As Promised...

It was quite chilly here this morning - a mere 47 degrees...which is 'chilly' if you have been waking to temps in the 60s!! I was VERY tempted to just climb back under the covers when I got home from taking the girls to school. Luke was/is still sound asleep under HIS covers...Kyle is still sound asleep under HIS covers...I felt like it was ONLY fair! However, I remembered that I promised I would update the photos on my blog soon and I did NOT want to let the two of you that read this blog down! :)

Where do I begin?

I am so behind...I don't even have pictures from Christmas Eve or Christmas morning on here...but I think that window of opportunity has closed. I DID promise you pictures of our feathered friends...so I guess I will begin there.

If you remember, we started out with SEVENTY-FIVE feathered friends. They were cute, cute, cute. Notice the careful placement of the word..."WERE". They are no longer cute - they stand as tall as Luke...and weigh more! The number has been whittled down to 13...I think...and we have only two stock shows left next month - Austin and Houston. Hopefully, we can make the sale at one or the other...or BOTH!...it sure would be nice to recoup a little more of our cost.

The first show the girls participated in was the Guadalupe County show back in January. They were soooo excited! It was an odd feeling sitting on the other side of that ring and watching your child do something that you once did -- not with turkeys -- my projects were pigs and sheep. However, the proud momma gene kicked in and before you know I had pictures, pictures, pictures of the girls and their turkeys in the show ring. Both girls placed with their hens and made the sale. We were thankful, because those sales are the BIGGEST way that we can get back some of the "investment" that we have made into the project. These photos can tell the rest of the story for me!

Summer is entering the show ring...with the help of one of our friends...and fellow Cibolo Creek FFA member.

Summer is excited!! Kyla and Dakota enter the show ring.

Sometimes the turkeys were more 'pet' than 'project' to Kyla. I was really worried at how she would handle them being processed, etc. But surprisingly, she isn't the one who has a problem with it...it is Summer. I'm not sure that Summer has eaten any turkey meat and I'm not really sure that she will!

Dakota helps Kyla in the show ring --all smiles.

Summer is ALL smiles...as Jon does all of the 'heavy lifting!'

When picking out the birds the girls were going to bring to the show, Kyle was surprised at just how uniform all of our hens were. He wasn't surprised when Kyla and Summer got 9th and 10th place respectively. We were thankful that they both made the sale!!

Of course, sibling rivalry even spills into the show ring. As she was exiting the ring, instead of being pleased with her 10th place finish and a secure spot in the sale...she mouthed to me, with a VERY disappointed look on her face, "Kyla got NINTH!"

Luke and Kyle -- ready for the auction. We were 'told' to be there at 10am...Summer walked off the auction stage at around 8pm!! Talk about a looooooong day. I'm sooo proud of Luke and sooo thankful for Granny and PopPop's ability to entertain him!

Kyla was waiting her turn at the auction - the kids don't sell their actual projects at the county show...they let them take the projects home and return to another show with them. However, they have gift baskets to give to the bidders instead. I wasn't sure just how BIG the baskets should be. I don't know why I didn't think about the fact that "Bigger is ALWAYS better in Texas!"

Luke was trying to encourage the bidders to bid just a little bit more by waving his hand at them...it didn't work...but he sure looked awfully cute in the process! :)

Please Don't Disown Me!

For all of my friends and family that check this blog from time to time...please don't 'disown' me for waiting sooo long between posts. I am hoping to upload some pictures in the next few days to give you a glimpse into what we have been doing that has kept us busy. I'll give you hint - feathers are involved. So please, keep checking back -- don't write me off just yet. :)