4-H Exibits

In a post that only a grandparent could love, here are the photos of the children's 4-H exhibits. We will be turning-in four of the qualifiers for State Fair today. Meg's flowers will check-in next Wednesday. And the adventure continues...

Things You Never Thought You'd Say...

Why is there a sock in the tree in the living room?

WFMW - Dirty Rag Game Part 1

When Em and Ted were still tiny, we rented a wonderful old duplex. However, the linoleum kitchen floor had a design with recessed flowers. No amount of mopping would get rid of the gunk stuck in those flowers.

One day, I stripped them down to diapers and filled big bowls with soapy water. I gave them measuring cups to play with and a few old wash rags. They had so much fun playing and splashing in the middle of the kitchen. I washed up the dishes at the sink while the water started to slosh against my toes.

When they were done, I dried the children off and then set to work drying the floor with big towels. Because a decent amount of water had soaked on the floor, all the gunk lifted away leaving the floor clean and shiny.

Check back next week when I'll explain how cleaning floors became a competitive sport! What works for you? See more tips at wearethatfamily.com.

"Banana Slug"

Along the same lines of last week's Tuesday Tip, here is something else we do when heading out in public with our precious children. Several years realized that we needed to be able to round up our children quickly.

We voted on a code word, something that was rather unique so whenever they heard it, they would know to come to the parent immediately and pay attention. The winning word(s) was "Banana Slug," mascot of UC Santa Cruz. Just one more glimpse into the oddities of the Stumpfs, but it's not something that normally comes up in conversation.

For a couple weeks we practiced at home. Bryan even got a stopwatch. He'd yell "Banana Slug," and the children would run from all over the house and line up in age order in front of him. If they made it under 15 seconds, we'd pass out M&Ms (my favorite training tool). I think the record was around 7 seconds.

Pretty soon we were able to try out this new skill in public. It is especially helpful when rounding the troops up after church, calling everyone together to make an announcement, or lining them up to pay at the Chinese Buffet. The funniest thing is how quickly the children's friends caught on. Now we will often have "honorary Stumpfs" in our line!

Ripley Has Arrived!

Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4

We have adopted this verse as our family verse for this summer. We are humbled and awed at how he is providing for all of us. Not just our needs but the greatest wishes of my children.

Emelie has loved horses since before she could say the word. Moving out to this piece of land was done with the hope that she would have a horse of her own some day. Today was that day!

Even better, we were able to share this joy with our dearest friends: Jammers and her family and Meg's buddy, Mary (fellow horse fanatic). Ripley was so patient to let everyone take a turn on him. Even the boys, previously rather ambivalent to horses, were super excited. Caleb put on Jakie's cowboy vest and hat while Ted donned overalls. Then Ted immediately set to work making Emelie a box to hold her brushes.

What an thrilling adventure we are embarking on!

Menu Plan Monday - July 27, 2009

This has the potential to be a very big day for us...Ripley the Horse might be arriving this evening! We spent our weekend between the 4-H Fair and working on the fence and stalls. While we're not done the fence, I think it will hold a horse for the next couple days while we complete fencing-in the "mud lot" in front of the barn. Besides, Emelie will be out there with the horse every waking moment.

Bryan realized that trying to get the 4-acre pasture done was too big a task to finish this weekend. So, in the interest of time, we're working on the .25 acre area directly in front of the barn. Now that we've figured out how to install the flex-fence, it should go pretty fast (although nothing in this process has gone very fast!).

Last night we cut the mats for the stall. That was an act of trust as I would stand on the mat and walk backwards as Bryan would cut towards me with the circular saw. I'm glad that job's done!

Tonight we check-out our 20-something exhibits from the fair and begin preparing for entering State Fair on Friday. Whew! Another busy week when my crockpot and microwave will be working overtime. This is what we will be enjoying this week:

Monday - Chuck Wagon Beans, Cornbread

Tuesday - Breakfast Pizza

Wednesday - Football Sub Sandwiches, Potato Wedges

Thursday - BBQ Meatball Sandwiches

Friday - Bible Study

Saturday - Dried Beef Gravy over Toast, Micro-Fried Apples

Find more menus at orgjunkie.com. What's on your menu?

The pain was worth it!

Emelie, Teddy, and Meghan combined took 30 4-H projects this year. They exhibited in 26 of them. All but Shooting Sports earned a blue ribbon (we have to practice shooting more!) and half earned at least Honor Group. The Lord really blessed the very hard work of their hands, and we give all the glory to him! So here's the run-down for the grandparents and other interested on-lookers.

Meghan
1. Fine Arts- Blue
2. Floriculture- Champion, Selected for State Fair
3. Foods- Blue
4. Forestry- Honor Group
5. Microwave Cooking- Champion
6. Misc. Crafts- Blue
7. Self Determined- Blue
8. Sewing- Blue

Teddy
1. Bicycle- Honor Group
2. Computer- Blue
3. Electric- Blue
4. Misc. Crafts- Blue
5. Self Determined- Honor Group
6. Shooting Sports- White
7. Small Engines- Champion, Selected for State Fair

Emelie
1. Bicycle- Reserve Champion
2. Child Development- Blue
3. Computer- Grand Champion, Selected for State Fair
4. Foods- Reserve Champion
5. Horse and Pony- Champion
6. Horseless Horseman- Reserve Grand Champion
7. Microwave Cooking- Reserve Champion
8. Misc. Crafts- Blue
9. Photography- Champion, Selected for State Fair
10. Self-Determined- Champion
11. Shooting Sports- White
12. Vet Science- Reserve Grand Champion, Selected for State Fair

Emelie's projects were the only ones that received trophies. Caleb helped her out during the awards ceremony. Although I prefer the shot below when she has four hands! I'll get more photos of some of the exhibits in a couple of days. I'm actually going to take a break from the fairgrounds tomorrow, since we've lived there this week!