Head, Heart, Hands & Health

Head, heart, hands, and health.  4 words that molded me while I grew up.  I grew up on a small 15 acre farm where I was able to live every little girls’ dream and “have a pony”.  My parents didn’t have any horse knowledge, so prior to buying a horse I joined a 4-H club to learn about horses. 
4-H is an organization for kids 19 years and younger to exhibit crafts, projects, crops or animals. The 4-H pledge states, “ I pledge my head to clearer thinking, my heart to greater loyalty, my hands to larger service and my health to better living, for my club, my community, my country and my world.”  What a great pledge for young people to strive toward!   4-H is such a wonderful learning and fellowship opportunity and I would encourage any child to be involved.

My first pony taught me so much.  Cherokee was her name and stubbornness was her game!  She really tested my riding skills and patience, but looking back I am thankful that I had such a challenging pony to develop my horsemanship skills.   I learned through 4-H to show and take care of my horse.  Growing up taking care of the horses helped develop a strong work ethic; rain or shine they had to be cared for.  Had it not been for 4-H and help from wonderful 4-H leaders I never would have never experienced all of that.   I still have 2 horses, but don’t do any showing anymore.  Mostly just “pasture pets”, but occasionally I do find time to ride and enjoy them.

My husband and brother in law were also active in 4-H.  They showed beef cattle at the same fair as I showed my horse, but we never met at fair!  Being a small town fair we probably walked right past each other but didn’t meet until long after we were done with our 4-H years.  Brad also grew crops to be exhibited.

4-H not only offers exhibition of animals and crops but also many craftsmanship projects.  My younger sister, Erin, and I both enjoyed ceramics, electrical projects, gift wrapping, baking, photography, writing short stories, and leather craft.  Had it not been for 4-H we may have never experienced creating some of these things.  While in 4-H my sister explored knitting and sewing.  Erin is extremely talented at both of these arts and enjoys making things for Claire.   Erin sewed Claire an adorable monkey back pack for Christmas!                                            Claire is so lucky to have a talented Auntie who spoils her!
 

Although our projects were always fun and exciting 4-H also allowed us to meet many great people!  I cannot wait for Claire to be old enough to participate in 4-H.  Of course I want her to follow in my footsteps and show horses.  But she has already expressed other feelings.  She is obsessed with cattle!  “Moo” was one of her first words; she yells it all the time as we drive past cattle.  My brother in law, Justin, breeds and sells Shorthorn cattle, so he is thrilled that Claire has already made her decision to be a beef cattle girl.  He can’t wait to have his niece show.

 

There has been discussion about cutting funding for the 4-H programs or possibly getting rid of it at county fairs!  The reason being that the 4-H animals don’t generate much revenue for fairs and as generations get farther away from agriculture 4-H is becoming less and less popular.  Losing the 4-H program with so much opportunity for kids to learn about the project they are exhibiting, develop a work ethic, and make lifelong friends would be tragic!  So if you have young kids I recommend checking out the 4-H program- there really is something for any child’s interest! Check out their website for more information: www.4-h.org.

Claire enjoys animals so much that I decided to have her 1^st Birthday have a farm animal theme.  I found a website that had cute coordinating invites, plates, napkins, balloons and thank you cards.  We had the immediate family over for Claire’s birthday and really had a fun time with her!  I found a creative link on Pinterest of a cake and cupcakes someone decorated as a barn and animals and decided to put my own twist on it.  So we had a barn, chicks, pigs, and sheep.  Here’s how I did it:

*The barn I made out of a cake baked in a 9X13 pan; just by cutting two corners off you can create a barn peak.  Graham crackers for the barn shingles and shutters on the window and doors.  I drug a toothpick through the frosting for a barn wood look.  Then piped on a white outline.

* The chicks were frosted, and then covered with coconut colored with food coloring.  The eyes were mini chocolate chips.  The beak was a marshmallow cut in a triangle and colored with food coloring.

* The pigs were frosted.  A thick frosting snout was piped on, along with the floppy ears.  Eyes and nostrils were mini chocolate chips.

* The sheep were frosted and had mini marshmallow wool.  A thick frosting face was piped into center.  Eyes were minis chocolate chips.  Nose was pink round candy.

* Grass around the barn was coconut colored with food coloring.

The cake and cupcakes were pretty simple and the finished product was very fun and cute!  Give it a try sometime!