Just maybe I saved the best for last...

One last fair picture but I think you'll agree it was worth the wait! Lil Miss Kayden riding her first merry-go-round with Daddy. This could have worked perfectly for a "wordless Wednesday" but I couldn't wait...

Didn't mean to leave you hanging...Pinnacles Rock!

I have been reminded that I haven't updated you with the final results of yesterday's 1st double header ECTB ball game. I'm very sorry!!

Ok, here you go - the Pinnacles defeated the Centreville Cardinals both games. The scores were: first game 18 - 3 and second game 24 - 2

We have an awesome team! Next game will be in Fairfax on Sunday, September 13th.

Switching gears -

Around here you need to be able to switch from one hobby/sport to the next quickly. That's what Ronnie, Chase and Cierra did today!

Ronnie established a Fall baseball team which is part of ECTB (Elite Championship Tournament Baseball) for our 12U boys. Today kicks off the Fall season with a double header being played in Summit Point. This is a travel team with double headers on Sundays through the first of November. They will be travelling to Virginia for some of the games as well. Cierra will be working the concession stand when we have 'home' games.

Good luck to the newly established and 'regenerated' Summit Point Pinnacles!

All blue...

Clean up, Clean up - that's what we did first thing this morning. It's a busy place at the fairgrounds with all the clean up underway. I don't think alot of people realize all the work that goes on behind the scenes both preparing and breaking down after the annual fair. Now, within a few short weeks the planning will be underway for the 2010 Jefferson County Fair. Wow!

Chase and Cierra picked up their project books from the 4H barn and received all blue ribbons. That is a great accomplishment as well!

Closing Down -

That's right, tonight is the last night of the Fair and I think overall we're sad to see it end. It has been a little more challenging this year due to balancing school and the fair but hey, we made it work and the kids had a great time.

The weather held off for the evening which was great. The award presentation was held in the Show Barn at 6:30 p.m. Cierra receieved not only the Jr 1st place for Showmanship but also received the Premier Youth Exhibitor Junior award which is truly an honor. We are very proud of her! She has learned so much this year and proven how dedicated she is to 4H and her livestock project. She truly appreciates the help Joe and Debbie Frey and the Corbett family have given her.

Of course we can't go without having a picture of Lil Miss Kayden at the County Fair. She enjoyed her time there as well!
After dinner(shew I really am ready to eat at home) we watched the tractor pull. Of course Chase and Jimmy were right in the middle of everything in the pit area :) Jimmy pulled and held the lead position for a while then was eventually bumped out.

They also participated in the Egg Toss between tractor classes - no winners here but continued fun LOL!

Overall we all had a great week at the Jefferson County Fair! Now, tomorrow morning clean up and pick up projects. Til next year....thanks for sharing in our fair week adventure!

Bidders and Buyers -

Thanks to Frontier Communications for buying Chase's goat and Bucky's Ltd for purchasing Cierra's lamb. Without the many bidders and buyers, the annual livestock sale wouldn't be so successful!

It was an interesting evening for the many children selling their 'project' animals. The state of our economy definitely plays into the results of the sale and we all know this has been another challenging year. All the children deserve recognition for their hard work and effort which all 'pays off' on Friday night.

Thanks again to these buyers! If any of you are looking for auto body work, check out Bucky's. We have used them for many years and definitely consier them 'the best'!!

Frontier Communications is another long standing business that we have certainly patronized for many, many years!

Horses, Cows and Sirens - oh my....

Thursday night at the fair - we started our evening off by catching up with the Lilly family to watch Brian in the lawn tractor pull. He did a great job! It was a lot of fun watching the lawn mowers pull. I'm not qite sure how he finished since we left before it was over (and Mom said it would be a longggg night).
Of course we are always glad to see Amanda - today was her first day of school.
We headed over to the horse pull. That is one of my favorites. I love watching the huge horses pull the sled. This year they moved it back up by the stage on the grassy area so it seemed to be easier for the horses to pull. They are beautiful and massive!




Next up was the Tuff Truck competition. We watched the four wheel drives first then Lyle Campbell was a participant in the 2 wheel drive. He drove an old police car - very cool!


We finished up the night with dinner in the Show Barn. We purchased plots for the Cow Chip Bingo and awaited the cow to 'plop' her poop in one of the squares for $1000. As expected, we didn't win but it was still fun to watch and wait.
Made our way over to get ice cream then were just hanging out waiting for Cierra and Chase when the sirens started. Wow - sirens from everywhere. Dad, Mom, J, Ash, Kayden, Britt and Brandon were nearby and we could tell Dad was on his phone. Oh no - a car had crashed into the 'school house' apartment building in Leetown. Yup, took out the power pole, mailboxes, fence, and front of the school house.

Now, this was all because he was being chased. Do you think just maybe it could have been avoided? Wouldn't it make more sense to just get the tag and set up a road block or something other than inconveniencing people who now have no electric, Allegheny Power who will have to spend at least the next 12-24 hours fixing the power, Frontier and Comcast who will have to fix their wires and last but not least Dad and Ronnie who will have to clean up the mess?! Really, was this all necessary? We are just thankful that no one was hurt inside the apartment building.

In case you're interested in how the driver is, he did survive but was flown out. (and yes, they landed the helicopter at the Fish Hatchery)

Now, I'm off to tuck the kids in. Livestock sale tomorrow....

Wednesday evening at the fair...

For those of you that don't know, Ronnie makes this sound like a police siren and does so in the most opportune situations. He has people that stop in their tracks, looking for the police car LOL! So, if it were possible to attach that sound to my blog I would....just for this story:

Cierra and I went to feed the animals this evening while Ronnie and Chase were at practice and immediately she noticed that her blue ribbon for Showmanship was gone. She was both sad and mad :( We looked around to see if it happened to fall down but no luck there. Knowing Ronnie would be really upset, we told him on the way there. Of course, he was furious....so where do we go but to the Fair Office :) We have been told that they will give her another one to replace the one that Ronnie just knows was taken down by some annoying kid.
Well - after some searching and talking with fellow lambers we heard that it was really windy today for some reason and several of the signs were out in the front lot. So...more than likely it blew away. Imagine that :)

Looks like Magic and Poundcake are all ready for the sale. They were numbered today -



We then headed to the Show Barn to watch the Jr. Pie eating contest. Oh my...I couldn't watch much and don't know how these kids didn't puke....

Then over the hill to Figure Eight Demolition Derby. We caught the final heat - they are always fun to watch.
Next up the turtle race. Ronnie and I raced earlier in the week and mine won. Tonight neither he nor Cierra won but they had fun.
Now, off to bed again. Why do I think tomorrow morning is going to be harder than today?! They will be ready for the weekend, that's for sure.

It was a breeze...

Wow! Alarms went off extra early this morning but there was no struggle getting Chase and Cierra out of bed. They were up and ready with 10 minutes to spare!
Chase had his normal breakfast (I can't believe he doesn't get tired of this every day)
While Cierra is a 'grab and go' kind of girl...

The normal 'photo session' -


Then out the door to catch the bus. Corey was already waiting for them at the bus stop :)

So I guess you could say we're off to a great start for the 2009/2010 school year!

Day 3 of our County Fair!

Yesterday was pretty quiet. Ronnie and I worked all day but Chase went out early afternoon. Cierra, Ronnie and I went out later for dinner then caught some of the truck pull. We finished up around 11:00 p.m. getting geared up for today's Goat Show.

Chase, Cierra and I went out around 10:30 so Chase could get Magic cleaned up.


The show was running about 2 hours behind due to the "swine show" getting a late start. Chase did a fine job during the showmanship portion. He didn't place but it was very obvious he has been working with his goat.


The 'market' portion split the goats up by weight. Chase was in a class with 4 other goats and didn't place in the top there either. He did say it was a lot better and easier than last year when he had a hog! LOL We are very proud of him!


Later this evening the bake sale was held. Cierra and Chase's club auctioned off an apple pie. It brought $700 WooHoo!! Chase and Cierra didn't help in the 'baking' but were there to support the sale.

We watched some of the demolition derby then headed to the Show Barn for some more fun. Ronnie and I along with Chase and Jimmy participated in the water balloon toss. Of course I ended up soaked! I caught it but didn't 'cradle' it like I was told :) Oh well, it was fun.

We finished up the night watching Chase and Jimmy in the three legged race. They did a really good job....they won their heat but didn't win overall. Tomorrow night is the hay bale toss but Chase has practice so we're not certain he will be able to participate
So, now showers and off to bed in preparation for tomorrow. It just doesn't seem possible that summer is 'over' and they are heading to school. Cierra is giving Chase the 'run down' on where his classes are, so cute. They will be together this year at Wildwood which is a good thing. The sad part is I don't have anyone in elementary school anymore...wow.

I hope everyone heading back to school has a wonderful 1st day!

Yeah - 1st place for Cierra!

This was Cierra's first year in the Jr. class for showmanship. She competed with 12 other participants and walked away with the Blue Ribbon! We are very proud of her. Working with her lamb every day certainly paid off. Way to go Cierra!

And yes, Natasha was the winner of the pageant! Natasha Dawson-Kable is Miss Jefferson County Fair. She looked very pretty in her camo dress. Ronnie and Cierra were sporting their camo as well. I agreed to wear my shirt one day this week so we're supposed to 'plan the day' LOL.
Chase and Jimmy greased the pigs and got 'em all ready for the 'greased pig contest'. Neither won although at one point Chase had the pig but evidently not enough to keep it :) It looked like a lot of fun and he stinks!! He's in the shower now planning for tomorrow.
As usual, another great day at the Jefferson County Fair!

It's show time!!

This morning Ronnie, Chase, Jimmy and Cierra went out to feed the animals. Cierra made it back in enough time to go to church with Grandma (she prayed for us since we didn't make it :). She came home, finished up her poster then we headed out to get Poundcake cleaned up!
Doesn't he look good?!
Now let's get him all covered up so he stays like this til 5...

Good to go...

Good news! Both the lamb and goat were 'graded' and are ready for the Livestock Sale on Friday night at 7:00 p.m.! That was a relief.

Tomorrow is all planned out - Cierra shows her lamb at 5:00 then Chase is in the 'greased pig' contest at 8:30. He and Jimmy have already signed up to grease the pigs. Last year they did that and had a blast.

Cierra practiced getting her lamb ready for showing tomorrow. She looks pretty good.

Natasha Dawson is in the pageant tomorrow night styling in a Mossy Oak camoflauge dress (great isn't it?) so we ran to Wal-mart to find some camo attire to wear in support of her participation. It would be great for her to win - Good Luck Natasha! Jimmy and Chase stayed at the fair and are now getting showers and heading to bed. They have big plans for tomorrow...

Animals weighed, all checked in their new home now...will they make grade?

Keep your fingers crossed, that's the next step. They will be checked at 4:00 to see if they pass inspection. Of course we're really hoping cuz 'no grade', no sale!! That would be tough.

pure beauty...

This evening was our night to get the goat and lambs sheared for the fair starting tomorrow. It stormed and rained like crazy! We all got soaked during the process. While I was talking, Chase came and took my camera, obviously he saw something. And what might that be but a BEAUTIFUL rainbow. It was so big I couldn't even get all of it in one picture. I tried multiple ways unsuccessfully so you'll just have to see it from both angles (I got the middle but couldn't get it to align right)....if you look hard enough, you can see the double one better on the left. The entire rainbow was 'double' at one point! Absolutely beautiful.

Show us your life - Baby Shower ideas

Shew...this one was a little more difficult than the past weeks for a few reasons. One, my children are older and my friends children are about the same age so our showers were a long time ago! And two, I am not very creative and tend to use other's ideas. (why reinvent the wheel, right?!)


I did help coordinate my granddaughter's baby shower last year. PLEASE keep in mind that it does not compare to Kelly's LOL!! So I will share what we did. To start, I had never heard of a diaper cake - Ashley's sister put that together and it was really cute...


I'm not a fan of games but we all know you can't have a baby shower without games, right?! So we played a couple. One was a list of the new baby's features and whether we thought the Mommy would want the newborn to have her features or the Daddy's. That was pretty fun.

I don't bake/decorate cakes either so opted for one being made and provided the insert from her bedding so the cake could look like her quilt. It turned out cute.

But best of all, we had four generations there! (five if you count the baby in the belly)