County Fair 2005

Here in our County, we are in fair mode this week.  The County Fair started last Saturday, and ends tomorrow. 

Exciting features of this year's fair for us:

Eldest daughter is 4-H Fair Queen this year!

In addition, she received a champion ribbon for a floor-length sweater jacket she knitted, a champion ribbon for a table-topper (table cloth) that she crocheted (thread crochet), a reserve champion ribbon for a dress that she sewed, another reserve champion for… a metal etching? can't remember.  She also participated in a cheese carving contest and carved a mouse, for which she received a very nice Grand Champion award!

2nd daughter missed entry deadlines for 4-H entries and enterred her things in the Open Class category.  She received a Champion ribbon for a tile mozaic, a Champion ribbon for her metal-etching, and many other awards.  Becky also received a Grand Champion award at the dog show for their performance on the Agility course.

Youngest, just turned 5, received a participation ribbon for enterring an item in the 4-H building as a Clover, and enterred two items in open.  His lego creation received an “Honorable Mention” ribbon.

Mom spent the year homemaking, and come fair time had very little to enter.  What I did enter did, for the most part, receive awards.  My entries were: sewing: navy blue zip-front hoodie sweatshirt with pockets (1st place), thread crochet doily (5th place?), crocheted infant's hat (3rd place?), knitted adult hat (no award), biscuits (2nd place?), sugar free muffins (1st place), fat free muffins (3rd place?), and sugar free cookies (can't remember what ribbon).Keep in mind that I made all the baked goods on entry day… That's because I didn't want to have only 3 entries!

Eldest daughter gets moved into college on Monday to Tuesday.  2nd daughter and I leave on church Sr. High retreat on Monday (same Monday daughter moves into college dorm). 2nd daughter and son start school on 9/6. 

DD#2 has had a busy summer.  We finished our homeschool on a Friday, and one week later she left for a one-week mission trip to Mexico with our highschool youth group.  She celebrated her 16th birthday the after day she came home, but she came home with a terrible ear infection (which had caused her great pain while flying!).  So, the birthday consisted of a trip to the pediatrician, then to the pharmacy, and then to bed. We served a cake for her that evening, but she wasn't feeling much up to it.

She hadn't been back for a week yet when we left for our family vacation.  We travelled to Prince Edward Island, with stops along the way to ride a train pulled by a steam engine, ride a river boat, watch our car pulled up Magnetic Hill while in neutral!…  various fun things.  We also stayed at places with indoor pools the entire vacation, and ds, age 5, learned to swim!  So, we vacationed for 12 days or so, and when we got back, in less than a week dd#2 started volleyball camp–five days of volleyball from 8:00 a.m. to 2 p.m.  During this time her ear infection recurred, with swimmer's ear on top of it!  When volleyball was over, she had a couple of weeks to prepare things for fair entries.  Then came fair week, currently, and she has come down with a sinus infection!  Day after we pick up fair entries she leaves on four-day retreat; day 5 is State Fair, then one week til school!  So her summer has been reduced to the week before Labor Day!

So that's a whirlwind tour of our summer.  I, the mom, have spent a lot of time this summer trying to run my house (instead of having it run me).  I have done quite a bit of decluttering.  I am selling books on Alibris.com to get rid of ones I don't want/need.  Money from sale of books is turned right around to pay for homeschool expenses.  This might be book purchases, or postcards for our postcard exchange program that we are working on (to get postcards from all 50 states).

Well, I need to do more updating another day, as I have dinner dishes waiting for me.  I look forward to figuring out how to imbed photos right in this journal!

D