4H kids are special!

Last week  I had a conversation with a sweet mother of 3. I was asking about her family and kids. I asked if her children participated in any fall sports, or after school activities?
Her response was, " no, not really - they just do 4H in the summer. They aren't really the sports kind of kids."
My response was swift, " That's awesome", I said.
Our conversation turned to something else and we moved on.
But later,  as I was pondering on our conversation,  I realized that I missed an opportunity to explain to her HOW awesome the 4H thing really was!

You see...4H is cool!!!!

As you know,  I grew up on a farm. When the time came us kids joined our local 4H club.  We had pigs and steers. I always thought the goats and horses looked like more fun,  but Dad always said,  " goats and horses won't make you any money.  The money is in the pigs and steers. This is your college savings!"... so pigs and steers it was!
We were outside all summer with our animals, we spent hours together as siblings, we made life long friends, we had fun, we made a ton of memories... good and bad ;)
We learned how to care for animals,  to help each other,  to be tough (gotta have grit!),  and most of all...how to work, I mean really work hard!
The work was dirty... there were flies, lots of flies. You had to pay for your animal and the feed, sometimes your animal would die.
We worked all spring and summer for the fair week... actually for 15 min of ring time on show night,  and 5 minutes on sale day. 
But the fun we had,  the friends we made,  and the things we learned last a lifetime.

So.....these kids that "just do 4H" are special. They might not have their team picture in the school yearbook, but they are working hard, learning alot of life lessons,  and finding life long friends!

Last week I made a few of these ornaments as gifts for my niece and nephews...to celebrate them and their passions! They deserve to have ornaments of their accomplishments on the family tree as well!

I have made a few extras and they will be at the sale if you have a special 4H kid in your life that you want to celebrate!