Fair time challenge

Time for another CCEE Stampers challenge! And guess what? I’m the challenge hostess this month!!

The first week in August is my County Fair. So make a card having some object or animal that you would find at the fair. Extra points for using some green on the card as that is the color for 4-H. 4-H is a big part of our fair and the reason I’m there all week long. I was in it for 10 years and now my kids are in it with different projects.

My project today centers around my Cloverbud, my youngest. Each day the Cloverbuds take a tour of a different animal barn at the fair. She was so excited for Wend as that was the Pig Barn tour as she wants to take a pig next year! (She will be old enough next year to be a 4-Her) Of course I took pictures and made a digi scrapbook page! And yes, my background paper is green!

She loved “showing” the pig. Thought that was the best part of the tour and is now excited to have a pig next year. She even made a piggy bank using a 2 liter pop bottle with toilet paper rolls for legs for her projects to display at the fair this year. Used tissue paper all over it that was Mod Podged on.

My middle decided to sew this year in 4-H for her sister and got an honorable mention on the outfit!



My son shows llamas (our show is Thursday so as of writing this, I have no clue how he will do). But here are a few more pictures of our week at the fair.

I did enter my Key Lime Cupcakes and they took third place in their category.


Jorden petting a pony during the Cloverbuds tour of the Horse Barn.


A Wild Animal show that was put on for the first few days of the fair.


An alien on the swings.


The Cloverbuds at the llama barn tour, watching my mom spin.


My niece and another 4-H member’s alpaca.

Llama showing at the Ohio State Fair

It is that time again for my kids… Fair time! Three out of the four are in 4-H and of course we all can’t be in the same club or take the same projects! Jorden is still a Cloverbud and is in a pig club. Allie took sewing this year (Sewing for Others so she made a dress for her sister) and Benjamin stayed with llamas.

This past weekend there was a llama show at the State Fair that the club entered. What follows is pictures of Benjamin and his llama Rainy during the show.

The kids did Youth Judging on the Friday night. Benjamin placed 3rd. Who knows, maybe he’ll become a llama judge when he grows up!



Jorden used another member’s llama for Musical Llama Rugs. She got down to the top 6th and got eliminated.


Jorden took her brother’s llama for the costume contest. A birthday party and a clown. Unfortunately the table kept slipping to the side whenever the llama would walk so she didn’t place.


Close up of the cake. I used MuddPuddles dry sand on the 15!


Showmanship!




Benjamin placed 2nd and Gabriel (cousin and fellow club member) placed 1st in Showmanship. Not to shabby considering there were 18 kids in the class!
 

The girls enjoying some of the show before Leah’s (cousin and club member) next class.

For Rainey's first time showing, she did a good job of letting strangers touch her.

 

Rainy wanted to stop for a snack but Ben got her through with just maybe one leaf in her mouth.

This is what the llama sees before walking under. Some don’t even it pay attention to the cat and walk right under while others will put the hooves in and have to be dragged through. We had no clue how Rainy would act.



Love how Rainy is looking up at the cat like “you want me to go through THAT?”


Yay! They made it out without Rainy having to be pulled through.


Last obstacle of the day!


Now we are gearing up for our County Fair in 2 weeks where we will spend all day long, all week long with the llamas at but thankfully no costumes!


       Thanks for stopping by!

                       Amber

Senior Prom Pictures

Our High School held their prom this past weekend. Our oldest decided to go. Yikes you say as prom can be a very expensive time. Not for us as oldest is very resourceful and borrowed her dress and even told her date not to get a tux but to just wear a suit jacket. Probably the most expensive thing was their dinner and even that they paid for themselves as they have jobs.

So for pictures, she wanted a “gun” picture. Of course being the stinker she is, she didn’t even tell her date what was going to happen.
 
They both planned this without telling us. I should have known though as she had talked about this kind of pose before.


We headed to the lake and took a few there. Of course I took along my picture frame incase we wanted to use it.


Headed up to take the next shot, I captured this sweet moment between my youngest and her sister’s date.


Of course another Batman pose but in the middle of the road this time.
 

Then it was on to meeting up with the rest of the group. Here is a few shots from that photo session.

The boys being boys!  
It was just a tad bit windy out as you can tell by their dresses. 
 
Another parent got this shot as I was unable to. It is a great picture and while it looks like they are praying, they are not……..
 
and this is how it looked from my position! Yes, I am laying down in the middle of that huddle looking up at the kids. Awkward position for me but a fun picture.


The entire group in finally a “normal” pose.

This by far has to be one of my favorite pictures. The girls changed into their spikes and struck a pose.


Hope you have enjoyed the pictures and just maybe I have given you a few more ideas on some fun prom poses.

 

        Thanks for stopping by!

                      Amber

Rubber Band Jewelry book Review

Have you heard of one of the hottest toys that is sweeping the nation this year? The Rainbow Loom? Don’t worry, neither had I till just a few weeks ago. I had seen posts on Facebook and thought maybe I should look into it for my 7 yr. old, Jorden, for Christmas. But I didn’t give it another thought till a few days later I went and checked my email and there was an email from Fox Chapel Publishing asking me if I would like to review a book for Design Originals. A book on Totally Awesome Rubber Band Jewelry!

I didn’t tell my youngest it was coming as I didn’t want her bugging about when it would arrive but I made the mistake of telling my 11 yr. old, Benjamin, and 14 yr. old, Allie. It was actually Benjamin that would bug every day when he got home from school if the book had come! Finally the day came that the book did arrive in the mail and as you can tell from the picture below, it has received lots of love since. A permanent crease in the spine.


The kids of course fought over who got to look at the book first and who would get to make the first bracelet. (yes, I had bought a loom kit for them)  Jorden of course wanted to be the first one but somehow Allie managed to sneak in one first.

Allie picked out the Triple the Fun bracelet to make using one of her favorite colors, pink! Following the “What You’ll Need” list, she picked out the number of bands she would need per color substituting for the colors she wanted. She used the “Load It Up!” diagram for Chic Chevron. They also provide “Load It Up!” diagrams for alternate color schemes but you can also use any color scheme you want.



After loading up the loom comes the fun part of hooking the bracelet. This is pretty easy as long as you follow the step-by-step photos along with the written instructions provided in the book in the “Get Loopin’” section.

One thing we learned (yes, the hard way) is to load the loom in the numerical order provided by the book or you will mess up half way through your bracelet. This is especially true for the Starburst Bracelet.

Below is a handful of the different kinds of bracelets the kids have made. As I said, the book has been getting lots of love.

School Color Starburst Bracelet


Benjamin’s Bengal Fishtail Bracelet and Starburst Bracelet.


Benjamin using the book to make the Fishtail (his favorite) Bracelet.


Allie sporting a Fishtail Bracelet and a Back and Forth Bracelet.


Jorden’s arm full of bracelets that she made herself using the book.


I think we, ummmm I mean the kids have made every single bracelet from the Totally Awesome Rubber Band Jewelry book at least a few (million) times! Besides bracelets, there are also directions on how to make rings, belts, necklaces (next one on the kids list AFTER we get more rubber bands), flower charms, dangly earrings and hand/foot accessories.

Okay, I’ll admit, I have even sat down with the book and have made a few bracelets myself. What can I say?
The book is so colorful and easy to follow step by step directions
and the finished result is fun to wear!

Check out this preview of the book so you can see why
my kids were so excited to use it:

 Hope you have enjoyed this review and that I have inspired you to try out the book to make your own rubber band jewelry!

                         
     Thanks for stopping by!
                                        
                      Amber

Senior pictures

The 2013-2014 school year is about to start for us! I now have a Senior which means Senior pictures. Oh my, have you seen the prices for Senior pictures taken by a professional? OUCH is what my pocket book would be saying if it could talk.

So we decided I would take her pictures. I love how they turned out and my pocket book is thanking me for taking them myself.   Here are some of my favorite shots that I thought I would share with you.

Carmen’s friend saw her pictures and liked them so much that she asked if I would also take hers. Here are some of my favorites from her photo session.












Then we had to do a few friend poses.

We are planning on going back out in the fall for more pictures so stay tuned.

       Thanks for stopping by!

                     Amber