gratitude day 7

Today I am thankful for organizations like 4-H that allow our kids to grow, become leaders, mentor the young and basically assist the parents in helping them to become productive members of society.  My girls have the privilage of being 4th generation 4-H members.  Since 4-H has only been around for a little over 100 years, that is about the best one can do.  As a senior member, Sarah is taking a leadership role and has joined the county council.  Tonight she was able to practice speaking in front of large groups of people and handing out awards.  In the top picture, she had the privilage of giving her little sister Kristen her very first 4-H award.  4-H is really such an awesome organization that has produced many of our nations leaders, Faith Hill, Reba McIntyre, Jacqueline Onassis, Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton , Luke Bryan, Vince Gill, Roy Rogers, Herschel Walker, Archie Manning, Charley Pride, Glen Campbell, Johnny Carson, Jermaine Jackson, Russel Honore, Lamare Alexander, Ben Campbell, Pat Nixon, Al Gore, Reggie White, and Jerry Huckaby for a list check out this site National Associaton of Extension 4-H agents.  No 4-H isn't just for farmers and their kids, it is for all of our kids.  Get them involved now.

Champion Cat 2009

Introducing the Clinton County Club show champion cat Sox. Sarah was so surprised to hear the announcer saying that the Champion Cat belonged to Sarah Flathers. She has come so far from the junior 4-H club member who was devasted when she received a red ribbon for her cat. Since then Sarah has learned more about how to care for a cat and this year was able to answer all of the judges questions. Sox on the other hand could have cared less about her champion status and was just overjoyed to get back home.

County Fair Day 1

Today was the first full day of the Clinton County Fair. We were there by 7:30 to help with Creative Arts judging today. My friend Penny came to judge the scrapbooking division (Thanks a million Penny). I did better than expected with only 2 reds. Found out that Penny likes horses, so I had Sarah grab a couple of pictures of the horses from the horse show. (These are for you Penny). Kristen did really well this year with her entries. This is the last year for her to exhibit in the open class division for 9 years. Next year she will be in 4-H and will have to put all of her entries into the 4-H show. She did enter 2 items in 4-H for Clover Kids and was judged without ribbons for this year. She did an excellent job on her conference judging. I entered several cards and scrapbooking items as I am always worried that there won't be enough entries. Guess I can stop doing that this year. Also entered 3 of Sarah's photo's as she had hit the limit for 4-H but couldn't enter them herself. She received 2 reds and 1 blue. In 4-H Sarah so far has 1 state fair entry, 1 state fair consideration, 4 blue and 2 red. 3 more items to be judged on yet this year. Came home around 3:00 as Sarah had to dance in East Moline tonight. Had a very quiet ride home, both girls fell asleep. Went back out to work in the lunch stand for Sarah's club. Was finally allowed to leave at 9:00 tonight. Back tomorrow for pedal tractor pull, share the fun, and fashion revue.

Conference judging day

Yesterday was conference judging day for 4-H. Can't believe we actually had projects done and ready. A month ago Sarah hadn't even started on her projects. She ended up with 8 projects. She still has 3 to go.
Kristen was able to be judged for Clover Kids this year. The 3rd grade Clover kids didn't get a ribbon, but did get practice with conference judging so she is ready for next year. Both judges really liked Kristen's projects and said she didn't an excellent job. Sarah actually ended up with one project advancing to the state fair. Her leadership project which was about Clover Kids.

Our State Fair is a great State Fair

Friday morning the girls and I got up early in the morning, before the sun was up, and left to meet my mom in DeWitt. We then drove out to the Iowa State Fair. It has been 4 years since I was there last. Wow, it was so nice to be back, it almost felt like we were walking down main street at Magic Kingdom in Orlando. We arrived around 9 am, a little later than I wanted but still okay. Of course the very first place we need to visit is the 4-H building. Now for some reason they don't put this building in the front, no it is all the way to the back of the fair grounds. Sarah was thrilled to discover that her leadership project received a blue ribbon, but not so excited to see that she had a red on her cookie comparison. I reminded her that she made it to the state fair, which many people never do. I also pointed out that there were some people with white ribbons. Clinton doesn't give out a white ribbon, so in her mind red is bad, but really white is bad. After this we headed back to where we entered the grounds at for a blue ribbon kids program on the swine industry. Kristen was so excited and couldn't wait to do this program. What luck that the day Sarah has to perform is the same day as the swine program. She received a piggy bank, a little rubber pig,a wallet, a couple of pig pencils, a pig hat, a deck of playing cards, that uses cows, sheep, pigs, and chickens instead of hearts, diamonds, etc. and of course the very best thing in the world, she was able to hold a piglet. I am not sure that she has ever forgiven us for not living on a farm so that she could raise and show pigs. The rest of the day was spent checking out the varied industries building, the commerical buildings, the sewing exhibits, meeting up with a friend, and finally the share the fun performance. Minnehaha did an excellent job with their skit. While the share the fun is judged and comments given the participants just receive a green participation ribbon, and this year a state fair exhibitor t-shirt. There were many very talented 4-H members and clubs through out the state and it was fun to watch them. Finally at 7:30 we were able to leave for the day. Let me tell you it was a quiet ride home as both girls were out shortly after we left.
Kristen had a blast collecting temp. tattoo's at one point we counted over 15, but that wasn't even half of the ones that she could have picked up. And I almost forgot, we saw John McCain.

Wow, what a day for the Flathers family

We reported to the fair about 8:45. The first couple of hours were very relaxing. I had to open the creative arts building and supervise from 9 until 12:30. While there saw a really cool demonstration on recycled stitches. They were cutting up paper bags to make plarn and then knitting or crocheting into all kinds of things including rugs, purses, and bibs. May have to try making a few bib for the new babies in the family. I wonder if I can find pink and blue plastic bags. At this point the day became very busy. Sarah had a meeting at 12:30 for state fair, we needed to fill out the entry forms for her projects. Then Share the Fun was at 2:00. Sarah's club entered a really cute skit about the fair and the Olympics. Guess what they were chosen for the state fair. Looks like I now know what day we will be going to the fair. At 3:00 the kiddie tractor pull was held. Kristen always enters this. Guess what she was the top girl in the 8 year old category and has earned the right to represent the County Fair at the state meet in Sept. As soon as the pedal pull was finished we ran to grab a quick bite of supper so that Kristen wouldn't start complaining that she was hungry. Next up on the agenda was the clothing selection and fashion revue. Sarah received Honorable mention for her clothing selection and Best casual for her fashion revue. Since she took the top award in her division for the fashion revue, she is eligible to represent the county at the state intermediate workshops. All I can is wow, what a busy but rewarding day for the girls and I am glad that it is over.

P.S. Even Kurt's nephew Zach had a good showing at the fair. He took reserve champion derby Lamb. Plus he received outstanding junior for his woodworking project. What a great fair for the family this year.

On to State

Change the earlier post from yellow to Purple Ribbons. We just found out that both of Sarah's state fair consideration projects are headed to state.

Red, Blue, and Yellow

Sarah has spent the last several weeks working on her 4-H projects for the fair. Everything boiled down to today. It was conference judging day. Sarah had a good showing today. She had 3 projects get a red ribbon. Her sewing project received a red, I expected that one. She also received a red on her blanket and her journals. The journals were really neat, but she didn't follow the directions for the write up and had to be taken down a notch. She received a blue on her basket, clothing selection, and photography. State Fair consideration was awarded for her Food and Nutrition Project and also her Leadership project. These are the two pictured above. So even though conference judging is over, we still have a wait and see for these two projects. We will find out the results on Thursday. Sarah is also entered into 3 competitions on Friday. Her club will be doing a Share the Fun and Sarah will be in the Fashion Revue and Clothing Selection.
Kristen will enter her projects on Tuesday and Wednesday. Due to her age, there is no judging involved. All Clover Kids projects receive a participation ribbon, and all open class projects will receive a blue ribbon. I will also enter several projects on Wednesday in the open class and will know the results on Thursday when mine are judged.