Alone

Yesterday my men took off early for a work day at the State Fairgrounds.  They worked in the bunny barn, fixing the cages.  I had planned all along to stay at home and clean my house. We've been so busy lately that though basic stuff has been getting done, some areas have been seriously neglected....I think I've discovered a new species of "stuff" in my bathtub, and I swear the toilet gunk smiled and waved at me the other morning.

Started off the morning packing lunches and getting them out the door. Ahhh...such peace.  No noise at all.   Turned the music up...MY music...and got busy.  Surprisingly I was done with everything I wanted to accomplish in about 2 hours. WOW!! Amazing what moms can accomplish when we only have to focus on one thing!!
 Ate a quiet lunch. Starting to feel....weird...without my men.  House was quiet, but no longer the enjoyable kind quiet.  Start freaking myself out by the noises our house makes...which I am sure it makes all the time, I just don't usually notice them.
Go outside to see the bunnies. Feed and water everyone.  Spend sickening amount of time on the internet, wash throw rugs, stop scrubbing things when my hands crack and start bleeding from the bleach water......
Overall, it was just what I needed, but was happy to see the men pull in the drive.  They had a great day. D told me they were the only kids there, but he looked over and they were working beside and pretty much keeping up with the other guys there. :-)
So in they came, and the chaos started once again. I missed it.  

Week Two

Here are the babies at 2 weeks old!! Eyes opened about 3 days ago, as did the ears, because the smallest of sounds will cause their ears to stand straight up.   They are slowly "hopping" around, if you call it hopping--they look drunk as they are still very slow and uncoordinated.  I've seen them munch a little on the timothy hay, and they are out of their nest for good now.   They kind of just plop in a big pile now when it's nap time, and it doesn't matter where it is.  Momma Julia is getting pretty annoyed that they can follow her around where ever she is now, trying to get a fast snack, or just pestering her, and she has no way to get away from them.  Hmmm...I can relate!!!!  She is the best mama bunny we have ever seen though!!Anyway, I've also seen them start to groom themselves as well as scratching their ears, which is really comical, because usually this causes them to fall over. It must take a lot of coordination to scratch with one of your legs!!

This next week we will re-vamp our set up so they will have a bigger cage and I'll make sure to add a box in there, so Julia can get up on it and have some peace, until they get big enough to jump up with her.

A Big Day

The Bruckner House has it's very first Best In Show win!! It went to J!

Our show in Dodge was Saturday morning, but potential bad weather had us heading out Friday evening to spend the night in a hotel. We had been looking forward to this show for months. We were not going to let weather stop us!! (Although I must admit staying in a hotel room with *7* bunnies was an experience!)
They  had 2 shows going on at the same time, referred to as Show A and Show B. We showed at both.  For show A J had the best of breed Havana and Californian.  T had the best of breed Mini Rex and Florida white.  (How it works is out of each of the breeds, they pick the best one, and it goes up for the best of show.  They pick the best rabbit out of the best of breeds, and that is the winner of the show).  
The Californian and the Florida white were not in their "game" yesterday, but we were anxious to see how T's Mini Rex, Izzy, would do for Best In Show.  She seemed to really be "on" yesterday.  So the judge is looking over the rabbits, I have my hands draped over the front of T's shoulders. He turns around and whispers, "My heart is about to beat out of my chest--I can't take this!" =) It was darling.
So, the big moment comes and he says "2nd Reserve goes to the Mini Rex!"  We get really excited. T's grinning from ear to ear. I didn't even hear who got 1st runner up.
"Best In Show goes to ......THE HAVANA!!!" says the judge.  "What? That's weird. I thought he said the Havana. J has a Havana up there."  So, I turned and asked the judge..."What got Best In Show?" "The Havana!"  "Is that...?   But that means..!!!...OHHHHHHH MYYYYYY GOOODESSSSSSSSS!!!!!!"

 Jacob, Charlie, and Judge Bell from Tx.

In Show B that same Havana got 1st Runner Up and T's Mini Rex got 2nd Runner Up again. Each of my boys came home  with some money as well as some engraved plates for thier best of breeds!
And I don't think any of us has stopped smiling and J is still flying high in the clouds!!

J also got the Champ for the Jr Showmanship contest.

It was an great day!

Week One

Today the Hotots are one week old!!  They have have fur now and their eyes are still shut.  They should open in the next week.  We do have one sport, which is what we call one that is a "throw back" of one of the breeds used to develop the Hotot.  He's super sweet, and looks more like a kitten than a bun.  We've named him MJ, because he's black AND white...hehe!  We can't show him (her? We don't really know yet.) but are anxious to see what he looks like as he grows. Hopefully he can make someone a great pet bunny!   They all look great, with fat bellys.  Julia has proven so far to be the best mama ever!

Busy!

We've been really busy here at our house, but it's the "good busy" instead of the "frantic busy" if that makes any sense!!
Spring is just around the corner!! I just might survive another long winter!!  I've come to realize I really do have some sort of seasonal depression. *Mom, no comments, please....I know you've known this for awhile now...probably since I was a toddler!*   Anyway, I've felt much better the past few weeks and am LOVING the time change and having time to enjoy the sun after work. 
After my husband attended the garden show in Wichita, he's been on a yard cleaning/purging spree.  The boys and their dad have cleared all the annoying trees and shrubs that were growing by our garage, (I'm thinking of planting an herb garden there.) and are working next on an area on the south side of my house that's been over taken b a couple of bushes. After it's cleared out I am putting a new flower bed there, and have big plans!!

We have a bunny show in Dodge this weekend we are excited about! *I* am taking 2 buns to be shown for the first time EVER so I am excited!! We will be bringing home a baby Castor buck to help T's program next year and his castor doe is being bred at the show, so hopefully he'll get some babies in a month.  5 of our does were bred weekend before last so we are hoping to have plenty of babies the first part of April! 
We are also eagerly anticipating the birth of a calf in April/May and are hoping everything goes smoothly.  Rosie is ENORMOUS, but also was this large for her last calf.  I'm glad we saw her last year, otherwise I'd be thinking she was having more than one.  Anyway, we have a pool going on our family. One for when she'll have the calf, the other for the sex.  Cheap entertainment for us! =)
We never did get Kirby cut, and have decided since he is "leaving" in a couple of months, we'll just leave him intact now. (We tried, but  then discovered it was going to take a tranq gun to get it done. He's as big as his mom now. Lesson learned-get those boys done EARLY.  In our defense, he should have been done way before we even got him.)  Chewy got cut and did great, but was pretty dramatic about the entire thing. They cut him and everyone jumped back real fast, and he just laid there. I thought he was dead.  He wasn't but I guess he thought his life was over, because it took a bit to convince him he really was alive.  He walked off, with his head hanging down to the ground, and taking very delicate steps, but was racing Kirby to the cake the next morning.

I'll take pics of my baby Hotots tomorrow and post them! They are A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E!!!

Friday Surprise!!

Oh my goodness! It's been an exciting day here at our house!

Remember my bunny drama and the buck that won't breed?? I had left the pair together for 3 weeks, hoping for something, but they never were anything other than good friends.   When J was excpecting babies I had brought her in to our "maternity ward" with the other mamas, just in case.  That was 3 weeks ago. She had one more week till I was moving her back out.

Last night I went down to feed her, and she's frantically picking up big pieces of pine shavings in her mouth.  Hmmm.....do you think??.....Naaaa!  I put in a handful of timothy hay and she immediately picks some up and starts building a nest.   Put a nest box in filled with hay and she flicks all the hay out and starts rebuilding outside the box. I try one more time to put her nest in the box and she again takes it, putting it the the corner SHE wants it in. Oh well, I think. She's probably just spazzing over something anyway.

 She's taking the hay OUT of the nest box I put in for her, and doing it HER way, in the corner.  She has a labor plan and it sticking to it!!

Get up at 1:30 to check on her, and she has built an amazing nest in one side of her cage, but no babies.  She's probably having a false pregnancy. That happens sometimes.  Not getting hopes up.

 7am, head down and am greeted with the most amazing nest I have ever seen, filled with soft white fur.  Wow--maybe she IS going to have babies after all!! Oh my goodness!!  I quietly leave, and come back about 30 minutes later, and there are 5 fat beautiful baby Hotots. Mama is doing an amazing job and looks pretty dang proud of herself!!  I thought for sure the extra "chub" she's developed was due to the extra treats I'd been giving her!  Opps.

 Beautiful nest!! Babies are buried down under all that fur, all nice and cozy!!!

 This is just the breath of fresh air we needed after the last heartbreaking baby disaster.  New life is amazing to see, no matter what is comes from!!

And I owe Jasper, the "buck that won't breed", a HUGE apology and a carrot.  ;-)

I'll post pics in a week or so, when they have fur and are cute!

GoodBye Love

Dear Coffee Flavored Haagen-Dazs,


I am writing you this letter to tell you that I must end our affair.

You are truly the only thing on this earth I would consider trading my husband and children for. When my mother introduced us so many years ago, I would have never thought our love affair would still be going strong after all this time.
You are very bad for me. You  make the scale go up and my jeans shrink.  So please, do not call for me as I pass your section in the frozen foods.  Please pretend we never met. I am weak and if you talk to me, I'll probably break down. 
I'll probably stay away until they come out with a sugar free version of you, but honestly, the very thought makes me want to cry. You are too wonderful to be sugar free.  

Someday I hope we can be friends, but right now, its just too painful.

With Love,
Becky

Garden Show

OH MY OH MY OH MY! I can't believe I have waited this long in my life to attend the Wichita Lawn and Garden Show.
We headed up Friday afternoon.  The 4-H photography kids had the opportunity to take pictures after the garden show had closed.   We met up with M and her boys at Texas Roadhouse for some super yummo food and awesome atmosphere.  This was after a long wait, and we were starting to wonder if we were even going to be able to eat there. I was just starting to reluctantly accept the fact that a McDonald's drive through was probably in my near future when our table was ready!!  A funny story about this place: The girls that work there stop what they are doing and line dance. I am assuming they do this frequently throughout the evening. Anyway, I looked over and T's eyes were about to bulge out of his head at the sight of these pretty girls all lined up doing their thang. ;-)  Small town boy in the big city!!  (This was right after seeing a guy with one of those gauge earrings that looked like a saucer stuck in his ear lobe that glowed this weird color. I seriously could have just stayed on that bench for an entire evening and people watched.)
Anyway, finished our meal, ran over to the motel where we traded kids with D, who took the non-4-Hers to see some bunnies at a friends house and out for ice cream.  After finding a parking spot, we trekked over to the Hyatt (10 BLOCKS!...ok ok, only 2 but it felt like 10 for those of us in a hurry, herding children, that are "challenged" in the leg length department! HAHA) for a couple of classes before going out on the floor to take pictures. I am really glad I got to go to these, because even though these little classes were for the kids, *I* learned SO much about my camera!!! I am super excited and can't wait to try some of this stuff out!
As I walked into the garden show, it was like a drunk walking into a liquor store. I couldn't think, I couldn't talk, I could only take in this heaven that was surely made just for me!   Plants, rocks, fountains...OH MY. *drool*

The kids got to take pictures for an hour.  J got a couple of really nice pictures, out of about 25.  This is mainly because he got tired and a bit overwhelmed (lots of people walking into shots, flashes going off messing up pictures, people waiting behind you waiting for you to finish so they can take pics....)  so he wasn't even trying to set them up correctly and kept durking with the settings of the camera.  He's happy with the couple of good ones that he got though, and learned a lot.
And D came home fired up and ready to take on our  yard!! I should have made him go about 5 years ago!  hehe
If you ever have the opportunity to go to the garden show, GO!! And take a trailer! ;-)
My sister came along with us, and Saturday we searched the mall high and low looking for the perfect prom dress! Finally find one!  I was happy for some quality sister time. (Even though I got called "her mom" by 2 cashiers. She got offended, but I think *I* am the one that should be the most offended!)  We had frozen lattes for breakfast, Subway for lunch, and bought flip flips in almost every color!! A fun girly day.  Back to the people watching part, we saw this girl who...no joke at all...was wearing shorts so short, the majority of her butt cheeks were hanging..err...oozing out the bottom.  I couldn't stop staring. Maybe that was what she was after, but I really just wanted to grab something and cover it up. GACK! I don't really have a problem with short shorts, but when your leg openings are way ABOVE  your crotch area, they could be TOO short.

And I just realized how OLD I just sounded in my last sentence. Oh well. =)

Goth Calf

Isn't this calf adoreable??  She isn't one of ours. She belongs to the guy that uses one of my mom and dads pastures for his cattle. She was born last year.
Every time I see her I have to smile. She looks like a rebellious teenager going through the black hair dye/black lipstick faze you see on some of the kids these days....and I am hoping MY children never go through!

The Farm

I made this little slide show to show my family some of the pictures I have of the farm. Some of older. Some I just took today.  Be sure to check out J's lack of teeth in a lot of them! hehe




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