July 25th 2009

Today started off very relaxing, slept in for a while and then Kurt and I went to pick up the meat from the steer we purchased off of a friend of ours. So exciting to have a freezer full of beef. Can't wait to eat some of those roasts and steaks. yummy. In the afternoon Sarah had a dance recital at westwing. I had told Grandpa that I was coming to pick him and take him somewhere but never told him where we were going. At first he thought that I was going to have them talk to him about moving in to the nursing home. (sorry that is not my responsiblity, his kids can handle that). Then he saw Sarah in her costume and the activities director came over to ask if he had a grandchild dancing. Well now he knew what was up. This is the first time he has seen Sarah dance and she has been dancing since she was 3. After the show Sarah and I ran back home and changed clothes so that we could attend a wedding reception with Kurt and Kristen. The two of them went to the wedding and got home about 5 minutes after we did. Great timing I would say. Both the bride and groom are coaches at the high school (the bride also had Sarah in homeroom this year). Because of their love of sports they had the entire wedding party introduced like the starting lineup of a basketball game. They even used the same music that Clinton uses for their games. How very fun. Below is a short video of one of Design's songs. Enjoy

Clinton County Fair 09

Just a few highlights of the Clinton County Club Show

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.

Soggy 4th

Today was a soggy but still fun 4th. We went ahead and went to the Bettendorf parade. Usually the parade takes over an hour, but this year it was done in 30 minutes. It did seem a little strange not to have the bands and other floats be we survived. After the parade we went back to my mom's for a cookout. Sarah was thrilled to be moved to the adult table and Kristen was thrilled to be the oldest at the kid's table. Didn't have to worry about being bossed around. After lunch Kurt was chasing my niece Grace around. She is 2 years old. Finally he sat down and allowed her to "get" him. She then decided that "I like him".

Even with the all day rain, we were able to have fun and enjoy being together as a family.

Riverboat Days

Both Kristen and Sarah were in tonight's Riverboat Day's Parade. Sarah knew that she needed to march with the band, but she was able to get Kristen in as a future River Queen Cheerleader. Kristen was thrilled to be in the parade and not over shadowed by Sarah. Look at the way she is waving her hand. Do you see future homecoming queen with that wave? Both girls had a good time with their respective units and are looking forward to their next chance to be in a parade.