Camping

Steven, Lathan and I took a break from the madness and went camping with some family a couple weekends ago. We went over to Sugar Bay in Land Between The Lakes or LBL as we call it around these here parts.

We only stayed Saturday night and most all day Sunday but the boys had a ball. I wish we could have stayed a bit longer but our schedules wouldn't allow that. Steven had a game early Saturday morning so we couldn't go Friday night. Trent couldn't go because he had to fix a couple tractors and do some much needed clean up in the fields from the ice storm we had a few months ago. I hope we can take all the boys sometime soon and stay for a few days. I miss camping with the boys. It has been several years since we've been. This was also the first time Lathan has been and don't think he didn't let everyone he saw know that..lol.

We had a big time sitting around the fire and doing some night fishing. Steven caught his first catfish ever and boy was it a catch. It weighed in at 7.1 lbs. He was so excited he even talked about having it stuffed and mounted...Sorry son, but I have a better idea of how to enjoy that big 'ole fish...heehee. yummy yummy.

Steven sure was on a roll with the fish. This is a nice size bass he caught too. He caught several while we were there but these were the biggest. I caught a couple but none of them were worth mentioning compared to the ones he got.

Lathan usually could care less about swimming. He's more of an in and out kind of swimmer. Not to mention I'm not a huge fan of swimming in the lake, so I didn't think too much about packing swimsuits for the boys. Lathan doesn't even like wearing shorts very much so he pretty well stays in his Wrangler's and boots all the time. My lil' redneck, gotta love it. But when we got down to the boat ramp and he saw all the other kids swimming he wanted to too. So he stripped off those boots and Wrangler's down to his Batman boxer briefs and away he went. I was surprised he stayed in the water as long as he did. He had a ball.

This is where I was most of Sunday, I had the sunburn to prove it.



Here is another shot I took while the kids were swimming and we adults were relaxing...errr I mean fishing..heehee.

It was a beautiful weekend to go, I am so glad the storms gave us a break long enough.

If you would like to check out more on Land Between the Lakes, go to LBL.org

Ice Storm Photos

An ice storm hit us January 26Th and 27Th. We were without power for the 10 days following. Not to mention cell phone service was out for the first several days. There were over 170,000 homes in Kentucky alone that were affected. There are still thousands of homes across the state without power. Power crews from other states came to Kentucky to work around the clock to help get utilities back on for us.

This one is looking down our driveway to the road. We had already moved several large limbs from the drive before I took this.

If you look closely in this shot you can see the slide from the boys swing set. These are trees that were so heavy from the ice they were bent over the swing-set. Luckily they didn't break and completely fall on the set. The boys are happy it survived.

Another shot down our drive.





The top of a tree in our front yard. Several large limbs had broken off.

This is a shot right out my front door. The limbs that had fallen from the tree above.

A shot of the tree-line and pasture.

The next few shots were just me playing around.

Trent's tractor...

Bird in on a limb.

My statues...

Red berries on a tree. I thought they were so pretty. I couldn't get much closer to them to get a better shot because limbs were falling all around me. I was afraid to get under the trees next to it to get a better shot.

Ice on the limbs with a bird house in the back ground.

Ice on the gate.

Ice on a Cedar Tree.

The ice and snow are now gone and the clean up has begun. It really does look like a war zone out there. But we are counting our blessing because it could have been much worse.

Keep the families who are still without power in your prayers.

~Monica~

Study Time

I've been spending the majority of my time reading and studying lately. Well, that's if I can pull myself away from FaceBook long enough. In the time since my last post I've completed 2 more sections in my Interior Decorator course.." Principles of Color" and "Decorating with Fabric'' as well as completing two more photography classes at HP.com. One on camera composition and the other on photographing babies in the first year. It's true that I'm past the baby stage in my Mommy career, but I thought it would be a good class to take for information only. I have a friend who will soon be having a baby and Trent's brother and sister-in-Law are expecting sometime next Fall. I'm hoping to be able to "borrow" a baby.

Taking the photography classes on Hp.com has only fueled my passion for Photography. On top of taking the classes I've finished reading a book on the subject and now looking for the next book to start reading. All of this activity has lead me to enroll for the Photography course with the same school I'm taking my Interior Decorator through. At the moment I'm waiting on the final enrollment paper work so I can get started.

I can't even begin to explain how excited I am to start this course. I may never become a professional photographer or even a paid amateur. And you know, that doesn't matter so much to me. I just want to take great photos of my family.

Another reason I am taking the class is Lathan will be starting Kindergarten in the Fall. He is the last of the "litter" so to speak. All four boys will be in school. Which will leave me home alone all day to enjoy peace and quiet, get all the things done in one day that I never could before with little ones running around, and to ultimately become completely and utterly bored out of my mind.....you get the idea.

So just consider this post a warning that you will soon be flooded with pictures on top of pictures of my trying to become a better photographer... Nothing to share as of yet. I still have to complete one more class at Hp.com before I will allow myself to post any new pics. This class is on Photoshop Elements..heehee. And Trent told me I had to finish the painting in the house before I can go out spending my day taking pictures. LOL I guess he's probably right. I'm getting pretty tired of seeing the paint cans in the laundry room too.

Well...that's about all the babbling I'll put you through for now. Until next time stay warm and keep those creative juices flowin'

~Monica~

Playing with a Christmas Gift.

The boys and I gave Trent a Game Trail camera for Christmas. For those of you who don't know what they are..they are used for hunting. You attach it to a tree in the area you plan to hunt to see what kind of activity is going on. Check it out more at Cabela's .



Trent put the camera out here on the farm just to check it out and see what we could get. He placed it in an area where he know deer usually travel through. Unfortunately we haven't gotten pictures of any deer yet. What we have gotten are a bunch of shots of nothing, I guess the wind or rain would trigger the motion sensor. We've also gotten several shots of dogs, ours and others from the area. Also the occasional rabbit and what we think is a raccoon. (it was kinda hard to make out) But this one shot is by far my favorite of all that we've gotten so far. If only he had been turned facing the camera.

That has got to be the biggest fox I have ever seen. I think I am more excited about this shot than Trent is..heehee.

We moved the camera the other day to an area where we believe the deer bed down. My fingers are crossed we get some good shots. If we do I will be sharing those for sure.

Who knows, we may get a shot of BigFoot...LOL

Thanks for stopping by to take a peek into my life.

~Monica~

Ya learn something new everyday!!

I'm taking free online Photography classes at HP.com. I just completed the first class. Now I am on to my second course "Camera composition: change your perspective".

I just wanted to share and pass on the information just in case someone may want to join me in these classes.

Monica