Thursday, July 24, 2008

Barrel Racer

Here's one of my favorite shots of this barrel racer.  She made every contesting event look effortless......her and her horse were one.  It's no wonder she took a lot of blue home with her!


Barrels

I happened to be up in the announcer's stand when she started.  This barrel is under the announcer's window, and when I saw her coming, I snapped this shot.

Hi Ho, Silver.....Away!



One of our 4H moms decided to get in on the mounted games' fun!  What a photo finish to her run!  She gets through the "gate" at almost a full run and the horse rears, spins, and comes back down at a stop...without knocking a pole down.  What a run!

Hi Ho, Silver



This young lady had to fight a bit to get her horse under control, but she managed to do so without falling off.

Git-r-under-control


How do you know you've taken too many pictures?

When you get a blister on your thumb from holding the camera!!! 

I took about 2,500 pictures at our recent county fair!!   By the time the week ended, I had a blister and the tennis elbow pain was in full gear.  Also, by the end of the week, you begin to see strange sites like this one that make you think you're hallucinating!


Beach Baby

Most of the photos were of the 4H kids' horse events.  It's always fun to take pictures of the gymkhana events and the mounted games, as these are full of action.   I'll be posting a few of the cooler shots I got.

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Looking for cheap curriculum? Try 4H project books!



Did you know that you could order 4H project books on-line or pick them up at your county extension agent, even if your child is not a 4H member?

They have lots of neat project books!  And they have much more than books on farm animals, too!    Your student can study bugs, rockets (Aerospace), pets, robots, vet science, computers, cooking, science, sewing, fishing, photography, woodworking,  and much more!   Books range in costs from $4 to $15.

Here's the link to the Curriculum listing at the 4H Mall.  Check it out!


The Homeschool Share Blast is over...and YOU are a winner!


After lots of late nights, many cups of coffee and tea, and much discussion, Ami, Wende, and I are soooo happy to say:   The Blast is over!  

The HSS website has been updated to reflect all the wonderful resources folks sent in for the Blast contest.   We held lots of drawings and contacted the lucky winners of each category.  But you know what?   YOU are a winner too!  

YOU get to use all the wonderful literature-based unit studies, lapbooks, and notebooking pages that can be found on HSS.   And you get to use them for free!  Hope they are a blessing to you!

BUT WAIT!  THERE'S MORE!!   Ha, ha...couldn't resist!   But really, we do have one more prize to hand out and YOU get to help us decide. Just go to the Winners Circle page....there are 8 units/resources listed that did not win any prize (pout, pout...but that's the luck of the draw).  They were well done and we really think at least one of them should get something, sooooooooo......you get to vote for one of them!  Just look over the new units/resources and then go back and vote for your favorite.   Hurry, the voting ends this Friday night at 11:59 p.m. (Eastern!)




Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Pictures from DC

We can't find the camera card with the first pictures we took, but here are a few pictures!

Supreme CourtSupreme Court (that's us way up at the top of the steps, on the left, by the pillars!)


Escort to the capitolOur congressman was busy at the time we were to meet him, so he asked his aide to bring us over to the capitol to meet with him between votes.

TourIn between votes he gave us a private tour!  This was soooo nice because the next day, when we went on our "real" tour of the capitol building it was jammed packed!!!


Capitol RotundaTaken from inside the capitol, looking out the window.


If we ever find the other card, I'll post the Washington and Lincoln pictures!

Back from DC.....the salmon calendars are available!

We had a great time in Washington, DC!   But it sure was HOT!  It was like 105 (but it felt hotter!).  On dd10's big day of touring the senate and house buildings and meeting with our senators and congressman, the sole of her shoe came off!  I guess the heat of the pavement caused the glue to melt.  Later in the day, the other one did the same thing.  At least she wasn't walking lopsided anymore.  LOL.

In addition to the senate and house building tours, we also got to tour the capitol building and ride the subway that the congressmen use to get from their building to the capitol building.

We didn't get to sightsee nearly as much as we wanted, but we did get to see the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, the Supreme Court, and the Smithsonian's Museum of Natural History. 

We feel so blessed at the wonderful things the Save Our Wild Salmon set up for the art winners.  It was a special time for dd10.

And (LOL) we made sure each of our senators and congressman knew that she was homeschooled....she mentioned it when talking to each and she shared her salmon lapbook that we had created.   (Click on this link to be taken to Homeschool Share, where you can print off and do your own salmon lapbook!)


And for those interested in purchasing one of the calendars that dd10's picture is in, you now can!   Just go to the Save Our Wild Salmon website and go to the donation section.  For a minimum of a $10 donation, you can choose to receive the 16 month calendar.  (You can select the calendar after you make the payment.)  Her artwork is featured on this  December's page. 

Oh, and here's a picture of the winners who were able to go to DC, along with their families and their pictures.