some people show goats ...

Us?  We do crafts.

Two years ago, I had no idea that ordinary people could enter their craft items to be judged and displayed at the fair.  I have seen the displays before, but never paid a whole lot of attention to them until Marie and Donna started talking about their Keepers group and the items that they would work on as fair entries.  Last year we dabbled in the idea of fair entries ~ LB entered 4 items and I entered 2.  We decided that we really like doing it, so this year we did a few more ... 13 for LB and 11 for me.  JW even entered two items - a glass etching and a painted wooden sailboat - and was surprised with blue ribbons on both.  LB received 7 blue ribbons and 6 red ribbons ... and just for the record, she has already spent her prize money at least 10 different ways, but the top of her list is a trip to the American Girl store when we go to Atlanta next month for a short vacation and to work in the OCC processing center.  All in all, we were quite pleased with the results of this year's fair and we spent a lot of time looking at the projects displayed and talking about the things we can do for next year.

JW and D worked together to paint the sailboat



LB's small crocheted purse ... I may have helped with this one just a little

The little glass jar in the middle is JW's etching

 

LB's "hobo" bag ...

she made it with some help from her Grandmother



LB's mosaic picture frame

LB's quilling ... she also painted the picture frame

LB's string art

My very first doily

My tin punch ... I think this could be a pretty good stress reliever



The set of multi-colored coasters in the center is mine ...
the off-white ones to the left of mine were made by my friend Donna



 

This is my quilling ... and it is my favorite of all my fair entries this year.


 Next year I plan to enter more crocheted items ... especially the larger ones like an afghan and a baby blanket.  I would also like to do a dresser scarf or table runner in the fine thread category.  JW is all excited about entering things next year since he now realizes that there is money involved!  We'll just have to wait and see if he can maintain his excitement long enough to actually get things made all next next year.

the fun side of things

Now that I have had my bah humbug post, let me assure you that things are actually quite festive around our house.  We have our tree up and decorated and much to the chagrin of my children we are playing my favorite Christmas game of stump the kids.  I rarely put names on gifts under the tree and the kids have to wonder and guess which one is theirs.  Before Christmas arrives they will have at least one named gift to shake and rattle, but most will be a surprise.


We have also been participating in Christmas activities with our wonderful group of home schooled families.  The kids decorated graham cracker houses and we now have a cute little gingerbread village on our hearth. 

We were a little later than usual putting up our tree this year since we were out of town when we would have normally done it, but it got done and I had a great time watching the boys help their Daddy get it set up.

D still likes to hang multiple ornaments on the same branch, but he is getting better!

LB and I spent Saturday morning shopping with Mama.  Mama got most of what she had left to do done while we were out and I got my niece and nephews finished in one stop, which was wonderful!  It was kind of fun to try to hide a couple of things from LB while I shopped.  I was able to buy one thing for her and some stocking stuffers for the boys without her knowing it.  She is a very sharp little girl and misses very little, so it was a challenge to distract her, but Mama helped and we got it done.  We finished up with lunch at Chik-fil-a.  The one closest to us has just re-opened after being remodeled.  Let me just say that it was absolutely crazy in there, but we enjoyed it anyway.

LB was in the city Christmas parade with her dance class on Saturday afternoon.  The weather was threatening to get bad, but thankfully the rain held off until after the parade was over.  It was quite cloudy and windy and I had a hard time getting any good pictures.  That kind of makes me sad since LB and her friend H got to carry the banner for their group.  This is one of LB's favorite Christmas activities and she was thrilled to get to carry the banner.  I wish I had a clearer picture of her smiling and waving as she passed us.

JW and me fighting over a Nestle's Crunch bar that was thrown during the parade.
He won, by the way ;-)

Sunday, after church and lunch, LB and I went to Mama's to make fudge for our cookie/candy swap (LB and H decided that it should be renamed the Sweet Swap ... maybe next year) with our Keepers group.  The idea was for each girl to choose a recipe that had some meaning to them and besides sharing the goodies, we would also share the recipe and why they had chosen it.  The recipe for fudge that we used was originally my Granny's recipe for chocolate cake icing.  It was the go to birthday cake for most of us kids growing up and still is a favorite of mine and what JW asked me to make for his birthday last month.  As a side note, my oldest brother and I had a great thing going when we were still at home ... I am not a big cake fan and he's not a big icing fan so we had a deal going where he would give me the icing off of his cake and I'd give him the majority of my cake ... worked out pretty good for both of us.   Mama also modified the recipe to make wonderful fudge, adding crunchy peanut butter (or just peanuts) and marshmallow creme.

LB's completed haul from the Sweet Swap

Added to these activities we had our Christmas fellowship at church following the choir singing on Sunday night.  As usual, we had a wonderful time with our church family.  Our pastor's wife gathered the kids around a table and Ronnie told them the Christmas story.  It looks like they were having fun with it.

I have one final picture to share with you, just a simple reminder of what it is all about.

our day at the fair

Today was our day to work at the MS State Fair in the Operation Christmas Child booth.  I have done this for several years and always enjoy talking to the people as they come through.  The traffic seemed to be a little less this year, possibly because the weather was really pretty (even if it was way too hot to be called "fair weather").  This year was also different because we took the kids with us and four hours is too long to expect them not to get bored.  Still, it wasn't too bad, Ronnie and I just took turns taking the kids around the Trade Mart to look at the various booths and exhibits.


Following our shift in the booth, we took the kids walking around the fair.  I must admit to not being a fan of the fair ... I don't like crowds, I don't like to ride the rides, and I don't like paying hugely inflated prices for greasy food cooked in places of questionable sanitation.  Okay, I know, I'm a party pooper!  The kids wanted to play games or ride something, but we didn't do any of that.  We did watch a circus act perform ... we all enjoyed the family of trapeze artists and the guys on motorcycles inside the great big metal ball were pretty cool in a "man I hope they don't kill themselves" way.

The highlight of the day, at least for LB and me, was getting to see our arts and crafts displayed.  LB couldn't wait to see if she had gotten any blue or red ribbons and was thrilled with the results.  She entered four items in the arts and crafts youth division and received 3 blue ribbons and 1 red ribbon.  I think she was most proud of the blue ribbon on her crocheted scarf.  I only entered two arts and crafts items, a scarf and a decoupaged clipboard.  We both entered jars of tomatoes, pickles, and green beans.  Our tomatoes received blue ribbons, while the others got red ribbons.



hers is the purple scarf hanging behind her



I have to confess that I underestimated how much fun it would be to see all the items displayed with ribbons hanging from them.  I had been satisfied with how much fun LB and I have had making these items, working together with our Keepers at Home group.  But, seeing the results of our hard work and picking out the things we knew had been made by other members of our group, was a perfect way to cap off the fun of making the items.  I am feeling pretty inspired right now to work harder next year to have more items to enter.  I might as well find my own inspiration because my daughter is already chomping at the bit to get busy on things for next year and even JW is thinking that this might not be such a "girlie" thing after all.


  


my scarf

snowmen made by some of our Keepers friends

LB's wreath

my decoupaged clipboard

LB's decoupaged wooden shopping bag ~
she has done a couple of these as birthday gifts for her friends.

LB's woven paper basket ~ we were both surprised that she got a blue ribbon
since she has used the basket a lot since she made it and it looks a little worn.