Monday, January 31, 2011

Busy Busy and Happy Happy

Just look at these handsome young men at their 4H competition last Saturday. One, two, three, four FIRST PLACE wins! Stennes and Levi now move into the next level of competition. Josiah and Anders are done until later this year. (For this particular competition, anyway...) Waiting, waiting, waiting... Josiah did Game Birds of Georgia.
Anders did the Longleaf Pine - Wiregrass Ecosystem.
Stennes did Soil Science of Georgia.
These guys were silly after a day of high stress!
Letting off steam...
Campaigners for the 4H State Board worked hard to get the boys' votes.



They worked hard to win as well as they did.
Levi and Stennes cleaned their great-grandfather's gun together.
Branch, ChubChub and The Girl helped Mean Ol' Mama get her seeds started for spring planting.
We went on two field trips on Friday in Tallahassee, and a car flipped right in front of our van. Stennes and Levi were the first ones on the scene, ready to help in any way, but thankfully the driver was fine. What an experience!
We enjoyed our field trips at Mission San Luis and the Florida Museum of Natural History.







As we left for home, one of the (fun!) families pulled up beside us and held up a note reading, "Do you have ChubChub?" Mean Ol' Mama kept asking where he was, trying to keep track of the little rascal. It's a full-time effort to watch the little ones in the group.
Branch was able to spend a few hours with a pilot/airplane designer/engineer at one of the local assisted living facilities. These two fellows really hit it off, sharing a fascination of airplanes.

Meanwhile, Mean Ol' Mama and The Girl scooted down the hall and visited with a WWII survivor who was born in Germany. She shared a beautiful story of her childhood and showed us quite a few historical records of her home that was bombed during the war. She survived in the basement until her family came to America.

Wonderful Poppins added another two raised beds to MO'M's garden. He's such a blessing to our family.
Branch spent some time training his pigeons. They're really beautiful when they fly around the yard.Monday we took the boys to their Bluegrass class in Tallahassee.Teresa and Mean Ol' Mama took the littles (and Josiah) to a near-by park to see what was going on with the birds around the water.
We then visited Maclay Gardens and ate a picnic on the beautiful grounds. We'll definitely make a return visit.
We took the kids to an upscale market as a culminating activity to our studies on the industrial food chain, organic foods, heirlooms, etc.
They were not impressed with the high prices. It was interesting to hear their discussions of price and productivity. They especially enjoyed the different marketing techniques used to snare gullible shoppers.
Looks like another busy week ahead. Stennes and Levi will be attending a 2-day conference on agriculture; we have 2 performances tomorrow; work at the College; preparation for Livestock Judging; Marine Biology for the older two boys; regular schoolwork; and perhaps a visit from friends on Friday.

Monday, January 24, 2011

Still Working

Stennes has been industrious this past week; not only has he been doing schoolwork, but he's finishing up some leather projects.
"Cowboy Cuff in Progress"
Nicely finished. These are used to protect the lower arm and wrist area while the cowboy works with barbwire and other "poky" supplies.

Anders brought home this big bass. Takes two to hold him...
Mean Ol' Mama made a slew of cookies, and quite a few folks were glad to enjoy them.
Stennes helped this young man make a knife and sheath. (You'll see the fellow in just a minute...)
Here's the friend, proudly displaying his new knife. Good job, guys!
And a bunch of silly lads who came over for an afternoon of...well, of silliness...
The older three have been diligently working on posters and props for their competitions this coming Saturday. Speeches, though, are still not quite memorized. Pray! Pray! Pray!

ChubChub wanted to be like the "big boys", so he designed his own poster.
Anders trapped a raccoon who was in a very dispirited mood, indeed. They freed him on down the road a bit.
We went preaching in Enterprise, Alabama, this past Sunday. The boys played a few bluegrass songs for two men who lingered to talk.
These little ones lingered just long enough to be served and "snapped". We had a nice time, although the trip was long (about 3 hours going and coming).
Finishing up competition stuff this week. Memorizing. Staying steady with the little ones. Highway cleanup for 4H tomorrow. Marine Biology for the older 2 on Wednesday. Band on Thursday. All-day field trip on Friday. Competition on Saturday. Mental breakdown on Sunday...[at least Mean Ol' Mama can be prepared...]...