County Fair

My kids have been very busy getting ready for the state fair. They have been studying for showmanship in poultry, goat and alpacas. They have been working with their animals and getting them ready to show. They have their non animal project into the state fair ready to be displayed. The excitement and tension is rising. I am so proud of them.

I realized that I haven't even shared any of the projects that they took to the county fair. So I thought I would share a few things that the kids took to the county fair. So here are a few pictures: Bee hive cake, canning, cement leaves, baby grand piano cake, pigs, goats, and alpacas.

So I have been avoiding writing on my blog. We have been so busy with all that the kid's do that I have felt overwhelmed and just did not feel I could do a good job on blogging as well. I have decided that even if I just blog a little it is better then not at all.

My kids are really big into 4H they have been involved with a lot of activities. They are done with our county fair and getting geared up for our state fair. They both have won state fair trips and are so excited.

This was the first year that our county had Alpacas/Lamas at the fair. My daughter worked very hard to get them into the fair. I was very proud of the 14 kids that showed them, we have an idea now of what we have to do next year. We had a couple of wonderful judges that were very patient with us. Our county has 5 children going to the state fair with an Alpaca or Lama. I think that is pretty good for the first year.

Here are some county fair pictures!

Alpaca Weekend!! Thanks Roger!!

 

Well what a weekend. We went to the Minnesota Alpaca Expo in Owatanna, Minnesota. Rose was asked to show at the alpaca show. She was so excited and very nervous. But she sure did a great job. I was so proud of her. She went in  the ring with a lot of confidence, even though she didn't no exactly how to show them. It is lucky that she has shown animals for 4H, because she knew how to handle and present the alpaca. She also entered the costume contest. She was the flower and the alpaca was the bee. It went well. I was surprised how well the alpaca tolerated it. 

Hmmmmmmmmm What are they thinking???

Spring? Winter? Spring? Winter?

So I am confused the calendar says spring but it looks alot like winter to me. We got another several inches of snow last night and this morning. No school today, first time in quite a few years that our school has been closed. Danny says it was January of '07. It sure is heavy snow, this won't be good for the flooding situation, although they say it will melt slowly over the next week since the weather won't warm up to fast. The kids are really enjoying it HAHA. They blew out the driveway and shoveled the chickens out, sidewalk and path to the shed. Dan is looking forward to shoveling off the roof, yah right!
Hope you're enjoying this weather now because I am hoping it won't last long! Have a great day! God Bless you all, Debbie

Snow, Snow Go Away!!

How much snow do you have left?

So I'm sitting here dreaming about spring. I am really tired of snow. Last week was a nice taste of what I know is to come. But we still have quite a bit of snow. These pictures were taken yesterday. I know that we lost a little last night with the rain but we are suppose to get more 3 to 6 inches tonight and tomorrow. It won't last very long thank goodness. It will be nice to see some green grass, well even brown grass, LOL.

Poultry Bowl update

Well I thought I would update you on the poultry bowl teams. They competed at regional competition on the 5th of March. The kids did awesome. The senior team lost their last match by two points, so they won't be going to state. The junior team will be competing at state in April. Congratulations to all the members. Great job I am so proud of you! Go 4Hers!!!!!

worm castings

So I have a terrible time with my plants. An alpaca farmer that my children have been helping gave me a 5# bag of this dirt and told me that it was from his worm farm. He uses the alpaca poo and some other items in his worm farm. It makes a very rich soil. He told me to use half potting soil and half of the dirt he gave me. I actually used about 1/3 of his dirt and 2/3 potting soil. I decided to see if I could save this spider plant that my cat was destroying. With in a couple of days I could see the plant was perking up. Now a few weeks later it is striving!! Now which plant to save next. I will post more when I use it it on other plants. I'll have to post pictures because I think I will become a great houseplant grower after all! This is really good soil! I would recommend it to anyone! 

Happy Birthday Duane!!

Well I just wanted to say happy birthday to my husband! It was his birthday on the 6th. We had a great day. Had some family time at the Mall of America! We haven't been there for years. We caught the light rail and took it to MOA. It was a lot of fun. The kids really enjoy the rides.

      

                                 

      

HMMMMMM Poultry Bowl

Well we are one day away from Regional Poultry Bowl competition! The kids have been practicing and studying since November. The teams are ready! These kids have been getting together every Saturday morning to practice. I am so proud of them. They are going to rock! We have two teams going one senior team and one junior team. My daughter is so nervous. Go teams you will do great!

March - Spring will it ever come?

Well do you think March came in like a lamb or a lion? It sure is cold. I can't wait till spring arrives! Thinking about the garden. We got most of our seeds already. The kids are excited to get them in the ground. We will see if the snow ever goes away. We are deciding how to plant, I like to put newspaper and grass clipping between the rows but Duane doesn't he says it take to long. I think it is to much work to weed all the time. So does anyone else have any ideas? Just leave a comment of what you do in your garden.

Alpaca Day!

So yesterday was the day my kids went to help the alpaca farmer. The kids got to start halter training some of the alpacas that will shown at the Minnesota Expo which is in April. Rose is so excited that she is probably going to show in the expo. We will head to Owatanna for the weekend. It should be a great family weekend getaway and a great experience for Rose.

The kids have been going to this alpaca farm at least a couple times a month to work with the alpacas and to do some of the chores. Sometimes they get to help with the weighing, cleaning the pens or walking the animals. They always really enjoy being with these wonderful gentle animals. Don't get me wrong they can be very feisty like yesterday when they had one of the alpacas on a halter and she kept kicking because she didn't like the halter. My kids don't get discouraged they just keep going!

See what was at our feeder today?

It is a very beautiful day! The sun is shining and it is so bright out. When Rose looked out and saw this big bird she was so amazed. It was such a beauriful sight! He was very nervous but stuck around for a while. Luckily I got a couple of great pictures. Thanks Rose for filling my bird feeders! Have a great day, Debbie

Another snowy day!

So it is snowing again today. A great day to stay inside. I figured I would blog a little. Just kind of gloomy so I figured I would start scrapbooking. My son just turned 16 and is in the 10th grade. With graduation in a couple of years I figured I should start his scrapbook. I have put it off long enough. Does anyone have any ideas for me? Where to begin? Hmmmm maybe at the beginning hahaha. So I will get the pictures out and get sorting. Talk to you later. Maybe I will post pictures later.

Have a great day!

God Bless you all, Debbie

Rollerskating Party

The Sugar Maple Kids 4H Club had a rollerskating/award party on Sunday! First we went rollerskating and then we went for pizza and awards. It was a lot of fun! It was fun to see the older and younger members have fun together. We sure have a great group of kids. Thanks to all the members! I am looking forward to another great year! Debbie

RV and Camping Show

I went to the RV and camping show yesterday. It was my gift to my husband for Valentines Day. He loves to go and I'd rather not. I must say it was fun to go without kids.

We sure saw a lot of RV's and campers. Wow are some of them amazing but very expensive. The highest price RV we saw was $450,000. WOW was it something but $450,000. It was cool to see it but I can't imagine ever wanting something like that. Which is good because we would never buy anything like that.

We saw so many nice campers but really liked the ones that are light weight and more aerodynamic. It would be much more economical to travel with these. We also liked the Park models. I'm not sure which one a person would buy. There were park models that had the log siding and tongue and groove inside and others with maintenance free vinyl siding. Some that had fire places, some with lofts, which would be nice for the kids. They seem to be made much better these days with a higher R value insulation. It would be great to park one of these on our lot and then add a bunkhouse and we would be set. Home away from home. We would spend a lot of time there.

We looked at many things. They have everything you would ever need to camp and more. From golf carts, pet items, camping equipment, to of course the actual campers and RV's. Even Scentsy which Duane bought me one for my Valentines gift. They did not have the one I wanted so they will ship it. I can't wait to get it. I love to burn candles for the smells and I can't wait to use my new Scentsy!

The time sure did go fast yesterday! We returned home to celebrate my sons 16th birthday. I can't believe he is 16 already. Boy time sure does fly. If you have little kids enjoy them now because they grow up so fast. I am really enjoying this age as well but it won't be long and he will be out on his own. I guess it will be a new phase of our lives! Well have a geat day, God Bless you all and thanks for visiting my blog. Leave a comment if you want, I love comments.

I'm Back

So I have not been blogging lately because a lot has happened around here lately. From the kids activities to my silent retreat, to a death in the family. So here I am trying to get back in the swing of things.

We have Barney back in our house for a while since the Auntie that he went to live with, lost her husband last week. So again we are trying to potty train the 2 puppies in the winter months, hmmm, it has been interesting to say the least. They seem to be getting it, most of the time. Now if we can get them to bark when they want to go out we will be doing great. I have considered tying a bell to the door and training them to ring the bell but I am afraid we may not always hear them, hmmm what should we do? Well I think we will continue to do what we are doing and see what happens.

So now about the silent retreat at the Kings House in Buffalo, MN ahhhh what an amazing weekend! It was so nice to go again this year. This year I was able to talk my mom into going. Wow is it hard to keep her quiet, haha. Let's just say we spent a lot of time in the coffee room where wewere are able to talk anytime we wanted to. I truely enjoyed the weekend. I will always remember the time I was able to spend with mom. She is the neatest person. It was fun just being at the retreat house where we didn't have to cook or do anything, we enjoyed the speakers and well talking. Oh and don't forget the wonderful food mmm good. I did come away from the retreat with a lot of insight. I look forward to the next time I can make a retreat. My mom would like to try one in the summer time because it would be nice to go outside, sounds good to me!

Mugsy to the rescue!

So Tucker is a little lonely without his brother. He really likes laying by Mugsy, but Mugsy is not always sure about this. The night time has been going great because Mugsy likes his taxi and is allowing Tucker to lay with him! I am so glad. The true test was when Duane was off and was home to sleep at night because Mugsy really likes him and must always sleep with him. The nights went really well because Mugsy was fine with being in the taxi. I think I have my bed back. No dogs slept wih us, now lets see how long this last. I think Duane had some withdrawls though. hahaha

The other day I put Tucker in his pen so that I could get some things done and he began to cry, howl, bark anything to get out. It wasn't long and Mugsy came over and gave me a little bark. I thought he wanted to go outside but he wouldn't. Then he did it again and walked over to the pen where Tucker was. I let him in and he gave a big sigh and layed down with Tucker. It was as if he was resigned to the fact that he had to help Tucker. They layed down and took a nice long nap. I got quite a bit done before they got up.

Having a new puppy is a lot of work and you sure need a lot of patience.

Poor Tucker

I think this is going to be along night. Poor Tucker is lonely. Barney went to his new home today and Tucker sure does miss him. Tucker cries and Mugsy barks and howles because Tucker is crying. Oh my! So I think I will see if Mugsy will lay with Tucker. Hmmmmmmmmmmm, I hope it works!

An hour later.....Well it is a little better. Tucker is crying less an Mugsy is quiet. How long will this last????? I better get some sleep while I can!! Good Night Everyone, shhhhhhhhhhhh

Well first night went better then I thought it would, thanks to Mugsy. Tucker only barked a few times. Mugsy was happy to be in his taxi. Maybe I will get Mugsy out of our bed!!! I am not found of a dog in our bed, but our oldest daughter taught him that. When she was gone he moved into our bed. We'll see how it goes. Hope you have a great day.

So another day and we are closer to training Tucker but Barney just hates the cold. He did pretty good at first but now he likes to go outside and stand there and shake, I think he so cold he doesn't even think about going to the bathroom. I bought some vecroe today so will have to get a jacket made so he is not so cold. I will post a new picture of the jackets I am makeing out of fleece. If anyone has some good ideas on potty training puppies please feel to share with me!! Have a great evening!

PAPA MURPHY CARDS

My son is raising money for a 4H trip to Washington D.C. He is selling Papa Murphy cards for $5 they are worth $50. They are good at any Papa Murphy Stores. They have no expiration dates. It is a great deal. If you are interested in buying a card let me know!!

Frecklebox Review

I have a good friend that was telling me about all the prizes that she was winning. It sounded so exciting so I thought I would give it a try. I started out by following her blog. I entered one of her giveaways and I was randomly picked!!! I won a great book. More about that later.

Then I started entering the Holiday Gift Giveaway Hop! That was so exciting. I kept my fingers crossed and guess what I recived this email You won a prize from Life with 5 monkies!  Thanks Life with 5 monkies!  My prize was from Frecklebox.com .

I was told to customize an item of my choice. So I checked out the site. There are a lot of great things on this site.  I chose to get my daughter a clipboard. She didn't have one and I figured she would have many uses for it. I chose the one with horse shoes on it and added her name. I knew she would like it. She loves horses and anything with her name on it!! I was excited to give it to her for Christmas.

I ordered it and quickly received a confirmation email saying that they received my order and it was in the process. They shipped my order a couple days later and I had it in a week.

My daughter loved her gift. She uses it for everything. She wants to take it with to the alpaca farm so she can keep her notes in order.

So hop on over to check out Frecklebox.com .  I bet your kids, grandkids neices and nephews would love to see their name on a notebook, book, folder or even a poster. So go ahead and personalize a gift for that special kid in your life.