Grand Champion Rabbits

This weekend was the Erath County Junior Livestock Show. 

Lexi showed her rabbits on Thursday. It was nice knowing what to expect this year. She is still tiny compared to most of the competitors. You can barely see her face above the pen!

Thankfully they have workers in the arena that help the kids get set up. And our FFA advisor, Mr. Clarke is the guy in the standing at the fence watching Lexi. Man, he was awesome!

                        

The show itself is rather boring. The kids put their rabbits in the pen on one side and the judge takes them out of the other side and checks and compares them. The highlight of the judging is watching for bunnies that get out of the pen.

One of Lexi's strengths is her ability to focus in on the judge and remain still and poised. She might be incredibly nervous, but she looks great out there.

This year her pen was the second to the lightest in the heavyweight class. Her total weight was 11.8 pounds compared to the heaviest pen which was 14.7. We were nervous as that is a really big difference. But...

She won!!

The judge liked that her rabbits were strong and not "fluffy!"

Amazing! Last year she won Reserve Champion (2nd place) and this year she won Grand Champion!! Two buckles in two years!!

She had a big group of supporters too! Her best friends Emma and Emily came out to watch. 

Here she is with Mr. Clarke. Proud kid and proud teacher!

Then on Saturday they have the Premium Sale. That basically means a scholarship auction as the kids keep the animals. I remembered to get proof that I was there! :)

One of Lexi's friends (another Emma) helped Lexi carry out the rabbits for the auction. They were adorable!!

Lexi's rabbits went for $2750!  AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are so thankful to live in a community that so actively backs the kids.  Kody King with Citizens National Bank of Texas bought her pen!!

I would have never imagined us being a stock show family.. but two years in and we are.. we even bought "real" boots for Lexi this year! Today we sell the rabbits and clean up! This process is amazing. Lexi is not just learning about the raising and showing of animals, but she is learning to be an entrepreneur and to to make responsible decisions! I love that. That is the gift of FFA.

Reserve Grand Champion Rabbits

Lexi won Reserve Grand Champion Rabbits this weekend at our county stock show!! Yep, it was a really big deal! In Junior Livestock world, kids compete all together based on the weight/breed of the animal, not age of the kid. So as a 3rd grader and first time participant, Lexi competed with high school seniors. And she took 2nd place!!  It was really, really cool!

But let me back up a little... you can click here if you missed the post about us getting the rabbits.

This last week leading up to show was a little nerve-wracking. The rabbits had to weigh between 3 and 5 pounds a piece. Over 5 pounds and you were disqualified... but you want to be as close to 5 pounds as possible. So we played the feed game the last week. How much to feed, how much filler, and all manner of questions that we didn't even know to ask much less to answer!  We were weighing twice a day at the end afraid we were over. But we weren't sure, all we had was a food scale, and it was borrowed at that!

So we go to weigh in on Thursday afternoon and the rabbits weigh 4.7 pounds! We ended up having plenty of room and could have just kept on feeding the rabbits full feed those last few days!

Then finally, it was time to get ready for the show! 

Doug and Lexi

Lexi and Mrs. Williams our incredible FFA teacher!

Lexi had a blast walking around the barns with her friends who were showing lambs and goats. She also enjoyed showing off her rabbits to anyone who stopped by!

One last wipe down and we were ready.

When it was finally show time, Lexi did a great job getting her rabbits from the carrier into the pen. Thankfully our FFA teacher was in the pen with her and able to help out.

And then the judging started and all we could do was sit back and watch. Lexi was a pro and kept her focus on the judge the entire time. While some of the other students started talking to each other and shifting back and forth, Lexi just remained focused!

In fact, look at this awesome picture a friend of ours took! I love how you can see how tiny she is compared to some of the other exhibitors!

As we watched in the stands, Doug and I were talking. Of course, we didn't know that she would win her class and get second place overall in the breed, but we knew that she had already won. She started this process scared and unsure of what to do around an animal and so shy around new people. And now here we were and she was confident with her animals and standing tall around a bunch of people she didn't know! 

And then of course, she won Reserve Grand Champion! That was incredible! 

One excited girl! 

My entire life I have heard families talk about FFA and the impact sponsors/teachers have on kids. Now I understand it. What a gift these teachers are to our kids!

She even stopped and put Lexi's buckle on her belt!

We went home an exhausted but very happy family! Friday morning, Lexi was back out at the stock show to support her friends who were showing. There is just something incredibly special about a group of kids helping each other to succeed without any thought to what they can get out of it. Over the weekend I saw countless times kids helping each other out just because! I even got to be a tiny part of the weekend as one of the judges for the 4-H arts and crafts entries!

Then Saturday afternoon, we were back for the supper and sale. Lexi helped to serve the dinner to the buyers and then it was time for the auction. 

Aren't we country! I had to go buy a pair of jeans to wear with my boots! I now understand why you wear boots and jeans... barns are messy! :) 

Lexi's pen of rabbits was the 12th auction of the night. Only the Grand and the Reserve rabbits were sold, so Lexi making the sale was big.

Here is Lexi with two friends who helped her show off the rabbits. 

And the auction in process. They were adorable!

The high bidder was a joint purchase between a local pharmacy, Tanglewood Pharmacy and a service club, the Stephenville Evening Lions Club.

They took official pictures with the buyers, so I'm hoping I can get a better picture!

And that was it for the night. We stayed through 90 of the 186 auctions and Doug's company, McLemore Financial Group bought auction #88 a lamb and then we left. No, we didn't bring the animal home, just our rabbits. At this stock show, the animals usually stay with the kids, it's really more of a scholarship auction.

Today, Doug and Lexi are taking the rabbits back to the breeder. We've already to committed to a pen for next year!

Who knows how we will do in the future. It is possible that she could never win again. But while the winning was wonderful, it is the experience that has been life changing for our family. Lexi hadn't found her niche yet, and this was obviously her thing! Her smile and excitement was contagious. 

Lexi is now talking lambs, goats, horses and more! Kylie is talking pigs! 

What have we gotten ourselves into! :)

And a sidenote: Lexi even got to be in the newspaper! Here is the photo that was taken and here is the link: 
http://www.yourstephenvilletx.com/news/local/article_f7b75358-0a18-5eb6-89ba-ca07b69b87de.html

Oral Surgery and the Rabbit Adventure Begins

It's been a big week for Lexi.

On Wednesday Lexi had oral surgery to remove FIVE teeth. Yes, you read that right, 5 teeth! As you can see from the picture below, she wasn't exactly thrilled. It had to be done to make room for the permanent teeth that are working their way in. Lexi's petite features have a real impact on her mouth. (Not the amount of words that have to come from it..)

Here she is after surgery. She is drugged, but not sleeping. (A gift my children have is to be on pain killer from surgery and not sleep. They talk to me, they need things, they talk some more, but they do not sleep!)

If you look carefully you can see her teeth in her lap. I have a closeup of the 5 teeth, but I decided to spare you readers from that!

Then if the day hadn't been eventful enough, it was time to pick up her rabbits. I would have liked to have waited a little longer, but the breeder wanted us to get them before the winter storm hit.  (Thanks! Like we know how to keep rabbits alive in freezing temps!)

So Doug went after work and picked up the rabbits that Lexi needs to show in the stock show in January as a Jr FFA member.

It was quite an event in our house. 

We had a nice cozy wood hutch for the rabbits, but the rabbit man said nope! He sent Doug home with this wire hutch. We learned that the rabbits will pee on the wood and then eat the wood.. this will make the rabbits sick. Or they will pee on the shavings in the hutch and then end up with stinky stained fur. Yuck. So sorry rabbits, it's wire for you!

And they don't seem to mind.

Look, I am holding a rabbit. Proof that I "like" animals. I really like these rabbits. We have them until mid-January and then they go back to the breeder!

Here Kylie is learning how to pet the rabbits. Yep, the rabbit man even had instructions for that! FYI, you pet the rabbit from ear to tail, not both directions.

 

Lexi is learning to hold the rabbit and not scream/squeal when it tries to climb out of her arms.  

Lexi feeding the rabbits for the first time. (Look at that super cool hutch in the background. Bummer that we can't use it! If you know of anyone that needs a nice hutch for rabbits, let us know! Since the rabbits are rented, we couldn't refuse his pen!) 

Bonding.

And so far, so good. We have a space heater in the garage and we are keeping the temp above freezing. The rabbit man said that he wasn't worried about the cold, as long as the rabbits don't get wet! And we had to make sure that their water doesn't freeze. The high today is in the 20's with the low in the teens, so we are on alert!

Doug and Lexi have started training the rabbits. They have to teach them to sit still. Good Luck.