Off to a Rocky Start...

...but trying to persevere.

I have not blogged in a few weeks.  We enjoyed our holiday break and then got very sick with an awful stomach virus to kick off our New Year.  We missed the first club meeting of the year and had to cancel most of our 4H activities while the virus made its way through our family.  Then the weather was bad last week on top of everything else!  It would be easy to throw in the towel but that is not the 4H way of doing things..."To make the best better" is only part of the 4H motto and pledge...we cannot forget that we also have the four H's...head, heart, HEALTH, and hands!  So we took a rest and stayed hydrated, and started eating healthy foods that helped us get well.

I was especially disappointed about missing our Photography meeitng this month.  I had it set up for Ms. Heather (another 4H mom) to teach the group about photo design.  She showed our small group about composing pictures on Photo Shop and editing photos to create design pages.  She did a wonderful job from the talk of the others who attended.  She was so kind in offering to meet with our boys at a later date when we were all well.  The boys and I look forward to learning from her expertise!

We did have a Food Challenge Meeting last Thursday.  We enjoyed making Orange French Toast after seeing the ingredients and hearing the clue:  "The French use this recipe to moisten day old bread."  Although we enjoyed the fun, we decided there just was not enough time to get together a team for competition in three weeks.  We will try again next year and hope for the best for our other 4H teams.

We have also been going out to the shooting range each weekend.  We are thankful to have Mr. Robert available, but are especially glad to have Michael home to teach the boys what he knows from his military training.  The boys are looking forward to trying out for the shooting team at the end of the month.

WHEP and Robotics have had the most neglect over the last few weeks.  We hope to get started with WHEP tomorrow and Robotics in a couple of weeks.

So, just a small update...I will post again as activities and our health improve.  Hoping that is soon!

Still Life

We met with our 4H Photography group today.  We had a small group of six photographers but it worked well for our small set up on the dining room table at my house!

We talked about keeping early attempts at still life photography to simple compositions.  The main goal is to focus on lighting, angles, and simplicity.  We worked with candles a lot!  I think everyone had a candle shot, except Katie who was determined to get a nice still life with her boots and star.  She also wanted to try to incorporate the theme for this year's 4H photo contest....Texan holidays.  I think she has several nice photos to make a good pick.

We also discussed reflection, which often goes along with still life photography.  I showed the trick of adding water to a large shallow glass dish to place an object to reflect.  We also discussed the dew drop pictures that have an image (flower, face, etc) reflected inside it.  Brooke had done this and showed an awesome picture of a colorful swirl reflected in a dew drop.  We will need to play around with this concept and see if the boys and I can duplicate that effect as well!

The main thing I showed the group was the easy way to set up a still life 'studio' with tri-fold boards purchased at a local craft store (various colors to choose from) and an overhead light.  We used my dining room light but a lamp, flash light or natural lighting can be used as well.  The other thing is to avoid outside light creating shadows or excess light in the picture.  This can ruin a good shot.  We were able to close all the shutters and lights in the other areas so we could focus the light as needed.

I really let the 4Hers take over and play with the concept or composing a shot and determining the needed light.  I could compose photos fro them but I like to see their creativity.  I look forward to seeing what the group has learned and what they bring out in their holiday pictures over the rest of the month.

Not sure what we will do in January but it sounds like a lot of interest in special effects and story boards so we will see what comes of those two ideas.

There are no projects for the remainder of the year..so hard to believe I will not be posting again until January.  I hope I do not get of the routine of posting on the blog in the next month.  See you in 2013 as we will find new ways "to make the best better!"

Night of Giving

Tonight we had our monthly 4H club meeting.  The main part of the business meeting was the norm for our club....project and committee reports with a little new business thrown in.  However, I wanted to focus on three things that occurred tonight that made the meeting a night of giving back to our community.

First, we had an awesome idea thanks to some great thinking on the part of some of the moms.  We wanted to do something different for refreshments this month.  Really in the past years we have not even had a club meeting in December so the issue of what to do for refreshments has never come up.  This year (due to our meeting date changed to earlier in the month) we had a regular meeting.  In the past we exchange our regular club meeting for a community service outreach (Salvation Army bell ringing...Christmas caroling...etc).

I thought we could combine our refreshments with a community outreach project.  We could have an old-fashioned cookie exchange!  However, instead of taking cookies home ourselves, we could give the cookies to a charity organization.  I sent a message out to the other moms who were signed up for refreshments and the idea grew into a full blown Christmas charity for a local women's shelter.  We made contact with the shelter and the director suggested that we gather cleaning supplies and toiletries for the families at the shelter.  It turned out that we had the same number of families in our club that were at the shelter!  It was a perfect match!

In reality, it turned out better than could be imagined.  Our club members were very generous in their donations.  We had enough cookies to fill a nice size tub with an assortment of goodies.  We also filled a basket for each family with various cleaning supplies.  These will be taken to the shelter tomorrow for distribution.  This will also include several special items that club members made or purchased above and beyond the requested items.  And...there are blankets and a quilt that we had set aside from last spring to add to the assortment of gifts.

Then we discussed serving lunch at the VA Clinic.  The last couple of months have difficult for our club to keep this activity going.  I was not sure if our club wanted to continue for the next year.  I could not continue to lead the activity myself (although we want to help), so I gave several options (including stopping the activity altogether).  The main thing that was needed was someone to lead the activity.  After the meeting, I had two moms volunteer to help lead.  I think we will be able to continue to help our local veterans each month.  I am so glad because it means so much to our family to see the veterans served in this small way.  I am looking forward to continuing this effort.

The last thing that I wanted to share from the meeting was our guest speaker.  At the last minute, the planned guest speaker lost his voice and could not attend our meeting.  Kevin (our Vice President) quickly thought of a replacement...his church youth pastor.  A great choice...as he was very comfortable talking to youth and he had a great message (it went right along with what our family had as a focus for our daily Advent devotion!).  He talked about the angels announcing to the shepherds the Good News (Luke 2:8-20).

What I thought was so fitting was the connection he made in this one line of the passage.  In Luke 2:14, we hear the angels say, "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests."  The pastor spoke about this in two parts.  First, Jesus comes to give glory to His Father in heaven.  Second, Jesus comes to give us peace on earth.  It is the two levels of being that are connected because of Jesus.  God in heaven is glorified and men are given peace...the greatest gift we can give to God is glory and the greatest gift He can give to us is peace. God does not need a gift but he is always deserving of glory.  We desperately need peace and can only find it through the sacrifice Jesus offers us by becoming man and dying for our sins.  Jesus bridges he gap between heaven and earth!  Praise be to God!

A great meeting and a wonderful way to lead us into the Christmas season.  I am so glad we were able to share all of these gifts as a 4H club...in all ways we were able to truly share the spirit of 4H to "make the best better!"

Fashion meets Photography!

We had the joy of gathering many of the 4Hers involved in Clothing & Textiles and Photogrphy projects at a local nursing home.

The Clothing & Textile group (Brianna, Laura and ?) set up a nice backdrop with shimmery material and gift-wrapped boxes in a corner of the center.  It was a nice corner that already looked homey with bookshelves and comfortable seating.  There was nice lighting also so it helped the photographers avoid their flash.

Then they helped assure the residents looked their best for the photo.  Sometimes this included removing baseball caps and adding a dress shirt (cut down the sides so it could be slipped over the head) and a suit jacket.  For the women, a nice scarf to add color to an outfit.  Often times the residents had heard we were coming and got dressed up on their own.  (It was nice to know that they remembered us!)

Then our photographers (Aaron, Emily, Sean, Edward, James, Katie, Laura, Henry, and ?) came in for the photographing.  They did such a great job.  It was really great to see them interact with the residents to get them to smile.

We were able to take portrait shots of about 30 residents.  We had the always happy Eddie who could not wait to talk to the 4Hers.  We had Miss Sadie who was 103 years old!  We had two older couples who were still in love after all those years...holding hands and giving a kiss on the cheek....such precious moments.  Then the ones who had no idea what we were doing but smiled at the camera nonetheless.  And my favorite...the mom who invited her children to be in her picture with her!

These are moments to capture that I hope the 4Hers will not forget.  I know I will not soon forget myself.

My only regret...not enough batteries to stay and take even more pictures!  Note to self...charge batteries and bring extras!!!!  We managed to scrounge around and get everyone photographed but it sure would ease the stress if I had done this simple task!

We get together tomorrow to look over all the pictures and make them look nice...then return to give out the photos after Thanksgiving.  So thankful for this group of youth who shared their talents  to "make the best better!"

Another 4H Monthly Meeting

I blog about the every day events of our club each month along with the special events.  Each month I wonder if my blog is really that interesting to anyone else.  I really started this blog to help my husband stay involved with our 4H events.  I never imagined anyone else would read my ramblings.  Every once in a while I send a link to the blog because I cannot help but be proud of all the things the boys and I do with 4H.  It is such a joy to be involved with such a great youth organization.  So, even though it seems odd to write about the ordinary workings of our club, I enjoy sending these posts out for anyone who cares to read them.  Maybe in doing this others will be inspired by the youth of our club.

So, tonight we gathered for our monthly meeting.  We began with our pledges and then Katy introduced our guest speaker, Dr Guy.  He is a local dentist but he actually came to us to speak about building character traits.  He presented a wonderful talk about how important it is to have good character traits.  He even told us he meets with his staff to discuss these traits using a program called Character First.  He then focused on the character trait 'wisdom.'  It was nice to have his reflection on this for the youth and adults in our club.  Thank you so much for joining us for the evening.  He is one of the few speakers who actually stayed for the remainder of the meeting and spoke with our youth after the meeting as well.

We then had a short business meeting.  Katy read a poem (Be Thankful) which went nicely with Dr Guy's talk.  Then we had another interesting roll call...each member gave a word that related to Thanksgiving to announce their presence at the meeting...followed by the minutes of the last meeting read.  Sean was able to give his treasurer report with little difficulty (YAY!) and then project reports were given.

The main project announcements were:

Wildlife-I announced our results from the contests and let everyone know we had completed the project for the year.

Robotics-Sean told the group that we were taking a break from Robotics until January.  He then announced the parent meeting that would take place after our general meeting tonight.

Photography-Henry announced the project we have for the nursing home to take portraits of the residents for Christmas.

Forestry-Joseph announced the continued effort to meet at the park for Forestry on Fridays. (Hopefully we will actually get to a meeting this week!)

Food & Nutrition-James announced the results from the county Food Show.  Congrats to all those who participated.

It was nice not to have a lot of business to discuss and we were able to quickly end our meeting. This was followed by refreshments.  The table was nicely decorated for Veteran's Day, which included a picture of a past 4H member who is now serving in the Marines (I hope I have that right!).

Then the 4Hers played 7-up...I had not seen that game played in years!  So glad my boys were given the opportunity to play!

We then had a Robotics meeting...It looks like we have some more details worked out to gain funds to buy Lego Robotics kits.  We hope to start back in January with kits to teach the different age groups.  We have a parent for each group who will lead.  The goal is to have a kit for each group.

Regional Wildlife Contest

Another early morning so we could head into the woods for a Wildlife contest.  This time the regional contest was just right around the corner!  Since we actually prepared our supplies and clothes the night before, we were out the door without any hiccups!  In fact, I was in such a good mood (since I was not stressed out with last minute prep), I felt like singing!  SO...I did!  We sang out the animal plant preferences as we drove down the road!  I am not sure if it helped the boys but it was a fun way to relieve some of that pre-contest jitters!

We also arrived early enough to read a little more of that incredibly dry reading material...better known as the Hunter's Guide!  We covered a little of the fishing regulations.  The boys were so thankful to see their friends arrive.  They did not hesitate to jump out of the car to greet their team members!  So much for a captive audience!

We made our way through the normal registration paperwork and the contest began by 9:30am.  Thankfully, Zaira slept through most of the morning, so I was able to join some of the other coaches to judge the contest fairness.  This is a great opportunity to not only see the contest during the actual event BUT also speaking with the coaches and listen to their tips on learning the information.  Brendan chose to join me (probably because we were going into a warm building...it was a little chilly at the first part of the morning!) and he behaved as we went through the contest questions.  It is amazing how he knew when we had completed our run through the questions...he immediately began asking to leave!  That is OK...Zaira was starting to wake up also so it worked out well.

We found the rest of the parents and found an extra chair so I could take care of Zaira's needs.  Brendan found the other younger boys and played with his toys.  I ended up sitting with two 4H moms from another county.  It was a nice way to spend the time as we waited for the participants to return.

Then the coaches and parents who wanted to see the contest had a chance to walked through.  I always enjoy going through the contest with others because we can discuss the more difficult questions.  This time we had Christi and Wanda, along Joseph who could not wait to see the correct answers!  For the most part, we all decided the contest was a good representation of what we had learned this year...except the dreaded technique station!  We found badger skulls...bear jaw bones...scat...and gopher traps!  The way I look at it we have some new areas to work on for next year!  You just never know what we will find in this section of the contest.

We then enjoyed another waiting period with talk of various topics over our lunches.  Around 2pm, we learned that we did not place for one of the top two spots.  We took some pictures of our teams and then headed our separate ways.  We left knowing that we could check out our scores on line.

So, I just pulled up the scores and I was so proud to see that we placed 3rd and 5th place!  We were right up there with the other top teams.  As individuals, our 4Hers placed in the top 20 participants.   I am so proud of them for all their hard work! We won't be going on to state but we improved so much this year and we have many more years of contests for this young group of 4Hers!  It still amazes me to see the young ones (9-13 year olds) competing with the high schoolers!  Great job!

Sizing Up the Rifles

Just a short blog post to say that the boys got to be sized for the rifles they will use for the next few months.  I was surprised at how quickly the boys were able to use the rifles.  They have all used a rifle at different events over the last few years, but it was in a very controlled situation with someone right beside them to assist.

Today, each of them were given a rifle and asked to lie in a prone position.  The instructors set them up in a sling to hold the rifle while they shot.  Then the boys were expected to load their own rifle (I did not even know they knew how to do that!) and shoot at the targets down range.

I will not say they are marksman just yet, but they shot well for their first time.  The boys were just excited that they were able to hit the target!

Now that the instructors know the rifles they will need, they will set up a practice schedule.  We will not officially begin for a couple of weeks.

So, it looks like we have a new project to keep us busy.  I am glad the boys have this opportunity...I would not be able to do this on my own.  They need to try this even if it is only for a year.  We will see if it is the right project for them as the weeks go on.