who do you like?

there are certain actors, or well, people that i love to watch in movies. maybe they aren't actual "actors" but do act in certain movies. others are classically trained actors i just love.

1. Clint Eastwood. ok, the man was totally hot back in the day. i have loved his movies all my life. my dad and i would watch the spaghetti westerns, but my absolute favorite movie of his is Unforgiven. this movie has so many scenes that can bring you to tears. if you haven't seen it, go out and rent it, or check and see if it's on some channel. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105695/ go to this site if you have no idea which movie i'm talking about.

2. Gene Wilder. sorry johnny, he is the first and last Willy Wonka for this sugar fiend. that was the first movie i had ever seen with him. then when he teamed up with richard pryor, well, how can you not love those movies?

3. Willie Nelson. i watch Honeysuckle Rose every time it's on tv. he may not be an award winning actor, but i love his movies, and tv appearances.

4. Mel Brooks. need i say more? the man is a total genius.

5. Johnny Cash...and June Carter Cash. i fell in love with them when they made a few appearances on Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman. try watching Stagecoach sometime. it has johnny, june, willie, kris kristopherson, and walon jennings. oh and john schnieder (one of the dukes, or superman's dad depending on which generation you're from). great movie to watch.

double edged sword

that's what this week at the fair has seemed like. my heart has been bursting with pride because my kids have worked so hard, and have done so well.

this week has been a lot of early mornings and late nights. yesterday, the second time we got to the fair, the kids had to get their animals ready for the auction. we were anxiously awaiting the 5 o'clock meeting to find out how alex's pig did overall. haley was feeding the lambs and giving them more water, and alex was cleaning out the pig's pen and then going to start scrubbing her down and then feed her really quick. i saw some people looking at a bulletin board. i went up to look and it had all the kids with pigs listed, with all kinds of next to it. alex's name was at the top of the list. next to his name was GR. ok, being new to all of this, i had to ask someone to explain it to me...

ALEX WON GRAND CHAMPION OVERALL!!!!!!!!!!!

we were all really excited, i started making phone calls, and so my in-laws and my mom hurried up and drove to the fair just to see alex get his trophy and ribbon. poor hubby was stuck at work. i took lots of pictures though. apparently this was not enough to get the hubby to reconsider doing pigs again next year. he's still saying "no way, we are going out on top".

haley was so excited for alex. it was so cool to see. first thing she said was "that's so cool, maybe she won't get eaten then".

perhaps now you see why this fair is a double edged sword? that's right, the auction. while it's really cool that the kids get to make money off of their hard work, they also put a lot of time, money, and effort into these animals. some moms *ahem* have developed affections for these animals. so the thought of my, i mean alex's, pig going to a processing center, weighs pretty heavy on my heart. doesn't seem to bother him much. and really, it shouldn't. if all farmers and ranchers made their animals into loved pets...well, we'd all be vegetarians.

anyway, on to the auction. because alex's pig was the grand champion, his was the first pig to be auctioned. after the last of the steers, alex brought her out. they did great out there. she ended up selling for $4.25 a pound. most of the other pigs went for $2 to $3 a pound. he made a little more than $900. i'm hoping that if someone is paying that much for a little pig (she was one of the smallest up there), they are planning on something other than eating her. of course the fact it is josephville meat processing co that bought her, well i'm not sure what to think. i hope she is going to be a brood sow for them. she's such a great pig.

haley's lamb was the 12th lamb out. she brought her out, smiled, and kept her lamb in check. she did great. lambs they sell by the head, not by the pound like hogs and steers. she ended up making $280 off of her little lamb. the grand champion went for around $500, and i think the most paid was $600, but she was about average for what the rest went for. some were as low as $150...but that's still a good profit. haley's lamb was bought by wright city meat market. haley was more upset about the lamb possibly getting eaten. she was nearly in tears. i honestly forgot that people eat sheep/lambs. you don't usually see it in the meat section of the grocery store. at least not the stores i go to.

all in all, this has been a very positive experience. the kids are excited about next year. they are already deciding what animals they want to try to raise for the next fair. i think we may be sticking with poultry. i told them if they want, they can do lambs and poultry, but only one animal per child can get sold at the fair. we will see. chickens get sold for quite a bit of money, and usually they end up going home with the kid. not always, but it happens pretty often.

haley's lambs

haley did such a great job last night! i was so very very very proud of her! her lambs were in the first 2 weight classes (one was 90 and the other was 98 pounds). she also did the junior showmanship competition. her first lamb (the black one) one 4th place. her second lamb took 12th (out of 13). she did such an awesome job with these lambs.
for some reason they decided to do the showmanship competition first. haley's lamb was really spirited. i mean like jumping all over, knocked her down, in fact haley fell down on top of her lamb. now what really impressed me (and a lot of people in the stands) is that she never let go. she grabbed it's legs, yanked it back and took control. i got to tell you, i was almost in tears. watching my kids at the fair...i can't tell you how proud i am of them. they have been helpful to those around them, attentive to their animal's needs, and what else can i say?

don't get me wrong, they haven't been perfect. i have argued or yelled at them all...several times...each day. in fact i am yelling at one (actually both) while i am writing this. i am a tad stressed at the moment and have been threatening them continuously all day. i am starting to think i need to move past the threat level...into action level. i am really tired. can you tell? these late nights and early mornings are hard on all of us. ok, time to head back to the fair...wish us luck!

today the kids are all spending the night with my mom. i don't think she's ever had all 5 spend the night before. at least not at her place. i think she's come here before, but i don't think it's been since zack was born. she would come and stay a week with us after grace and josh were born. she was a huge help. it gave me time to bond with my newest baby, and know the others were being taken care of.
anyway, tonight is date night for us. i don't know where we are going, or what we'll be doing, but i can't wait. hubby's at work right now. hopefully he'll get home at a decent hour so we can go out.
the pig is doing great. she's still friendly, still likes to swim in the pond, and still grunts when she sees us or hears us. if anyone is looking for a pet pig, she'd be perfect for you. or do you need a pig for a movie? perfect choice right here. what does she look like? well, i still haven't taken any pictures of her (i know, bad pigmom), but this is pretty much what she looks like...




well, except that our pig is a girl, and so she doesn't have the *eh-hem* bulge in the back...and she has a little more white on her legs and belly. and her back legs (hams) are huge. other than that, this pig is the spitting image of our little girl.

ok, rachel, swingtown is a show on CBS on thursday nights. http://www.cbs.com/primetime/swingtown/
it is about a couple that were married right out of highschool, that move to a new neighborhood, and meet the new neighbors...who just happen to be swingers. i happen to like it. it will definitely not be for everyone. of course, the fact that we actually know some swingers makes it all the more fun to watch...(did that sentence make sense? sounded funny to me) i told my husband that if all swingers looked like the couple on the show, there would be more people willing to try it out. unfortunately the ones we know look more like, um, well princess fiona and the penguin (from the batman movies). yeah, i know, attractive picture. and people actually swap partners with them! gross!...i just threw up a little in my mouth...

anyway, check out swingtown, i like it. the hubby likes it. of course, like i said, it's not for everyone.