More from the fair

As I said in an earlier post, we were at the fair every day...usually until naptime and then coming back in the evening to take care of the animals again and hang out.  Here's a picture of the kids with Grandpa.  We spent a lot of time with Grandpa this week since he was off to be at the fair (on the fairboard).  Kiara was not happy at the fair until we had found her grandpa! :)

It was really hot (in the 90s everyday) so we had some times where we just wanted to sit and not be moving around.  The boys had some games that they played by our pens, including battleship...the real battle was keeping Kiara away from the ships!

Friday of the fair, they always hold a fun and games activity for the 4-Hers that are there.  This year they had teams made up of the different townships/clubs.  They did an obstacle course where they had to carry a watermelon (with greased hands), go under a table, weave through chairs, jump in a barrel of water with both feet and run back as fast as they could to pass off to the next person.  We had so many from our club that we had 2 teams.  The boys were split onto separate teams but had a blast cheering everyone on and doing the course!  

Grant's team ended up winning after 3 heats...way to go West Township!  Woo hoo!

During fair week, Kiara wanted to do EVERYTHING that she saw the big kids doing and was quite the entertainer for those around us.   She was our wild woman!  Here she is after seeing the boys get in the pens to catch the lambs...she wasn't going to miss out on the fun! Once she got in the pens she was helping the boys set up the lambs...and oh yea...kissing and licking the lambs. GROSS!  I told you she was a wild woman entertaining everyone!

Fair week comes to a close with the cleaning out of pens and selling the lambs at the auction.  It's been a great week...

See you next year at the fair!

4-H Fair

The day we had worked so hard for, was finally here...show day at the 4-H fair.  We arrived at 7:00 AM to wash the first of the lambs before shearing all of them before the show in the afternoon.  Our morning of preparation went so well, with no arguing or yelling and for the most part we really enjoyed getting ready.  Poor Kiara spent the first 3 1/2 hours in the stroller...she was such a trooper and seemed to know she had to be in it for us to get things done!

Phil was able to shear a lamb for the first time.  Up until this point just the boys and I had sheared them and he was very hesitant to try it, but he caught on and did quite well...for those who know the story...the pictures of the lamb that he did completley by himself will remain hidden...let's just say he learned from the experience! :)

Getting the lambs ready to go in the show arena...it was a hot day that's for sure.  Brock was very excited to show.  We didn't have any champions this year, like we did last year, but it was okay.  He did pretty well with the sheep and the one class placed right behind the two lambs that won the entire thing, so we were pleased. 

Kiara was really good considering she is 2!!!  She just ran around and acted like she was one of the big kids...here she is taking a break from running and making herself comfy to eat her sucker. 

Brock and Mommy...still smiling with half of the show over! :)

As I mentioned earlier, the day really went smoothly and I was so proud of the boys.  Our day did not end as well as it began.  One of the lambs gave Brock a hard time in the ring...this was upsetting for him and began the start of a bad headache.  By the end of the show, he had a migraine and I had to pull him out of showmanship and take him home.  This was definitely the hard part of the day...for Brock and for us as parents as well.  By the time we got him home, he got sick and then fell to sleep rather quickly.  He was fine the next day, but the day took it's toll on him.  Sorry to those we ignored as we rushed to get him home, we just needed to do what we needed to do.

Below is a picture of Grant with one of the famous Dairy Barn milkshakes...mmmmmm...I miss them already!  We ate our fair share of them that week and they were oh sooooooo good.  I look forward to the fair every year, just so that I can eat their milkshakes! 

Most days we were there in the morning, came home for Kiara to take a nap, and then went back in the afternoon and evening.  On this particular day she fell asleep in the stroller so we stayed all day long.  We tipped the stroller back and propped it up so that she was laying down...how she slept with all the baa's in the barn, I will never know! :)

Overall, it was a great week...very tiring and extremely hot...but we had a great time as a family and created many many memories together. I do have to say that it is nice to not smell like sheep every day now though. Ha! Oh, by the way the boys both did great with their projects...blue ribbons all around! Hooray!

Here we go...

Our journey to the 4-H fair has been just that...a journey.  We have spent hours upon hours in the barn, walking and working with the sheep and preparing projects.  There has been giggles, laughter, tears, yelling, more tears, more giggling and laughing!  Here is where our journey this year began...walking sheep.  Yes, for those of you who are city dwellers, we are walking the sheep behind garden tractors...if you really want to know the reasoning and logic behind it I can tell you but I'll refrain here!

 Kiara usually got a ride at the end from one of her brothers without any lambs on the back but this time she wanted to help a little bit!  She thought she was pretty special. Most of the time Mommy and Grandma chased her around the yard while brothers did the work.

Then came the fun of washing, shearing and doing final preparation for the fair...last year they washed and I did the shearing.  This year they washed and did a lot of shearing.  I just went over it to make sure they got it and then get the places that they couldn't do well (bellies/heads).

The sheep got checked in last night at the fair and the show is tomorrow (Monday)...a lot more hard work and sweat will go into show day, but we are ready and excited...will have pics of that later!

This year Grant was able to be in Mini 4-H and took two projects.  We had a great time working together on putting these together.  He did Farm Animals (poster) and Collections, which he used the collected seashells that we got on our vacation in June.  Both projects turned out great and we are so proud of him!

Brock, along with taking sheep, took the project of Farm Toy Scenery.  He worked so hard on his project, designing, creating, gluing and placing things.  We are so proud of him too...we'll let you know how they did in a later post.

So, for now...we're off to the fair...Wish us luck...we may need a cage for a certain little 2 year old girl...hmmm...can you guess who that might be???

Just like Mommy

Today I was motivated to get some cleaning done...I actually cut up a bunch of fruit while Kiara was in her high chair, cleaned the kitchen, got the dishwasher going, 2 loads of laundry going, swept the whole house and then....time for the bathroom.  My least favorite part of cleaning is the bathroom.  I usually wait until she is either napping or a weekend when we can lock her out of the bathroom and still have someone to watch her...but I knew if I stopped moving, I wouldn't want to tackle the bathroooms later.  So, I decided to see how it went.  It started out by me just giving her a washcloth and having her work on the floor or wall on the opposite side as me...

Then, as I was cleaning the toilet, I glanced up and this is what I see...

She just wanted to be like mommy...isn't she such a sweetie???  Of course, usually she's tearing the house completely apart, but today she has been a helper and I LOVE that!

This picture below was yesterday...we took a picnic lunch to Grandma's so that after walking sheep we could go swimming in their pool. Kiara rather enjoyed her peanut butter sandwich and covered herself in it!

That grin...melts my heart.  More of the boys later...

Catch-Up

I'm determined to catch up on my blogging and my little bug is still sleeping, so here's my chance.  Believe it or not, the boys last day of school was June 3 and I'm only a month late getting their last day of school pictures up.  I was so lucky this year to be done with my school a couple of days earlier than the boys...not because I was done first, but because I had the opportunity to be a part of their last few days of school...awards day, field day and seeing them get on and off the bus that last day of school too.  I miss the little things by working, so I love any chance that I get to be a part of them.  I don't have pictures of field day as I was one of the volunteers for the whole day and was working a water event...so the camera didn't come out!  But it was great to be there and over-hear the kids say, "That's my mom" or to have one of the other kids say, "I think that's Brock/Grant's mom".  Anyway, then was awards day.  They have two separate awards ceremonies, one for K-2 and one for 3-4, so I was there for the morning.  Below are some pictures of the boys earning their awards (not great pics, but you get the idea)

Above Grant is getting a visor as an award (I can't remember off hand what the award was for) and below Brock got a crazy hat for becoming a Math Wizard.

I can't get this picture turned the right way, but this is what Kiara did while we watched awards...well, actually that is one of the few times she sat still...she was a wild woman...quiet, but a wild woman running everywhere!

Last day of school, June 3, 2010 Where did the school year go?  They say as you get older time moves faster...I truly believe that...it was just August 09!

Brock, no longer a 4th grader...running off of the bus as a newly proclaimed 5th grader!  Am I really old enough to have a 5th grader?

My big boy Grant running up the drive too...no longer my little 1st grader but now a big 2nd grader.  I AM getting old!

This year the 4th graders received a nice honor.  In our school system, after 4th grade, they move on to an intermediate school for 5th & 6th grade, so this was Brock's last day EVER at Washington.  All of the 4th graders received a last day parting gift of a Washington Elementary Alumni 2010 t-shirt!  This shirt was designed and was a gift from Stone Excavating here in town...the owners go to our church and the wife works at the school.  Not only were the kids excited about it, but they all wore them the last day of school to look like a class act! :)  I have to say, I'm jealous and want a shirt...I'm a Washington Elementary alum as well!  Thanks to the Stones!  We love you and are so thankful at how much you give of yourselves to our children in the community!

So...I'm not caught up...still have a couple more to blog about, but my little bug is running this way...More later!

Child of God

I was planning on adding some pictures from Kiara’s birthday (in May) and the boys last day of school to officially be caught up with my blogging…but the other night in reading the Bible, I had a bit of a revelation that I feel I should share….It actually is pretty basic and obvious, but it’s something that hadn’t sunk in for me before and thought maybe someone else needed it to sink in for them too…so here it is: I was reading in Hebrews 12. I will put the verses that stood out the most to me, which were verses 5-7 & 10-11;


5And have you forgotten the encouraging words God spoke to you as his children? He said, “My child, don’t make light of the Lord’s discipline and don’t give up when he correct you. 6 For the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes each one he accepts as his child. 7As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. Who ever heard of a child who is never disciplined by its father?

10For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how. But God’s discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in his holiness. 11No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.

I’m sure everyone out there has perfect children that never need disciplined, but in our house we have the occasion to try to guide them and shape them and to show them discipline that ultimately we know is best for them. How many times as parents do we say “Because I said so” or “Trust me, I know what is best for you”? Well I say it often or some variation of that. We had a particularly trying evening this week and as I went to read in my Bible that night before going to bed, I read through Hebrews 12…those verses above stuck out at me and pretty much slapped me in the face so to speak. Why do I find it so easy to tell my own children to trust me and that something is for their own good…Just like them, I want to know why and I don’t understand God’s greater vision for me. I am HIS child…He is sovereign over EVERYTHING…He loves me more than anyone on earth…Why can’t I trust him blindly to do what is best for me? Because we are like children..we really don’t understand. I wrote a few comments down right as I read this…and although they are now about 5 days old, they still strike me:

“As a parent, I often make decisions and guide the kids in what I know to be best for them (and I truly do). It gets frustrating when they question that “authority” and I know that one day they will understand and be glad (for my choices)…my heavenly Father must feel soooo much more the same with me. HE knows what is best. He is GOD!! Why should I question when I know that He has my best interest at heart?”

So my challenge? To stop and let God make those decisions for me..let Him show me what He has for me and when I don’t agree with those choices or the way he carves out…to simply stop, surrender, and trust that He knows better than I do. I think about my neck situation…Would I have chosen 6+ years to suffer with this? Of course not, but God is working in it and I am growing and giving glory to Him for it…isn’t that worth it in the long run? Thank you God for being the disciplining Father that I so often need.