They call the thing Rodeo

"It's the bulls and the blood. It's dust & mud.  . . .  And they call the thing rodeo."  You know that Garth Brooks song. "Rodeo". If not go listen to it. Up until now the thing they call rodeo was something that every year or so we would go watch at the local county fair. 

 That was until my brother-in-law talked to my husband & told him about a Jr. Rodeo Association in our area & how he thought our boys would love it & maybe we should look into it. 

And so he did.

And then we looked into it.

We have been debating for a long time what we could have our boys do, that wouldn't take a ton of time away from the family & chores.  You see I live in a small town & we have a great athletics program for kids around here. HOWEVER, even for the 5 year olds  have games twice a week & practice twice a week & some groups practice every day. I am sorry, but for me I feel like that is a little ridiculous to be taking your 5 year old to sports practice everyday in the week. It's at least too much for this family. I know others think it is great & if that is you. Good for you, but for us. That isn't what we want. Since rodeo is primarily individual sport, my boys could practice in the front yard if they wanted. That was an appeal.  

Then we asked my boys what they thought.

Then my hubby found out that only the #1 spot in each event actually got a belt buckle & 2nd & 3rd a gift certificate. There were no trophies for just participating or taking a up space in the arena. 

Then we joined. 

And so for the last few weekends over the last 2 months we have spent our Saturday watching our boys Rodeo. Now we know nothing about rodeo, but we have been trying to learn as much as we can as quickly as we can. And we have loved it.

My oldest son has been participating in Chute Dogging & Steer Riding. 

  Chute dogging is they start the boys ages 9-12 in the chute with the steer, open the gate. Once it passes a line 10 feet out there goal to to turn the steer so it down. It's quite the challenge for these boys.

                                                   Then of course there is steer riding . . .

         There is definitely a technique to staying on.We have eaten a lot of dirt this season, but we are definitely getting better. They are required to stay on the full 8 seconds.

                      My 2nd boys "the monkey" participated in Goat Tying & Calf Riding. 

       The last rodeo we went to, he finally rode the calf his entire 8 seconds & received a score. He was so proud of himself & it was so fun to watch.

 
When we started goat tying (this is an 0-8 year old category) We didn't even know how to tie a goat.

 By the last rodeo he had made a time. It has to be under 30 seconds in order to received a time.

                            

                               My little dude also participated in calf riding & goat tying as well.  

           

   Once the goat it tied, you have to wait 6 second to make sure it holds. This little boy finally got his first time at our last rodeo. He has been working hard to finally get it!
.

 Then of course the calf riding. For being the youngest in this event, he always got some of the biggest calves.

 

He came so close so many times of lasting the whole 8 seconds, but he never quite made it there. 

                      "Red" (my new baby) was usually quite good the whole time of the rodeos & this little mischief

  Well this mischief  LOVES to watch. He loves the animals & is constantly yelling & waving his arms at them trying to "herd" them back to the corrals.

 He spends the whole rodeo just like this: leaning against the bleacher in front of him. watching intently & occasionally I can get him to peel his eyes away & smile for the camera.

Overall our rodeo experience this summer has been great. The 5 rodeos we participated in were so fun to watch & the boys made some good friends. They had some great mentors helping teach them, since their mom & dad are still learning as well. The boys favorite part was one of the older boys, a bull rider, who helped them & coached them every rodeo. I loved to watch how even though they were all competing against each other there were plenty of pat on the backs & coaching along the way.

This is the bull rider the boys have become friends with. 

I must admit. I love watching the bulls, but I know that these boys are only 13-16 on these bulls & it honestly makes my heart stop every time one of them gets on & rides, and I am not even their mother. I can only imagine what is going to happen as my boys grow up & want to hop on & ride bulls. 

Until then we will savor every moment we can with what we are doing. They are already asking about next year & what events they can do. They are counting down days until we can find some calves & practice in our own yard. So we are learning & will continue to learn & practice & watch events. And keep working at this new sport. because there is something rather addicting about this thing they call rodeo. 

Life

I have been MIA for months. Literally months. I didn't mean for it to happen.  I was trying to have LESS time on the internet  &  it happened. Then things just snuck in & time slowly crept by. For those that are still checking out this little blog, I thank you. Here is a quick glance at what I have been up to.

As usual life has been kept busy with these ladies. More for my husband, than for I. Shearing came & went.

All the sheep were moved off the fields & back into the lambing sheds.

And then lambing began. The first lamb dropped on the ground Jan 1st. 3 weeks earlier than we planned.  We are down to our last few waiting to lamb, but it has been a long 3 months. My poor husband just keeps going & going, but I don't know after 90 plus days. He is superman.

I have been trying to get a few minutes in of sewing here & there as I can. And to have LESS unfinished projects lying around my home.

We discovered the boy number 5 will still be in blue. This has been the main reason for my absence. I only have 8 or so weeks left, but am lucky to enjoy morning sickness for the entire 10 months. So with everyday feeling awful. or at least throwing up in the morning, things don't always happen as I would like.

We have tried home school experiments that haven't worked & some that have. If anyone discovered the secret to building your own hot air balloon, please let me know. We have tried multiple you tube videos & tutorials all of wish never even get off the ground.

 So I am hoping to get back on here, once or twice a week again, but no absolute promises yet. At least not for 8 more weeks. I will try, but for now we  have been just spending our days trying to get by & make the most of what we have. Trying to enjoy more of the simple things: like watching a boy & his dog. 

Lessons & Learning About Airplanes

We recently returned from a 3 day field trip to visit my sister & to see some of the local attractions.  This is a trip that by boys look forward to all year long. We usually try to go once a year specifically to visit her. The boys usually make a list before we go of where they want to go. The Air Force Museum is always on the list.

We start by getting our group shot in the beginning  Then as much as I try to stop them; my kids  begin span out. We walk around, with our heads looking up in awe staring at the massive planes. 

They have so many planes, from replicas of the Wright Brothers to modern inventions. There is information about each plane so you can read all you want. While we were there, we were able to see part of a retirement ceremony for one of the Air Force Officers. It was wonderful to see the men & women that sacrifice for this country.

Our favorite Aunt Heather.

They have an education center, that is all hands on activities that help teach you about airplanes & aeronautics. On this particular day it was closed, but it has some fantastic things. 

Once you get through the inside. We tour around the outside. They have a huge area that has old parked planes. The boys think it is awesome to get close to them & then compare the size. 

We are tiny compared to these planes.  It is fascinating. 

Other planes are a little more "their size." I do recall hearing one of my boys say they thought they could fly this one. 

We made it through the whole museum in a couple of hours. You could take all day there studying  the planes & reading all the information. There is detailed information about every plane by it. They also have various movies playing & retired Air Force Veterans that could talk for hours telling you all thing you never knew. However, this time we went through it a little faster due that this was towards the end of the day & my boys were starting to get tired. 

And though we didn't do this before the trip, here are some additional resources that you could use to study more about airplanes & the air force.

The One Paper Airplane Every Child Should Know { The Crafting Chicks }

Cardboard Airplane {This Mumma's Life}

Airplanes Lessons Plans for K-12  {National Museum of United States Air force}

Paper Airplane Experiments { Learn, Play, Imagine }

Lessons on Flight  {Brian Pop}

Practicing Addition & Subtraction with Airplanes & Travelers  {Kids Activities Blog}

Color By Number Airplane Worksheet Activity { Mama's Learning Corner}



And a few Books for Reading As Well:

         

"Teaching Your Child To Read" Guest Post Series - Andrea

 For those that have are stopping by, thanks for joining us. On our amazing & helpful series of  "Teaching your Child to Read.". Today we are blessed to hear from Andrea. Andrea has a wonderful idea: A Reading Activity for Snack Time. 

A Reading Activity for Snack Time

Are you interested in adding a reading game to your box-of-tricks for your child?  Here’s one you can pull out at snack time.  I’m Andrea from No Doubt Learning and thanks to Tiffany for allowing me to guest post today so I can share a quick and easy game that we play to practice reading words.  It’s super easy to set up and my girls always enjoy the mystery snacks they uncover.
If you’re like me, you already have a stack of 3x5 cards containing words your child is working on reading.  If not, create a stack of 3x5 cards that contains a mixture of words your child can already read as well as some new words of focus.

      While your child isn’t watching, create a path of words starting in one room and branching off to other rooms (or areas) of your house. (Think of Hansel and Gretel, only you’re dropping word cards).

     Now for the element of mystery:  Randomly throughout the path, place two or three small snack items for your child to nibble on throughout his or her course.  I’ve used 2 or 3 Cheerios, raisins, nuts, and fruit snacks, as well as other themed treats near holidays. You can put the morsels in nontransparent Tupperware, baggies, or plastic eggs throughout the path.

      When you are ready to start the game, explain that your child’s mission is to start at the beginning of the path and follow the cards, reading them aloud along the way.  When they get to a snack item, they must read the word on the card before the snack is uncovered.  Feel free to help with any words your child is having a hard time figuring out because it’s practice!  My daughter reads the word, jumps on the card, and then reads the next word in the path, so she’s hopping from word to word. 
I’ve found it’s a great game to pull out here and there to switch things up and get my kids moving,  reading, and enjoying a “mystery snack” at the same time.
Feel free to come visit No Doubt Learning for other fun activities.  Or, just let me know you stopped by from A Country Road!

Andrea lives in California with her husband and two young girls.  She left 11 years of teaching public school to homeschool and she hasn’t looked back!  Connect with her on at her blog No Doubt Learning, Facebook, G+, Twitter, or Pinterest.

Unit on Money Part #1

"I have to sleep in a box?" my 5 year old asked in partial surprise & a bit of excitement.

I had just gotten done explaining today's project dealing with money & that was the only thing my boy understood?

As mentioned earlier we are in the middle of reading the book Ragged Dick.  It is  the story of a 14 year old boot-black living on the Streets of a New York. In the beginning of the book Ragged Dick was sleeping in the streets in, you guessed it, a box.

I thought in the midst of our reading this would be a great time to introduce a unit on money to the boys. In the story Ragged Dick, Dick has to earn his own money & pay for everything.

 This was going to be our first unit on money & what better way to grasp the concept of the book & life than doing them same for my boys.

                   I evenly distributed 54 cents to each of my boys.

  Then we counted everything. I wanted to make sure my boys could count the money we had been given.

We discussed nickels, quarters, pennies & dimes. Then the boys took turns counting their money & showing their ability to tell me the value of each coin.

 Then it got interesting. I told them our plan for the day. "Just like Ragged Dick had to pay for everything in the story, today you will too."

 Hence the statement from my five year old about sleeping in a box.  I reassured him, he could pay for housing if he so desired & still sleep in his room.

 Now don't panic, my boys love sleeping outside & I am in an area where I don't have to worry to much about them if they do. So to them, sleeping outside in a box sounded way better than actually sleeping in their bedroom.

We tried to keep our prices similar to what Dick had to pay in the story:

•       Snacks would be 3 cents. 
•  Meals 5 cents/meal. 
• A bed with a roof over it 10 cents a day. 
• Any entertainment would be 5 cents/half hour. 

    I was initially worried how this would go over, but they were excited!!

   They immediately realized the need to budget out their $$ for the entire day. I didn't suggest this at all. They just thought about their plan for the day & decided they better write down the cost of things & the best use of their money. I was surprised at this suggestion, but proud that they would think about it.

  They paid for breakfast & we began our day. They did ask for a few chores in which to earn a few extra pennies, but no one got paid more than 7 cents for their day labors.

By mid-day they had all paid for at least one snack.

Lunch came & they were eager to have to "pay" to eat.

Mid-afternoon was my hardest time. They all wanted to pay for snacks & some entertainment (Wild Kratts) at the exact same moment my baby was almost asleep for his nap. So one after another they would come in & trade $$ for food & entertainment & it took way to long for my grumpy baby to go to sleep.

By supper my 5 year old  had lost his money. His older brother, had carefully budgeted his & paid for his littler brother to eat supper.

 "Just like in the book mom, when Dick paid for his friend to eat." He remembered.

Shortly after supper my five year old had found his money again.

 At the end of the day they all still could pay for room & board. Some even had a few cents left.

But they still wanted to sleep in a box they told me as I had tucked them into their beds

 Determined, little boys, this was how a found them 40 minutes after bedtime.

 

Sleeping in boxes.

And that wraps up our 1st day talking about $$$.

It was a huge success & they loved it. We haven't done it again, but they continue to ask, so I imagine we will soon.

Warning:  If you decide to take upon yourself this awesome activity, be warned.  Your enthusiastic little boys will then go to around telling everyone how their mom makes them pay for their meals & sleep in boxes.

 But don't say I didn't warn you.