When you get the call...

When my kids get off the bus in the afternoon, I either meet them at the house or they are supposed to call me to tell me they are home and I head that way.  Since we are only 5 minutes away, it works pretty well.  The other day, however, Gail got the call instead of me.  I happened to be standing near by and I could hear one of the kids yelling "THE 4-H CALVES ARE OUT!! COME HOME QUICK!!!".  So like any good dad would do, he replied, "Your mom is on her way!"

I was laughing the whole way home thinking about the conversation and when I got there, this is what I found:  1) Ally took charge and sent Nate to get the calves out of the garage while she notified the police a parent. 2) They sent the 4-H calves back in the general direction they came from, only to find that about 30 cows had also gotten out in the process.  3) Knowing the police and/or parents were on their way home, they did what any good farm kid would do... they got their afterschool snacks and stood guard while the cows had free range of our winter hay supply.  4) When I arrived, Nate was eating a sack of popcorn, Ally was shelling and eating peanuts, and the cows were eating hay and taunting us. 5) When I finished laughing, my helpers and I chased the whole bunch back into the pen and texted the boss to tell him the damage. 

Life on the farm... you just never know what to expect!!

Halloween Horse Show 2011

A few weeks ago, the kids got to participate in the annual Halloween fundraising horse show.  Their horse club puts it on every year as a fun day for the kids and their horses.  All the class entry fees go towards a purchase for the arena.  This year it was for an electronic score clock. 

Ally chose to be a jockey.  Sonny was not so thrilled about it but he seemed to tolerate it for the day!  At least he didn't play the part of a race horse and take off with her and for that we are thankful!

The kids do a costume class and then all sorts of fun contests like the pumpkin race, the keyhole race, and the ribbon race.  They have a great time and don't even realize they are improving their riding skills at the same time! 

Nate was a mounted policeman.  He was in charge of security at the fairgrounds.  He took his job very seriously.

Here are just a few of the creative costumes... a World War II fighter pilot, an angel, my cop, a 90's hip hop dancer, and Jessie off of Toy Story.  Hats off to the many creative kids and their parents who make this such a fun day!!

Apparently the jockey got into some trouble with the law.  Luckily the cop was there to keep the situation under control for public safety.  Thanks Mr.Cop.

Pumpkin Carving

Fall means all sorts of great things but one of my favorites is pumpkins.  We generally don't carve many beacause they last so much longer when you set them out whole, but this year was different.  A friend of ours invited us to their annual pumpkin carving party!

Here is the before with most of the kids and their pumpkin of choice!  You should have seen their excitement!!

The only requirements were to bring your own pumpkins and to have FUN!  The kids really got into the cleaning part.  What could be more fun than sticking your hands in gooey, slimey, sticky stuff?

After looking at the pictures, it is beyond me why we gave all these little kids knives to play with but they were under close supervision at all times!  And I think the host was prepared with a very large first aid kit!!

I'm happy to report no children were harmed in the filming of this activity.  However, I can't say the same for the pumpkins!!

And the best part... the AFTER pictures!!  They were so proud of their pumpkins!  I don't know who was cuter... the kids or the pumpkins!

Gotta have a "crazy" photo!  Thanks so much to Kelsey & family for hosting such a fun day!  And yes... we did this before Halloween but I'm a little behind on my blog.  They were too cute not to share even if I'm late!!  Besides... pumpkins never go out of style in my book!!