4H Judging & a Great Stay at Grandma and Grandpa's

Shayla's new (Well, new to her!) outfit for 4H judging.



Shay said all three of her judges were very, very nice. She really enjoyed talking with them and sharing her work. What sweet ladies to volunteer their time like this! May God bless them and keep them save in His loving arms!


Being judged for "Designing Interiors"



Shayla received an "A" on all of her projects, despite telling the "Arts as an Expression" judge she should get a B when the judge asked what she thought she should you get on her project. (She said she keeps confusing "principles" and "elements" of art.) I don't know why Shayla said that because she worked so hard on all of her five 4H projects and learned so much. She called me after judging and said she really enjoyed getting to talk with the judges about everything she did. I'm grateful my mom was able to get her there and to snap some pics for me while I was teaching!

Late yesterday afternoon I received a message that Shayla was selected to go to the state fair for two of her three projects she took on Tuesday: Interior Designs and Arts as an Expression. I was really floored she didn't make it for Scrapbooking, because I thought it was absolutely awesome, but she was ok with that and happy about qualifying for the other two projects. Now we don't know if she will be able to go or if they will need to call the 2nd place winners to go instead because the state fair is the same time as our county fair and she has a horse event to compete in that day - "Versatility" (where they have a "pit crew" to do all of the tack changes as they have to complete all at once for a lengthy time in: showmanship, English, Western and barrels). We've told her it's her decision and we don't care what she decides, but she keeps going back and forth and I think really wants us to tell her what to do - but we are not going there! We've always felt it best for the girls to have choices and to make decisions (when it's something like this and doesnt' really matter) so that they realize there are results and consequences that go along with decision making and that life is all about making choices - make good ones!

My deepest thanks to all of those sweet 4H volunteers!! These kids would not have the opportunities or expereinces they do without them!


I received a text one night from Shay. It said, "We made 77 cookies today. Guess what we're eating for dessert?" I texted back, "Cookies!" She said, "No! We had them for our lunch dessert, we are having S'mores over the fire tonight." She's a hoot! I love her so and I'm glad she had a great time at grandma and grandpa's and I will now have LOTS of time to spend and enjoy with her as I'm officially finished working for a whole month. (Of course I will be writing and working on some research I will be conducting this fall, but nothing I have to leave the house for - yippeee!).