We are finally done with the fair. Not that I’m glad to see it end, but my body is glad.

We brought the cows home last evening and then went out and got all the tack this morning. We didn’t get there in time for the boys to pick up their trophies from the trophy case. I’ll have to go get those in the morning.

Yesterday was the large animal livestock sale, dairy judging and the super showmanship contest. JW and Sarah did dairy judging and JW was determined to win. And he did. I was glad because I knew he would be very disappointed if he didn’t win at his county fair after spending half the summer and part of the fall traveling the midwest with the state judging team. Sarah was 6th, which is very good for her…she is absolutely clueless on how to judge a cow or give reasons. I need to give her a little lesson on this I guess.

One of my favorite 4-H members, Matt Mann won the super showmanship contest. I was so glad, although the kid had won four out of the eight species during the week, he had to pick one specie to represent. As far as I’m concerned, they didn’t even have to hold the contest, he won it already. He is an intense showman and a real standout.

It was a great week for all of us. We weren’t involved in any controversy or drama…that I know about. And we are all glad to be home. Today has been filled with kids doing homework, napping and watching football.

Better get to the barn!

After a week of having the kids do all the work this morning I’m flying solo as I head out to the fair and do the chores.

It will be a quiet day there, no shows, no kids, nothing but sitting and visiting with all my girlfriends about the controversies, events and fun we’ve had all week.

Thanks to all of you who’ve made comments and sent emails about our fun yesterday. And Julie, I sure wish your dad was her to see our supreme champion. Never in a million years would George Robb ever expect that Melissa Peckens would ever had a supreme champion Holstein!

Gotta get!

After a week of having the kids do all the work this morning I’m flying solo as I head out to the fair and do the chores.

It will be a quiet day there, no shows, no kids, nothing but sitting and visiting with all my girlfriends about the controversies, events and fun we’ve had all week.

Thanks to all of you who’ve made comments and sent emails about our fun yesterday. And Julie, I sure wish your dad was her to see our supreme champion. Never in a million years would George Robb ever expect that Melissa Peckens would ever had a supreme champion Holstein!

Gotta get!

Good Morning from the Knolltop. Yes, I know, I know, I promised you I would try to get on and post our fair results…but if you’ve ever been involved with exhibiting animals at any fair you realize that you can’t get away from the fair as quick as you plan to. When you get done sweeping or feeding, then someone comes by that you haven’t seen in a while and you talk. Then you shout some orders to your kids and think you’re going to leave in a few minutes…you get side tracked again…finally you get your bag on your shoulder of all your dirty laundry and then someone else comes by…the bag gets heavy, you put it down and an hour later,you’re still at the fair!

Then it was time for Holly to come into the ring. She came in, collected her Grand Champion ribbons, Sarah was reserve grand champion and everyone was all smiles as they headed back to the barn.

It was a great day but not because the kids won championships and not because everyone was happy a the end of the day, but because my kids were probably the only ones their with both sets of grandparents at the show to take pictures, pat them on the back and tell them how wonderful they were. Now that is something special. Thanks Gramps, Grandma, Nana and Joann! You too Grandaddy, for retiring from Delta and earning cheap air fair for Nana and Joann!

P.S. I will try to have better pics after the week is out..there was a professional there, I’ve just got to buy his pics.

Better get back to the fair….the kids are waiting!

Good Morning from the Knolltop. Yes, I know, I know, I promised you I would try to get on and post our fair results…but if you’ve ever been involved with exhibiting animals at any fair you realize that you can’t get away from the fair as quick as you plan to. When you get done sweeping or feeding, then someone comes by that you haven’t seen in a while and you talk. Then you shout some orders to your kids and think you’re going to leave in a few minutes…you get side tracked again…finally you get your bag on your shoulder of all your dirty laundry and then someone else comes by…the bag gets heavy, you put it down and an hour later,you’re still at the fair!

Then it was time for Holly to come into the ring. She came in, collected her Grand Champion ribbons, Sarah was reserve grand champion and everyone was all smiles as they headed back to the barn.

It was a great day but not because the kids won championships and not because everyone was happy a the end of the day, but because my kids were probably the only ones their with both sets of grandparents at the show to take pictures, pat them on the back and tell them how wonderful they were. Now that is something special. Thanks Gramps, Grandma, Nana and Joann! You too Grandaddy, for retiring from Delta and earning cheap air fair for Nana and Joann!

P.S. I will try to have better pics after the week is out..there was a professional there, I’ve just got to buy his pics.

Better get back to the fair….the kids are waiting!

It’s Monday morning and I’m feeling the effects of having another driver in the family. My four children are at the fair…without me….and I’m at home catching up. WOW is this nice!

They all got up this morning and were headed to the fair at 4:45 am. Remember…this is the first day….they all popped right up without any difficulty. They called at 7 and said all the chores were done and they were eating breakfast. This is the life!

Another surprise was the arrival of the Southern Belles from Georgia! They said they were going to try to come, but I just figured they wouldn’t be able to get on the plane so I didn’t think about it again until we came home yesterday afternoon and Bobby said, my mother and Joann are going to be here any minute!

You know what that meant….I stood in the middle of the house and called the troops to attention. I gave everyone their marching orders and by the time they arrived, the house was clean and smelling great…candles are a great help in covering up barn smells.

We are off to the fair this morning. We have to work the 4-H kitchen and finish clipping everything. I have lots of pictures from yesterday, just not enough time to put them in…I’ll be home later and hopefully get them loaded in today.

It’s Monday morning and I’m feeling the effects of having another driver in the family. My four children are at the fair…without me….and I’m at home catching up. WOW is this nice!

They all got up this morning and were headed to the fair at 4:45 am. Remember…this is the first day….they all popped right up without any difficulty. They called at 7 and said all the chores were done and they were eating breakfast. This is the life!

Another surprise was the arrival of the Southern Belles from Georgia! They said they were going to try to come, but I just figured they wouldn’t be able to get on the plane so I didn’t think about it again until we came home yesterday afternoon and Bobby said, my mother and Joann are going to be here any minute!

You know what that meant….I stood in the middle of the house and called the troops to attention. I gave everyone their marching orders and by the time they arrived, the house was clean and smelling great…candles are a great help in covering up barn smells.

We are off to the fair this morning. We have to work the 4-H kitchen and finish clipping everything. I have lots of pictures from yesterday, just not enough time to put them in…I’ll be home later and hopefully get them loaded in today.

Well, it’s a beautiful Saturday before the fair morning.

At present…Sarah’s brownies are baking, the last batch of salsa is processing, Luke is clipping and Jake is laying flat out on the living room floor because the neighbor’s combine just went by and he can’t go!

Last night the kids got all the cows washed and this morning after they clip them, we will head to the fair with a load of tack and make a last minute stop at the store for fairweek snacks.

The laundry is done, but the whites aren’t found. All my stories have been written except one that I have to finish up by Monday….just waiting on some information.

At the moment, I’m feeling pretty sane, but I know this is just the calm before the storm…so from this point on…if you don’t see any new posts…pray for me! No, really, I’ll try to post to keep fair progress updated.

And for Pat who wanted to know about school and a county fair at this time of year….all the schools in the county have Monday off and then whatever kids want to take off the rest of the week they are excused. Most kids take at least two or three, some only take off their show day. All of the small animals and the horses will show this weekend, sheep are Monday, dairy and beef are Tuesday, pigs are Wednesday and dogs are Thursday….that’s just 4-H. There are open livestock shows all week too.

It is strange in that most every morning you see a lot more parents doing chores in their work clothes, then they go off to work while the kids go to school. This is not your status quo fair where you see sleepy eyed kid doing their chores early in the morning.

The other neat dynamic is that during the day, the fair isn’t crowded with lots and lots of people….mostly older adults and preschoolers. AND one more bonus is the weather…it is usually pleasantly cool, sweatshirt weather which makes it nice for the animals.

Okay….duties await!