A New 4-H Year

It begins.

Again.

4-H stuff.

Today was the county Horse Bowl and Hippology compettions.

At 9am.

30 minutes away.

We were late. (but, not too bad)

And it looks like we will be heading out for the State competitions at the end of April. YIPPEE!

Julianne got her first ribbon as a junior. She came in 9th for Hippology. (that means she could make it on the state team if a bunch of people choose not to participate. She may, however, join in on the state practices, which is an awesome opportunity as well).

Isabel came in 2nd in Horse Bowl and 3rd in Hippology today. She will be on the Junior County team to go to States in April.

Catherine also received 2nd in Horse Bowl and 3rd in Hippology ribbons and will be on the Senior County teams to go to States.

Very proud parents we are!

[we are also happy parents that we have a built in driver in Catherine and we might be able to get out of travelling another night each week for team practies! Ah, the joy of having children old enough to drive themselves!]

Suffering at the pool

I know, it can't be suffering if you are at a pool in this weather.

But: it is pollen season here. And the pollen around here has been ridiculous.

As in pollen clouds so thick you can't see anything on the road in front of you ridiculous.

As in I can't breath, smell, talk, function, ridiculous.

But the littles are having a great time - they don't seem to be as affected as their poor suffering mommy. For which I am truly thankful!

The following pictures are actually of the second foray into the pool.

The first was attended by Olivia as the poor suffering mommy had to stay in the house with the air conditioner filtering the air. Again, I am thankful that Frank had this system installed the week after we moved in here 10 years ago.

Frank and I got a kick out of watching them enjoying the pool.

Frank and the littles opened the pool on Memorial Day weekend. I got the water tested and all the chemicals lined up on Tuesday and the littles were swimming on Thursday!

The following pictures are from Friday, June 1st.



ISABEL ENJOYING THE POOL



JULIANNE ENJOYING THE POOL

NATHANIEL HELPING LUCAS SWIM WITHOUT HIS SWIMMIE

A VISITOR TO THE POOL



"I AM SHIVERING AND TURNING PURPLE, I NEED MY SWIMMIE
TO GET BACK INTO THE POOL!"



"CANNONBALL!!!!!"

"DID YOU SEE THAT?"

"I JUMPED LIKE THIS - I'LL SHOW YOU AGAIN!"

ALMOST READY

GETTING THERE

THIS ONE WAS A GOOD ONE!

GETTING READY TO DO ANOTHER, AND ANOTHER, AND ANOTHER -
YOU GET THE PICTURE!

Ah, it is going to be a fun summer!

As soon as the pollen goes away.

Soon, I hope.

It poured here yesterday and we are supposed to have more rain this week. (it was funny to see the yellow river in front of the house from the run-off to the storm drain.)

I am hopeful!

My Weekend - Part 1

This weekend was a fun one.

Saturday morning started with getting a bunch of littles out of the house to a 4-H county competition in horse knowledge. There are two parts: Hippology and Horse Bowl.  Lucas came with us as Dad and Nathaniel were off for an outdoor cooking class.

Hippology is basically the study of all things horse: breeds, colors, grooming, tools, feeds, diseases etc. It is a written test of 25 questions for the cloverbuds (under 8), 50 questions for juniors (8-13) and 80 questions for the seniors (14 and over).

Horse Bowl is testing about the same type of stuff, just in a different format: round table questions with buzzers (think big game of horse jeopardy)

The top 4 junior and senior scorers can be on the county team to go to the Massachusetts State Competition in April.

Julianne did great - this is her last year as a cloverbud. Cloverbuds don't move on to the state competition. The county competitions are for practice to get used to the format and to help learn what needs to be studied for the next year. The cloverbuds aren't placed in the competition. They do get to pick a participation ribbon.

Isabel is a junior. She came in 3rd place for the Hippology competition and 1st place for the Horse Bowl competition. Off to Western Massachusetts in April we go!

Isabel's first blue ribbon

Catherine is a senior. She came in 2nd place for Hippology and 1st place for Horse Bowl. Good thing the state competition for the junior and senior teams are the same weekend in the same place!

Lucas displaying Catherine's ribbons



checking out the results


WooHoo!

We are very proud of how well the girls did Saturday. They have studied hard for this.

Now all we have to do is hope the weekly practices for each team for each competition will not have me trying to get 2 girls to 4 locations at 4 different times.

I love this time of year!

Happy 18th Birthday!

18 years ago today we became parents. Excited, scared and totally clueless as to what to do next.

Today, we become parents of an official adult. Excited, scared and totally clueless as to what to do next.

Where did the time go?

At DisneyWorld April 2006

Middle School Graduation June 2007

Stuck in the wilds of NH Oct 2007

Senior Prom Night - with her sister!

High School Awards night 2011

What a beautful young lady she has become.

We love you, Olivia!

Happy Birthday!

Edited to add:

Olivia came home earlier than we anticipated tonight.....

So we got to have homemade cupcakes and ice cream cake with the birthday girl!

Happy Belated Birthday Catherine!

I am a bad mom!

My Catherine turned 16 on Wednesday July 20th.

And did we have cake and ice cream?
                  No!

Easter 2006

Did we have a party?
                  No!

First County 4-H ribbon

Do I have a good reason?
                  Maybe!

Early Horse Show - October 2006

We have been at Vacation Bible School this past week. Catherine, Nathaniel, and I were helping; Isabel, Julianne, and Lucas were campers. This is the first year in 10 years that I have not had a little one at home and was able to help.

Very First 4-H Visual Presentation!

I did not realize how tiring Vacation Bible School was!

Really.

It is only 3 hours in the morning. I was ready for naps all week long!

Visiting goats at the petting zoo - 2009

On the up side - I did spend one and a half hours as the Registry so she could get her Driver's Permit on her birthday.

With her own baby goat - Feb 2011

And, we are having a birthday cookout this coming Sunday. I will make sure we have cake and ice cream then!



Making dinner for the family - Jan 2011

 Hard to believe my baby has been driving me around town for the past few days. She is a pretty good driver!
 

catching snowflakes - Winter 2010-2011



Enjoying the outside!



Confirmation - May 2011



Getting awards - June 2011

Catherine is growing into a beautiful young lady of whom we are most proud!

WE LOVE YOU, CATHERINE!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SWEETIE!



4th of July

Catching up - been busy here ...

We didn't really do much on the 4th - we had some friends over to swim in the pool and eat food!

However, the teenagers in my house had fun at night:



Olivia, Mackenzie (good friend), and Catherine


They are too silly sometimes!

Haircut

Isabel and Julianne got new haircuts today....

very cute!

Casts ...

yep - another cast for Isabel.

This time for her broken thumb:

She decided on the bright orange, she didn't have a cast
in that color yet! This collection has got to stop!

Same arm as the broken elbow 2 years ago. She really needs to plan these breaks a little better: no pool for the next 5 weeks!

Signing class should be fun!

Bragging Again!

Yep, one more brag post!

Catherine received a letter from a local Elks Lodge inviting her (and her parents) the annual "Youth Appreciation Night" Banquet tonight. She was nominated by a 4-H leader for her achievements this past year.

So, off Frank and I went with Catherine to the Elks for dinner (which was pretty good!)

She, and about 25 other youth from the area, were given recognition for their "excellence in one or more of the following areas: scholastic athletics, leadership, and civic duty."

There was the mayor and State Representatives and some rather impressive certificates:



receiving the awards



US Congress

 

Grand Lodge of Order of Elks





MA State Senate

 

MA House of Representatives



We are very proud of you, Catherine!

The Busy Weekend - Part 2 ...

On Sunday, we spent the day getting ready for the main event Sunday night: Catherine receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation.

Catherine did the welcome speech:

Nathaniel got to assist on the altar.

We are very proud of her!

With her Sponser



The whole family



with her best friend

with my mom, her Nana

Seriously - when did she grow up?

We love you, Catherine!

The Busy Weekend - Part 1 ...

This past Saturday, Frank and I escaped left the house early (even before all the children were awake) to go to the award ceremony for the Massachusetts SkillsUsa Competition in which Olivia participated.

We were excited to get up there to see what it was all about. I don't have a picture of her there. With the over 2,000 high school students participating, we didn't find her!

She didn't place in her contest, but we were very proud of her for making it to States.

Next step... Graduation!

We love you, Olivia!