Oh, Please, Not Again!

MRSA has reared its ugly head again in our house!! MRSA is a staph infection that is amune to antibiotics. Before you start saying that we are totally unclean, think of what a doctor told us...even if you burned down your house and all your belongings, you would still have staph somewhere on your body! The MRSA strain is most staph is these days.  Part of the reason we have MRSA today is the over use of antibiotics. Staph has always been around, it's just that now, the over use of antibiotics have made strep something tough to get rid of because of staph's amunity to the antibotics used today.

My husband has been getting it every two months since he cut his arm open with a chain saw last September. He is suppose to be using a special soap every time he showers but I found out while we were on vacation that he was not using his soap every shower! Only about twice a week!

So when we came back from vacation, he got another MRSA spot! This one was in the beauty spot--right on his BUTT!! He couldn't hardly sit down! I told him it served him right for not doing what the doctor said! (Just like a MAN!!) He went to the doctor and got his round of antibiotics. His spot is draining and is looking good, now!

The other day I had noticed a small pimple on Hamp's leg when I was changing him. He had some fire ant bites from an ant hill he got next to at a neighbors house so Hubby and I assumed that the spot was just a fire ant bite.

**For those of you who don't have fire ants, they are insect's revenge on humans! Once you step on their hill or just get near it, you can be covered in tiny bites before you can say Adam Ant! The next morning, you will have a puss pocket (pimple) where the ant bit you.**

Well I drained it one night and the next morning it was back! It also had a fever in it and it really hurt him when you touched it. I knew then that it was MRSA!

I quickly called the doctor and got in that day. I knew what she was going to have to do--stick the sore to get a puss sample. So while I, Knox, and the nurse held down Hamp, Dr. Stroud stuck and mashed out enough puss for a sample. I hate doing this, but some things just have to be done! I know from having MRSA myself just how painful it is and it makes me cry for him but I know that it's for his own health that we do this!

The doctor put Hamp on a general antibiotic that would cover MRSA and any other infection that the sore might be. She didn't want to wait on the sample to come back before starting the antibiotics.

Well the big story now has been getting the meds in Hamp. We barely got two doses in him the first day. While Hubby and I were trying to get the meds in him the first night, we realized that the antibiotics smelled. When I smelled, I mean smelled--like Mr. Poopie smell! It was awful!

The next morning I went to the Pharmacy and talked to the Pharmacist and asked if we could add a flavor to make the medicine taste and smell better. He said we could but with this antibiotic the flavoring only made it smell and taste worse. So we came up with putting the medicine in his juice and giving it to him. Now we're having no problems with Hamp taking his meds!

Poor guy is still hurting but the spot is getting better. He is also running on and off a low grade fever (99). We've been giving him Motrin and Tylenol for the fever and pain. Hopefully we caught it early enough that we won't have to lance the MRSA. I don't even want to think about that one!!

But please remember that we are not dirty and are not contagious! We just have a little evil friend that likes to hang out in our body systems! Sometimes I feel like people think we are leopards.  I wish we could totally get rid of this thing! But others that have fought the MRSA battle say it will be over a year or more before we can say good-bye to our evil little friend--MRSA!!

Little Dancing Monster

There is a Little Monster that keeps showing up in my house!  He's almost 3 feet high and keeps getting all my clothes that have cleaned and folded.  He even is getting the dirty clothes out of the hamper!  He walks around with these clothes on his head!  When music starts playing, the Little Monster starts dancing with the clothes on his head! 

Oh, yes it is a little boy named Hampton who has become the Little Dancing Monster!

Hamp has this thing of putting all types of clothes and towels on his head and walking around.  If there is music playing, he will start dancing with the clothes on his head. 

So the other night, he was walking around with Hubby's work shirt on his head.  Big brother Knox thought it would be funny to see what he looked like wearing Hubby's work shirt.

After brother put the shirt on Hamp, he started dancing for us!

Hamp loves to show his moves off...only if there's music playing!

But when it stops...

He's lost!  You can see just how cute he is with Daddy's work shirt on!  By the way the shirt IS clean...Hubby just works in grease and oil all day, and it just doesn't all come out in the wash! 

But little Hamp doesn't care, he likes to wear and dance in Hubby's work shirt!  It makes him become a cute Little Dancing Monster!

New Rooster(s)

Thursday we went to the chicken sale at the local livestock barn.  As I had stated before, we lost our rooster recently.  So this trip to the chicken sale was to get a new rooster.  As Knox said, we need a rooster to roost on the chickens so we can have eggs!

When we got to the sale, we went out back to check out the chickens that were still available.  We found a Rhode Island Red rooster that didn't seem to skidish and decided that this was the rooster that we wanted to bid on. 

Hubby also spyed something that he wanted!  He found a crate that was filled with 9 baby quail!  Baby quail...why do you have baby quail?  I don't know, but Hubby had quail when he was a kid.  I have heard this story every time he sees quail at the chicken sale or we see quail statues or pictures.  He has been relentless about these quail stories.   So he turns to me and says, "Let's get some quail!"

What I am suppose to say?  The quail are just looking at me with these big, sad eyes.  I couldn't tell the quail no, now could I?  So I told Hubby we could try to get a few to take home.

So we took our seats and waited for the auctioneer to get to our lot.  While we waited, Hamp decided to check out what everybody else had already bought.

Hamp found a rabbit.

Then he found some chickens.

And he couldn't resist petting a little rooster!

As the bidding got to our lots, we were able to get our Rhode Island Red rooster and a hen. 

Then came the quail.  Hubby only wanted a few, but the auctioneer was auctioning the whole lot!  Meaning we would have to buy all 9 quail if we wanted any.  So guess what, we now have 9 baby quail!

Stay tuned and I'll keep you up to date as to what we end up doing with our quail!  It was a fun night that we got to spend as a family.  It just don't get any better than this!!

A Day of Reflection...

Today I took the boys for a road trip today!  We went up the road to meet an old friend of mine, Jennifer, who was down to see her parents.  It was such a great visit with a wonderful lunch!

I loved reminiscing with Jennifer about old friends and times we spent at music camps.  We got to catch up with all the Mommy stories we have missed over the years and of course traded birth adventures.  Jennifer had to hear my crazy second pregnancy first hand!

What was great too was the chance for our kids to get to play with each other!  They really had a good time together even though none of them were the same age!  Her kids are 8 and 3 while mine are 10 and 17 months.

There was one thing that stuck out in my mind and the reason I wrote this post.  As the kids were playing while we were catching up, Knox found some puzzles that he and Jennifer's oldest started playing with.  When they finished that, Knox found pieces of a wood train car on a table in the sun room the kids were in.  He started putting it together.  I was afraid that he was into something that he shouldn't be in and told Jennifer's mom that if he didn't need to be doing that just tell him no.  I told her he is always building things and could probably put it together.  She let him go for it!

While Jennifer and I went with the other kids to another room, her mom came through and said that Knox had sent her to get sandpaper!  I said she could just tell him no, but she said he knew what he was doing!

A little later, we came in the room Knox was working.  Knox was looking for something to fix the train with.  Jennifer's dad came in and looked at the train with Knox and then the two of them left to get a part for the train.  They came back and Knox fixed the train so that it was finished!

I told Jennifer and her parents that Knox learned how to work with tools by being around his Granddaddy's and his Daddy.  Knox has always been in the shop since he was old enough to hold a hammer.  My Daddy taught him how to use most of the tools in the shop, and trust me, he still uses them!

It really made me sad to see him working with Jennifer's dad and to think that he didn't have a Grandaddy any more to do little projects like this with him.  Doing them with Moma and Daddy is not the same!  There is just something about a little boy and his Grandaddy working on a project that is so special.  I am so glad that Knox had those times with his Granddaddy's that hopefully he will remember. 

But it breaks my heart that Hamp will never have those special memories...

Both my Daddy and Hubby's Daddy had both passed away before Hamp's birth.  Nothing breaks my heart more than the fact that Hamp will never know his Granddaddy's!  My Granddaddy's and Hubby's Grandaddy were such special people in both our lives growing up.  I tares my heart out that Hamp will never have these special memories!  He will never know the bond between a grandchild and grandfather.  He still has his Grandmothers but they just are not Grandaddys!

And seeing Knox with Jennifer's dad today just brought that home to me again....

Egg Carton Maker

The other weekend we went to a tractor show about a hour from the house.  We got a late start and so we got there late because we were awaken by a little boy's projectile vomiting!  Turned out that once he got it all out, he was fine!  But it caused us to not be able to take our tractor, so we just loaded ourselves, the kiddos and the toy tractors and headed to Franklin.

I found a really neat item walking around.

This is an egg carton maker.  You'll notice a handle in the upper right hand corner of the picture.  The handle brings down the bar on the top that looks like a big comb. 

The "teeth" make the individual pockets in the cardboard that hold the eggs.  I just thought this was really cool!  I would have loved to have it!  Hubby and I had never seen one before and we were just fascinated with it!

I just wanted to share this cool thing from the past!

The Chicken Cam...

If you have been following you know about our problems we've had lately with our chickens.  Click here. And here.  Well, I checked the Chicken Cam that we borrowed from the neighbor to put see if we could figure out who or what was getting the laying hens eggs.  Now we haven't had any eggs get gone since the cam has been up.  So I wasn't surprised that I didn't get anything stealing eggs, but I was surprised with the habits of the hens.

I noticed that the hens are always moving around between 2 and 3 am.

The laying hen is the black hen in the middle coup.  The hens on the left are our new hens that aren't old enough to lay yet.

I noticed that they start getting up around 5 or 6 am and are all gone by 8 am every morning except for Moma hen.

I also noticed that there was a BIG animal that came in every day, sometimes twice a day, to check on Moma hen.

This BIG animal was my Knox!  I caught a picture of him or Hubby every day!  Poor Moma hen!  I think she'd just like one day where somebody didn't come and move her off her eggs to see if they are still there!

Like I said, nothing has gotten any of the new eggs Moma hen is sitting on.  So the Chicken Cam is still up and going!  Maybe we'll get a picture of the eggs hatching!  Stay tuned...

Grandmoma's Rocking Chair

When my oldest (Knox) was a year old, my grandmother--Granny Mom, ask my Daddy to re-paint an old child's rocking chair.  I remembered the rocking chair being in her house all of my life but didn't really know the story behind it.

Daddy told me that this was my mother's rocking chair when she was a little girl.  Granny Mom and Poppa (my mother's parents) had bought the rocking chair for my mother when she was a baby. 

I was helping Daddy with it when I noticed that at the rocking chair's top posts they were not completely round anymore.  One side, the back side, was flat.  Daddy wasn't sure what happened but later my mother told me what had happened to the back posts. 

When she was little, it scared her to sit in the rocking chair.  So she would turn the rocking chair upside down and drag it every where she went.  She would somehow sit in the little rocking chair upside down until she got to big for it!

I used it when I was little, Knox used it and now Hamp has discovered the little rocking chair...

Granny Mom and Poppa would be so tickled!

My heart is always heavy that his Granddaddy's don't get to watch him enjoy the little old rocking chair.

Hamp tells me that they all are watching him play with his little old rocking chair!  He has a room full of angels rocking with him!!

Do You Have a License to Drive That?

Hubby comes running in the house the other day saying, "Get out here and see what your oldest son is doing!"  So I grab the baby and head to the door.  "Grab the camera when you come!," yells Hubby.

When I get outside, this is what I saw...

Hubby's skidder being driven by someone other than Hubby...

My oldest "baby"--Knox!

Knox has been working with Hubby the past week.  Hubby needed him to drive the skidder to the lower pasture while he drove the work truck.

Hubby then felt Knox could drive the dozer too.  He got to push the tree limbs into the pit.

When he brought the skidder back to the shop....

He was really concentrating!!

Hubby and I are really proud of him!  But it makes me realize that my "baby" is growing up...

The Bookworms

Our house is full of tractor books.  Hubby loves his tractor books and looks at them over and over.  Hamp has gotten into trouble for getting into Hubby's books.  So he loves getting the chance to look at Hubby's books with him.

The other day, Hubby came in the house when it got really hot to siesta until it got a little cooler.  Hamp had pulled a book off the shelf, so Hubby decided to read a section of the book.  While he was reading Hamp climbed on the couch and started reading with Daddy!

Hamp started telling his Daddy what parts he wanted to read...

It's great to see that he is loving books!  We don't read to him as much as we need to, but he loves to pull out books to look at and will bring them to us for us to read to him.  Hubby is hoping Hamp is going to be another "tractor lover" in the family!  What do you think??

Little Farmer

Hamp is a Daddy's boy!  Yes, I am admitting it!  A full, fledge Daddy's boy.  Whatever Daddy is doing Hamp has to be there. 

So when we came back from vacation, the corn had to be plowed.  So Hubby went and got on the Super A to start plowing the corn field.  Well, Hamp had a fit!  He started running to the field yelling, "Da-Da, Da-Da"!  I got Hubby's attention and Hamp got in Hubby's lap to help with the plowing.

Hubby called me over to the field.  I didn't know why, but it soon became clear...

Well, Hamp didn't last too long...

Hamp might make a farmer one day, but today he was just too tired to care!  He still is a cute little farmer though!!

I Won, I Won...

I won! I won! I won! I won! I won!

I won a Georgia Grown Gift Basket from All Home Cooking. All Year Long.! 

 Give Michelle a look!  She has some really great recipes that will make your mouth water!  There is something here for everyone and every taste!

Can you tell I'm excited!!  I'll post a picture when it gets in! 

Cinema On Sage

For the last three summers, our town has been hosting a really great program.  It's called Cinema On Sage.  They put up a 40 foot screen in the middle of Sage Street just in front of the Historic Courthouse and show movies under the stars.  It's a great family movie night out!

We really love them!  They usually have games or other types of fun activites before it gets dark enough for the movie to start.

Last week we headed downtown to watch "Cloudy with the Chance of Meatballs".  None of us had seen the movie, so we were all looking forward to it especially since Knox begged to have spegatti before we went!

It had been hot all day.  Then, as it was time to go, the sky looked like it was going to be a problem.  So we started watching the radar real close!  It started to sprinkle, but the storm we were tracking on radar just brushed by!

The decision was made to start the movie because it looked like we could get the movie in before any more storms came.  There was a good size crowd, not as large as they usually are...the rain kind of scared off some folks.  So they started the movie.

Every thing looked great until we started to get to the end of the movie.  We started seeing lightning.  At first we thought it was cloud to cloud heat lightning, but it soon became apparent that it was another storm.  And when we pulled out the radar, we saw that we weren't going to be able to see the end of the movie!

So just before the ending, they stopped the movie and asked everybody to head home before the storm got any worse!

Now my family and I are hopelessly hung out on a limb!  We are ready to see the ending of "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs".  We'll just have to rent it!

Well the rain didn't keep us from having a great time downtown and we can't wait to enjoy the next Cinema on Sage!

The Chicken Drama Continues....

We have lost our rooster, a laying hen and a young hen.  We're not sure what got them, put they are no where to be found!  It's quite around here with the rooster...

Knox has been out two or three times looking for the chickens.  He especially has been looking for Mr. Bojangles, our rooster.  Bojangles was not a big rooster but a pretty friendly rooster that watched over his hens.

Knox came in from one of his hunts looking kind of sad.  I asked what was wrong.  He said, "I can't understand what happened to Mr. Bojangles."

"Well, son, something got him and the other chickens," I stated.

"I know, but how or the hens going to roost now."

"What did you say?" I questioned, not sure I heard him just right.

"You know, how are the hens going to roost," Knox said.

I am doing everything I can to not laugh out loud or try to act like I was laughing.  I thought I understood what he was talking about but I had to make sure.

I asked, "What do you mean?"

"Moma, you know how Mr. Bojangles always roosted on the hens.  That was how the hens layed their eggs.  Now we're not going to have any eggs!"

Well it looks like Mr. Bojangles not only helped the hens with their eggs, he taught Knox about the birds and the bees!  Goes to show you that kids raised in the country don't live sheltered lives!!

Meeting Mr. Poopy

Every parent has had it happen...diaper blow-out, a.k.a...the meeting of Mr. Poopy!  Whether they want to admit it or not, its happened.  Luckily we have not had too many with Hamp (yet!) but the other day was a call for all hands on deck!

Hubby and I were sleeping in--which is really kind of rare for us.  Knox and Hamp were up in the den watching TV and playing with their toys.  As Hubby and I lay in a dazed slumber we were shot out of bed by Knox yelling and gagging!  Before we can find out what's going on, Knox is coming in our bedroom holding Hamp by the arms and gagging all the way!

It became apparent that Mr. Poopy had made an unexpected appearance!  Hamp had not been able to stop Mr. Poopy!  Mr. Poopy had found his way out of the diaper and onto the recliner, Hamp's legs, and Knox's hair!

So the only thing left to do was to divide and conquer Mr. Poopy's arrival!  I took Hamp and quickly put him in the shower before Mr. Poopy ended up all over the house.  Hubby and Knox went into the den to see if Mr. Poopy could be evicted from the recliner!

After some persuasion and work, Mr. Poopy was ejected from our house.  It caused the big guns to be brought out this time!  We now know that all our prepreration for Mr. Poopy's arivial had not been in vain and that we are going to be prepared for his next arrivial!

** Thanks to Melodramomma for the Mr. Poopy idea!

My Poor Chickens...

As I have said before, I love having chickens!  We have five laying hens, five hens getting ready to lay, and a cute little rooster.  We have learned that if we let them "free range", we don't have to worry about fireants or slugs or ground spiders as well as they help cut down on mosquitoes. 

So every day we let our chicken out to "clean" our yard.  When it gets dark, we feed and water them and then lock them up in their hen house.  We have had trouble with black snakes getting the hen's eggs.  The Critter Cam has yet to find the snake, but either have we had any eggs missing.

Today our chickens faced another problem...stray dogs!

I had seen these two dogs early and had run them off.  At the time I ran them off, they were not bothering the chickens.  Later, Hubby goes out and runs them off again. 

A few minutes later, Hubby goes running out the front door!  I'm in the bathroom when Knox comes in and says the Hubby needs the gun!  So I gather up the gun and head out the door!

I find Hubby has grabbed both dogs and slung them off one of our hens.  We tried chasing the dogs down, but when Hubby slung the two dogs off the poor hen, he must have scared them pretty badly because we couldn't find them.  I tweeted and Facebooked that we were fixing to have a dog killing!

I think the dogs read it!

If Hubby had not looked out the window when he did, we would be one less chicken!  One of the dogs had the hen in his mouth and they had pulled out all her tail feathers trying to catch her!  We found most of the feathers in front of the hen house!

The poor hen was give out when we found her.  She ran for her life! And the heat did not help!

As you can tell the poor thing lost all her tail feathers!  Hopefully it won't be too long before she grows them back.  She seemed ok except for a spot on her tail...

It's hard to see, but she has a small hole from one of the dogs teeth.  She was not bleeding which was a great sign! 

Let's just hope the dogs don't come back!  We don't want to kill anything, but we still want to keep our chickens safe without having to keep them penned up all day! 

If we pen them up, they won't be able to stop our fireants and other insects.  Besides, these chickens have become our pets!  I am highly allergic to pet dander so having a dog or cat is out of the question.  So these chickens have become our "dogs and cats".  They are great pets that we really do love having around.  They greet us every time we come out of the house and every time we come back in the car.

We're like moma hens when it comes to our chickens!  Just like others are about their pets, we are about our chickens.  So if you dogs are reading this, bring your ID the next time you come so that your owners can be notified!!

 

Huggies Baby Wipe Coupon

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A Great Way to Spend a Hot Day

The other Sunday, it was almost 100 degrees.  We decided it was time to go cool off!  So we loaded up the kids, packed a cooler, fixed some lunch and off we went!

We headed to our favorite cool spot.  A place in the Chattahoochee National Forest in Rabun County.  A beautiful spot on a dirt road...

Sliding Rock on Wildcat Creek!

This is a natural rock formation that has made a great slide for kids and adults.  My boys love this place, especially Knox! 

Most people sit down to slide down these rocks, but not my crew!  We came one weekend and saw some guys standing up as they slid down the rocks.  Hubby decided that he was going to do the same thing.  So Crazy Hubby learned how to go down on his feet!  (Hubby thinks he is still 18!)  Since Hubby could go down on his feet, my oldest thought he had to learn too!

So now every time we come to Wildcat Creek, Knox has to come down on those tough feet!  This time was no different!

This was going to be Hamp's first time going down the slide.  But God decided it was not time to get in.  Just after we took this picture, it started to thunder and lightning.

So we loaded back up and headed toward home.  We decided to stop at a local park and eat.  The park had a wonderful playground and the boys had a blast! 

All in all it was a great day!

Look What Hubby Found!

Summer is the time when all the creepy crawlies come out!

Such is the case at our house.

Look what Hubby found at the shed when we came home from our vacation!  I heard him outside taking the Cub Cadet off the trailer.  The next thing I heard was him running in the house, taking his clothes off as he ran!  I was finally able to get out of him that he had gotten into yellow jacket's nest!

We looked out the window and saw the yellow jackets swarming around the nest!  They had made a black cloud over their nest!  You could tell they were ticked off!!!

Once it got dark, Hubby went out with the old gas and tore into nest...

This nest was huge!!  It had to have been there for a couple of years.  It's a wonder and a blessing that none of us (especially the boys!) had gotten into the nest before now!  Where it was is right next to the house and where we walk by quite often!  We were all over this area when we were loading up for our trip!  I'm just happy that Hubby found it and not the boys--I don't enjoy ER visits!

This is the hole that the honeycombs were in...

Notice all the dead yellow jackets!  Ain't it a wonderful site!!

What can I say...As a Dawg fan (University of Georgia, for those of you that do not know what a Dawg fan is), it's in my blood to hate Yellow Jackets!!

I'll keep you informed of any other creepy crawlies!

Is That *@%??

This morning I woke up and made muffins and a few biscuits for the boys breakfast.  Knox got his and ate them up before I knew it!

I got Hamp and me a muffin and biscuit.  I put Hamp up in his seat while I sat down next to him and we started eating our breakfast.  I noticed that his hands were covered in what I thought was brownie from the night before. 

I made homemade brownies the night before that all the boys devoured!  I had noticed that there were still brownie crumbs on the floor this morning so I just thought that Hamp had gotten hold of those crumbs and that was what was all over his hands.

So I go and get a wipe to clean off his hands before he starts eating.  Then Hamp and I start breakfast.  Hamp starts getting out of his seat--his sign that he's done.  As he lifts his leg, I notice it!  He has a dirty diaper!  There's poop all over the diaper!

OMG!!  I realized that what I thought was brownie, was not brownie--well, it was last night!!

These are the times we live for as parents....

A Funny Memory...

My friend Laura at Baby Bunkins had a great post this week about her son going to his first movie.  It got me thinking...

I wanted to share this memory of my son Knox...

When Knox was 5 years old, he was a train nutt!  He loved everything about trains.  The movie The Polar Express was being released that Christmas and Hubby and I were wanting to take Knox to see it.  We had done two or three Polar Express Christmas Trains in the Christmas' before the movie came out and the Polar Express was a favorite book of Knox's to read at Christmas time.

He had never been to a new movie in a theater before so we weren't sure how he would do.  As we got our popcorn and frozen cokes, we headed to our seats.  Knox was so excited.  I didn't think he was going to sit still for the whole movie, but he started to settle down in Hubby's lap.

As the movie got started, Knox was captivated!!  He couldn't take his eyes off the screen.  He moved from Hubby's lap, to his seat, to my lap.  It was getting toward the end of the movie when I started to feel something warm on my leg.  Now Knox is still in my lap.  I start to notice that the warm is also wet and it's coming from Knox!

I whisper in Knox's ear, "Do you need to go to the bathroom?"

"No.  I already went in my pants, Mommy!"

We sat there until the movie was over--because there was no use to leave now!  We just rode home with wet pants and remembered how great the movie was!!

Thanks, Laura for joggin' the old memory banks!

Eggs are Disappearing....

Something is getting our chicken eggs!!!  Yes, something that we cannot figure out yet!

We have a hen that is trying to set on some eggs--she has got the Mommy itch!  She started with seven eggs--now she has none!  She just started sitting on one egg today.  She has been so lost with all her eggs gone.

Our neighbor has one of those critter cams that captures pictures of things that move in front of the camera.  It's like having a 24 hours surveillance on our chickens.  We think its a black snake, but we're hoping that the camera will tell us for sure. 

Now Hubby and I hate the idea of killing our black snakes.  They are the "good" snakes.  They keep the rats down and (best of all) they kill all the poinous snakes in their terriorty!  Ever since we have kept black snakes around our house, we haven't seen a cooperhead or any other poinsous snake!  With the boys running around in and out of the woods, I feel better knowing that there are no poinous snakes around.

But if we have a black snack that is liking the taste of my chicken's eggs, he's got to go!!  It makes me sad but we got to do, what we got to do!

Now what if the Critter Cam finds out that it's something or someone else, I wonder what we are going to do!  What if we find the out it's a raccoon or wessel or even the human beast, I'm not sure what we're going to do...  We'll just cross that bridge when we have to.

Stay tuned...I'll keep you informed if we catch anything on the Critter Cam!

The Petal Tractor Pull!!

Ever since tractors have been invented, tractor pulls, where men and women pull a sled to see who has the most horsepower in their tractor, have been around.  The kiddos love watching the "big boys and girls" pull and want to pull their own tractors.  So started the Kiddie Petal Tractor Pulls...

There is always a Kiddie Petal Tractor Pull when we are at the Southeastern Old Thresher's Reunion.  For years, Knox always participated and usually did very well.  So when we asked him if he wanted to participate this year, this was his response..."Moma, my legs are just too long for the tractor this year.  So I will have to stop winning and let somebody else win!"

How sweet and thougthful!  I was a little sad that my "baby" won't be doing the petal tractor pull.  It means that he is growing up!!  Where have the years gone....

But Hubby and I decided to go watch the petal tractor pull any way!  When we got there we meet up with our friends Sheri and Scott and their twins Shelton and Silas.  Shelton and Silas just love Hamp and had to play with him while they were waiting for their turn on the track.  It's so cute that they called Hamp "their" baby all week!

Sheri had to play with Hamp too!

Silas and Sheldon did a great job but just got edged out by a few inches!  They may have not won but had the best cheering section as well as being the best dressed petal drivers!

Now the last couple years, they have added a new catagory to the Petal Tractor Pulls.  They have added a new adult categories!  Yes, Adult Petal Tractor Pulls!  My Hubby and Scott both had signed up for the Men's Petal Tractor Pull.  For men it is a ego thing--something we girls know too well! 

They both talked me and Sheri into the Women's Petal Tractor Pull.  Now I was not really crazy about the idea and niether was Sheri, but we thought, what the heck--let's just make a fool our selves!

So I went first...

I couldn't believe it--a full pull!!  No way!!

Then it was Sheri's turn...

Not quite a full pull, but a good one none the less!!

We stood around laughing at how goofy we looked doing the Petal Pull and how we were going to put the pictures of us on Facebook.  Then we got the news that I had to pull again!  I was tied for 1st place with another lady who had also done a full pull!  No way--I was tied for first place!!

So I pulled again...

And believe it or not....

I WON!!  Yep, I won!  No way!!  I won two adult tickets to the Christmas Train at the Denton Farm Park!

Now lets not forget the big boys!  They were ready to pull.  Hubby and Scott wanted to prove something now that Sheri and I had done so good!

Hubby went first...

He started complaining about hard it was...and yes, Sheri and I started laughing and making fun of him!  He finished his pull--about average.

Next it was Scott's turn...

A full pull...until we realized he cheated!  He knocked the Petal Tractor out of gear so that it made it easy to petal!!  Just what big boys do to satify the ego!

But we all had a great time!!

More Than Just Tractors...The Reid Plantion

The Reid Plantation is one of the greatest treasures of the Southeastern Old Thresher's Reunion!  It is a "living" plantation during the Reunion with daily demonstrations on the workings of a plantation.  All the buildings in the Reid Plantation were built before the Civil War and most are held together with wooden peg not metal nails!

The main house is two story with a front and back porch.  When the front and back door are open, there is a wonderful cool breeze that helps to cool the house in the summer heat.  The house is filled with antiques that are for sale during the Thresher's Reunion and this gives you get a since of how the house might have been set up.

This is the slave kitchen.  It was common for pre-Civil War homes to have detached kitchens.  This cut down the chance of the house to burn down if the kitchen caught of fire.  Remember they didn't have fire trucks back then!

During the Reunion a group of women cook breakfast, dinner,and supper on this open fireplace.  They cook everything from pinto beans to cakes using cast iron pots.

Just outside the kitchen is the well house.  This is a favorite for the kids because they love to roll up and down the water pail!

Yes, this is a cotton gin!  Notice the "tread mill" on the left side of the gin.  It is where the horses are put and "walk" to make the gin work.  This is the first tread mill!   The fluffy white stuff is the ginned cotton.  They use this to spin thread on the back porch of the house.

This is a Threshing Barn.  How is works is the wheat is cut and placed on the second floor of the barn.  Notice where the horse is being lead from.  That is a ramp that allows horses on the second floor.  Once on the second floor, the horses are walked around and around.  The floor has small cracks that allow the seed head to fall to the second floor.

Once here on the first floor, the wheat is collected and bagged.  The sheath stalks are gathered and baled for winter hay. 

You can purchase handmade brooms at the Plantation.  This couple (husband was on a break) come every year and make the best brooms!

The blacksmith shop is the one place my "crew" loves to stay and watch.  These men work here in the blacksmith shop during the Reunion.  One of the things that is fascinating to watch is when they repair or make wood spoke wheels!

The Reid Plantation is a step back in time!  It was originally built by Richmond Reid's family and slave labor in 1840 and completed in 1850 according to state archives.  The original plantation had 700 acres.  The plantation stayed in the family until it was dismantled and moved to the Denton Farm Park in 1988-1989. 

It is wonderful to have this living history for our children to remember and see how much life has changed the last 200 years here in America!