Tuesday, August 31, 2010

State Fair


If you've followed my little bloggity
or me on facebook,
you know my big boys had State Fair trips
with their animals.

And since it happened, 
I must blog about it.

Disclaimer:  the following pictures were taken by me
while wearing Ivy in my sling.
She reaches for everything,
and that would include the camera.
Hence, nearly every single one is a bit blurry.
I have a fairly steady hand,
and I never drink before 3:00 in the afternoon
(just kidding--it's actually closer to noon)
(ok, really just kidding, 'cause I don't drink)
so usually I can get pictures to stay pretty clear
even when zoomed pretty far,
as I was in many of these.

Just had to mention that
because I wouldn't want to tarnish my super-mom
image by having you think I take blurry pictures.

Here goes:

Isaiah showed his goat on Friday morning,
shortly after 8:00.

This was the half of the show ring with the market goats.
The other half was for the dairy breeds.

Ivy was a good spectator.

Isaiah got a blue for showmanship
and his goat also received a blue in the market class.
The judge was so great, explaining so well in her reasons
why she placed them as she did 
and what she looks for in a market goat.

After showmanship, 
there was some time until the market class.
We wandered through the barn a bit and saw
Reggie, Minnesota's largest boar.
1450 pounds.
Goodness me!

and a REALLY big horse.
There were many such horses.
And many that were very very small, as well.


Then is was time to go back for the market class.
Isaiah is to the left of the really tall kid.

When the boys weren't showing,
they were in the barns.
Playing cards was the typical activity,
you know, when they weren't pitching manure
or hauling water to the animals.
If it ain't one end that needs attention,
it's the other...


Resting was another thing they did to pass time.

The dairy barn is so big!!!
So many cows, all shapes, sizes and colors.
So clean and pretty...

Nathaniel showed on Saturday morning.
Here he is ready for the show
with his Brown Swiss heifer named Sweet Pea.

This is the coliseum where all the dairy were shown.
It was HUGE!!!!!!!!!
They ran four "rings" at a time.
Looking at this picture,
you could imagine it in the upper left and right
and middle left and right.
The lower left was the entrance area
and the lower right was the picture taking area.
In the exact middle of the picture are two stage lights
that I didn't realize were there until we had climbed up and sat down.
And by this time, I was too tired to get up and move
so that they wouldn't be in my way.

The dairy show began at 9:00, 
and by 2:00 it was almost time for Nathaniel to show.
Almost.
And Isaiah could keep his eyes open no longer.

Dennis' work still needed to be done,
and he was making a call for parts for the tractor.

Nathaniel is a natural showman.
He handles his animals so well.
He's very confident in the ring and 
the animals trust him because of it.
The lady in the black shirt is one of the judges.

I just had to include this picture.
Take a look at the lady in the upper right?
You'd think if anyone would know
not to wear high heels at a dairy show,
it would be a dairy judge.
Wouldn'tcha think????

All in all,
it was a GREAT experience.
We are blessed to have family who helped to make it happen.

We hope to have many more opportunities 
for our kids to take projects to the State Fair level.



Thursday, August 26, 2010

State Fair Bound!!


Nathaniel and Isaiah (yes, I do have these sons, though you'd not be able to prove it with a picture on my blog...) left yesterday morning for the Minnesota State Fair!!

They are down there with a 4-H livestock encampment--
Isaiah with one of his goats
and Nathaniel with his Brown Swiss heifer.

They left yesterday (Wed.) and will be back Sunday evening.
Dennis and I are leaving tonight in order to be down in time for 
Isaiah's goat show at 8 AM TOMORROW MORNING!

We will stay over night with my brother and his family
so that we can be there to watch 
Nathaniel's dairy show at 
8 AM ON SATURDAY MORNING!

(I think that's an insane time for a show...just sayin')

Here are some pictures I took with my cell phone
as they were loadin' up to
 move 'em out.
This is not our animal...just a picture for you
"city folk" to see the type of trailer they take them in 
and how they do it.

See?  See that guy heading down the ramp?
That's Nathaniel.
I bet you'd be able to recognize him anywhere now, 
wouldn't you? 
He had just loaded his heifer.
Picture proof that he exists.

See?  See that guy at the entrance to the trailer?
The one with the cowboy hat?
Oh, you can't see him 'cause of the shadow?
Well, that's Number 2 son Isaiah,
loading his goat,
affectionately named Lefse.
Ya, ve're dat Norsky so as to name animals
after Scandinavian dishes.

My persona faveof the day were 
the fancy jackets that the sheep wear.
Stylin', no?

A far-away shot of the bus
the kids rode on.

You didn't think that they'd go 
on the stock trailer did you????

A closer up shot of the bus,
taken from the front seat of our van
as I was driving away from the 
County Fairgrounds;
they were heading out ahead of me.

They're gonna have a GREAT time.
I know it.

And Dennis, Ivy and I are, too.
I know it.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Beach Babies


beach babe


beach beauties


beach dude


beach baby


beach dude


beach dude


beach dude with an attitude

beach dude trying to have some attitude


beach dude with some serious at-ti-tude


workin' it


this picture is definitely going to 
show up at his wedding.
I'm just sayin'...

Thanks to our AWESOME friends
who taught the kids swimming lessons.
What a WONDERFUL blessing that 
was/is to our family.

These were taken on the day that all 4 kiddos
passed!!!

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

But Ivy Didn't Like It

Ruby tried so hard to love on Ivy...
pushing her in the stroller...
patting her on the head...
but Ivy didn't like it.

Monday, August 23, 2010

Distracted Driving



texting
WHAT is the DEAL??!!
texting and driving
talking and driving
and then the horse gets a call...
arrgggghhhh!!!
but she's so cute--who could get after her???

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Friday, August 20, 2010

What a Guy

Yesterday Elijah and Ruby were playing "the Mom and the Dad."

He said they were going to the store.

I asked if they had any children and if they were going with them to the store.

He said no, they didn't have any children.

I said, "Oh...the Lord hasn't given you any children yet?"

He said, "oh...wait.  I forgot.  We do have children."

He'll make a great dad.

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Training Wheels--Be Gone!




Bipper has learned to ride without training wheels!!!

On Monday,
he asked his big brothers to take them off.
They did,
and Andrew taught him how to ride.
Andrew was so patient--
he is a good teacher.

He just goes zipping along! 
And we've only had a couple minor scrapes on the elbows.

Oh, and can you guess my personal favorite from this video?
If you said "Elijah running along behind them"
you'd be right!!!

Anyway,
Christopher's so proud.
And so are we.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

School Days


Mr. Bipper started "school" this week.
He's going to be doing Kindergarten work--
he is OH-SO-READY to be working like
his big brothers and sister!
You can see who's next in line, right?

Mr. 'Lijah was looking over his shoulder,
watching him make his letters the whole time!
I let Elijah work right along with us as we talk about rhyming,
matching, which one doesn't belong, which is the fastest/biggest/smallest, etc.

Miss Ivy spends some school time 
sitting in her Bumbo, 
chomping on a spoon and drooling EVERYWHERE.

Andrew is working on math.
He is a math whiz.

Linnea is eating her apple-snack
while reading something from the encyclopedia
on the computer.
(Notice Christopher in the background--
he is feeling SO FOXY that he's doing school, too!)


Monday, August 16, 2010

Ten Memories I Leave for Them

Ten Memories I Leave for Them
by Jenefer Igarashi

What I hope my children will remember:
1.  That she loved God and her family, and that she prayed for them.
2.  That when they came into a room, her first response was a smile, and they knew she was genuinely happy to see them.
3.  That she did not shy away from teaching hard lessons, and held them accountable for their decisions and mistakes.
4.  That she sang songs to them, and with them, even though she sang off key.
5.  That she could humbly apologize and ask forgiveness when she was wrong or cruel.
6.  That she loved their dad, and strove to be respectful and helpful to him.
7.  That she would apologize to their dad, and to them, when she "flipped out" and started hollering about empty milk cartons tossed back in the fridge.
8.  That she laughed a lot.
9.  That she would truly hear them when they spoke.
10.  That she was miserably flawed, made many mistakes, yet was still used by God to touch and bless others, especially them.
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