Thursday, July 18, 2013

Brown Swiss Beauties



My mom uploaded a photo of my two Brown Swiss girls to the Brown Swiss facebook page when she saw this post.  It's a nice picture until you blow it up full size...and then it's gorgeous!  
We might print this out and frame it.




Wednesday, July 17, 2013

My new competition


Today I tried out for a new team.  Today was the State Cattle Handling qualifier.  I am hoping for a spot on a three-man team from our school.

We went to Oklahoma State University's Animal Science Building to take a 50 question test and answer some math word problems.  We won't know the test results for a couple of months.  When they get the results, we find out if we have any teams that qualify.  We took nine people from our school - six boys, three girls - four that have tried out to be on a team before and five of us who have never tried out - only two of us are eighth graders, my buddy Jacob and me.  There were all kinds of questions about bovine health and care.  The test was three hours long.  People could come to test any time in those three hours that they wanted.

The teams that qualify for the state competition will have to compete in a physical challenge.  Each team is given two beef.  Each one has to be sorted and moved through a tub and alley and caught in a chute, its temperature taken, shots given, ears tagged, implanted, and a pesticide poured-on.  We also have to make notes on everything we do for the animal.  I think that's about it, but you get the idea.  We also have to do a display board about the beef industry.

I already know that the particular team I'm trying out for will have a Senior, a Junior, and an eighth grader (me).  We have to qualify as a team, I think.  I don't know if a team can be made up of some qualifiers from two different teams or not.  I don't think so.  I also already know that if we qualify, my job on the physical challenge will be to give vaccines by injection.

This is a really big deal.  Only ten teams from Oklahoma will make it into the finals.  I think even the tenth place team members each get $100 and a belt buckle.  There are other prizes, too.  The competition will take place at the Tulsa Farm Show in December.  We are praying for the best!      

Friday, July 12, 2013

Here's our gooofy video


Mom finished putting the clips together last night.  She couldn't figure out how to split the video of us lip syncing in the truck, so that part is pretty awkward.  Before I do another one of these, I'm thinking we should learn some more about the editing.  : /

Extra special thanks to Lauraaannnn and Jakery for letting us film their beautiful faces and awesome dance moves!  They are the BEST!

...and the winner is...


The winner of the 2013 National Flavor Faceoff is CHANEY'S DAIRY BARN - mint julip ice cream made with Maker's Mark whiskey!


Congratulations to Mr. Carl Chaney and Team Chaney for their win!

Take a look at the Chaney facebook page.  It looks like one of the happiest places on earth...even before they won!


Tuesday, July 9, 2013

I would say...


I would say "VOTE and VOTE OFTEN!"  but that would be illegal.  Instead, how about just getting one or two or TEN of your friends to vote for me?  You could ask to borrow their smartphone, go to the website, show them which button to push, and have them type in their name and email address.  That would be TOTALLY legal.  Think of it as hands-on campaigning for your favorite ice cream and favorite ice cream fanatic!

 http://bit.ly/2013FlavorFaceoffFinals_Week2




Monday, July 8, 2013

Happy Ice Cream Month!!!



This is the last week to vote for me and BRAUM'S in the 2013 National Flavor Face-off!  Thanks for all your support!

Friday, July 5, 2013

4th of July Activities


4th of July is busy for me.

The fourth is my "half-birthday".  We celebrate it every year instead of my actual birthday because I was born 10 just days after Christmas, and people don't come because it is so close to the holidays.  So we celebrate my real birthday with just my parents, and then we celebrate with everyone else on my half birthday every year.

There are also festivities in Crescent.  There is a parade.  I represent the breed as Jr. Princess.  My friends get to see me looking all girly.  I throw over 1000 pieces of candy.  (That makes a lot of little kids happy.) 

Afterward, everyone goes to the city park.  I sell sweet tea and lemonade.  It's freshly made and ice cold! 

I also sell squares on the Bessie Bingo card to raise money for our 4-H and FFA programs.  I get to walk all over the park for that part of the job.  For Bessie Bingo we draw a ten foot by ten foot grid of 100 squares on the ground and stake it off with t-posts and ropes.  We sell squares on the card for $1.00.  When we sell the whole card, we bring "Bessie" in.  Bessie is any sweet, tame cow we have on hand.  Whichever square she drops a patty on is the winner of $50 cash!  We sold three or four cards through the day. 

 This year I also helped run the kiddie game.  This raises a little more money.  There are different games that we do different years.  Sometimes its a fishing game.  This year it was a penny toss.  Three different sizes of plates or bowls.  Depending on which size container your penny lands in, determines which prize you get.  Guaranteed winner every time.  

My mom is with me /not with me.  She is at the next booth over with the Booster Club selling the last of the bass boat raffle tickets.  We work until after dark.  Then I get to go watch the fireworks at the baseball field, and she helps tear down the tents and load up the trucks.  When the fireworks are over, we go unload all the stuff at the Ag Building, and then go do regular chores.

It was a good night.  We made around $230+ for our organizations.  I think Booster Club made over $2500 for our new stock trailer fund.  We REALLY need a new bumper pull trailer for the program.  I think we're really getting close to getting one!

It was a really busy day, but it was also very productive and profitable!!!



Monday, July 1, 2013

I made it to NATIONALS!!!


A great big THANKS to everyone who voted for me and Braum's Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream for the regional competition!  
I'm celebrating with a little...you guessed it, ICE CREAM (you already know what flavor)!!! And what better way to get the maximum mouthful than to use my new Flavor Face-off ice cream scoops!!!  Who needs spoons?
To wash it all down, I've got some nice cold, refreshing water kept cold with my DCC Waterbeds koozie!!!
I've got on my Progressive Dairyman hat from last year's photo contest, and my Dairy Max MILK shirt from the Give a Pint, Get a Pint promotion last month.
I am full of dairy and full of joy!!!
Please vote for my favorite flavor in the finals!

July 2013 Proud To Dairy


July 2013 - Proud To Dairy/Progressive Dairyman
“Tell us about the video you created for Karma and the Idaho dairy campers. What feedback did you receive?”
I got an email May 20th from Karma Fitzgerald.  I know of her from her blog posts on Proud To Dairy for Progressive Dairyman, but I never thought I would get an email from her, and I would have NEVER guessed that she (or anyone else, for that matter) would want me to SPEAK to a group of dairy campers in Idaho!!!
Now I have to admit that when I read that sentence in the email, my first thought was, “She wants me to COME TO IDAHO?!?!?”  but after I read a little farther, I realized that she was a lot smarter than I was, and she was asking me to SKYPE in to visit with them.  Whew!  That made me feel better. 
Mom and I talked about it for quite awhile before I emailed Karma back.  We both thought it was a great honor to be asked.  After all, I’m just a kid.  I’m not even a dairy family kid.  I’m not a Tulsa State Fair or Sooner State Dairy Show Grand Champion winner (yet.)  Then, when I read on and found out that the OTHER speaker Skyping in was none other than GREG PETERSON of THE Peterson Brothers, I was REALLY confused. Those guys are world famous.  They’ve been on national television, they’ve had millions of hits on their videos, AND they’ve performed/spoken at the NATIONAL FFA CONVENTION!!! I didn’t care that I was going to be an opening act for him, because at least I was going to be on the same stage, so to speak.  I was wide-eyed and fan-girling all over the place. 
Then we pulled out the calendar and figured out that the speaking date was on a dairy field day here in Oklahoma.  (Sad face.)  Not only was I going to be out of town dairy judging, but I was going to be at a facility with no internet.  
We talked about it some more, I was bummed, and then my mom suggested making an iMovie for Karma’s dairy campers.  I could find out questions to answer ahead of time and talk to them with the iMovie.  IMovie is kind of my thing.  I use it a lot in school to make book reports, science fair project reports, and other stuff.  So I emailed Karma back and told her the situation and offered to make the iMovie instead.  She thought it sounded great.  
Part of my presentation was made of photos showing the kind of work I’ve done with my dairy project over the last four or five years.
It also showed me doing dairy stuff since I was a little over a year old.  Other parts of the movie were of me talking to the camera and answering questions that Karma had sent. 
So I locked myself in my bedroom and talked really quietly so no one would hear me, and and I talked to my computer screen answering the questions Karma had sent.  It was a really weird feeling.
She also asked me to talk a little bit about my blog and how I got it started.  She was going to print off some entries from my blog to give them as examples.  She really wants to see some of them start their own blogs.  I think the more, the better.  She also wanted me to say whether or not I consider myself an agvocate.  Of course I do!  
Last, but not least, I had to end my movie with a plug for the 2013 Flavor Face-off and for the campers to vote for Karma and for me.
I posted the movie on YouTube and sent Karma the link to the video.  That way, she had no trouble accessing it in Idaho.
Karma thanked me for all my hard work.  I got one post on my YouTube video saying that I was someone’s hero.  Karma said that she would be sending pictures and more.  I have no idea what “and more” means, but I’m excited!  As soon as I receive pictures, I will post them.

         Comment by Karma Metzler Fitzgerald 
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          Love this young lady!  She did a great job! There's a little something on the mail and            more coming....Thank you so much, Maddie, for all your hard work!