School is FINALLY OUT! This year has been an extremely long, drawn out year for my kids. Now, here were are over a third of the way done with the month and again, I am not sure how we got here. We are just 7 days from The Greater Jefferson County Fair. For our family, that means kicking it into high gear...and now. I am a leader of two different groups, Future Leaders 4H Group and 4-Leaf Clover Kids. Wade is a co-leader for my Clover Kids group, as well as serving on numerous committees for 4H, plus kids are in our groups.
Sydney is in her third year of 4-H. She taking four static projects, one wether goat, four pigs and three heifers. Jackson is in his final year of Clover Kids! Yahoo! He has six static projects, one bottle goat, one bottle calf, a rabbit and a pen of chickens that were hatched in the kindergarten classrooms in our school district. Both kids are competing in dog obedience and we couldn't be more excited.
Our days have been filled with washing & conditioning all the livestock. Every. Single. Day. The cattle have to be dried with a blower and Sydney has been tanning her pigs. Yes, you read the previous sentence right. Sydney's crossbred barrow is marked like a Hampshire, which is a black pig with a white belt all around where the shoulders are. Well, in the show ring, pigs will show better and more uniform if the color of the skin is the same as the hair color. So, has been putting sunscreen on the white belt and putting him in a pen outside 4x's a day for 30 minutes...setting lots of timers. :)
Cattle... I hate to say it but their hair is washed about 5 times more a week than mine... I know, I know! I tend to schedule hair washing around when I run and will need to be in public. I am ready for the fair, mainly because the kids are just so excited. It is the start of the summer and we have a super busy summer. And that is just the kids!! I have been putting the together the schedule of the times and places we need to be here and there and let's just say I have resorted to getting an Excel spreadsheet that I have done for each kid, plus our obligations at the fair. Then add in all the stuff required at a home. It's fine. I am fine. Everything will be fine.
Dinky's litter arrived on June 3rd. She had 6....SIX! We have been watching them closely because it is such a big litter. We are making sure that has plenty of high calorie food to keep her milk supply going strong for her littles. If you follow us on social media, you will know that Jackson has been planning this certain litter for a few years now. He has picked out his dog that he will be using for dog obedience and agility when he is in real 4-H next year. He has named him Junior, how fitting.
Since I may or may not have made Sydney do dog obedience this year (she did it in Clover Kids, but not since being in 4-H) she has been asking if Dolly will be able to do it again next year. Both Dolly & Reba are two puppies we decided to keep from Dottie and Baxter's litters in December. They are maturing into beautiful dogs and they kids really are doing a good job taking time to train them. If Sydney decides that she does want to do this every year, we will be sitting down and planning which puppy will be just right for her.
Watch for another *short* email soon announcing the next litter that has arrived & how our fair went.
Here's to Wade & I surviving fair...
~Elly