More 4-H

Jackson loves animals.

Especially ones on the end of a rope.

That let him "lead" them around.

Or tie them up.

"C'mon goat!"

(we need to work on that...)

She's All Grown Up!

For awhile now, Isabelle has been asking for a haircut.

Her daddy has been saying: "No, no no!  I like your long hair."
Her mommy has been thinking: "Oh, how easy short hair would be..."

And she asked again. and again. and again.

Her daddy said: "Fine."
Her mommy thought: "Oh no! I like your long hair!"  "It'll never be the same!"  And then her mommy remembered that she was going to Kindergarten in the fall, and she'd have to do her hair every morning.

So we asked: "How short do you want your hair?" And she replied: "Short.  Like Megan's."
And we measured.  She had enough to donate to locks of love.
We washed, combed and took lots of before pictures:

Left

Right

 

Back

 

Front

 

I divided it into two ponytails,

cut, cut, cut!

Bingo!

 

Two ponytails ready to donate.

 

Because the back looked like this,

We went here:

 

and Peyton's mommy fixed her right up!

 

We all love the way it looks -

It matches her personality!



Our little princess has gone to spend the week at my parents.  We miss her goofy little self at home- but I'm sure she's eating up all the one on one attention she's getting!



Creek

It was so flippin' hot here last week; the kids talked me into taking them down to our creek.

And I've regretted it every day since.

What's the big deal?  Gator ride through the field, as far as I could make it go into the weeds, traipse through the thicket, down the ravine- with a HEAVY two year old on my back - mind you.

Just to sit on a rock

with a camera that is too steamed over to get any decent pictures.

Because if you know me, you know I'm not getting in the water unless I can see the bottom.

And after Ruby and Sammy had a turn, you could no longer see the bottom.

The kids got cooled off, and thought I was the best mom ever.  For the rest of the evening anyway.

All I got was mosquito bites.  On my butt.  Wrong day to wear a skirt.

Fresh Blueberry Pie

Fresh Blueberry Pie

Ingredients:

1 quart blueberries
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Paste:
1/4 cup cold water
5 Tablespoons flour
pinch of salt

1 small container cool whip


Directions:

Make and bake your favorite pie crust.  I have directions for my favorite here.

Stir together paste and set aside.

In a saucepan, boil 1 cup of blueberries with sugar and water until blueberries have "popped". Stir frequently.  Add paste and bring to a boil stirring well.

Let cool.  Add remaining blueberries and lemon juice.

Pour into pie crust and refrigerate.  Put entire container of cool whip on top before serving.

*This is Ryan's favorite dessert.  We've ate two since Friday.
*Store in the refrigerator.

Pierced!

Since Elizabeth got pierced earrings for her birthday, we headed to Clarie's at the mall on Saturday morning to get her ears pierced!

After picking out little "diamonds" she was all smiles ...

Right,

Left!

The mall was busy but Elizabeth and our friends were very nice as I dragged them from one shoe store to another and back to the first one...

A yummy lunch at Panera Bread, a quick stop to say "Hi" to a special friend, a mad dash into Goodwill (no luck) and then back home in time for chores:

All done!

Elizabeth is doing a great job keeping them clean, and they are not red or swollen.

Isabelle asked me when she could have hers done.

oh my.

Twelve

Some how we went from this:

And this:

To this:

in a heartbeat.

I got this for her from Red Letter Words.  I'm smitten with all the great stuff they have!

Tonight we had her requested birthday dinner - Beef Ribeyes, new red potatoes and corn on the cob.  For dessert, she wanted a marble cake, and we decided to put pudding in-between the layers.  It was really good.

Elizabeth has a friend sleeping over tonight.  She has the basement all set up for a perfect slumber party- lounge chairs, recorded movies, nail polish, pickles, chips, popcorn and peanut m&m's...

And tomorrow? We are headed into town for a girls day.  Lunch at Panera Bread, and ear piercing at Claire's!

THE 4-H FAIR.

all caps, period.
The kids had a blast, but I'm exhausted!

Monday afternoon was the chicken show.

Watching Jackson play with his loader was the most exciting part of the show.  Except for when that chicken got loose...


Tuesday morning we were up bright and early for the beef show.  Elizabeth and William both had dairy feeder beef, first couple classes of the day.

Elizabeth's class was first, she's on the far right.  In last place, not first.

William was really nervous- It was good he could watch Elizabeth before his turn.

They both placed in the bottom of their classes, but did an excellent job showing.

It's a parental requirement for our kids to participate in showmanship.  Unfortunately, showmanship classes are at the end of the show instead of the beginning.


Ryan gave the kids a few pointers while the older kids were participating in showmanship.

To me, this is what 4-H is all about; the judge took time with each of the kids, asking them questions about their animal.  Giving them suggestions to become better showman.

I did get a little teary eyed when he was talking to them.

We went home for a quick refresher before we headed back for the Dairy Show!

I have no idea how many dairy cows we took, but they were in almost every class, and sometimes, both of them were in the ring at the same time.  Elizabeth is 006, and William? double oh seven. (Would have been even more fun if he knew who James Bond was...)

Ryan is on the Dairy committee- He gets to stand in the ring and help the 4-her's with their animals.  Except when he gets distracted by the people in the audience.

The kids did great.  More importantly, they had so, so much fun.

I think Jackson may have had the most fun...

This is William's "Mama Brown Swiss" cow.  She won first place in the Brown Swiss category.  William was over the moon with excitement!

One of Elizabeth's cows won her class- fun picture of her discussing it with her dad.

Wednesday we rested.

Thursday was the goat show.  Elizabeth helped her friend E show her Pygmy goats, and then E returned the favor and helped Elizabeth show her goats.

William was more than happy to pose with his "non-walking" 4-H projects:

He made a drawstring Star Wars bag.  Easy, and he's been having fun using it!

Foods: monster cookies.  Foods Preservation: frozen monster cookies (selected for state fair!)

Collections- John Deere tractors of course.

Friday night was the auction.  Each kid is allowed to sell two items.  Elizabeth and William sold their chickens and feeder beef.

Lining up to sell their chickens.  The beef cows go to slaughter, we brought the chickens home.



A few of my favorite shots from fair week:

William making a "farm" for Jackson to play with while I was watching the Supreme showman.

William and his buddy G, bonding over an elephant ear.

Elizabeth (6) getting ready for 4-H fun night.

And that was that!