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!

pigs and sheep and kittens oh my

ok, first off, let me just say, we have a new kitten. he's a little gray tabby kitten. i'm not sure what his name is yet. i've heard "tiger", and "shady", and "take it back where you got it". (guess which one was the hubby's suggestion) so far so good. he hasn't been eaten by any dogs, hit by any cars, or eaten anything poisonous. of course we haven't had him a full week yet, so anything can happen.

last night i took alex to the lincoln county fair. their hog show was last night, so i figured "what better way to see what we need to be doing". well, most of those pigs were bigger than ours. 90% were white (the pigs, not the people...although i guess those stats would work for both). there was a huge age range in kids showing. there were kids as young as 8 or 9 or as old as 18. they all were terrific. we weren't able to stay for the whole show (which lasted several hours), but i think alex has a better understanding of what is expected of him. he's getting nervous now. the fair is only a couple of weeks away.

after we got back from the fair, we took the whole family to see haley's sheep. she has 3, but she has to pick 2 for the show and 1 to sell at the auction. she has to break them before the fair. basically, she has to get her sheep, (which is difficult) and hold them until they surrender, then let it go and catch it right away. she has to do this at least twice with each one. i helped her, so did alex and the hubby. i didn't realize how oily their wool is. (that's where lanolin comes from...breastfeeding moms should have some on hand) and boy howdy, they stink! it's hard to describe, but think wet dog+urine+feces+farm=one big stinky mess! the kids didn't even argue about taking showers...that's how smelly it was. i will be doing this again in a few minutes...and every day until fair. fun.

well, i have dinner to get on the table, kids to get out the door (to do some sheep work), and well, there's always cleaning to get done.

then there's the fact my littlest one is turning 3 this saturday...don't get me started, i can't believe my baby is so big!

rachel, let me know when it is you are coming into town. i'd love to get together!