Hello dear friends and family!

It's Monday, the beginning of the week. Personally, I'm thinking about what this week entails and feeling a little overwhelmed. So much to get done, prepared, and started.

To get done?

  Well, fair entries are due this Tuesday (tomorrow) and the children are still finishing up a few projects.  I'm also hoping to enter some of my produce from the garden. I had hoped to get a couple of pieces of art entered but didn't prioritize my time in order to get them finished.

  The Lord has blessed with me a wonderful talent and shamefully I've neglected it. Over time, my ability to draw has diminished due to not using it. How sad. But, as of late the need and desire to draw and paint has returned reminding me of the days of my youth when I spent so much time drawing. Isn't it wonderful how God does this with us. We're His children and He wants us to use the capabilities and talents He's given us to Glorify Him.  But I also believe that in using these talents we are drawing closer to the One that instilled them as well as reaching a level of fullfillment that only He can give because we are being all that He created us to be.

  Psalm 100:3

Know ye that the Lord He is God: it is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.

   The talent that God blessed me with is for His purpose, His plan for me. It has been wonderful to draw (forgive the pun) upon it when needed in artistic endeavors with the children, but I truly believe the Lord is leading me to hone it, to improve it, to give it fully to Him so that He can bring about the fullness of it.

To get prepared?

  The girls are entered in the local Bible Bee to be held September 12th. I am ashamed to say that we haven't prepared adequately for this event. Although, we are much more committed now, it is obvious that National Bible Bee hopes are a bit unrealistic. We just haven't put the effort into this that is required. In our local contest, many have dropped out already because it's evident that they too didn't study. We're going to see this through and reap the spiritual rewards of hiding His Word in our hearts.

  On Friday the girls will be showing their calves and there is still so much to do with our little bovines. This afternoon the kids and I will halter them, lead them around, and then wash the little critters. I call them little critters half-jokingly as these guys are well over two hundred pounds apiece.

  Along with showing the calves in an arena, the children will have to go through an interview process with judges. These judges will ask the children questions regarding the upkeep of their calves. The children are supposed to have journaled their calf-rearing responsibilities weekly throughout the summer. Included in these journals are types of milk replacement, date of weaning, castrating, dehorning, and vaccinations as well as any medications given due to illnesses. The price of the calves and other monetary expenditures should also be recorded in these journals by the children. The judges will aslo want to know when the child broke the calf to lead, what breed the calf is, and how old the calf was when purchased. The children will need to have all this information memorized and portray excellent interview qualities during their interviews. Last year, Aubrey won this competition and was awarded one hundred dollars for all her hard work. This money is funded by a scholarship called the David Weckler scholarship. David was very active in the bucket calf program several years ago and excelled in the interview process. Just days after the fair his precious life on this earth came to a tragic end. Friends and family set up this scholarship in memory of what an extraordinary kid he was and to encourage children to do their best.

  So with that said we will be doing mock interviews with the girls and helping them to memorize all the information that was given in their journals.

  On Saturday night, the girls will be competing at the County Fair Talent Show. They will be singing a spiritual/patriotic medley and reciting scripture. They performed this in church several weeks ago to Tim's accompaniment on piano and it was beautiful and moving at the same time. They will be practicing throughout the week.

Finally, what we're starting.

  On Tuesday morning, Aubrey will begin playing in our local homeschool band. We purchased a clarinet a couple of weeks ago and she will learn to play it. She's excited and apprehensive at the same time. Tim and I both played clarinet in band as kids and will help her also.

  I will be starting an Art/History coop in September along with a wonderful friend. This class will have 16 students and meet twice a month. We're both excited as this class is very similar to an art appreciation class but we will also be having hands-on art activities in the last hour of the class sessions. The curriculum is called Picturing America and was provided by the National Endowments for the Humanities. Some libraries were awarded this curriculum also and you can go to Picturing America Award Recipiants to find out if one near you recieved it if you're interested.  

Busy wise this looks familiar to many of you and of course this is all with regular school days included but the catch is ... well, to be honest... I'm not good at being busy.

  I have never been grace under pressure. I tend to lose it and get easily irritated when I've put off things too long. I like to be home, wait, let me rephrase that...I love to be home and when I'm on the road constantly to different activities, school seems to suffer. We live over thirty minutes from the medium-sized town that all of our extra curricular activities take place, so there will be lots of time on the road this coming school year and I didn't even mention 4H or basketball. So with all that vented and whined, I am aware that the Lord is stretching me. He's giving me that opportunity to become grace under pressure, with his help of course.

His Grace is sufficient.

And it is with that last line that I leave you dear friends and family. I can breathe easier knowing that it is in Him that I can entrust all things.

Blessings and have a wonderful week!

Julie