Fair Days

 Just gonna warn you...unless you absolutely love seeing pictures of this family (Mom),
 you may get a little bored with this post. We all had a great time at the fair. Some days were a little more stressful than others but that is to be expected with 6 kids, 5 calves, and 8 pigs!!
Austin and Brooklyn left Tuesday after the swine show for a conference in Ashland, OH. They planned on leaving around 1:00 but Brooklyn's barrow won champion Berkshire so she had to show in the grand drive. I bet there never was a girl who wanted to lose so badly. :-) Dakota enlisted her friends to help out with all of the extra chores. I'm pretty sure she had the best time at the fair this year. My niece Jo Anna is in the Horse and Pony Club. It was nice to get to watch her show her pony! It was also fun for Emmaly and Corbin to ride the carnival rides with their cousins. Here are the awards for all of my kids' hard work:
Austin: Reserve Champion Angus Steer, Reserve Champion Angus Heifer, 4th place crossbred gilt
Dakota: 1st with crossbred gilt, 3rd with Berkshire gilt, 3rd crossbred barrow, 7th place cross barrow, 2nd place- cross heifer, Blue Honor- misc crafts, Blue- wearable art.
Brooklyn: Champion Berk Barrow, 5th Overall Barrows, Reserve County Born and Bred Barrow, Reserve Champion Berk Gilt, 3rd-cross gilt, 1st place- cross heifer, 3rd place- beef feeder calf, Blue Honor- misc craft, Champion- wearable art.

Bored yet??? These are stats that grandmas and aunts want to know! I'll give you the rest of the week's story in pictures.

The lake view from the ferris wheel. 

Our tack area was the happening place to be.

 I'm happy that we have the opportunity to be able to let the kids be in 4H every year. And I am also happy that it is over for this year!  Well....I guess there is state fair. :-) Good times and good memories made!

Judge Not

If you would have looked down my pew this morning in church this is what you would have seen.

Maybe you would be appalled to see a teenage boy on his phone during service. (Or worse... to see the mom taking pictures during the sermon!) If you would take a closer look you would see that he's not playing a game or texting. He's following along with Pastor Tom on a Bible app.

 

It was hard for me at first to let them use their phones during church. Them, as in all three teenagers. After all, what kind of mom do I look like letting my kids have phones out during worship?? And what kind of ill-behaved teens can't leave their phones put away for an hour? 

But after months of thinking about it I realize the only thing holding me back from letting them read the Bible on their phones during church is the way it looks to others. Shame on me. I'm trying to teach my kids not to judge others by the way they look or act and I'm doing that very thing. Well, today I forgot my Bible at home. I joined my kids and got out my phone. (As you can see because I snapped some inconspicuous pictures too. I'm thankful for my muted shutter release.) I love having the Bible on my phone. Genius idea! It even has red lettering for words spoken by Jesus. And I can read the text in any version I'd like. 

I'd still rather read my leather bound Bible but my kids are welcome to read the Word of God in whatever form they'd like.

 Here is a picture of E and F on the way home from church. E has a Bible in her pocket. (Not sure why F is holding a pen??)  We are blessed to live in a country where we are free to worship and have a variety of different ways to read or listen to the scripture!

Beautiful Day

My day started chaotic and crazy, mostly because I was too tired to face it with both eyes open. My own fault. I stay up too late in the evenings. I can't help myself. I love this time of day! I love knowing all my family is home safe and sound. I also love that they are all tucked in, sound asleep! It is the time of day when I can do something... anything uninterrupted. I can eat a snack guilt free without little beggars. Don't get me wrong, I love my little beggars but they can eat their bowls of cereal in the morning. Mommy likes cereal after the sun goes down.

This little girl keeps me on my toes!

She has "mischief-maker" written all over that sweet face. I'm thinking she learns from the best.

I need to keep my eyes on him, more so than most. He is always coming up with new ways to have fun; in other words, make a mess or create an accident-in-the-making. He has now learned how to do wheelies on his bike. Needless to say, he has bandaids on both elbows and one knee.

This cry lasted for all about 20 seconds. I snapped the picture and he opened his eyes and said, "Erase it." It cracked me up. And I couldn't do it. He said, "You're not putting that on facebook." Then I was really laughing. To be fair, facebook means the computer/ internet to him. I promised him I wouldn't put it on facebook. :) Emmaly, the sweet sister that she is, fixed him right up. An ace bandage heals all wounds.

I feel like I am making real progress in my desire to have an uncluttered life. I will share about that sometime. I  woke up this morning with the feeling of chaos and being overwhelmed. After my day of realization and understanding, I have a new perception of chaos. It was a beautiful day!