lamb fair

Every year we have our annual "Lamb Fair". The town literally shuts down. The kids cant concentrate for a week because the carnival pulls in and sets up in the school parking lot. On Friday there is the street dance- they used to shut down the street and literally dance in the street, but now it has moved to the fairgrounds and stage... the kids get to hang out with all of their friends while the parents visit with people they never get to see... There are food booths, activities, the parade, forestry competitions, bake shows and sales, quilt and flower show... basically an entire weekend to spend visiting and having fun... I remember being a kid and looking forward to the lamb fair, just like my kids do now... of course doing it in 80* weather instead of the pouring rain is always a treat and much more enjoyable!! Small town America at its finest!
Goofing around at the street dance with good friends.
Addie, Abby, and Tony all set for the parade
Molly all ready to ride on the 4H float for the first time.

Noah and his buddies on the 4Hfloat
Tank and Mackenzie all dressed up for the parade..

The grand champion float- the high school forestry dept. It even had water cannons!
The boys scoring candy while Addie walks (in high heels, panty hose and a thick jacket) a very large and hot Tony down the parade route.

Molly and buddy Carter at the carnival
Bis on his first fair ride

Molly used her left over money to buy cotton candy (the deal was they could spend it however they wanted- usually she doesn't eat any sugar). She was determined to eat her entire bag.
She only made it part way before she got a massive headache and crashed!!! She says she is NEVER going to eat that stuff again!!! EVER!!!
Noah getting ready to perform with his singing group.
Just before going on stage
Yordi getting ready to watch Noah sing.

bunnies

Noah took these pictures of his rabbits and their new home at Grammy's farm. At the base of the white bird house is their new little home. The bunnies are so happy and Noah was so sad to see them in a cage every day, so now they get to be outside and exploring.

field trip

Every year our school holds a readathon. The kids have 1 month to read as many books or chapters as they can. Addie held the school record and this being Noah's last year of elementary school, was determined to beat it. He certainly did, and also took home his final trophy for being the top reader in the ENTIRE school. He did this all 5 years. He read over 1500 chapters! Molly was the top book reader in the whole school reading over 200. We were certainly proud of them. They are the only sibling group to win top chapters/books. The only other sibling set to do this was... Addie and Noah!!! They got cool trophys and plaques. Plus, the highlight, a trip to OMSI with the top reader in each class. I even got to go as a chaperone. It was a long day, but so much fun. We had 2 of Noah's friends in our little group to explore for the day.

just an ordinary day...

It is all fun and games in the pig pen until you give 1 kid the hose!!! What do you get? 5 wet kids and a big mud puddle for the pigs to play in. I refuse to think about what percentage is mud and what percentage is pig poo- but my dr assures me this is what keeps kids healthy. A good dose of old fashioned dirt.
Now, what I didnt get on camera... Molly carrying around a fluffy yellow chicken like a little bag on her arm, screaming at her siblings to not dare get her chicken wet. Bis and Yordi wrestling for the hose, coming crazy close to the hot fence (meanwhile, Bis not believing us that it is indeed hot). And my girly girl (not) Addie. Dressed in a WHITE strapless tank top diving into a pile of dry pig mud, throwing her brothers out of the way to capture and grab armfulls of runaway chickens before her pigs eat them. Then, informing me that was so NOT mud! :) And Bis running as fast as he can around the storage unit, screaming ADDIE YOUR PIG- GET YOUR PIG at the top of his lungs. 2 seconds later the pig rounds the storage unit in hot pursuit of Bis, kicking up his heals and laughing...

adorable if I do say so myself...

See what you can do with a left over curtain panel and some other cast off fabric and a free hour in the afternoon??? It almost makes you FEEL like cooking (or dancing in the kitchen)... I love this fabric... it has little coffee cups all over it!!

really random and kinda sick...

Possum parts... the kids thought this was too cool- right out of our driveway... possum in the morning... and possum parts in the afternoon.

mothers day

The 5 littles- 3 age 5 and 2 age 4... TROUBLE!!!!!
Funny, these are the only pictures I have from Mothers day... so cool though, we had beautiful weather and my sister's family and our family all met at mom and dad's house. We barbecued and all the cousins got to play. We took a long walk in the mint field and the kids rode the 4 wheeler. The highlight was playing in the pond- hunting for tadpoles!!!
The big kids were there too... ages 14, 12, 11, 10. Addie is the only girl but gives the boys a run for their money!!

another relaxing evening...

Tonight we had pig weigh-ins for county fair. This means county fair is just 60 days away. How can that possibly be???? This is a different year for us, a trial year... we are keeping the pigs at our house which allows the kids more chores and more time with their pigs. Normally we borrow a trailer from a friend, but this year Tom got all crafty and built us a trailer. Usually weigh ins take most of an evening... lots of hard work, several big bodies to push, pull, roll, screaming, skittish pigs up into a trailer. This year... the pigs loaded themselves. We literally couldn't get off the ramp quick enough for them to wriggle up into the trailer (the bucket of rotting food I saved for this very occasion certainly helped). Of course it had to be raining, but this is Oregon after all... We get to the fairgrounds and wait our turn to weigh the pigs. We back in the trailer and usually the 2 big boys they have to help with the animals take 1 look at Addie and then start wrestling her pigs from the trailer for her. This year they handed her a pig board. She climbed up in the trailer and wrangled both her and Noah's pigs onto the scales. Poor thing was so tired... she climbed back into the car and Molly started screaming about not wanting to sit next to "pig poop"!!!! I think we are in good shape though... weights are 115 lbs, 120 lbs, 133 lbs, and 154 lbs. We have 60 days to get to minimum of 230 lbs. Now if we could just teach them some manners, personal space, and respect we might just make it!!!

In all my FREE time...

So, between all of the bonbons and the soap operas... THIS is what I find myself doing in all of my FREE time!! :) We (namely me and Addie) are bottle feeding the baby kittens... we are very fortunate that they are almost ready to be weaned. Meanwhile, I sneak around and make sure I don't talk in that corner of the kitchen, lest they hear my voice and start SCREAMING for their bottle... fun times...

Tonight is "pig" night... we are geared up and ready to go... my friend called early this am to see if we were going to stand the excitement until tonight... good times and lots of laundry. Oh and did I mention that it is raining??? Stay tuned... hopefully pictures, video, and an explanation...

love this

Our Future Farmer of America

So Addie has been able to participate in the high school FFA program this spring, even though she is still in middle school. She was invited to be part of a food science judging team and a dairy food judging team. Last week "districts" were held at our school. Addie was thrilled- the team took first place and she took first place in individuals. This week Monday and Tuesday, the STATE competition took place at OSU... FFA teams from all over the state met and competed. Addie was completely thrilled to find out that the team took 3rd overall in the state and amazingly she placed 9th in individuals!!!!! Sadly enough a new rule had been put into place- "no 8th graders or teams with 8th graders allowed to place". Meaning that she didnt get recognized for her 9th in state finish and the entire team didn't get recognized for finishing 3rd in state... she is happily looking forward to being able to compete for "real" next year!!

Seriously? What was he thinking?

Background information: Noah has been building a fort (there are 2 boards nailed to my tree.... constitutes a fort). Noah is afraid of heights and just not comfortable unless his 2 feet are firmly planted on the ground... Tom is on swing shift and so I am home alone with all kids and schedules in the evening...

Molly, Bis and Yordi come racing on to the deck screaming "mom come quick- Noah needs you". I hear these words often, but usually it is something very mild that requires me to simply be present (autism at its finest). I casually go outside and see this orange cap sticking out of the top of the tree... Seriously???? Noah climbed to the top? Apparently he climbed higher and higher, not realizing how high he was until his head peaked out at the top... He climbed up with no clue as to how he would get down. He is sobbing at the top of the tree... "this is so past fatal fall height". I assured him it really was just "multiple broken bone height" and that no indeed I was not calling the fire department. It took us under 40 minutes in the pouring rain but we were able to talk him down. After he was down I gave him a hug and asked how he was... "ok just a bit twitchy"... Seriously????