Friday At The Fair

I went into the 4-H builing today and saw all the exhibit items that had been selected to go on for juging at the state level. Some of the items are pretty amazing.


There were posters that are health related, such as this "Stop The Pop" one explaining why you shouldn't drink soda (kind of ironic that I stood there reading it while sipping on a diet coke).







There were projects an posters related to animal health. There were also many woodoworking items, sewing projects, creative arts, and home furnishing items.






When I saw the craftsmanship and detail that went into the woodworking projects, it was often hard to remember that these items were made by children.







One of the most creative things I saw was this tractor made entirely of soda cans.They were all spray painted and welded together and the wheels actually turned.








They also have baked items on display. Everything from pies or cookies that are recipes handed down from Grandma, to new creations they came up with on their own.






I went back to the ag building and walked through the rows and rows of vegetables, fruits, seeds, and flowers that have been judged. I saw 5 plates with 5 cucumbers on each. What makes one of those plates the blue ribbon winner over the other is beyond me!





Outside the ag building they have the largest pumpkin competition. These people are serious about their pumpkins. I talke to a woman who said their family was on pumpkin duty in shifts. During their shift is was their job to make sure the pumpkin was watered every hour. They also spread something on it daily, but she wouldn't tell me what it was, because that's their winning secret. At night they draped a wet sheet across the pumpkin, if it was your shift, you got up hourly to make sure the sheet was still wet. See......they are SERIOUS about this pumpkin stuff!

Remember how I posted a couple of weeks ago that we had something that had started growing out by our front steps? Well, it turns out to be a pumpkin plant. This shot was taken right before left home to come to the fair. We're pretty excited to see no less than 7 or 8 pumpkins growing on it, but I can guarantee you there will be no assigning of shifts, and I will not be breaking into anyones house to find out what to wipe on it. If they grow, they grow. If not, well, better luck next time. ha!

Well, that's it until tomorrow!!

More Random Shots From The Fair

Here's the exhibitor camping area. We are packed in pretty tightly, as you can see. If vehicles park mostly paralellel and get very close to their campers, there is room to get through, but it can get pretty tight.





I went up to the next level to get a shot of the tops of our campers. Our camper is the second one from the right on the bottom row. We are close enough together that no one puts their awning out...there's no room. We do have our patio rug out (as do most people), but that's mostly to protect from the mud when it rains.





This is the home of the worlds greatest cinnamon rolls (according to Austin). A local church has run this stand for many years and it's a great fundraiser for them. They serve meals all day, and congregation members sign up to work 1 hour shifts.






The cultural building houses 4-H, FFA, & open class art works. Everything from photography, paintings, sculptures, woodworking & dollhouses that have been judged.








All items are divided into youth and adult categories, but no matter what the age, I'm always amazed at their abilities. I'd love to have talent like they have!








I always enjoy the dollhouses the most. These people have worked so hard and no detail is too small. Right down to working clocks on the wall, or lights that turn on and off,






They have lace and linen, wallpaper an paint, linoleum and carpet. They really are so fun to look through. This year there were even a few entries that were campers, or buses made into campers. So creative.





Well I'm off to walk around again. I hope you all are having as great of a Thursday as we are!!

Tuesday 8/11 At The Fair

We woke up early this morning and sorted out the pigs, who seemed to be as thrilled to be up at 6am as we were. I'm still not sure who grunted more - me or the pigs.

We weighed them at home, to be sure we chose the right pigs, and then we trimmed up some of the long straggly hairs that were on the pigs (sort of like when we ladies have to tweeze those random chin hairs that show up). It helps the pigs look their best and what lady doesn't like that?

When that was finished we loaded them onto the trailer to make the trip to the state fairgrounds swine barn. We bought a wagon to haul our "stuff" (feed, bedding, pig grooming items, chairs, small fridge, table and decorations) because Murphy's law says that which ever entrance you are directed to pull up to, the pens assigned to you will be on the exact opposite end of the building. Loading up a wagon goes much faster than making 20 trips carrying everything by hand.

Today the pigs get weighed in. This is the time when everyone stands holding their breath and crossing their fingers, hoping their pigs have met the minimum weight limit allowed, or not exceeded the maximum weight limit allowed. We've had a few close calls in the past, and I'm told this is going to be another one of those years (so if you think about it, could you keep your fingers crossed for us please? Just until noon. We should be done by then).

After that, lots of fresh soft bedding is put in the pens for the pigs. They are given some food and lots of fresh water and then they are left alone to recover from the stress of the day. (AKA: nap)

The kids in our FFA chapter will decorate our area of the barn. There's a competition among chapters and we have a rivalry with one, where we seem to alternate years on who wins.

Usually you try to stick with the state fair theme, but years like this year make it hard. The theme this year is "It's State Fair Time" (Seriously? That's it? Okkkk) So we went with a luau style decorating plan because what do they serve at luaus? Pork of course. So our theme is "Its State Fair Time and That's A Great Time For A Luau" We even found a picture of a pig in a grass skirt, so we knew it was meant to be. Anyhow, that'll get all set up and then we can relax the rest of the day/evening.

Actually, I'll be up at the camper getting our campsite all set up. We will have to haul everything up "heart attack hill" again this year, which is way up past the clearing spot in between the trees up at the top of that picture. The wagon will definitely come in handy this year!

So anyhow, that's our Tuesday. Come back tomorrow and bring a long a stick. It'll come in handy when I give you the entire list of food items you can find on a stick - only at the Iowa State Fair.

Supreme Showmanship

This past Sunday at the fair, they held the Supreme Showmanship competition. Every breed of animal exhibited at the fair has showmanship competitions. The oldest group of exhibitors are called the Seniors. The top Senior show-person for each breed competes in Supreme. It's hard to explain if you've never seen it, but I'll try....

Chelsea won showmanship for the pig show. That means, she did the best job (in the judge's opinion) of moving the pig back and forth in front him, keeping her composure, and watching him. She also had to answer hard questions from the judge. She has won this before, and is just a natural at it. She exudes confidence and is fun to watch. Since she won, on Sunday, she brought her pig that she used to the show arena and placed it in a pen they made for it for the Supreme Competition. While it was in that pen, she exhibited the way to "drive" a pig and she answered questions about pigs.

Each person who won showmanship for their breed did the same thing. They brought their animal they used into the arena, and they did a short bit of exhibiting their animal and answering questions about their animals.

This is all done at the same time - set up like stations around the arena.

After 3 minutes the time keeper has them stop and all move on to the next animal station. There, they have 3 minutes to do the same thing. For example, the next station for Chelsea was sheep. She had to "set-up" the sheep and answer questions. After 3 minutes, she moved on to the next station...and so on, until all of them had gone around the arena to have a chance to exhibit each animal. All are judged by an "expert" at each station. The person with the best overall score wins Supreme Showmanship.

If it sounds hard...it is! Depending on when you win showmanship for your breed, you may only have 1 or 2 days to learn as much as you can about the other breeds. The kids who participate in it, are all great about helping teach their competitors and they have a lot of fun doing it, but it is still very competitive.

Here's some pictures to give you a better idea of what I'm talking about:

As I said, Chelsea started off by "exhibiting" her pig, and she answered some questions about it.







When time was up she moved on to the next station...sheep. She had to set-up the sheep they way an exhibitor would and she answered question from the judge.






Next she moved on to poultry. This is the one that scares her the most. She competed in Supreme a couple of years ago and had tears in her eyes when having to do poultry at that time. She was so afraid of being pecked. This time she was much more relaxed, and I was really proud of her for overcoming that fear.







Next she moved on to the rabbit station. She raised and showed rabbits for several years, so I knew she would do wonderful here. Plus, on the day of the rabbit show they had an alumni showmanship competition, and she won that with a perfect score of 100.








After that it was on to the dog obedience station. She showed in that project area for 3 years and always came in 2nd by 1-2 points or less, so again...I knew she would do great at this station as well.






On to the goat station next. She said that was confusing to learn about because there are somethings similar to sheep, but some things are the exact opposite.






At the horse station, I again knew she would go great since she showed horses at the fair up through last year. She had to walk the horse out, make it pivot, and walk it back. Plus answer questions.






The beef station was the last one for her. She said the size and power of cows intimidates her, but she does really well at staying calm. I'm sure that passed through to the cow as well.






I don't know her overall score, but I know she won by 2 points over the 2nd place person. The Supreme Show-person receives a 'traveling trophy' to keep for the year, and next year she will present it to the person who wins. There will be a name plate put on the trophy with her name on it to go with all the other previous winners.


Congratulations Chelsea. I'm so proud of you!!

Fun At The County Fair

Starting with Tuesday...

We have finally arrived. For starters, I have told my husband a bazilion times already that I am so grateful for the 4" memory foam that he placed on our bed in the camper so that we no longer have to try to endure countless lumps, bumps and backaches. aaahhhh!

Tuesday started off by us setting up the camper once we got set in place. There is a long standing joke about the giant red underwear that started the first year we camped and now the big red grannie panties are a "tradition". People find our camper by looking for the red panties. They HAVE to hang out there, so of course, those were one of the first things set up, along with our chairs and a few fun signs.

Tuesday also included fun activities like a day long dog obedience show, young children being told by their parents to stay in groups and to stay away from the carnis, kids of all ages asking their parents for money, and it was topped off by the fair parade which official kicks-off the county fair. It also included Chelsea having to do papers for her summer college classes. Nothing like sitting on a camper bed working on Childrens Lit. LOL

I stayed away from it all except the parade. Ashley & Chelsea were in the parade, riding their horses for the saddle club they are members of. Horses are of course at the very end of the parade (so no one has to risk stepping in any gifts they leave behind), so we sat through 2 hours of tractors and other implements, floats for local businesses as well as businesses from neighboring towns, and there were groups that walked the entire route, which is why it lasted as long as it did. Oh well, the horses came through, the girls looked great and had fun, and then it was done. I have no pictures of that to show yet, because that is one of the few times I actually remembered my camera and I haven't downloaded those yet.

Oh but wait...let me back up. The highlight of the day was kmart! LOL Ok, not really. But embarrassing my son while I stood outside the store taking a picture of the lightbulb character was! Kmart is the only store in this town, and I honestly haven't been in a Kmart in forever, so it was a novelty for me.

Wednesday we had a busy day. Ashley & Chelsea both helped with the horse show and then Chelsea and I helped with the rabbit show. I used to be one of the 4-H rabbit project leaders and Chelsea raised rabbits and showed them, not only in 4-H & FFA, but in open shows around the state. The ladies that run it are the same ones I ran it with, and they asked if we'd help out and we both said yes right away. Here is Chelsea showing me that she's really doing her "official" paperwork for the show.

Afterwards, Chelsea participated in an Alumni rabbit showmanship competition and she won with a perfect score of 100! Although, I do have to say that she had an unfair advantage since she's only been out of school one year and she's won showmanship several times in the past. It was still fun and she had a great time.

Wednesday evening was the coronation ceremony with the crowning of the new county fair queen. It's hard for me to believe it's been an entire year since my girls were in that competition. WOW! Time has sure flown!

Tomorrow the pigs get weighed in and my nephew Jacob will be showing his sheep. Friday all the pigs get a bath, I make my usual "friday during the fair" trip home to do laundry, and Saturday is our super busy show all day long - the pig show!

Every day (per doctors orders) I'm to rest and lay down quietly for an hour. Well my hour is up, so I'm off to go sit outside with everyone and visit. LOL. I'll update again soon!

What We Have Here Is A Failure To Communicate

As I go along as CEO of indoor operations in our home, things are busy, things get hectic, things get craaaaaaaazy. But, I am very careful to be sure that everything is uploaded, downloaded, and cross-referenced at Command Central (aka: the calendar on the front of the kitchen fridge). I also double check throughout the week to make sure I have the same information on our portable Command base (aka: my blackberry). ~~~Must keep them synced or chaos will run amok!

Amok! Amok! Amok! Amok! Amok!

(which is a favorite saying of Chelsea and I and it comes from the ditzy blonde witch played by Sarah Jessica Parker in Disney's "Hocus Pocus", which is a very funny movie by the way. It also starts Bette Midler and Kathy Najimy. Oh my goodness - Funny stuff.) Of course you can't just say it, you have to dance around in a circle flipping your hair at the same time to get the proper effect.


OK - FOCUS! Where were we?

So while I fail miserably at keeping my home Martha Stewart organized, I do keep our daily/weekly/monthly schedules organized. If it's happening to someone in our family, I know about it and it's documented. I have survived many years of dance lessons, band and vocal concerts, horse shows, 4-H meetings, church choir practices, etc and not missed any (well, hardly any). My system has always worked great. Papers come home from school - pertinent info is retrieved from said papers and transferred to both command central and portable command. Done.

PANIC: Sound the alarms!!!

A flaw has been discovered in my system. This flaw is technically known as:


Offspring #3, or as I refer to him:

Teenage Son who never tells his mother squat.

*sigh*

Don't be deceived by his innocent smile. He's devious and delights in withholding information that is crucial for Command Central database records.

Every Sunday night I go over the upcoming week, just to be sure we're on top of things for the week. This past Sunday night I double check the school calendar and it says that this next Saturday is the state solo & ensemble competition for both band and vocal. Since Austin has never mentioned anything about this, or brought home any information about it, I assume he's not participating.

It's times like this when I remember what my grandma always said about why we don't "assume".

"Austin? You're not participating in the band and vocal competitions this next weekend is that right?"

He answers very nonchalantly as if I'm asking if he'd like Spaghetti for supper "Yea I'm in it."

"You are? For band?"


"Well, yea band, but vocal too."

Yes, Grandma I know.....never assume.

"Oh OK, great. What exactly are you singing? Octet? Quartet?"

"Um, I'm doing a quartet and 2 solos".



WHATTTT?????

He's doing not one, but 2 solos? He's singing? Out loud? Alone? In front of judges? In front of people? My son? MINE? No way!

I looked at him and said "I am so proud of you, but I do have one question: Who ARE you and what have you done with my Austin?"

Actually, all teasing aside, I am super excited to learn of this and am looking forward to going on Saturday. I have no doubt that he'll do awesome, and I'm proud that he is going to try something new and outside of his comfort zone.

And yes, it is now documented in pen at command central. Now I need to find a fool-proof way of foiling any future flaws. Any suggestions?

March Madness!

Every year we really get into the whole "March Madness" excitement around here. By we, I mean Jay and Austin. I get into it too, but for a whole other reason. I like to torment the guys with my lack of knowledge and over all complete luck in happening to pick a winning team. It seriously drives them crazy if I happen to win a point and they don't.

These two men of mine are super competitive. They compete with everything they do! I am the total opposite. I'd be ok if no one ever kept score, so that it was all just about having fun...which of course causes that vein in their testosterone filled temples to throb.

When March Madness time rolls around they are crazy about it. They enter several pools that are organized by friends of theirs. There are some where the cost to join is a pack of gum and winner gets all the gum. Some you can join do involve an entry fee, but most are free, and dare I say....just for fun.

When the brackets are announced, they can't print them off the computer fast enough. They read statistics on teams, even though they know most of them....which brings me to an interesting point - how is it that Austin can tell me how many assists a certain player has had on any given team, but he can't remember to pick up his dirty clothes off the floor in his room, no matter how many times he is told to do so?

When all of our kids were young we made March Madness a fun, family activity. We'd each fill out a bracket (one for the mens tournament & one for the womens) and hang them up. We didn't do all the fancy scoring like some pools do. We kept it very basic - if you guess the correct team to win a game, you earned one point. At the end of the tournaments, the person with the most points was the winner. The whole family would go out to eat and the winner got to choose where we went.

This year it's just the guys and I doing the brackets and I want these men of mine to go down! Not that I really care who wins any of those games, but they are teasing me so bad about how I'll probably be picking my teams based on who has the cutest uniforms, or what teams have the least amount of wierd first names, or who's mascots I think are uber-adorable.

So it's on! Oh it is soooooo on! Keep your fingers crossed for me that I can take down the testosterone a notch or two in this house!!

Here's my bracket for the men, filled out in ink and hung on the pantry door in all it's glory. Come on NCAA Guys! Bring it home for Mama!

I haven't filled out a womens bracket yet, but I'll be sure to let you know when I do, as I'm sure you'll be on the edge of your seat until then.

Project 365 - Week 8

Week 8!

Here we go! I'm finding it easier to remember to take pictures now. The problem is, my best camera is too big to just toss in my purse, and the camera on my phone doesn't take great pictures, but it's ok, I make do.

2/15

Our niece Jenna is on a competitive dance team which was in a competition nearby, so we went to watch her. This photo shows her doing her solo. It's a horrible picture...even for my phone, but it was dark in there and you weren't supposed to take pictures, so I had to be quick and sneaky and make sure I didn't use any flash! ssshhhhh.


2/16

Last Fall we had 4 cats. Then one day two wild strays showed up, and within a week both had litters of kittens. All of them are wild, but we're not heartless, so we throw food out to them. They are wild enough that you can't just place the food...they will attack! See the one in the front staring me down? He was also growling at me....which he does frequently. I know they are Gods creatures, but it really is hard to be nice to them.

2/17

We were at a basketball game, and I tivoed "The Biggest Loser" and watched it when we got home. You know it must have been an exciting day if this is my photo to post. LOL

2/18

Pasta night at our house. Always a crowd favorite. Although, as you can tell, I'm still cooking way more than what we 3 need. I can't get out of the cooking for 5 mindset.

2/19

I had a doctor appointment back in my hometown. This is the water tower there. I can remember watching this tower being put up when I was in my teens. It was so much bigger than the old "teapot" style we used to have, and I remember at that time thinking it had to be the largest, most beautiful thing in the world. :)

2/20

I ran a few errands and scored big when I found a couple of shirts on sale. I even managed to find a couple of scarves to go with them. Doesn't the front one shout "Hurry Up Spring!"?

2/21

My 2 golfaholic guys are going on a Spring Break golfing trip next month, so we went shopping to get them new shoes. My son will also use them when he is on the school golf team this Spring. I really do think I earned the "wife of the day" award. I spent over an hour in a golf store, and never complained once! LOL

There you have it....another week of winter behind us. I can't wait for Spring!! Be sure to click on the Project 365 logo in the sidebar to go see Sara the hostess for this project. She's also got the links for the others who are participating.