Here stands the heifer who wants to support the GOP by becoming a Republican elephant.What a party animal!
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
You Can Dress Them Up, But...
One of the silly activities the children can do at the fair is to dress up their animals and compete for the most creative idea. This is done on Sunday after all the shows and sales are ended and the crowd gets to participate in the choosing of the winner. The one that gets the most laughs is probably going to win! This year there were rabbits, sheep, and cattle that participated.
Here stands the heifer who wants to support the GOP by becoming a Republican elephant.What a party animal!
Here stands the heifer who wants to support the GOP by becoming a Republican elephant.What a party animal!
Sunday, August 28, 2005
Saturday, August 27, 2005
Tearful Goodbyes
Today will be the day of sad faces and tears. I know it because I have seen it in the past. Children all over the area are going to cry and feel terrible because of the goodbyes they will have to say.
Wednesday my family set up at another fair. They took the show box and all their equipment and prepared the area in the barn assigned to them for the coming of their cattle. Thursday, they took their quilting and sewing, rockets and models, woodworking projects and art to be registered for judging and then they loaded the cattle onto the trailer and hauled them to the barns. Thousands of children have done this throughout the summer. It is a fun time and a time of very hard work.
Friday was the day for the judging of the cattle. The children washed, clipped, and fancied up their animals that they had spent the entire year feeding. These animals have been taught to lead on a halter by walking with them daily. They’ve been given baths several days each week, and they’ve come to trust their owners. My children had a good day, and they came home with two division reserve champion ribbons.
Today is Saturday, and this is the day that everyone will crowd into the sale barn and offer to buy the children’s steers, hogs, lambs—whatever is for sale, and then all of the children understand that these animals will be butchered.
This is farm life. We raise animals for others to eat. This is 4-H. We teach our children how to feed the animals and care for them. But if we are going to raise animals for food, then we are going to have to butcher them, right?
That is when the tears begin. How do you say goodbye to that big brown-eyed steer who likes to eat your shirt? What about the animal that chews its cud and looks ecstatic when you rub it in the right spot on its back?
What puts it all into perspective is that all of these children are most likely to be back next year to do the same thing. They have counted the cost. The children are growing up and are learning to deal with life in the raw. I suppose that is good. But it still makes me teary-eyed to watch their sorrow.
Keep them in your thoughts and prayers today.
My son's deer hunting stand received a blue ribbon at the fair. Everyone chuckled at its being the biggest woodworking project they'd ever seen!
Wednesday my family set up at another fair. They took the show box and all their equipment and prepared the area in the barn assigned to them for the coming of their cattle. Thursday, they took their quilting and sewing, rockets and models, woodworking projects and art to be registered for judging and then they loaded the cattle onto the trailer and hauled them to the barns. Thousands of children have done this throughout the summer. It is a fun time and a time of very hard work.
Friday was the day for the judging of the cattle. The children washed, clipped, and fancied up their animals that they had spent the entire year feeding. These animals have been taught to lead on a halter by walking with them daily. They’ve been given baths several days each week, and they’ve come to trust their owners. My children had a good day, and they came home with two division reserve champion ribbons.
Today is Saturday, and this is the day that everyone will crowd into the sale barn and offer to buy the children’s steers, hogs, lambs—whatever is for sale, and then all of the children understand that these animals will be butchered.
This is farm life. We raise animals for others to eat. This is 4-H. We teach our children how to feed the animals and care for them. But if we are going to raise animals for food, then we are going to have to butcher them, right?
That is when the tears begin. How do you say goodbye to that big brown-eyed steer who likes to eat your shirt? What about the animal that chews its cud and looks ecstatic when you rub it in the right spot on its back?
What puts it all into perspective is that all of these children are most likely to be back next year to do the same thing. They have counted the cost. The children are growing up and are learning to deal with life in the raw. I suppose that is good. But it still makes me teary-eyed to watch their sorrow.
Keep them in your thoughts and prayers today.
My son's deer hunting stand received a blue ribbon at the fair. Everyone chuckled at its being the biggest woodworking project they'd ever seen!
Wednesday, August 24, 2005
Daily Bread
Someone once told me that when we pray the Lord’s Prayer, “Give us this day our daily bread,” we are not asking, necessarily, for our food only, but for all the things we need. As I ponder what it is I should put into my daily schedule, I keep coming back to this prayer. So what is the daily bread of a weekly schedule?
I live by schedules. Between Excel and me we’ve gone through a number of daily schedules over the years. We’ve mapped out each day’s activities, chore lists and charts. I have school schedules, books lists, and graduation requirements. These lists help me think, and I get more accomplished if I have something that helps me keep on track. Now as I prepare for the coming of our school year, I am looking at the 24 hour days allotted me and am trying to decide how much “daily bread” I need to include to be fulfilling my daily requirements.
Certainly, the first task is spending time with God. What would a day be without some time to worship the King and read from His Word? It is during this time that I have a chance to see what it is I have been created to do, how I am to live my life, and what the standards are that guide my life. I also see the need to spend time with my husband and family in daily devotions.
Another task that must happen is that of serving others. For a homeschooling mom this is probably the most time-consuming portion of the schedule. I need to keep the household running: meals, housekeeping, and laundry. I must teach and train my children in areas like history, English, and math as well as teach them to be honorable, honest, hardworking and kind. I need to carve out a little time for my husband and I need to leave some time for reaching out to people outside my home.
Before I can call my schedule complete, I must always remember that if I do not care for myself, I will not be able to continue the task of caring for others. Throughout my week I need to put blocks of time for grooming, exercising, relaxing, sleeping, and using my mind.
Life is short. Much of what is required of us today will not be a part of our schedule in 10 or 20 years. Most of the first 20 years of our lives is spent with family and in school. The next 20 or 30 years most people have some time alone, time with a spouse, and time with a growing family. And then the house empties out and, if we are lucky, we get to spend time with our grandchildren. At some time we may have to experience our handing over the responsibility of caring for others so that we can, again, have someone care for us. I believe that it is good to remember that what we do today will influence the quality of our lives in the next season of our life. Our relationships with our family, our caring for our body’s health, and our time with God—all of these things are important. So as I work on my weekly schedules, I must look ahead and include what I want to be when I am 80 years old in the schedules I build today.
The poster on the wall in the teachers’ lounge made us chuckle; it read, “Life is short. Eat dessert first.” I believe that it would be more appropriate for us to post “Give us this day our daily bread.” Even so, I do think that in some ways the two sayings are related. Both require us to remember to do what is most important. There will always be activities that we would like to do that do not get done. If we do not decide what we will schedule into our day, we may get through a season of our life only to find out that we forgot something important. So as I go into a new school year, I am going to sit down with my computer and decide what needs to go into my schedule. I’m sure that I would be more comfortable with 36-hour days, but that is not reality. Priorities need to be set, and decisions need to be made. And when it is all done, it needs to be a practical schedule that can be accomplished on an average day.
Anyone want to enter the world of building schedules and setting goals with me? Pointers are welcome!
Blessings.
I live by schedules. Between Excel and me we’ve gone through a number of daily schedules over the years. We’ve mapped out each day’s activities, chore lists and charts. I have school schedules, books lists, and graduation requirements. These lists help me think, and I get more accomplished if I have something that helps me keep on track. Now as I prepare for the coming of our school year, I am looking at the 24 hour days allotted me and am trying to decide how much “daily bread” I need to include to be fulfilling my daily requirements.
Certainly, the first task is spending time with God. What would a day be without some time to worship the King and read from His Word? It is during this time that I have a chance to see what it is I have been created to do, how I am to live my life, and what the standards are that guide my life. I also see the need to spend time with my husband and family in daily devotions.
Another task that must happen is that of serving others. For a homeschooling mom this is probably the most time-consuming portion of the schedule. I need to keep the household running: meals, housekeeping, and laundry. I must teach and train my children in areas like history, English, and math as well as teach them to be honorable, honest, hardworking and kind. I need to carve out a little time for my husband and I need to leave some time for reaching out to people outside my home.
Before I can call my schedule complete, I must always remember that if I do not care for myself, I will not be able to continue the task of caring for others. Throughout my week I need to put blocks of time for grooming, exercising, relaxing, sleeping, and using my mind.
Life is short. Much of what is required of us today will not be a part of our schedule in 10 or 20 years. Most of the first 20 years of our lives is spent with family and in school. The next 20 or 30 years most people have some time alone, time with a spouse, and time with a growing family. And then the house empties out and, if we are lucky, we get to spend time with our grandchildren. At some time we may have to experience our handing over the responsibility of caring for others so that we can, again, have someone care for us. I believe that it is good to remember that what we do today will influence the quality of our lives in the next season of our life. Our relationships with our family, our caring for our body’s health, and our time with God—all of these things are important. So as I work on my weekly schedules, I must look ahead and include what I want to be when I am 80 years old in the schedules I build today.
The poster on the wall in the teachers’ lounge made us chuckle; it read, “Life is short. Eat dessert first.” I believe that it would be more appropriate for us to post “Give us this day our daily bread.” Even so, I do think that in some ways the two sayings are related. Both require us to remember to do what is most important. There will always be activities that we would like to do that do not get done. If we do not decide what we will schedule into our day, we may get through a season of our life only to find out that we forgot something important. So as I go into a new school year, I am going to sit down with my computer and decide what needs to go into my schedule. I’m sure that I would be more comfortable with 36-hour days, but that is not reality. Priorities need to be set, and decisions need to be made. And when it is all done, it needs to be a practical schedule that can be accomplished on an average day.
Anyone want to enter the world of building schedules and setting goals with me? Pointers are welcome!
Blessings.
Monday, August 22, 2005
It's Monday!
The beginning of another week; perhaps I can finish my spring cleaning, organize the last lesson plans for the school year, and take some time to put my feet up before school starts. Right?
The evening sky was gorgeous last night with pink clouds decorating the western horizon. The clouds floated above like ships upon the water; I always wonder if that makes me the fish. I did not stay out late enough to find the constellations, but as I walked the neighbor’s horse was snorting in the pasture over the hill. Otherwise the evening was quite except for the normal sounds of crickets and frogs, farm dogs and cattle bellowing for their calves, cats mewing because I’m walking too fast and they cannot keep up, and the sound of cars on the distant highway.
The crickets, by the way, have completely invaded my home. If you go into the basement in the evening you will hear their chorus. We have an old farmhouse with rock walls in the basement and it is not good at keep a number of small things outside. The spider population is a bit overzealous with all the spider webs, and these are everywhere, not just the basement. I cannot stay ahead of their spinning and weaving around the corners of my walls and curtain rods.
And now I sense that the small rodents that like to find a nice warm place for winter have started attempting to find their way into my basement as well. How can I tell? Snowflake. He use to curl up at night next to me on my bed, and now he only has eyes for the basement stairwell. He searches and looks and is all perky-eared every time we move a shoe or a basket in the entryway. Although I’m not too excited about his eating mice, I must say I prefer their being eaten to their infesting my house.
The glorious farm life that everyone wants, right?
Hey! Have a good day!
Jacob and Luna waiting to go into the show ring
The evening sky was gorgeous last night with pink clouds decorating the western horizon. The clouds floated above like ships upon the water; I always wonder if that makes me the fish. I did not stay out late enough to find the constellations, but as I walked the neighbor’s horse was snorting in the pasture over the hill. Otherwise the evening was quite except for the normal sounds of crickets and frogs, farm dogs and cattle bellowing for their calves, cats mewing because I’m walking too fast and they cannot keep up, and the sound of cars on the distant highway.
The crickets, by the way, have completely invaded my home. If you go into the basement in the evening you will hear their chorus. We have an old farmhouse with rock walls in the basement and it is not good at keep a number of small things outside. The spider population is a bit overzealous with all the spider webs, and these are everywhere, not just the basement. I cannot stay ahead of their spinning and weaving around the corners of my walls and curtain rods.
And now I sense that the small rodents that like to find a nice warm place for winter have started attempting to find their way into my basement as well. How can I tell? Snowflake. He use to curl up at night next to me on my bed, and now he only has eyes for the basement stairwell. He searches and looks and is all perky-eared every time we move a shoe or a basket in the entryway. Although I’m not too excited about his eating mice, I must say I prefer their being eaten to their infesting my house.
The glorious farm life that everyone wants, right?
Hey! Have a good day!
Jacob and Luna waiting to go into the show ring
Saturday, August 20, 2005
Another Fair Day
The children are out washing their cattle. The quilting is done, the sewing project is pressed, and the pictures are framed. This is just a one-day fair, but come next week, we will have 4 days at another fair. Company is coming Monday and Tuesday of this week and Tuesday through Thursday next week. And then... school. When was I supposed to finish the spring cleaning? Should I just till the weed patch under rather than pretending that it is a garden?? I still think mothers should be allowed to work from midnight to six. Why do we need to sleep? LOL!
Does anyone end his summer with a quiet lull? I’d like to hear about it!
Blessings.