The EXPO show and sale is over. The kids had a lot of fun and placed well in their classes. Justus Wallace – pig farmer After the confirmation class, where Justus placed 1st in the Yorkshire division, Whitey went back to his pen and stretched himself out with his head in the food bowl. I guess he was wore out. It must be hard work being a prize pig. Audrey zipped around on her bike for 3 days. I was so proud of Serenity. With her being on the shy side, she has had to work on this. This year she went into the ring exhibiting confidence. She won Reserve Best of Class for lamb confirmation. Sale day arrived and it was time to…
2013 EXPO Show & Sale
Monday, April 29th, 2013 at
6:00 am
Comments (2)
EXPO Time! Loading Up the Animals
Thursday, April 25th, 2013 at
3:00 am
The 4-H EXPO Show & Sale is here once again! Serenity & Justus are both showing an animal. This is Justus’s first year. Last year Serenity’s lamb died a month before the show and so she sewed 2 aprons for the show & auction. Thankfully, her lamb did great this year. Yesterday they loaded their animals. Our big fat cat (not fat on mice!) relaxin’. The pig, after much coercion, finally went into the trailer. Audrey was adorable – running around helping where she could. Here she’s getting some water for the pig to cool it off after it’s strenuous walk up the plank into the trailer. Loaded and ready to go. Today Justus shows his pig and tomorrow Serenity shows her lamb. It…
Make Yourself Attractive to Your Child
Monday, October 22nd, 2012 at
1:14 pm
Parenting is not easy. I have always said it is the toughest job in the world. But then when you throw boys into that mix of raising children, it can make for some hair pulling times. Lately, I’ve really been wanting to see some change in me. I don’t want to be a fault finding momma but instead one who encourages and supports my children. I’ve been praying and asking God to help me change. I felt one day to watch To Train Up a Child by Michael Pearl. I love his insights into child training. Anyways, I was so inspired by what he had to say concerning raising teenagers. It really spoke to me and I want to share it with you in case…
Cantaloupes (or was that Antelopes?) and Early Childhood Education
Friday, August 3rd, 2012 at
11:23 am
Yesterday, I was cutting up a cantaloupe and Audrey says to me, “Does that come from an animal?” Thinking all along that she was just having fun, I responded, “No, it comes from the ground.” “What is it?” “It’s a melon.” As we continued to talk, it finally came out that she assumed I was cutting up a cantaloupe which she concluded was part of an antelope. Because I had never thought to explain where cantaloupe’s come from. Oh dear, there are gaps in our homeschooling! The greatest fear of a homeschooling mom. I was so very close to having one. Whew! Barely saved. My Audrey knows more about how goats, chickens, and puppies are born than how a cantaloupe grows. I know most parents would not panic over this conversation. Like you…
The Feeding of (Great) Ideas to Our Beloved Children
Monday, May 14th, 2012 at
10:52 am
I had so many wonderful comments last post about our bird feeder. I loved the interaction. The general consensus about our “mystery bird” seems to be that it most definitely is a grosbeak because of its beak. That was people’s first clue on what family it was from. Then our ”twitchers” determined that it was a black-headed grosbeak. Now to be honest, when I look in my Birds of Arizona book, the bird doesn’t look quite like the one we have, but when I googled it, the black headed grosbeak images are the very same ones as my bird. Thanks so much everyone. It is so exciting to learn the names of the birds here in our backyard! If you want to be inspired, read the comments left on that post. …
EXPO 2012 Has Ended
Monday, April 30th, 2012 at
9:30 am
EXPO’s over. Saturday was a great auction day – beautiful weather and buyers were really generous. The last few years the price’s were lower but this year was really good. Audrey got to be part of the opening ceremonies with the Clover Bud kids from our club. Serenity sold her 2 aprons with matching potholders for $300. Wesley had a great year with some new buyers & some really loyal bidders entering into the bidding process. His pig sold for $5.50/lb. for a total of $1,452. Whoa! He was so excited since it was way more than he was expecting. I made a variety of treat packages. Some for the 4-H leaders, others for kids that it was their last year, and plastic baggies for those…
And the Award Goes to… Serenity!
Friday, April 27th, 2012 at
8:19 am
It was another bad-weather day at EXPO. The weather turned cold and it poured rain. Mud, mud, mud! Thankfully, Justus brought his mud boots because he needed them – but it wasn’t enough to just walk in the mud and smoosh it around, he had to scoop it up in his hands and watch it ooze. No picture, but it was quite a sight. Wesley didn’t place but he did very well. For showmanship he placed 3rd in his class beat by two other girls that are in our club. Wesley and Molly, who’s on the far right, used to always be neck and neck in showmanship and one or the other would win 1st or 2nd place but for the last few years, Molly’s pulled…
Butterfly the Pig and One Apron for the Gents and Another for the Ladies
Wednesday, April 25th, 2012 at
9:34 pm
4-H EXPO has officially begun as of today and will end on Saturday after the auction where the kids sell their animals or in Serenity’s case, an item she has sewn. She was raising a lamb if you remember, but sadly that ended abruptly. Wesley spent some time grooming his prize pig. This prize pig is not called Wilbur because it’s a girl. Her name is Butterfly. Awww… That’s exactly what comes to my mind when I look at her – a butterfly. Can’t you see the resemblance? He’s been brushing her the last few days with a brush because they get this scaly dandruff stuff that doesna look so good in the show ring. Judges don’t like to see it. You don’t want to try to brush it all…
Oh Where, Oh Where Did They Go?
Tuesday, April 10th, 2012 at
6:56 am
Unfortunately, I have bad news to report. My adorable bunnies are no longer. Our excellent blood thirsty dog ripped the chicken wire where the rabbits were housed and had himself a nice breakfast. That dog can be so sneaky! We know it was him because we have caught him in the act of getting one of our chickens. He grabbed it and ran into a big field near our house but far enough from us that we couldn’t get him. We really scolded him and he hasn’t touched one since but if he can be sneaky and get something (like our goat kids) he will. He just showed up at our house one day and has been here for years – longer than any other dog we’ve…
Strawberries – Harmful or Beneficial to Your Health? – Part II
Wednesday, July 20th, 2011 at
6:32 am
You know how one thing leads to another? Well that’s exactly what happened when I first began reading about strawberries. It all started because I was thinking about growing my own and wondering why I would consider it. It’s just so much easier buying them! Then, just like every other fruit and vegetable grown, I saw what they do to the strawberry plant to try and make it produce more and to eradicate any type of pests that would damage their crop. Both of those things (producing more and eliminating pests) are fine but when the solution is as bad as what commercial growers have chosen to do – that’s not fine with me! Strawberries have wonderful nutritional qualities which you can read about more fully in Part I…
Part I – Starting to Homeschool Your Young Child?
Wednesday, September 1st, 2010 at
7:13 am
Are you thinking to begin homeschooling your child and he/she is only 3 or 4? May I give you a few cautions and some suggestions? I have met many moms who believe they should start their child at age 3 or 4 because their child is READY. Their child already knows the alphabet and maybe can even count to 100. They are so smart. They are READY to learn. I agree that these children are ready to learn but not in the way most parents want to teach. In our society we have been trained to think the public way of education is the only way – sit at a desk and complete your work. So they purchase some cute little preschool program for their child and then require them…
The Week in Review
Monday, May 10th, 2010 at
7:29 am
So many things happened this week that I didn’t post about, so I’m going to just do a week in review with pictures. (that’s me, lots of pictures ) Seth left for Manitoba, Canada, Monday morning at 12 a.m. I’m missing him! I grab 8 forks out of the drawer to set the table and then realize, oops! I only need 7. Russell took me on an anniversary get-away. Our anniversary was in April while the 4-H EXPO was going so we had to hold the celebration. 21 years. Unbelievable that it has went by that quickly! When we arrived home from our time at the Scottsdale Plaza Resort, which is very reasonable this time of year because of P*riceline (our little secret ), we…
EXPO 2010 Update
Saturday, April 24th, 2010 at
8:11 am
Snow, rain and cold have marked the last few days. EXPO 2010 was not one of the better years for weather. Here’s what we had 2 days ago. Fortunately, our club was able to stay a little more warm and dry because every year we bring our wall tent and set it up for meals. Inside is filled with tables and chairs and breakfast, lunch and supper are served there by different families in our club. We have a lot of great kids in our club this year. Isn’t this 1st year 4-H’er adorable? His dad manages a cattle ranch but they’ve never had pigs until this year. They had so much fun with it, the dad bought another for them to raise and then…
Moo, Baa, Maa and Oink
Thursday, April 22nd, 2010 at
7:58 am
For the next few days, I’ll be surrounded by all the sounds that make up a farm. No, I have not moved out to our barn but I am camped out at the 4-H, 2010 EXPO where the kids show and sale their animals that they have been raising for the last several months. The last few days have been hectic as the children sheared their animals, got poster boards ready and packed to come to EXPO. It’s amazing how much wool a lamb carries around. It’s at least 2″ thick. There’s all kinds of interesting ways to do a job, right? Wesley’s pig, Bacon. Justus – looking forward to the day when he can raise an animal. Wesley Zachary & Serenity’s lambs saying “Hi” through the fence. I thought…
Review – Beginning Public Speaking
Monday, August 31st, 2009 at
1:43 pm
Beginning Public Speaking Written by: Teressa Moon Publisher: Communicators for Christ For the past several months I have been teaching a public speaking class to about 13 homeschoolers. My guide for conducting the class has been Beginning Public Speaking by Teresa Moon, published by Communicators for Christ. It has been a wonderful resource. There is a Teacher’s Edition, Student Workpack & DVD which are all available from Communicators for Christ for the price of $99.95. I did not have the DVD’s but used only the Teacher & Student Book and I think you really could just use the Teacher’s Edition and not purchase anything else. The individual books can be purchased through Christian Book Distributors. The books are aimed at ages 8-12 but I adapted it…
Quick Trip to Boston
Wednesday, August 26th, 2009 at
2:17 pm
I’ve been somewhat distracted from writing lately due to other distractions. Just this past weekend Russell & I took a quick trip to Boston. There was a book show that we wanted to check out as a potential source for inventory for our online book business. Now maybe I can’t say definitively that Boston is not my kind of town since I was only there for about 4 days, but I sure was longing for home. Give me the wide open spaces, less noise and cleaner air. The people were quite friendly – friendlier than I think you would find Arizonans but what bothered me the most was the immorality. Everywhere you looked there were women dressed or should I say undressed to the point of almost being…
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