Happy (belated) Birthday, Papa!

My Papa celebrated his 84th birthday this month.  You would never be able to tell that he is 84 years old.  This past July, he traveled with my Aunt and her three boys to Ligonier and met me and my kids at Idlewild for the day.  After a day of riding rides and swimming at Splash Lagoon, I was dragging.  As we were headed out of the park to our vehicles and as he pushed Whitaker's stroller, I thought "here I am in my 30's and I don't have nearly the stamina or good posture that he does."

Papa was born to first generation Italian Americans and spoke only Italian until he started elementary school.  He has a rich and amazing past that is the ultimate illustration of the American dream.  His father started a business in 1927 and my Papa works there to this day with his two sons and his nephew. 

His work ethic is phenomenal.  Not only does he work at the company, he comes home at night and plays with my young cousins and works on the farm, tends his garden and takes his grandkids on tractor rides.   

It is rare that I am at a loss for words, but when it comes to describing my relationship with my Papa, words are hard to find.  I love him in a way that I love no other.  His generosity, love and support has allowed me to place him on a pedestal as any fabulous grandparent should be.  On the rational, adult side of me, I know he is not perfect.  He can get grumpy (and that has nothing to do with age), he isn't the most politically correct guy on the planet, and he can be  impatient - but that's not the man I've ever experienced.  The man I know would do anything for one of his grandchildren.  For the first 16 years of my life, my sisters and I were the ONLY grandchildren in the picture.  For 16 years, I basically had he and my Grammie to myself.  And they did ANYTHING for us.

When my Papa bought a farm, he stocked it with animals for us to have.  In fact, if I remember correctly, he bought us a little pony before his new house was even finished and he kept the pony in his garage until they moved up to the farm.  Edna was a little black and white pony and we adored her.  Did we get her because we asked for her?  Nope - we got her because my Papa thought  "the girls" as we were known, would get a kick out of it.  Most of everything he did was because he thought we'd get a kick out of it.  And he is still doing it to this day.  At his age, no one would blame him if he sat back, relaxed and let others do for him.  Because of a variety of circumstances, the majority of my cousins are actually my kids ages.  In the last 8 years, my Papa has restocked the pond on his property, takes the kids fishing, turned the horse stalls into an aviary for pheasants for my cousin who is fascinated by birds, and a variety of other projects, "because the kids will get a kick out of it."  When I bring the kids in for a visit, he never fails to pile as many grandkids as he can in the truck or on the golf cart wherever they want to go.  A frequent request is, "Papa, can we go see the cows?" and the trip to see the cows turns into a trip to see the cows, then down to the pond to feed the fish and then to see whatever other surprises he has for them.

It thrills me that my kids get to have a small taste of what I experienced as a child when we go back to my hometown to visit.  Every good and pure memory I have has something to do with my Papa.

Whether it was him planting strawberries and raspberries for my sister and taking us to go pick them, gathering us up and taking him with us to the office on a Sunday evening, or taking us to the toy store at the mall in Hershey while our mom and Grammie shopped, everytime I think of him it brings such joy to my life.  He taught us to play Rummy 500 and it's a game we are all still addicted to.  We always take the opportunity to play over holidays when we are all together with him.  Our fondest memories of Rummy are playing in Florida.  One year, he had returned home to take care of some business while we were there on vacation.  He faxed us his "hand" to keep the game going.   It was awesome!

We had Whitaker baptized this past weekend and he drove the two hours to our house to celebrate with us.  He gave up a quiet afternoon at home alone where he could watch the Steeler's game in peace, to visit with us because his family is that important to him.  It is such an honor to be loved that much.

I could go on and on about the memories I have . . . he bought my sister and I Jordache dolls

 took us to Disney multiple times

and gave us everything we could have wanted (and most of things we didn't really even need).  Without his help, I would not be where I am today.

I fear that he does not know how much I appreciate everything he has done for me.  Not a day goes by that I do not offer a prayer of thanks to God for the gift that is my Papa.  And I pray every day that my Papa knows I do not take for granted his hard work and generosity.  I hope that he is as proud to my Papa as I am that he is my Papa.

For there is no greater Papa in the world!   And I think all of these kids would agree!

Please pass the jelly!

Devil in Disguise

Devil In Disguise

Dear Nissan,

I demand some compensation for the creative inspiration my child has provided you for the "Devil In Disguise" commercial.  Clearly someone must have installed secret squirrel hidden cameras in our house and woods.  How else would you have been inspired to make this commercial?  Trashing cars in the mud?  Throwing one to a dog to chew on?  Flushing objects down the toilet??  The only thing missing was a scene of running one through the manure pile out behind the barn.  Obviously you could not include that scene or I would have concrete evidence that you were secret squirrel taping my child's every move.  I can only imagine the footage you obtained in the second hour of film!

What?  How dare you imply that all almost three year old boys act like this!  My son is unique and individual and certainly no other parents allow their children to behave as mine does.

I mean wait a  minute . . .  you mean it's actually true?  ALL three year old boys do this?  And it is just a phase?  

Oh, thank goodness.

Please disregard my above demand for compensation.  Perhaps you could instead just indicate that inspiration for the commercial was not derived in any way from observations of one Will Schwalm.  That really would get my family off my back about the child we have labeled "Candy Man Dr. Destruction."

Sincerely,

Mother of Candy Man Dr. Destruction

Watch me now!

College Reflection

My cousin, Brittany, leaves for college today.  She's attending a branch campus of a large state school about an hour from our hometown.  My aunt left a facebook post last night about having the car all packed and ready to go to take her to school and it got me thinking about my trip to Duquesne and how that moment impacted my life.

Looking back, I was so, so young.  I was only 17 1/2 when I left for Duquesne University.  I thought I was ancient though.  What's even scarier than how young I was is how young my parents were.  They were just a few months older than I am right now.  *insert shudder sequence here*  That's right folks.  Two babies dropped off their first born baby at college.  I don't remember much about the whole process of getting ready to go to school.  I mean, I remember picking out a new bedspread, contacting my roommate to see what appliances and other important items we would be bringing.  Good grief - when I started my Freshman year, personal computers were just starting to become popular and laptops were basically unheard of.  Our dorm rooms didn't have internet (and the computer lab only had dial up connections).  We thought word processors were the height of affordable technology!  But I don't remember very much about the actual drop off procedure.  I'm sure it was a combination of my dad getting ticked at the traffic in Pittsburgh, at having to wait on the bottom floor of my co-ed dorm (don't worry - a good catholic school separates their freshman dorm by floors.  Girls get the bottom six, boys the top six) to get an elevator to get my stuff to the dorm room, at all the seminars and paper work we had to fill out the first day.  My mom probably fussed too much and I probably got irritated with her , you know, being the big grown up that I was at 17 1/2, and said inappropriately mean things to her.  I do very much remember standing at the steps outside of St. Martin's - the ones that went between the tennis courts and led to parking and the walkway out of the campus and saying goodbye to my parents.  My mom hugged me and kissed me and told me she loved me with tears in her eyes, which cut my defenses.  Then my dad, in a rare display of affection, hugged me and said, "Love you, girl," which brought home the realization that I was being left alone in a big city on a campus where I knew absolutely no one, had no connections, no one to care for me, protect me or help me make my decisions.

I watched them walk off towards their car wanting so much to run after them and tell them that I was still a little girl and they should not leave me here after all.  I felt homesick before they even reached their car!  But there was a larger part of me that knew it was time for me to march back into St. Martin's and get ready for the Freshman Mixer and tackle head on the future that was waiting for me.   I cried a little bit but put on a brave face and participated in all the Freshman Orientation activities that night and the rest of the week.  I strolled campus, found my classrooms (not so hard to do on a campus that encompasses only 5 city blocks) and felt good about being a "college girl."

Looking back, it's funny how so much time was spent in classrooms, learning and preparing for my career, yet here I sit (up way too late at night) thinking about how it was every thing but the stuff I learned in the classroom that has prepared me for where I am today to be who I am today.  And I think about Brittany, and how she has so much fun and excitement waiting ahead for her and how at this moment, she is probably so scared and confused.  Because going to college isn't just about going to a new school.  Going to college is about starting a new life.  Childhood is gone and while I don't think anyone consciously thinks of it that way - let's face it, by the time your 18 year old self heads off to college, you've already thought of yourself as an "adult" for a few months now - it is what happens.  When your parents drop you off and turn and walk away from you, that little child inside of you panics for just a little bit - no matter how ready you are to be an adult and start your life.

17 years ago, I left my childhood behind and walked through the glass doors of St. Martin into my adult hood.  I may have a few regrets here and there, but I trust that every single second has led me to where I am today.  Through all of those ups and downs I have found the passions and purpose that God laid out for me at my creation.

Brittany - I don't know if you will read this or not, but if you do, enjoy every single second of what you are doing - even if you are crying into your pillow because you are homesick!  Every moment is a lesson, is a chance at something new, is a gift.  It may take a long time to understand what exactly the gift of this precise moment is, but before you know it, 17 years will have flown by.  The fashions you thought you had left behind in your teens will be back in style (and you'll wonder why they are bringing leggings back again!?) and if you are as smart as I know you are, you remember this first day of college thankful for everything this opportunity brings you good or bad, because it was the beginning of all of the moments that will lead you to the happiest times in your life.

It may seem silly, but this verse from the song "Letter to Me" by Brad Paisley always gives me chills:


You've got so much up ahead
You'll make new friends
You should see your kids and wife
And I'd end by saying have no fear
These are nowhere near the best years of your life

I remember leaving high school thinking that my best days were behind me, but they weren't.  Each day I wake up knowing that today is the best day of my life.

And it was all because I walked back up those concrete steps between the tennis courts and through those heavy glass doors of St. Martin's dormitory by myself to start my new adult life.  If  you had told me 17 years ago where I'd be now, the life I'd be living, I would have laughed until my sides ached (or I may have cried in horror) but here I sit 17 years later, thankful that young, innocent girl had the guts to move away from home and pursue her dreams.  Because in her wildest dreams, she would have never imagined being so happy and so loved - that all of her dreams really would come true.

A Day In The Life Pictorial

In the morning, I wake to this little lovey.  He lies in his bassinet and coos and talks until I get up and get him out to feed him.  When I peek over the edge of his bassinet and he sees me, he gives me a huge smile and my heart swells with love.

Walker loves helping me with Whitaker.  I taught Walker how to make a formula bottle and feed Whit.  I'm thinking this may come in handy!  Walker got his teacher and bus assignments yesterday.  It's really hitting home how much I'll miss him.  This morning when he woke up, he was telling me something as he picked out his clothes, and I kind of got lost listening to him -  flashing back to him as a little guy and looking at how grown up he is now - how he seems more like a boy than a little boy.  *Insert sobbing here.*

After supper when I went outside, here's what I saw.

This is one Cookie.  She is a pygmy goat and is pregnant.  Heavens, does she waddle.  I feel for ya, sister.  I think she's very glad the temperature has dropped finally.

 Erik cleaned out the barn last night so the herd was released to the yard.  We have a couple really cute babies too.  They are so fun to watch.  The large furry animal on the right is our LLalpaca or Allama - it's an Alpaca/Llama cross.  He tends the herd and watches for predators.

Three months ago, this little guy didn't like his baths so much.  His tub must have felt so big and scary.

Last night, this big guy got a bath and now look at how small the tub is.  He's going to be able to go in the big bath tub soon.  I can't wait until he enjoys splashing and playing in the tub.  But then, he'll be growing up.  I'm not ready for any of them to grow up.

 Maggie has been so worn out at night lately that she just fell asleep on the daybed the other night after supper. I am glad that sending kids to bed dirty is not cause for protective services to take your kids away from you.  Because I'd wager that this summer at least 5 out of 7 nights a week my kids go to bed with a considerable amount of dirt on them.  That's ok - skin, hair, clothes and sheets all wash up pretty easily.

Because moments like this go pretty fast!

Whit's Hickey

On Saturday evening, I showed up (unfashionably & rudely late) to our dear friends house for their twins 5th birthday party.  We were so late because my three oldest children were having a very difficult time cleaning up the messes they had made throughout the day. As a result, the baby had not been changed, had not been fed and was basically neglected until we got to the party when I: A) began to completely neglect and ignore the oldest three children and B) there were caring and loving people there to rescue poor Whit and tend to his needs.

Ok, that's not entirely true - I did nurse Whit and change him. It should be noted here that usually after nursing, Whit likes to have a little chaser of some formula.  After nursing my chubby buddy, I left him to the Griffins who were more than happy to entertain my littlest guy.  And they did such a good job of it, I totally forgot about Whit needing his chaser.  After getting my oldest three to eat, ridiculously loud sucking sounds reminded me to make Whit a bottle, so I got that ready for him and Miss B. graciously fed him.

Much later in the evening I was nursing Whitaker and I noticed a bruise on his arm.  Several other ladies noticed the bruise too.  We all were twittering (in this instance twittering is used the old fashioned way - an adjective used to describe a way women make a fuss over something)  over Whit and wondering how in the world this poor little creature could have gotten such a bruise.  My only thought was that in the nursing process that perhaps he got pinched by my rings.  We continued to speculate when Mr. T strolled through the kitchen and past all of us twittering ladies says, "It's a hickey."

"WHAT?"

"Remember, after you nursed him and we were holding him, he was up on my shoulder and sucking his arm.  Remember, he was making such a loud sucking noise that you remembered he needed a bottle?"

"Oh yes, now I remember," I respond to Mr. T as I feel guilt and shame for not feeding my child and causing him to suck his arm so hard that he gave himself a bruise.

I then went into the other room to enlighten my husband as to why our ittie bittie baby boy had a horrible bruise.  It was from his mother's neglect.   Erik's response:

"Well, I guess that's why your certain parts of the female anatomy hurt.  That baby has a strong suck!"

He said it with such surprise, it struck me that perhaps the physical evidence of my cracked and bleeding certain parts of the female anatomy, my doubling over in pain when nursing, and the bottles of lansinoh I used were not enough proof that the baby sucking caused MUCH pain.  That all of a sudden he finally believed that nursing was painful and I wasn't lying.

Thankfully, I did not dwell on his "revelation" regarding the nursing process and instead focused on the feeling of satisfaction you get as a parent when you discover the cause for an inexplicable bruise - relief that should any Child Protective Services official question you, you do indeed have an explanation for each mark on your child's body and no one will be taking your children away from you . . . today.

Then I gathered up all of my children, managed to get them all home and safely to bed.  Another superior day of parenting under my belt.

My Sensitive Soul

As first grade approaches, I've been struggling with what I assume are normal worries about what is going to happen when Walker gets on that bus in September.

What will he learn from the big kids on the bus?
Will his teacher care for him as much as his Kindergarten teacher did?
Who IS his teacher?
Who in their right mind thought it was appropriate for a six year old to leave their mother for 8 hours a day?

All of this stems from the realization that he will be away from me more than he will be with me during the day.

If you are at all familiar with this blog, you know that I do not suffer from a delusion that life is simple and smooth when all the kids are home.  I know from other hearing other mothers that it is kind of nice to have a little extra time in the day to devote to the other children - to be able to run an errand and not worry about getting home in time to get a kid on or off the bus within a two hour time limit.  I know in my heart of hearts that Walker likes the structure of school and like me, enjoys the academic time and like his father, enjoys the social time.  I know that teachers are wonderful people and most of them are in the profession for the right reasons.  They will not only teach my children, but care for them and show them kindness and empathy and be sensitive to their little souls.

It's just scary to think that he will be gone so long without me there to supervise and protect him.  Walker is my sensitive child.  Maybe I'm a little hyper-sensitive to this because I was allegedly a "sensitive" child.  Except when my family refers to me as sensitive, I don't get the feeling that they found it as heart wrenching and endearing as I do when I say it about Walker.  They refer to it as if it was a fault.  I don't see it that way so much with Walker.  Sure, being sensitive has its drawbacks, but it also puts you in tune with things that other people don't notice.

For instance, last night was the 4H dance at the Butler Farm Show.  I could see that Walker wanted to dance and he just kept wandering around the dance floor hoping to get integrated somehow.  Luckily, another lovely lady happened to be there and she asked Walker to dance with her and her friends.  Walker was in heaven when Ms. Stacy had him join her on the floor.  

He was so excited.  Not only because Walker has a thing for older girls, but because someone included him.  Walker is usually very brave and social, but in situations like this, he becomes shy and awkward.

He had a great time dancing with those lovely ladies and I thank them from the bottom of my heart for being so kind. And I thank their parents for teaching them to be inclusive to the little kids too.  I hope that my parenting allows my children to be so generous.

Unfortunately, I still have some work to do.  Despite my best lecture about being a gentleman and being kind to the girls, Walker had some trouble finding his rhythm with one of his little friends.  Miss Maggie (not his sister) came to the dance hell-bent on dancing with Walker.  Her mom told me she had been telling her all day that she was going to go the the dance so she could dance with Walker.  When that slow song came on, she put him in a choke hold so tight, no one was cutting in.

     

Walker didn't take it so well.  I had a hard time getting good pictures of it because it was so dark in the tent and I was shooting one handed so I couldn't manipulate my camera settings,  but the above pictures show Walker's extreme joy at being manhandled by little Maggie.  In the photo on the left, Maggie is attempting to do some "Dancing with The Stars" type spins.  In the second photo, well, I'm not at all sure what is going on, but he just looks miserable, doesn't he?  I'm betting part of him wanted to dance with Ms. Stacy again, and part of him was embarrassed by the extreme affection Maggie was showing him.  My guess is that he was torn because he knew he couldn't show her blatant disrespect by telling Maggie he didn't want to dance, but he wanted to make it known to Ms. Stacy that he was available for future dances if she was interested.  As soon as that slow dance was over, Walker asked to go home.  We walked over to a nearby bench and talked about how it is important for a gentleman to be kind to all the ladies, and that it is OK to dance with lots of girls and be kind to them as their friend.  We talked about how some girls don't get asked to dance and that how it makes them feel good when a nice young gentleman asks them to dance - it doesn't meant you have to like them as anything more than a friend, etc.  

I don't know how much of it is sinking in, but my hope is that by the time he's a teen, he has incorporated my lectures and is a kind gentleman who will treat the ladies with respect and thoughtfulness and that he will find pleasure in doing so.  

After all, he may be my only hope.  So far the only signs of sensitivity the other children show is the injustice of them not getting their own way.  I guess my first lesson with them will be empathy.

Why I love my sisters

There are many reasons I love my sisters.  Probably the biggest reason is that we tease, play and have fun with each other.    Case in point - the emails we exchanged today:

From: "Wiggins, Lara"

Date: Thu, 12 Aug 2010 09:20:15 -0400

To: Erin Wiggins; Jennifer Schwalm(E-mail 2); Katie Miknis (E-mail)<

Subject: Criminal Investigation

Good morning. 

I have come the realization that one of you is a thief.  I noticed something missing on Monday evening as I cleaned up my bathroom.  I was at first under the impression it had just been moved to a separate location.  Perhaps some one needed it in a different bathroom.  However after a thorough search of both Erin's bathroom and Mom's bathroom, I came up empty handed.  I soon realized that some one must have stolen it.  I'm talking about my HAIR SPRAY!  My hair has been soft and shiny all week without my spray.  I am truly distraught by the loss.  What's worse, it was one of my beloved sisters that pilfered my hair spray.  I'm not even sure I want to know which one you is behind this heinous act of theivery.  I just want to know one thing:

How do you sleep at night?

Sincerely,

your victimized sister

A.K.A.

Lara Wiggins

Purchasing Dept.

Lezzer Lumber

From: ewiggins
Sent: Thursday, August 12, 2010 9:25 AMTo: Wiggins, Lara; Jen Schwalm; Katie MiknisSubject: Re: Criminal Investigation

It was me! But by accident! We have the same kind and I thought it was mine! I'm sorry! I will mail you $3.33 because I know that is how much it costs at Walmart.Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

On Aug 12, 2010, at 9:37 AM, Wiggins, Lara wrote:

Erin!?! YOU!?! I can't believe it!  I would have expected this from Katie, except she typically borrows mom's things.  I even would have suspected Jennie, she's got 4 kids, she needs to find ways to save money.  But you? I would never have suspected. 

Actually, it's cheaper in the Clearfield Wal-Mart.  I'm pretty sure it's like $2.94 here, possibly less. 

Original Message-----
From: Jennifer Schwalm
Sent: Thursday, August 12, 2010 11:02 AM
To: Wiggins, Lara
Cc:  Katie Miknis
Subject: Re: Criminal Investigation

HEY  I may have 4 kids and be a little frugal (ok, cheap) but I don't steal.  At least not intentionally!  And FYI - my hair is too unruly to be tamed by hairspray as evidenced by the Monica Bing

inspired style you witnessed at Brittany's graduation party.  No stinking spray is going to  tame that wild beast, so I don't even bother!   

I am deeply offended by your suspicion that I would steal something of yours.  I can't find my camera, but I'm not going around accusing one of you guys of stealing it because it was likely one of my children. So, in the future, if you want to accuse someone in my family of stealing, I think pointing the finger at one of my slick fingered kids would be more appropriate.  

Good Day!   

I said GOOD DAY!

Lara  then launches into a completely new line of conversation, linking us to a story about sisters that give birth within 36 hours of each other.

From: "Wiggins, Lara"

Date: Thu, 12 Aug 2010 12:48:33 -0400

To: 'Jennifer Schwalm'

Cc: 'ewiggins Katie Miknis

Subject: RE: Criminal Investigation

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/38663220/ns/today-today_health/?gt1=43001

What do you think? we could make national news!

On Aug 12, 2010, at 2:11 PM, ewiggins wrote:

Can one of you just have twins and give me one?

From: Jennifer Schwalm 

Date: Thu, 12 Aug 2010 14:26:33 -0400

To: <ewiggins

Cc: Lara Wiggins Katie Miknis

Subject: Re: Criminal Investigation

I was thinking that maybe a bigger story would be, "Woman gives birth to twins - one is her biological child, the other, her sister's baby!"

On Aug 12, 2010, at 2:53 PM, ewiggins wrote:

PERFECT! I'm so glad you volunteered! You are such a good sister!Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

From: Jennifer Schwalm
Sent: Thursday, August 12, 2010 2:57 PM
To: ewiggins
Cc: Wiggins, Lara; Katie Miknis
Subject: Re: Criminal Investigation

You better get on the ball - I'm getting OLD!!   I'm going to be 35 this year!

From: larawiggins

Subject: RE: Criminal Investigation

Date: August 12, 2010 3:03:31 PM EDT

To: jennieschwalm ewiggins

Cc: kmiknis

Aunt Lisa had a baby at 40.  Erin has plenty of time.  And besides you did such a good job helping to crate train her dog, I'm sure you can hold onto that baby for the first couple of weeks/months/years to help with its training.

From: ewiggins444

Subject: Re: Criminal Investigation

Date: August 12, 2010 3:10:39 PM EDT

To: jennieschwalm

Cc: larawiggins kmiknis

Reply-To: ewiggins444

Hey, back off MOM (and society)! I'll get married when I get married and I'll have kids (or someone will have them for me) when I'm ready! People have kids older now! Look at Kelly Preston! She's like 49 or something!

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

From: larawiggins

Subject: RE: Criminal Investigation

Date: August 12, 2010 3:12:55 PM EDT

To: ewiggins, jennieschwalm

Cc: kmiknis

And WILL!!  He was putting some serious pressure on you over the weekend.

From: ewiggins

Subject: Re: Criminal Investigation

Date: August 12, 2010 3:14:41 PM EDT

To: larawiggins, jennieschwalm

Cc: kmiknis

Reply-To: ewiggins

Haha...oh yeah! I'm going to ask him why he's not married next time I see him!

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry


From: jennieschwalm

Subject: Re: Criminal Investigation

Date: August 12, 2010 3:20:22 PM EDT

To: ewiggins

Cc: larawiggins, kmiknis

I meant I  am getting old - not you!    Although . . .  

Just kidding, Mare!   

Fair Dance 2010

Last Friday night we braved the torrential rain and headed up to the fair to participate in the Pedal Tractor Pulls and to let the children go to the 4H dance to celebrate the end of the week.

Here is some not so great video I took with my trusty Canon point-n-shoot of the pedal tractor pull (which Walker took 1st place in his age division) and of the dance later in the evening. Erik and I got so much joy out of watching our kids dance and play. It took them a long time to warm up to the whole dancing thing - well, except for Willie J. He was very enthusiastic about dancing and sidled right up to the speakers and got his groove on. It took Maggie & Walker a little longer to actually start dancing. For a while, Walker kind of just ran around the barn and Maggie just sort of stood there with her hands in her pockets and wiggled. It was quite comical. Finally, during that line dance song that is so annoying where it's a series of slide to the left, slide to the right, jump 5 times, etc., one of the older girls encouraged our children and told them what to do and they LOVED it! I think Walker developed quite a crush on her because the rest of the night he tried to dance within five feet of her. She was so lovely to take time to encourage the children and I don't know her name or anything about her except I love her because she was so lovely to my children.

Watch how Will weaves his way around the dance floor to find someone willing to boogie with him. He'll wander into the middle of a line dance just to get some attention. He doesn't care - he's going to find a dance partner if it kills him!

I'm looking forward to many more years of watching my babies grow and do fun things like this with them and for them. I hope they become treasured memories for them the way they already have for me!

Enjoy!

P.S. Please ignore my cheering during the pedal tractor pull portion of the video - it's hard to be the videographer and mom at the same time. Oh - and I think that is my (insert sarcasm here) wonderful voice you hear singing along during some of the dance video. I didn't realize that little camera had such a good sound recorder!

**Due to some problems, I've removed the video from here and included a link instead:

Tractor Pull and Dance

Showing goats

This week is the Big Butler Fair!  We entered some of our goats in the Fair and Erik and the kids showed them this past Monday.

It was a HOT HOT HOT day.  Unbearably hot.  The kind of hot where you wake up in the morning and say to yourself, "Who moved our house onto the surface of the sun while we were sleeping?"  Miserably hot and humid at 7 am and it just continued to get more hot and humid as the day progressed.  The show didn't start until 12:30 pm which meant that the kids & Erik had to go to the fair wearing one outfit and had to get dressed in their show clothes (white shirt, black pants & boots) at the fair.  I stayed up late the previous night (July 4) creating and ironing on decals displaying our farm logo so I didn't get up and leave as early as Erik did the morning of the show.  I'm glad because it was torture walking from the car to the goat barn and then sitting in the dairy cow barn watching the goat show.  Imagine a huge steel barn, a few hundred dairy cattle, stifling heat, and all of us holding onto a goat (or two).  I can't remember being so hot!

So, to sum it up, in case you haven't figured it out yet, it was hot.

The children did a great job showing their goats.  I took some pictures to document the event, and unfortunately, they didn't all turn out so great.  The "show ring" was in the center of the dairy barn, which was also in the center of the barn where people walked through to see the dairy cows.  This created a lot of motion and caused my camera to not focus too well.  I was shooting on Auto mode because I knew there would be times when I wouldn't be behind the lens, so I wanted to be able to get everything.  I also was running late that morning and forgot to switch lenses which also affected my photos.  Anyway, the pictures still tell a great story so here it is:

This is the pee wee showmanship class.  The lady on the left is the judge.  She's talking to each child, asking them the name and age of their goat, the breed of the goat and a few other general questions.  The point of this class is to get young children used to showing an animal, listening to the judge and answering questions with ease.  Notice my Maggie May in the center, hand on her hip.  Her goat is not lined up as it should be and she doesn't care.  Walker is earnestly trying to keep his goat "set up" (keeping the legs positioned in such a way as to show off the goats muscle & bone structure) and is very eager to please the judge.

Maggie continues to wait for the judge to get to her.  

Here's the entire class lined up allowing the judge to examine the front ends of the goats.  Walker is showing Carmella Cream.  Carmella has two babies that she is desperate to nurse.  We had to milk Carmella last night and not allow her babies to have access to her because the judge needed to see her bag and udder structure on the day of the show.  I desperately felt Carmella's pain of not being able to feed her babies for over 12 hours.  She called out to her babies and they returned the call, which created some difficulty for Maggie & Will who were showing the babies.

Here is the judge examining Will's little goat, Veronica.  He man-handled her something fierce.  Veronica is only 4 weeks old and all she wanted to do is get to her mom and nurse.

Maggie & Will are having some trouble keeping their baby goats in line because they can hear their mother a few feet away and all they want to do is eat.

Now the children have to lead their goats in a short walk in a circle around the ring.  They do this to demonstrate how the goat stands on her feet.  They also do it to show that they work with their animals and have control over them.  Walker did a very good job of leading Carmella, but Maggie and Will had no such luck.  Their goats were jumping and bucking and a little out of control.  

This is Will's attempt to get his goat, Veronica, set up and under control.  He is such a bull he just uses brute force to get things to do what he wants.  He was determined to get Veronica to stand if it killed him!

The judge was very sweet and gave all of the pee-wee competitors a blue ribbon.  She said they all did a great job of knowing their goats name, breed and age.  All of the children were so excited to get a blue ribbon.

Will shows off his ribbon.

"Look Momma!  I got a bwue one!"

Maggie is now showing in a new class.  

She takes second place.

And Reserve Grand Champion.

And Will eats some lunch.

Maggie sets up her goat.  She's showing Veronica this time.

Maggie gets her ribbons from the Fair Queen.

And Maggie showing off her ribbons.

This is Walker showing Carmella Cream.  He is the only competitor in this class so he wins first place and the Grand Champion ribbons.

Here's a photo of a boy who is so excited he just won two awesome ribbons and doesn't have any clue that he won basically because there were no other competitors in his class.  As he would say, "SWEET!" (insert fist pump here)

Here is Walker showing one of our Boer goats - the goats we primarily intend to show at future events.  To be entirely truthful, we only entered Carmella and her babies because we (Erik) thought you got admission passes based on how many animals you had entered in the shows. We entered five goats so he assumed we'd get five passes.  Unfortunately, it's based on WHO registers them and since Erik registered all of our entries in his name, we only got one pass.  Ooops.

Anyway, Walker showed Miss Hulk up against a 21 year old girl.  He did a pretty great job winning the class.

We were very proud of him.  

The part of the story you won't see illustrated is that after the next class, Erik and Walker had to take one of the goats back to the pens because she was feeling sick.  While he was doing that, they called for Miss Hulk to be shown again for the best in show competition.  Maggie and Will were not strong enough to handle Miss Hulk, so guess who was left showing a goat?  ME!  I had no idea what I was doing or if I even showed Miss Hulk off to her best potential, but I was in that ring showing her off.  I did not win a ribbon.

The children all felt sorry for me so they said they would share their ribbons with me.

I've got such nice children.

Now we're gearing up for the Butler Farm Show in August.

Unless it's as miserably hot as it has been during Fair week.  Then I'm defecting.