we could be looking at around 35 eggs per week. The information I had on the Reds indicated that if we wanted a dozen eggs/week, we would want 15 birds. So there you have it. After looking at the potential number of eggs from these birds, we figured that we wouldn't have much problem selling fresh eggs to people at work.

We will keep you up to date on the animals and life here on the farm.