We've Got a Winner!

Greetings all, hope things are going according to plan in your neck of the woods. The vibe around here has seriously shifted to a more laid back, dare I say boring pace.

The mandala for this posting is Quiet Water Mandala by Janet Karam that I found on Daily Painter's Abstract. Click on the name to visit.


We spent several days up at the Eastern Michigan Fair last week, watching the swine happenings so the boys will know what to expect next year when we finally invest in the animals, and trust me it is definately an investment. Most kids barely break even at the auction but it is a great experience in many aspects. Benjamin received a Best in Show for his book that he entered and Ethan received one for a Lego helicopter he put in. For each 5 projects the kids entered they could put their name in a drawing for a FREE ride pass. Ben won!

It's been several years since we've been involved in 4H. My oldest daughter was into it big time when we were homeschooling, enrolling in a Rabbit club, Sheep club, recycled crafts club and others. They used to give premiums for the top picks in each category but now the only reason to enter projects is to get daily passes to get into the fair to take care of your animals everyday. Both my flower arrangements got Third Place, my paper item got First (I think it was the only one in the category), and the photo below took Second Place in Photography: Architectural.

Watching showmanship is always a blast for me, the accomplishment and execution of those young people out there is truly inspiring. Have you ever tried keeping a pig, a sheep, or a cow under control? Trust me, it isn't easy and some of these kids are naturals with it. The boys and I observed and discussed the various techniques the kids used, I prefer the kinder, gentler method as opposed to whapping the poor animal to death. Seeing the girls in their bling-bling cowgirl belts was kinda cool too.

Talk about some serious animal upkeep and maintainence....elephant baths, looks like you pretty much take a bath with them those hoses are so super-powered!

Fun times on the rides, for kids only this year. Ben and Ethan made the rounds with a buddy on their own this year since I can NOT do round and round rides any more. I can handle a roller coaster no problem but don't take me in circles. We set up various check in times during the day and they rode while I wandered around, bumped into friends and chatted, put bids in on some silent auctions for plants in the Master Gardener building and a Holland Lop in the Rabbit barn/tent. I even checked out some of the equestrian events as well which I hadn't done before. This is another amazing and inspiring group.....horse people.

Fox started cross-country practice this week. There really weren't many kids there at all, hopefully next week will host a better turn out or we may be in jeopardy of loosing the program all together. Ben and Ethan are playing U12 soccer together this year and had their first practice on Thursday. Francisco, who was on Ben's U10 team is on his team again. This kid is awesome, it's in his blood, no doubt, and both boys know they can learn a lot from him.

Me, I've been finally getting the scales to move in the opposite direction hitting the trails with my bike whenever possible, went on the Paint Creek Trail a couple weeks ago and will be going on it again this week, hit the Water Tower trail in Lapeer and cruised around town several times, and I've taken my wheels up to North Branch and rode throught the streets while Fox is at practice. Even tried taking the dog biking with me....it went ok but I won't do it regularly, too risky. Thankfully we didn't hurt each other, and I wore Jake out but good! Today I put a speedometer/odometer on my bike all by myself so I can keep better track of how many miles I do. Now that the weather is cooling down I really want to get in some serious trail time, some run - I ride.