::4h update::

Fine.

You win.

I went over board on 4H. 

Obviously.

BUT - I am really impressed with my Lily.  She has really been stepping up and taking on lots of responsibility.  She can even feed the animals by herself now days.  Not bad for a little kid. 

Picture of the Lily's ewe lamb. At one day old.

Lily talked me out of a market lamb.  She said that she could raise an animal for slaughter, but she could not teach it to lead and love it and then send it for slaughter.  She had a good point.  She wins.  That means she gets two Babydoll lambs to raise.  A wether and a ewe.  They both happen to be black.  What a shocker that my Lily would want two black sheep.  We are picking them up in late April. 

Emma's wether - Monty

 We have the goat situation all figured out.  Emma is getting two baby Pygmy's from a breeder - twins.  A handsome wether and pretty little doe.  Emma will show four pygmy goats.  Lily is only going to show two goats this year.  I want to buy her a Nigerian dwarf this fall, or a miniature Nubian.  I will always love Pygmy goats but we need to be testing out other easier to deliver breeds that we may have a long term future with.    


The poultry breeder has some duckling that should be hatching any day.  I keep reading that the Cayuga ducks are very well established as good egg layers and good parents.  Perfect.  They also are supposed to taste really good.  I'm not bringing this up to Lily.  I'm not sure I am up to eating ducks myself, unless it was for survival.  That same breeder raises Silkie chickens too.  I am hoping we can get those from her, but at least the ducks seems to be on track.  I really want Silkie chickens even if we don't show them.  That breeder is only about 45 mins from us, so not too bad if we have to go back more than once.   

The amount of workbooks that Lily has to have done is staggering.  But I am helping her.  We sit together and do at least four pages a few times a week.  She picks what project workbook she wants to do and I read it for her.  Sometimes I even write the answers for her.  She has to look up the information and tell me what to write, but I act as her scribe at times.  I remember doing this for Emma back in the day.  I want her to love 4H, not feel stressed at how hard it is for her to read the words.