Donations for 4-H Round Up

Sarah has gotten really involved in 4-H and enjoys the opportunities 4-H has given her. In the spring she had the opportunity to attend 4-H Congress. Then she wanted to attend 4-H Round Up, but she had a couple of things to accomplish first. One of the things she had to do was be inducted into the 4-H All Stars AND she had to raise the money to go to Round Up. She decided that to raise money she would bake cakes and take donations for the cakes. Sarah began taking orders for either strawberry cake or Chocolate Salted Caramel Cake, then she did lots of baking and in the end she had raised enough money for the Round Up fee and for items she needed for the trip. I was so proud of her for all her hard work and accomplishments. On July 14, she attended Round Up Readiness Day and was inducted into the 4-H All Stars...she was now ready to attend Round Up! Here are the cakes she made...

 Sarah's Aunt got her these cake plates and made these cute decals.

 Here is the strawberry cake

 Chocolate Salted Caramel Cake

Sarah made these cupcakes for two of the youth girls at church that ordered cupcakes. The cupcakes are chocolate cake with a cream cheese frosting.

Which one would you choose?

Where Has the Past 15 Years Gone?

On June 19-21, Sarah led a Culinary Camp at the 4-H Extension Office. She planned the camp and led it with the help of a dear friend. There were twelve 4-6 graders that attended. They had lots of fun and Sarah enjoyed it just as much as they did. They learned new skills and each day they prepared food and that was their lunch. Sarah had such a great time and a great response that she will be leading a 4-H Culinary Club this next school year.

Today is Sarah's 15th birthday!! Where has the past 15 years gone? I will post more in the days to come about this precious blessing! Lots going on in her life lately and can't wait to share! Love you so much Sarah!

2018 Tennessee 4-H Congress (Final Post)

 Tuesday morning we attended a regional breakfast followed by the students being able to vote for Congress Governor, Speaker of House, and Speaker of Senate. Isaac is sitting on stage for breakfast because he was chosen to give the invocation for breakfast.

 After voting we were able to change and board buses for our trip to the General Jackson.

 After boarding the General Jackson we enjoyed lunch and great fellowship time with others.

 Can't have a complete trip without a little goofing off. :)

 The Cumberland River

 After lunch and a trip on the Cumberland River we headed back to Murfreesboro for a formal dinner at the hotel. Sarah was chosen to play the keyboard while everyone entered and was seated.

 Here is a picture of our table at the formal dinner.

Very thankful that I had this opportunity to attend Congress with Isaac and Sarah. These two had a great time at Congress.

2018 Tennessee 4-H Congress (Part 4)

 On Monday we all boarded buses and traveled over to our state Capitol in Nashville. Our morning started off with getting to be apart of mock sessions. The students were able to sit where our Senators and Representatives sit and see what voting on bills is like.

 One of Isaac's parts was to stand and oppose one of the bills they were voting on. Then the floor was open to others who wanted to state why they would be for or against the bill. The students were then able to "vote". The students I was with said this was their favorite part of Congress.

 Then after a box lunch at the Avon Williams campus of University of Tennessee the students attended a couple of educational sessions. One was titled "From Sheep to Wool" about the uses of wool. The other educational session was about Memes and how to critique them. We finished up around 2:15 and headed over to meet our county Senator and Representatives.

 First on our list was Dr. Joey Hensley which is our Senator.

 Next we stopped in to visit David "Coach" Byrd, one of our Representatives.

 Our final visit was with our other representative, Barry Doss. At the close of our visit with Barry Doss they were going in to sessions, which we were able to attend but didn't get to stay long.

 Then we had a few hours to grab some supper and look around before heading back to the buses.

 It was a long day, but good. We ate supper at the Old Spaghetti Factory...delicious!

Here we are making our way back to the buses. We got our exercise in for the day and were some tired folks. :)

2018 Tennessee 4-H Congress (Part 3)

 On Sunday after the Speech Competition Isaac had to stay and practice for his part in the presentation that all the finalist put on for all the 4-Her's that arrive on Sunday afternoon. Sarah and I didn't have to be at registration until later that afternoon. Once we registered they were able to mingle and play a few games. The picture above is of Sarah playing a game with a couple of others we met from our neighboring county. We were able to get to know them and spend time with them during Congress.

 Bryan's parents took our three younger children home with them and were able to spend some time with them. Here is Gigi making cookies with them. One of their favorite things to do with Gigi.

 Then Pop took them on a jeep ride. They saw a train pass by and enjoyed the sight seeing.

 Love this picture of these three. I missed them so much but I know they had a great time with grandparents!

While at Bryan's parents they got to spend some time with cousins! These 5 always have a great time together. Yes, Joanna is one of three granddaughters, the other two are 14 and 21...so Joanna gets to hang out with the boys.

The three younger children were able to spend one night with Bryan's parents and one night with my parents and then my parents brought them home. Lots of fun and great memories were made!

2018 Tennessee 4-H Congress (Part 2)

On Sunday we headed over to the hotel where Congress was to attend Isaac's speech competition. Here are pictures we took with Isaac.

 Bryan and I are so proud of him. It is hard to believe this young man had to take speech therapy when he was younger. He has come a long way!

 Here is Isaac with Bryan's parents, Pop and Gigi. We were very thankful that they were able to come up and be there for the competition.

 Here is Isaac with my parents, Paw and Maw. Isaac had lots of support for this competition. It was great to have both sets of grandparents there to support and cheer him on. He didn't win State but we are very proud of him for making it this far!

 I just had to share a comparison picture. The picture above was taken one year ago at 4-H Congress 2017 when Isaac competed in 9th grade speech contest at State level. The picture below is this past Sunday at Congress. This young man has grown so much! Can't really notice until you do some comparing. God is good!

2018 Tennessee 4-H Congress (Part 1)

On Wednesday Isaac, Sarah and I returned from a 4-H Congress trip. It was a great experience! I have lots of pictures! I will do my best to recap each day and all that we got to do. I will start by telling that Isaac was a regional speech winner, so that means he would be one of six 10th graders competing at the State level. Being a finalist meant he had to go up a day earlier than everyone else. He had to arrive at 1:00 on Saturday afternoon. The rest of us along with grandparents packed up and headed to our destination. We dropped him off and did some sight seeing. We went to the Stones River National Battlefield in Murfreesboro, TN. If you know anything about our family you know we really enjoy this kind of stuff! We enjoyed our visit there.

 We were able to see them shoot off the cannon! Pretty loud!

 Here is Elijah with my dad waiting for the cannon to fire. Not the one they are standing in front of
:-). LOL!

 Then we walked through the grave yard. There was around 24,000 soldiers either injured or killed during this battle.

 Checking out one of the cannons that were on display.

 Here is Sarah posing with my parents and being a silly girl. :)

 Timothy gets a ride from his dad. Bryan wearing Timothy's hat. Love these two!

Actually I love this whole crew!! After checking into our hotel we went to eat dinner. It was great to spend some time together!

4-H Banquet

In December 2017 our three oldest had a 4-H banquet where they were recognized for their participation in 4-H. All three of them received a pennant and certificate for being involved in the Loud Speakers Club (Public Speaking). Then Isaac and Sarah were inducted into the Tennessee 4-H Honor Club. Very proud of them for all their hard work and dedication. 

 Here is Isaac and Sarah during their induction ceremony.

Next year Timothy will be able to be apart. Very thankful for the opportunities that 4-H has given our children. Isaac and Sarah just competed in the Tennessee Regional 4-H Public Speaking Competition. Sarah received runner up  for 9th grade Western Division. Isaac won in 10th grade Western Division and will compete in State Competition in the spring.

Culinary Camp

Last week Sarah had the privilege of attending a 4-H Culinary Camp in Murfreesboro! She loves to cook and bake so this was just perfect for her! The camp was from Tuesday morning til Thursday afternoon. Sarah did some baking and sold her baked goods to raise the funds needed to attend this camp. I was very proud of her for working hard to raise the money herself to attend camp!

 On Tuesday they visited the Farmers Market, participated in Food Fear Factor, cooked super and baked a dessert (the above strawberry shortcake), visited the Avenues, and got their room assignments.

 On Wednesday they were able to go to Kroger and Publix to get a "behind the scenes" tour, had a cupcake decorating war, and packed bags at the salvation army. During the cupcake time they were able to decorate several cupcakes with different techniques (above is three of Sarah's cupcakes).

This was one excited girl! On Thursday they had a "Chef challenge" and had to make a meal with egg plant in it. The only thing that upset her is that she will be too old to go again next year. She had a great time! It was hard for me to leave her but I know this was a great experience for her. We will be keeping an eye out for other opportunities like this. Sarah would really enjoy having a job at a bakery for the experience. We feel blessed and very thankful that God provided this opportunity for her!

State Bound!

When Isaac was in the 7th grade we got involved in 4-H. One of the things I wanted my kids to do is the Public Speaking in 4-H. Being homeschooled our kids don't get the opportunities to stand in front of a class and give speeches or presentations, so I thought this would be good for Isaac and Sarah. The first speech Isaac gave was in front of our 4-H homeschool group, then he went to the county competition and won! In 7th grade the next competition is sub-regionals and guess what...he won 7th grade sub-regionals! Then we did the speech again in 8th grade and he won sub-regionals that year too! 

This year he is in 9th grade and instead of competing in sub-regionals it is competing in Regionals. We had a tough start this year with his speech and was really just wanting to make it through county competition. We really didn't think he would do well enough at county to advance to Regionals, but ended up he was able to advance to Regionals. Because his speech got off to a rough start we had told ourselves that we were proud of him no matter what and it was a great accomplishment to make it to Regionals. 

The night of the Regionals competition Sarah got sick so Bryan took him and I stayed home with the rest of the crew. We prayed that he would just do his best and that was all we could ask. It seemed like forever before I heard from them, but when I text Bryan and ask how Isaac did Bryan sent me a picture of a plaque that read 9th Grade Regional Winner!! WHAT!!!!???? We were so excited! This meant that he would now be competing in the state competition! Below is a picture of him with his Regional plaque and ribbon.

 Going to state meant that he would be going to 4-H Congress in Nashville for 4 nights and 4 days! He was very nervous and even asked several times could he back out. Bryan and I knew that this was an opportunity that God had given Isaac and it would be a great experience for him. Isaac began preparing for Congress. He arrived in Nashville on Saturday and his speech competition was Sunday morning at the Music City Sheraton. We all took him up there and would be there the next morning to hear him give his speech. We were very blessed that my parents were able to go with us! The picture below is of Isaac and my dad right before speech time. Isaac placed 3rd in State of Tennessee 9th grade 4-H public speaking! Very proud of him!!

Because he was a regional winner he was able to participate in things that the other students (4-Her's ) didn't get to. He met lots of new friends! On Monday they got to tour the capitol and he had some educational sessions to attend. Tuesday they took a trip on the General Jackson and that night had a formal dinner. Isaac arrived back home on Wednesday morning around 10, he was exhausted but full of all kinds of stories to share. Very thankful for him and all of his accomplishments!
Love you much Big Man! :)

4-H Public Speaking Contest

Isaac and Sarah started 4-H this year. One of the things they had to do was give a speech to their group. Then they were able to compete in the County Speech Contest. 

Sarah receives her first place ribbon for 6th grade.

Isaac receives his first place ribbon for 7th grade.

They both went on to compete in the sub-regional speech contest. Isaac won the 7th grade contest and Sarah placed 4th in 6th grade. Very proud of both of them! For Isaac this says a lot....when he was 4 years old he started speech therapy and continued therapy until we moved to Tennessee. God has done great things!