"That Ride Scrambled Me!"

If you take your 5-year old to the fair and he begs to ride the Scrambler, don't give in. He may just get off, stagger over to the midway, and promptly throw up.

Just in case you were wondering.

(Said boy pictured here after his mother got a clue and confined him to Kiddie Land.)

The County Fair

It's officially fair week. We spent our weekend turning in fair projects. Craft, cooking, and food preservation projects were all entered and we already have some results. Lots of blue ribbons, a red ribbon or two, and Best of Shows for Teen Daughter One's salsa and for Teen Daughter Two's bread. Teen Son wasn't able to turn in his writing projects (due two weeks ago) because of our computer problems. He was cool with it though -- it gave someone else a chance to win the Judge's Choice Award for a change this year.

Things will be a little more easy going this year as we don't have sheep to show, but it's still set to be a busy week. We have 4-H volunteer jobs, shooting sports awards, rides to ride, and fair food to consume.

Farewell to Lambs

Teen Son and I were out at the fairground this morning feeding the sheep, Mario and Luigi, one last time before they're picked up by their new owners. As I patted their heads and told them goodbye, a sad feeling came over me. Perhaps you shouldn't name animals intended for the dinner table.

Day Three At the Fair

Another great day at the fair. Sparky showed a sheep in the pee wee division (5 to 8 years old). They don't place, but instead everyone gets a participation ribbon. The idea is to get them use to showing in the arena and being judged. They were all so cute and the judges so sweet in helping them present their sheep. The amazing thing is that none of the sheep got loose, a first I think. Usually, there are several sheep running around the ring with little children chasing after them. Actually, I'm a little disappointed that we missed the comedy of the sheep this year.

Teen Son showed his sheep in the senior division. It was his first year and he was up against kids who have been showing their whole lives. Yet, he did pretty good. He struggled during the showmanship portion when Mario (or was it Luigi) just didn't want to behave. In true 4-H fashion, the judge offered some words of wisdom to help him out. The sheep behaved better in the market class and placed 4th and 7th. Today they'll be auctioned off and hopefully Teen Son will make a little profit on the sheep project.

Princess Rose participated in the fashion revue in the evening. The little 5 to 8 year olds were so cute up on the stage. Princess Rose had practiced walking the stage at home. Then right before stepping on the stage, the teen girl, who was helping the little girls, told Princess to make sure to stand in the center so the judges could see her. Well, that's what Princess did, she stood the whole time in the center and didn't walk a step. It was so funny. I think she really enjoyed watching the older girls model their sewing creations as much as participating.

Today, we take a break and stay home. It's been raining off and on all morning and hopefully that'll cool things off for tomorrow. No competitions tomorrow, just enjoying the rides.

Day Two At the Fair

Today is a complete blur, but from what I remember it was a good day. Here are some tips if you have to be out in the 100 degree heat for 8 hours. Put some ice in a baggie, wrap it in a bandana and then tie it around the back of your neck. Works great. Also bring a spray bottle with water. Not only does it feel good, it's fun to spritz your friends.

My parents along with my sister and her kids came up from St. Louis today. So that was the highlight of the day of course. They skipped the fair -- a bit too much after 9 hours of driving -- but we still got to visit after getting home and have the rest of the week to enjoy one another's company.

The kids came home with loads of medals and ribbons for shooting sports. I'm really proud of all of them.

Tomorrow is sheep. Yep, these city folk are showing sheep. Teen Son has a friend who raises sheep for 4-H and was invited to join him this year. This has meant lots of chauffeuring to and from the country for working with the sheep. But I think that it has been worth it. Teen Son has had loads of fun and learned quite a bit. He's also worked with his little brother Sparky. Sparky is to young to officially show sheep, but he can participate in the Pee Wee division. It'll be interesting to see tomorrow how it all works out.

Day One At the Fair

I can't believe all the purple ribbons that came home with us. (Purple ribbons are Best of Show.)

Teen Son got Best of Show, third year in a row, for his creative writing. The best part about having your children enter their writing at the fair is that someone other than Mom is judging their work. The one and only thing that annoys me about Teen Son's writing is his over use of adjectives. Well, sure enough, the judge wrote in his extensive comments that the one thing that Teen Son needs to work on is his over use of adjectives. The cool part though is that the judge was really impressed with the 67-page, fictional story and said that he was sure Teen Son will someday be a published author. That's great news, considering that he's planning on majoring in journalism when he gets to college.

Other Best of Shows went to Teen Daughter for jams and also for dehydrating. Tween daughter got Best of Show for paper quilling. And there were blue ribbons all around. There were also a couple of red ribbons, and Teen Daughter got a white ribbon because, even though her scrapbooking project was beautiful, she didn't follow the 4-H guidelines. A good lesson for everyone.

Except for writing, you can talk with the judges as they critique your projects. I really like that. I think the kids got lots of great advice that they'll apply to next year's projects.

Tomorrow is supposed to be in the upper 90's, so I'd appreciate a prayer or two. I promised that we would spend the day doing loads of rides (1/2 price on Tues.) and then we have the shooting sports awards. Fun!

Prepping for the 4-H Fair

If it wasn't for the last minute, nothing would ever get done.

The last couple of weeks have been crazy at my house. The county fair is next week and the kids signed up for about for a zillion, give or take a million, craft projects to enter in the 4-H part of the fair.

If I were a good homeschooling mother, I would have planned ahead and had the children spread out their projects over the school year. Instead, we're getting them all done at the last minute.

We've made tie-dye shirts, painted shirts, beady bugs, stepping stones, fleece blankets, and so much more. We had to forgo metal punching and glass etching due to lack of time. Everything has to be turned in for judging tonight and tomorrow, except for creative writing which was turned in two weeks ago.

Teen daughter is in the kitchen right now making her cake to enter. Then she still needs to finish her quilt. I'm praying that her guardian angels help guide her needle so it's done in time.