Happy Easter

I hope everyone had a beautiful Easter holiday. I feel so blessed to have had my family with me the whole weekend.  My little J Bird is growing up so quickly and I relish every little moment with her.  Her personality is completely showing in this pic.  She is not as easy to photograph anymore.  She either wants to be super serious or this is what I get.  I'll take it either way as she has always been my muse.  Much Love!
~Rosie

Show Bunnies

Today's post is written by my nine year old daughter, Jordan (aka J Bird.)

Hi, I'm J Bird and I'm going to teach you how to take care of your rabbits. When you first persuade your parents to buy you a pet rabbit or sign you up for 4H or FFA, you will need to know how to take care of them.  Here's what I've learned.

Housing
Your rabbits cage is called a hutch and it's where your rabbits will live and grow.  So, you need to learn how to keep your hutch clean to keep the bunnies healthy and free of hutch stains.  To clean the hutch, simply take out your rabbits and make sure they are in a clean and safe place while you clean their home.  Use water and disinfectant to wash any dirt, pee stains, or poo off the cage using a brush. Make sure it's dry before returning the bunnies to their home.

We have two large labradors and they were very curious about the rabbits. So, my parents bought a fence at Lowe's to keep them away from the cage.

When it was cold, we place a few towels over their cage to protect from the wind.  One day it was warmer than usual, so we placed a frozen water bottle in their cage.  Bunnies do not do well in hot temperatures.

Feeding

I used Purina Show Rabbit Chow and used a large 20 ounce cup to fill their feeder once a day or as often as I needed to keep it full. Our goal was to get each bunny to a weight of 3 pounds for the livestock show.

I filled the water bottle when it was low.

Bunnies

Bunnies are good at keeping themselves clean.  They constantly clean themselves and each other. (They also think they make great pillows for each other.)  

Valentine is soooooooooooooooooooooo cute when she's cleaning her ears.

To prepare for the livestock show, I studied with my rabbits using flashcards, books and youtube videos. Thanks to my friend, Reagan, I was able to get an idea of what to expect at the show.  So, a shout out to her for helping me.

I had to learn the parts of the rabbit and the picture below shows a rabbit hock.  The judge looks at the hocks and front paws to make sure there are no hutch stains and no sore hocks.

We purchased a simple kitchen scale to keep track of each rabbit's weight. Our goal was 3 pounds.  Although, our bunnies didn't make that goal, I still qualified to show them.

This is Joy.  Isn't she adorable?

I also had to learn to carry my rabbit properly. My parents taught me how to carry it like a football. You have to support their hocks and sometimes covering their eyes calms them down.

The Livestock Show

I attended the South Texas Agricultural Roundup (S.T.A.R) and participated in both the rabbit show and in rabbit showmanship.

Here I am waiting for the judging to begin.

Then, the judge comes to check all three of my rabbits.  He goes down the line until he finishes all participants.  Boy, was I scared.  He had a very intense look.

 A few hours later, I had to go back with one rabbit for rabbit showmanship. This is where they judge on how you interact with the rabbit and how well you can answer the judge's questions.

Here, I am waiting for the judging to begin. This is sooooo boring.

Here I just finished showing my rabbit to the judge and am talking to some other participants about the judge's questions. We had to wait again for the judge to call up people to break ties.  I didn't get called up and that worried me.  These two girls got called back to the judge.

 
Finally, the judge announced the results starting with 5th place.  I was confused when they said "Champion Rabbit Showman for 2015 is number 8", but then they brought me the buckle and I was so thrilled.

 It was a great experience for me.  I had to say goodbye to Valentine, Joy and Elvis, though. Sadly, they had to go.  I still have Cream Puff who was the biggest of all my rabbits, but still smaller then most of the other show rabbits.

Thanks for reading.  Cream Puff and J Bird signing off.

Senior 2015 Grad

I don't remember being this photogenic when I was a senior.  As a matter of fact, I have never liked being in front of the camera.  I prefer to stay behind it.  My first senior shoot of 2015 turned out to be more than I expected.  There are so many beautiful shots from hanging out with Jessica that I honestly didn't know where to start.  I know she is probably anxious for a sneak peek, so here are a few faves of mine.  

Bunnies | Day One

So the day finally arrived.  J Bird received the bunnies she has been so excited about for months. They have grown quite a bit since we saw them 5 days ago.  My hope is to have J Bird blog about her experience here on my site.  I will take the photos, but I want her to share what she is learning and what her new responsibilities include.  Bunnies are cute, but they do need care.  She will be showing them in about 3 weeks, so we will be practicing her showmanship skills, as well. We'll keep you posted.  With two large, curious dogs running around, we are going to need some serious good luck.

Cupid

My sweet little cupid.  She gives me a very short window to shoot her now-a-days.  So, it's point and click as fast as I can.  I was able to order her classmate valentine cards and they will arrive just in time for the card exchange.  I love Valentine's Day. Don't you?

Time to refresh

I haven't posted in so long, but I think I will be posting very soon.  JBird will be raising rabbits for an upcoming FFA show.  I will be learning along with her and her excitement has definitely sparked my desire to post again.  I hope to blog the whole experience from the moment we receive the rabbits until show time.  I'll want her to contribute, as well.  In the meantime, here is a little refreshing eye candy from Chasing J Bird Photography.

Our very own Navy Boy!

A couple of weeks ago, I traveled to the Chicago area to see my youngest brother graduate from Navy Bootcamp.  Not only were we so proud of him, but we were eager to see his transformation from civilian to sailor. Needless to say, the anticipation at the ceremony right before the doors of the hangar/auditorium were opened to let in all the graduating recruits was a ridiculous thing.  I was really good about holding back the tears...until...they opened those huge garage type doors. Seeing those sailors standing there, perfectly lined up in their sailor blues, well... I simply lost it. The families in attendance went nuts at that moment.  Can you believe that I don't have one good photo of this?  I was too busy blubbering and making my sister blubber, as well.  I tried to shoot off a few shots as they marched in, but they were all a huge fail.  They all ended up blurry from trying to balance on my tiptoes (yes, I'm short) and from trying to hold in my embarrassing crying fit, but I finally got it together.

Division 136. All these boys looked alike to me.  Fortunately, because of his height, we were able to find him in the very back of his division sticking out above many of the others.  Don't they look neat? There they are between all of those heads.  Did I mention I am short?

The stripes indicate he is now a Fireman and he was so proud of his Sharpshooter pin. Notice the fuzz on his arm from his girlfriend's sweater.  We were so happy she was able to make the trip with us.

My parents couldn't have been more proud.

Brother and Sis...Awwwwww.

And I think no one was more excited to see this sailor than his sweet girlfriend.  

I'm so glad I made it and was able to get a few pics of this milestone.  Go Navy!