Touring the Museum

We were asked to help guide a tour through the Forestry Museum today.  We enjoyed the expereince taking 80 young children through the museum history of  a sawmill town.  I was thankful that Amanda was with us because it has been a while and I worried that I would not remember enough about the artifacts.  However, Amanda picked right back up as if she had been here yesterday!  She took two of the groups through and then Sean and I took the next two groups.  It worked out well.  The young students enjoyed hearing about the Old Manning Sawmill and listened well for such youngsters.  Edward and Brendan also helped by holding doors for groups as they came in and out or the building.


Here are a few of the different areas we discussed:

Amanda with the Blacksmith tools

Amanda showing the replica of Old Manning town

Sean turning on the generator

Sean showing the statue carved from two pieces of wood

Sean welcoming the group into the sawmill town

Sean showing the group the importance of the resin

After the tours were over for the day, we agreed to come back on Wednesday for another round of 60 children.  So glad we can give back to this great museum.

We also had a food experience that I thought I should share.  The boys immediately recognized our trip to Tokyo House (a hibachi grill) as a Food & Nutrition experience.  We talked with the chef as he prepared our food and used chopsticks to eat the delicious meal.  A great time was had by all!

Such an awesome way to spend out morning that ran into the afternoon.  We then drove back to Houston to send Amanda back to New York.  I am glad we were able to spend a little time with our 4H girl who has such confidence to see the world.  I think that 4H had a lot to do with that strength.  I pray that she continues to show the world how to 'make the best better.'

High School Graduation for our Favorite 4Hers!

What an awesome way to spend the day!  We watched some of our favorite 4Hers walk across that graduation stage into the next phase of their lives.  As they move on, our 4H program will be left with a few holes next year.  Of course this was a bitter sweet moment for those of us who will continue with the program.  But, as is life, we must go on and these moments must happen as we watch them use what they learned and take it to a new and exciting future!

Our homeschool graduates from the county came together for this ceremony.  We had thirteen graduates this year.  Of those, four of the them were active members in 4H this year!  Three others were involved at sometime in their school years.  They really showed how they have learned to "make the best better" for themselves and those around them.

We had a surprise for the graduates also, as Amanda was able to come home for the first time since her graduation two years ago.  She snuck in and made her entrance just before graduation.  She was thrilled to see her 4H friends and share in this memory.  It was hard to take her away as we headed to other obligations.  This is just one more way that we can show that 4H creates those amazing bonds of friendship that are worth so much to all involved.  These friendships last a life time.  Many memories are shared and cherished.

I am so proud of all of the graduates, but as you know these 4H graduates hold a special place in my heart.  I look forward to hearing about their futures.  May God bless them all in their future endeavors.  I know that whatever path they take, they will succeed in their lives.  As Justin said, "4H 'til the end!"  For me that means they have learned to "be their best and let God do the rest" just as our guest speaker, Dustin Ellerman, told them today.

Quilt Top is Tops!

Yesterday we enjoyed a full day of quilting...only had to redo a few spots!  We completed the job around 10pm last night.  A far cry from being done as we need to begin work on actually quilting!  However, we are well on our way to the finish line.  And, let me tell you, it looks awesome!   I cannot wait to see the finished product.  We will begin this process next week.  I will wait to post after its completion so look for this news in the next 2-3 weeks, as we will need to turn it in by June 11th.

Here are a few of the shots from the day...even the little tag-along 4Her joined us in the sewing!

Working to make the best better by making this bright cheerful quilt for a little one at the women's shelter after contest in June.

How to Raise a Queen...

Bee, that is!  Tonight,the boys and I were able to attend the monthly Beekeepers Association meeting.  We learned about how to raise queen bees in shallow boxes.  Mr. Floyd showed us the method he uses.  It was a long talk but very interesting.  I love that he and his brother are willing to experiment with their hives and processes in order to be the most efficient.

I am not sure if we will ever get to the point when we will harvest queen cells.  However, the process is fascinating.  The basic steps:

• Create special queen raising shallow box with entrances on all four sides.
• Box will be divided into four sections with dividers with each section allowing two frames.
• Pull brood frame (possibly with honey) along with honey frame (or empty if brood has honey) for each section.
• Place frames with brood closest to the entrance.
• Wait 13-14 days to see if queen cells have emerged
• Harvest any queen cells in drilled out Styrofoam or pre-made cages designed for queen harvesting
• Place cages in hive to continue development
• Place one queen cell in each section of divided shallow.  
• Wait 18-21 days to see if queen cell was successful. 
• Remove three of the sections to empty boxes adding frames to fill all box as needed (assuming all sections are successful)
• Not only have you raised queen cells, but also split box for raising queen cells into four new boxes!

There are a lot of steps (hopefully I got them right!) and lots of room for error.  Mr. Floyd said he has not always been successful.  Weather, condition of bees, laying workers, and more! can cause the success rate to lower.

This meeting was very helpful to understand the process.  Mr Floyd did a great job of explaining in details with funny side stories and flare.  He did not even scare off the newer beekeepers (like us!).  The boys did get a little restless by the end but they enjoyed seeing the queen cells and equipment needed for the process.

Very thankful for our beekeeper association and more Mr. Floyd tonight for teaching us a little more about our bees.  They help us to "make the best better" with our bee hives!

Leading WHEP on to the Hot Desert

  

Today we met for our first WHEP project in the new region.  We have to switch gears and learn about the wildlife in the hot desert region.  It is like the complete opposite from our region of luscious pines and annual precipitation of 40-60 inches.

The Hot Desert region is flat with some rolling hills.  Almost no trees and only 2-24 inches of rain.  For the most part we have the same tools for habitat management plan but they all have a twist.  However, the biggest change is the animals.

Crissal Thrasher

We will have 2 fish (bluegill and largemouth bass), 8 birds (American Kestrel, Black-throated Sparrow, Mallard, Ladderbacked Woodpecker, White-winged Dove, Red-tailed Hawk, Gambel's Quail and Crissal Thrasher) and 7 mammals (Black-tailed Prairie Dog, Bobcat, Coyote, Desert Cottontail, Mule Deer, Raccoon and Pronghorn).  I found a great link on our state park website.  This site does not have all of the animals on our list but good start to learn about the animals.

Fortunately, we were able to take what we learned in the last contest and relate this information to these new animals.  UNfortunately, we only have three more practices before we head to contests in June.  So, a short turn around but I think we can do it.

Black-tailed Prairie Dog

Today we had four families come to practice.  I was so glad to see that we had Katy, Sean, Henry, Caitlin, Naomi, Zach and Taylor at the practice.  We have a young team which means lots of opportunity for growth.  Katy has really shown a lot of leadership since beginning this project.  I really enjoy seeing this growth and maturity as she helps the others to understand the concepts.

Pronghorn

My only really concern is my lack of knowledge on the topic (very surface level!).  I know that learning about the animals and techniques needs to be more enjoyable.  I fear that my rote memory of facts is boring them to walk out the doors.  After all, this should be an outdoor experience!  However, with such little knowledge about the material and such a short time to learn, it is becoming a challenge for me.  I will need to work up some interesting challenges for the next time we meet.


Hoping to come back next week with a better plan!  So thankful the 4Hers are patient with me as we learn together!

Beyond 4H to Make the Best Better

I have blogged a lot over the last nine months about the activities that we do with 4H.  Today I want to share how 4H also encourages to participate in activities outside of 4H, especially when it comes to serving others.

One activity for our family is a Wednesday night spaghetti dinner.  We started this service opportunity last fall after attending the dinner for ourselves.  This activity began with the Knights of Columbus (a men's service group).  The real intent of the dinner is to get college students together and share a meal after church.  We saw a way we could help and never looked back.

That first night, I just volunteered to make a salad.  We also cleaned up after the dinner was over.  We eventually became more involved in the preparation and just loved being able to share with the college students.  They encourage the boys to do well in school as well.  It became a mutual relationship.

Sometimes we would make a cake for dessert.  For a little variety we might make Lasagna or Chicken Alfredo to go along with the spaghetti.  About two months ago, I learned how much they were spending each week to  serve the red sauce and volunteered to make our family recipe.  The boys and I now make the red sauce every week and bring it to the student center.

This last Wednesday was the last of the semester.  We get a break for the summer.  We hope to start again next fall.  I took a few pictures to show the fun we have cooking and eating with the group!

And to completely change the subject....a couple of weeks ago I mentioned our attempt to keep a Luna Moth cocoon.  I promised if we were successful, then we would post our Luna Moth launch.  Well, we were pleasantly surprised this afternoon to the sound of scratching in our paper sack!  We opened it to find a beautiful moth eagerly awaiting its chance to fly.

The moth had been active a little bit each night inside its cocoon.  I really thought it would come out at night...so imagine my surprise when...not only did I hear it this afternoon, but then opened the sack to see it staring at me!  LOL...it was as if it was saying...I have been waiting for you...what took you so long!  It was quite active and stayed with us for a long time.

It crawled out of the sack and on to Henry's arm.  It then proceeded up to his ear!  I carefully took the moth out to our porch and let it continue its efforts to dry out.  It eventually flew away!  We were so happy to finally have the opportunity to see this process to the end.  The most amazing part was seeing the small hole from the cocoon that the moth crawled from to escape.  Truly amazing!

Quilting at the French Knot

A group of us (Sean, Treyton, Katy, Henry, Edward, and Caleb...Brianna will join us to make the quilt as well) met at The French Knot for a quilting workshop.  Miss Lyric was so generous to invite us in and help us learn the basics of quilting.  Now, for those of you who know we made a quilt last year, you might be wondering why we need to learn the basics of quilting since we have already made a quilt.  Let me tell you...we had no clue of what we were doing last year.  I can only say that somehow we managed to get a few squares sewn together last year and make a nice quilt to give to the women's shelter.  I am sure you have heard the phrase, "On a wing and a prayer."  Well, our motto last year should have been: "On a stitch and a prayer!"  And, maybe it will be this year also, but we learned so much this morning.  I am so excited to have had this opportunity for the 4Hers and I know the moms were happy too!

The first step Miss Lyric taught us will show you how basic we had to go.  She began her lesson by telling us to always iron out all the creases from the material to be used in the quilt pieces.  That seems simple enough but it really did make a difference when cutting those pieces!

Then we took a little time to discuss our quilt design and the pieces we would need for the quilt.  We read through the quilt pattern directions and decided how many blocks we would need to make the quilt.

Before making our first cut, Miss Lyric spoke about the importance of bias and determining which direction to cut the material.  She also talked about cutting off the salvage.  Then she told us about the tools of the trade.  It is hard to believe how much easier it is to cut straight lines with a rotary blade!  Our first cuts were to square the material to avoid awkward, slanted lines.  This affects the way the pieces are sewn together and the accuracy of all the dimensions of the blocks.

After much (important) ado, the 4Hers were finally able to cut their first pieces for the quilt.  If you recall, our pattern for this quilt is the Bug Jar.  We began by cutting out the jars with our theme material.  Then we cut out the lids and side pieces.  We decided to have nine quilt blocks.  It would seem this would only take a few minutes and we could move on to sewing pieces together.  We really are such naive quilters...LOL!  We began our lesson at 10am and we were still cutting at noon.  We found out the hardest part of quilting is cutting out those pieces!

We did plug along and take turns with the job of cutting.  We even had time to have Miss Lyric teach us how to machine sew together our first block.  We decided the best way to complete the quilt would be to give each 4Her the pieces to complete their own block.  We would then come together to sew the sashing around the blocks to fit them together and complete our quilt top.  Hopefully we can do this in the next week.

I will continue to share our quilting adventure with you.  We need to complete the quilt by June 11 to take it to State Round Up, so we have a lot of work ahead of us.

I wanted to thank Myra for kindly watching over Brendan while we were sewing.  They enjoyed passing the time this morning with coloring books and comic books.  We would have had a wild morning if Brendan had decided he needed to help.  I am also thankful for Brenda and Lynda for watching all the steps...be assured I will be calling on you if I forget what to do to make these pieces of material into blocks!  And, thanks to Josh who helped by taking pictures of everyone throughout the morning.  It was great to see a former 4Her come to a workshop.  Finally, a very big thank you to Miss Lyric for her patience with us.  We cannot wait to show you our finished product, but do not be surprised if we call you to ask for help along the way!