"My dad says, ‘practice, and then you can play,'" said third grader Luke Wallace.

Luke said that is how he knows that the lamb show comes first this Saturday at the Georgia National Fair in Perry.

Then he and younger brother Nathan are looking forward to the rides.

Nathan is the youngest 4-H'er in Newton County this year as a first grader in Ms. Lindsey's class at Mansfield, and Luke, in Ms. Jones' class, is one of only two third graders.

Until age 9, showing a lamb is one of the only ways to compete in Georgia 4-H.

So Diana, Fluffy, Spike, Tulip and Diamond are the boys' tickets to the fair.

Nathan chose Diana and Fluffy because he liked the names.

Luke said Tulip is most often called "Hog" because she eats a lot, and Diamond was named because the family enjoys watching a documentary called "Gold Rush: Alaska" on the Discovery Channel.

"When we washed them, then we dried him, his fur looked like spikes," said Luke of Spike.

Luke wore an Auburn football jersey with matching blue and orange bands in his braces, "because my dad went to Auburn," he said, as he played with candy wrappers on the table and answered the questions seriously.

Nathan had his knees in the office chair, swinging back and forth, giggling and blushing sometimes instead of answering.

Nathan said he wants to be a scientist one day, although he is not quite sure what that means.

"I think it's a smart guy," said Luke.

Nathan said he might do experiments on peanuts.
Luke said he wants to be a cop "because they have guns and Tasers."

He said his favorite superhero is Spiderman because "he shoots all that web stuff out of his hands to swing over tall buildings and wrap bad guys up."

Nathan said his favorite superhero is Perry the platypus from "Phineas and Ferb."

Their interests seem similar to many boys their ages, so why would they want lambs?

Nathan knows it takes a lot of work.

"We wash ‘em, we clip ‘em," he said, when Luke added "and we practice with them," and Nathan jumped back in to add "and run ‘em!"

"We walk the lambs to the end of the driveway and then we get the Gator and then we chase ‘em back," Nathan said.

"And then they know where to go, in the barn," said Luke.
Luke said they practice by walking the lambs and learning to brace them "to get the muscles to pop."

The Wallace family lives on Bricton Farm where dad Chris Wallace is the manager, so it was no surprise to the boys that livestock can require a lot of work.

If 4-H is about the "revolution of responsibility," the Wallace brothers have learned responsibility through lamb ownership since Luke's first grade show season.
So why do they really show lambs?

"Because you get all the ribbons and trophies," said Luke.
"You get money," added Nathan.

The Wallaces have earned a lot of prizes this season, winning showmanship at many shows.

Showmanship is when a 4-H'er is judged based on how well he or she controls the lamb, leading the animal around the show ring, displaying its best qualities to the judge, and responding to the judge's requests.

Their favorite prizes so far are a tie between the belt buckles they earned at the Heard County 4-H Lamb Show and prize money earned at each show.

Mom Joy Wallace puts aside most of their prize money as savings for each boy, but lets them spend a small portion.

"Some of it I spend at Walmart and get Transformers," said Luke.

Nathan said he prefers saving for Nintendo DS games, like Wipeout.

At this age, neither boy is quite sure why they are saving the rest of their winnings, although Nathan says it is because "my mom, she makes me."

He added that he might be saving for something really big like a laptop or a house.

This Saturday you can cheer the brothers on as they aim for state honors in the final show of the season.

But if you arrive late, you'll find them on the rides.