Jumping in

Misha, Scooter, and Cali

We have a dog, actually three dogs, two by design, third one adopted us. Cali is bully-beagle. Love her dearly, she is people dog, the best kind. Loves to be with people. She has a habit when food is near or offered, she will without even a sniff grab it into her mouth and go to work on it. Now that's all well and good if it ends up being something she likes, but there are times, she is committed, has it in her mouth and finds out she doesn't like it, or it wasn't what she thought it would be.

Got me to thinking today, aren't we at times like that? That we will jump into things without prayer or forethought, and then realize it just isn't what we thought it would be? Now what? Often times we are stuck, and just have to swallow it. Rare occasions we can get out, and no one gets hurt or disappointed. Other times we are miserable or we leave others short handed or disappointed when we back out.
I tend to be  am a people pleaser, hate to disappoint others even if it means inconveniencing myself (often that is the case, better me than someone else). Have to learn that not everything I'm offered is something I should jump into, wait, pray and listen FIRST, then give the right answer, even if it may be no.

She makes it look easy

Fair is over, was my intent to blog during fair, didn't happen as I'd liked it to. Far too busy, or tired by the time I got back to the camper.
We showed feeder calves on Tuesday, didn't do to bad considering I really didn't sift through calves this spring like I normally do, so it tells me our feeding program is on the right track. Next year we will start with really good calves and that should make a difference.
Wednesday was swine showmanship and the barrow show. Elizabeth was in senior showmanship, the judge worked the kids hard. She made it out of her group and into the honor group. He had them drive, tried to trip them up by walking around their pigs, he put bedding on the pig to see if they had their brushes to clean them up. At one point he had all the kids left, try to get their pigs to stand in one spot, Elizabeth's could stand all day as long as she is scratching him. She looked so relaxed and smooth out there, and ended up winning Senior showman!

Eby and Tuck

Winning senior showman meant she would get to show against the master showman in the club, the best of the best. Showmanship runs oldest to youngest, with senior first, and master last so that the senior winner can let their pig rest before going again. Her partner rested in the pen, while she watched her siblings show. Sara made honor group in Juniors, so happy for her, I think it may be the best she has done in that barn. Jay just missed, had a miscommunication with the judge, thought he was going to talk to her, he wasn't and she cut between him and her pig. Major no no. She will get there I'm sure, just has to wait another year.

Elizabeth's turn to run master showman against two other kids. She was so slow and easy, her partner really worked well with her, did what she needed to do and ended up with this

Senior and Master showmanship winner

 

None of this comes easy. It is work at home that does it. Doesn't matter what your pig looks like or how much money you spend on it, it won't help you win showmanship if you haven't done the work at home. She went on to represent swine club in round robin competition and did so very well. She had to demonstrate showing a pig, and then show a horse, lamb, goat, beef steer, feeder calf, and dairy heifer. She didn't win this time, but now knows what it is like and wants to go do it again.
Proud of all my kids, hard work has paid off!!

2011 Gilt show

Girls in the Grand Gilt drive

Gilt show was Friday, was going to post but WiFi is spotty here, and I wanted to put up a picture that had all four kids that showed but my memory card is acting weird.
It was a great day, Elizabeth had Champion Hamp gilt, Champion Poland gilt, Sara had Champion Hereford gilt, Jayme had Champion Chester Gilt, and Matthew had Champion Berk gilt, so 5 breeds in the Grand Champion gilt drive, had to find a kid to show one of our girls. Cool thing is, the Poland and the Berk are both out of gilts we showed last year, so much fun to see second and even third generations from the same line do well, the Poland last year was out of the Poland we had the year before, she is actually a third generation to be shown by us.  Ended the day with the overall Reserve grand gilt, with Eby's hamp, the belted pig in the picture. She is a great gilt, only got beat by a crossbred, so very close!!!
So very proud of the kids and to see their efforts rewarded!!

Friday's the day

Our county fair starts Friday, gonna be a hot one too. Hoping it subsides before to much of the fair comes to past. It is a stressful situation to begin with, months of hard work by the kids coming to an end, waiting for one mans opinion that day. Heat adds to the discomfort of all involved. Looking forward to watching them show their projects, regardless of outcome I'm proud of them. Want to try to blog through the fair, daily posts, well maybe several times through the week. Gonng be makin' memories with my kiddos!!

the ant and the grasshopper

The ANT AND THE GRASSHOPPER  This one is a little different .....  Two Different Versions ....  Two Different Morals  OL D VERSION  The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed.  The grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold. MORAL OF THE OLD STORY: Be responsible for yourself! MODERN VERSION The ant works hard in the withering heat and the rain all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while he is cold and starving.  CBS, NBC, PBS, CNN, and ABC show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food. America  is stunned by the sharp contrast.  How can this be, that in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?  Kermit the Frog appears on Oprah with the grasshopper and everybody cries when they sing, 'It's Not EasyBeing Green...' ACORN stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house where the news stations film the SEIU group singing, We shall overcome. Then Rev. Jeremiah Wright  has the group kneel down to pray for thegrasshopper's sake, while he damns the ants. President Obama condems the ant  and blames  President Bush 43, President Bush 41, President Reagan, Christopher Columbus, and the Pope  for the grasshopper's plight.  Nancy Pelosi & Harry Reid  exclaim in an interview with Larry King that the ant has gotten rich off the back of the grasshopper, and both call for an immediate tax hike on the ant to make him pay his fair share.  Finally, the EEOC drafts the Economic Equity & Anti-Grasshopper Act retroactive to the beginning of the summer. The ant is fined for failing to hire a proportionate number  of green bugs and,  having  nothing left to  pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the Government GreenCzar and given  to the grasshopper. The story ends as we see the grasshopper and his free-loading  friends finishing up the last bits of the ant's food while the government house he is  in, which, as you recall, just happens to be the ant's old house, crumbles around them because the grasshopper doesn't  maintain it. The ant has  disappeared in the snow, never to be seen again. The grasshopper  is found  dead in a drug related incident, and the house, now abandoned, is taken over  by a gang of spiders  who terrorize the ramshackle, once prosperous  and peaceful, neighborhood.  The entire Nation collapses bringing the rest  of the free world with it.  MORAL OF THE STORY:  Be careful how you vote in 2012.

Weeds and people

I was out in the garden this morning, running a rake over it to knock out the weeds. So far so good, and it looks really nice, a record for me, usually it is starting to pay the price of neglect as I have helped the kids more in the past with 4H animals. This year they are doing much more, and I have been able to stay ahead of the weeds.
While I was out this morning, I found a plant that looked to be weed free, started to move on when I looked a little closer. Up through the plant were a couple of pig weeds, blended in quite nicely with the flower, easy to miss at first glance. It was then when it hit me, it's just like church. At first glance, things look good, on the surface everyone is as they seem. But get a little deeper, start to get a closer look and you start to see things you hadn't before. Works that way with people, none of us are perfect, but that surface level often turns out to be different once you get a little deeper. Sometimes for the better, but unfortunately sometimes for the worse.  

girls vs guys

Michael used to have a group of friends over often. Just a few more guys than gals, but a nice mix. And while I try to be somewhat scarce, I can't help but hear what is going on, may not understand much of it, but I hear the chatter, and laughter. I didn't realize just how different the dynamics could be when you switch the ratio of guys to gals. Elizabeth has had a group of friends over a couple of times now, tonight they are here and it is fascinating to listen to the difference. When they say that females say about 20k words compared to the guys at around 7k I believe it. Have a house full of teenage girls, and you will quickly know it to be true. They aren't loud or obnoxious about it, but they all talk a LOT and they often all talk at once! Makes my head spin even thinking about trying to keep up. It is a good group of kids, and I'm glad to have them here. I'm going to enjoy the quiet for a bit as they have made a run to wally world, soon they will be back filling the house with laughter which is a joy as well. I am very thankful that my kids have good friends to hang with. Love these girls!!