Day two of the Fair!

Today the "big" part of the Fair was the Jr. Livestock Auction. This is the "best" part for us parents - haha - as we get to see how much "our child" earns from the 4H Market animal.... This year, Little J chose to auction off Speedy. Since Speedy was not one of the "top" pigs, they go in order of how they placed in the show ring... yep - he was on page 3 of 4!! haha! Little J really didn't care which pig he auctioned, but chose Speedy because he knew that Twister would be tastier for him to eat!! We were surprised that the person who bought his pig this year was the same as the one who bought it last year! Nice! AND he got $3.50 a pound!! Cool beans! He can now pay his good ole Mom back some of the costs AND have some college money to put away!

Day one of THE FAIR!

Today was DAY ONE of the Fair! Little J will be showing in Market classes today. Market class is where the judge is looking at the conformation, build, condition and market "value" of the animal. For pigs - they must weigh between 230 and 300 pounds to qualify for the Market class. Speedy weighed in at 230 (JUST BARELY) and Twister came in at a respectable 250. For goats, the judge looks at the same things and the minimum weight is 70 pounds. Lady Baabaa weighed in at 84lbs.. one of the smallest goats, but she is also the prettiest (in my opinion!)

Little J showing Speedy in the 230lb Market class. The judge was REALLY tough! Most of the class got Red ribbons :( But it was ok because he told the kids that these pigs were just not "market" ready - which is true because they were light weights. Speedy did a nice job, as did Little J.

Poor Mrs Hall!! She was thrown all out of her element the first day! She did, however figure out that because of her small size, she can stand in the feeder to see out!

Little J is showing Twister. Twister showed really well... thankfully, we have never had a pig that has been a fighter, or super agressive in the ring! Twister got a blue ribbon (for which Little J was really happy!)

Ahhhhh - the Market Goat class! This was Little J's very first time showing goats. He was very very nervous. Fortunately, Lady Baabaa behaved and he did ok. She qualified for the top 15. She came in 11th overall and was the only female in the class. Typically, they use males (wethers) because the bulk up faster.

Little J did an educational display and got a blue on that... so a pretty good day overall!

Piggie Weigh In

All three pigs got to go in for the official first weigh in and get some fancy tags - aka bling! The piggies weighed: Twister 89 lbs Speedy 83 lbs Cookie 85 lbs Looks like we are going to need to push these piggies with lots of food this year to make weight by fair!!

The piggies have arrived!

Well... from one thing to another! The boys picked out their piggies! We are having them do three instead of four this year, since they are also doing goats! Big Al has the two pigs, names Cookie and Speedy. Little J named his Twister. The goats have been a fun change! They are trying to figure out the pigs!

Fair 2011 - Piggies

Little J showing Chopper in the Show Ring


Little J and Shiloh in the Show Ring



The Fair seems to come sooner and sooner every year! We are never quite ready for it to get here and then always really really ready for it to be over - haha!

This was a tough year, since Little J was going to be doing the Fair all by himself, since Big Al is in Montana.

Little J's two pigs were primped and pampered and feed really well.. washed, clipped, wormed, scrubbed and exercised... more than ready! Shiloh walked into weigh in sporting a healthy 268 pounds. Chopper, sadly had pushed the weight limit of 300 pounds at 304... which is fine because we knew that one of them would be freezer filler :)

Little J and his piggies took Blue Ribbons in all his classes. He was pretty proud of himself and enjoyed Fair (for the most part)!

Sunday Obstacle Course!

Yes, believe it or not.... they have a pig obstacle course! The kids run the pigs through the course - top three fastest times win prizes! Big Al did awesome - a minute four seconds! Technically, he belives he won because he did not use any treats or food to push the pig through! So I guess skill wise - he is right! Little J went through as well... his pig did not cooperate!! He tried, but didn't do as well as he wanted, but he handled it ok! Great job Big Al!

Fitting and Showing day

The morning was off to an early start with cleaning out the pig barn - (what fun!) and then getting all the boys and pigs super clean and trim for Fitting and Showing Class!
Both boys earned blue ribbons. Big Al was called back for the finals and ended up in 7th overall! I think he was a bit disappointed since he won Grand Champion last year, but he had a different judge this year! Little J did fine - he walked around the ring with his head down most the time- and the judge noted it! haha! A good showing day overall! The big stuff is thankfully over! whew!!

The Sale!

Apparently, I took no pictures at the Livestock Sale! Oh well!

I was excited that the boys each got $3 and 3.50 a pound for the porkers though!!

Market Hog classes!

A good day overall! The boys showed their piggies in the Market Hog and Feeder Hog classes this morning... all pigs (and boys) got blue ribbons! We decided that they would sell Chimichanga and Nacho Libre in the sale tomorrow. Looks like we will be eating Speckles! Trying to find a buyer for Princess at this point - I don't need that much pork in the freezer!

Piggies!

It has taken me a few weeks to even GET a few pictures of the new piggies! Big Al and Little J picked them out last week! They ended up getting one Yorkshire (all white), one Yorkshire cross (white with black markings) and two Duroc piggies (the brown ones!) They sure are cute little guys!



Hard to get a picture when all they like to do is put their head down and eat!


Big Al's piggie: Nacho Libre

One proud Mama

I took this really bad video of Big Al winning his Fitting and Showing class.... the last 30 seconds are mostly bouncing around and ceiling, as I was jumping and cheering for him!
What happened in the beginning was his pig somehow left the ring with another pig.. since the judge was giving out his ribbons (this was the Championship class) - they waited until Charlotte was brought back into the ring... poor piggie - I think that she had had enough!!

The Fair - part 2

The gruesome threesome had a fun time on rides! The boys were actually more than happy to take their little sis on the "baby rides"... I wonder for how much longer!

My champion boys! Though it is Big Al's trophy - they both deserved one for working together - even though the hubby and I had to do a lot of pushing to get them to do things!

Both boys posing with Bill... Charlotte decided to sleep this one out!

Charlotte managed to get up for a picture with her ribbons and trophy!

Little J and his pig Oreo.... he was really broken up when he had to leave her at the end of Fair... I was too! She had a ton of sweet personality!

Little J and his ribbons with Sunshine! He sold Sunshine at the Auction for $4 a pound! Not too shabby!

Sunshine got to wear Miss O's crown... too cute!

Big Al and his buddy Chance! This was Chance's first year showing and he took Reserve Champion in his class... he and Big Al have been friends since Kindergarten!

The Fair - 2009 Part One

The Fair came later for us this year - the first full week in September! Both boys have been so busy getting their pigs ready for the big day(s)! There has been alot of yelling, crying and frustration this year trying to keep boys motivated to the end - and to try and get the piggies to make weight! All pain a side - here are some of the highlights!

This year I refused to pay for any games at the Fair. I gave the boys opportunities to do extra chores to earn their own money for the Fair... that way I knew that I got more than a 5 cent toy busted in the first 5 minutes out of the deal! The boys still have not learned that when playing games - don't play each other - because someone has to lose!

Miss O won a crown! She actually wore it alot of the fair - and she just loves it!

Miss O got the opportunity early one morning to actually milk a goat! One squirt and she was done!

Papa entered (well, technically, "I" entered it for him!) tomatoes in the Fair this year - so he could get the cheap exhibitors pass... my - I mean HIS tomatoes got a blue ribbon!

Here is sweet miss Oreo... she did alot of trying to crawl out of her pen.. or as I liked to say - she was doing her "upward pig" yoga stretches!

Here is Little J coming out of his first class! He got a blue ribbon! He did really well for his first fair!

Big Al was all smiles as usual - showing off Bill! All blue ribbons for him too!

Little J was happy to get a Blue Ribbon!

Little J showing Sunshine in the Market Hog class

Bill and Charlotte did alot of sleeping during the fair!!!

So did neighbors, Oreo and Sunshine!

Miss O has to enjoy some corn on the cob... minutes later she was swarmed by one pesky hornet that caused her to hurl the corn down the sidewalk, while screeching... classic fair moment!

The last week in pictures (and comments!)

The last week or so has been fairly uneventful! We have been busy enjoying summer and then cursing the wind when it ruins things! haha!

The photos are sort of backward... so here goes! Above is the boys releasing some of the "mystery" fish that they caught at one of the lakes we went to. They released them into our pond.. probably not the "best" place for the fish... but who knows!

Little J is the "master".... he just Looooooves fishing! He caught four fish on this trip... we were only there an hour - but apparently he had the touch - yet again!

Big Al finally caught his first fish about 15 minutes prior to leaving... Little J let him borrow his "lucky" pole! Big Al ended up catching another fish shortly after this one!

Big Al and Little J had to do all the work! The hubby and I keep procrastinating on getting our fishing licenses! So the boys had to be pretty self sufficient (like usual) with the fishing... AND helping their little sister! Miss O caught one fish - loved it and then was done! She is a fair weather fisher-woman! I don't blame her - I get bored pretty easily too!

Both boys have been busy working with their piggies daily! They have to practice walking them and also getting the pigs used to bathing.. which is almost comical! This weekend the piggies will be weighed, informally, to see if they are on track for the fair.. keep your fingers crossed!

Little j just loves to read! He could be riding his boke, or scooter or motorcycle on this glorious day - but no - he's sitting down with a good book!

Miss O has been a busy little beaver! Here she is drawing with sidewalk chalk! Her constant buddy, Phebe is "helping"! Phebe likes to take the chalk and eat it! Yuck! Miss O also likes to play "birthday" with Phebe... trying to get her to hang out with her in the back yard and have a little party where she sings to Phebe... its really cute!

The hubby and I went away for a night to Cave B winery and Inn... it was reeeeallly nice! I don't drink wine - but the food and the scenery was amazing... and it was sooooooo quiet! It was a nice 18 hour escape that we really needed!

This was the view from our room. Our room was actually built into the hillside and resembled a cave - it was super cool!

Hope everyone else is having a great summer!

Introducing.......

And the drumroll please.......

Welcome to the boys new pigs!

Bill and Charlotte - Big Al's new piglets!
Oreo and Sunshine - Little J's new piglets!