Drumroll, Please . . .

It's time! The time you've been eagerly anticipating! Time to announce the winners of Loralee's Fancy Poetry Contest 2012!  Yaaaayyy!

This year we were improving the lives of the Old Woman in the Shoe, and her family. There were lots of entries in the Children's Division.  Lots! I got quite a few from some of you grown-ups (older than 12's) too. The old woman had quite an array of homes as well—from a penny, to a peach, to a car, to a tree. But before I show you the vast array of women in their small abodes, here are my token rhymes:

My answer to the first challenge (change only the last two lines) :

There was an old woman who lived in a shoe;

She had so many children she didn't know what to do.
She gave them some soup with fresh, home-made bread,
Then she kissed them all soundly and sent them to bed.

And my answer to the second challenge (change the entire poem) :

There once was a woman so loving and kind,

She had lots of children, but she didn't mind.

She sent them to play after they'd all been fed,
Then she winked at her husband and took him to bed.

Why does she have to be an old woman?  But, I admit, my second one doesn't really meet the challenge because we don't know what kind of small domicile she lives in.  And it just barely fits into the "OK for little readers" category, too. 

Now that we are through with the preliminaries, let's get on to the real entries!

Rachel was very prolific and entered seven poems! 

Rachel 1:

There was an old lady who lived in a shoe.
She had lots of children who lived in there too.
She sure wasn't as mean as a big, old viking
Because every Tuesday she took them all biking.

Hahaha! Maybe he should be a big, hairy viking, or maybe a hairy old viking —for meter—but this one made me laugh.

Rachel 2:

There was an old lady who lived in a shoe
Who loved all her children and they loved her too.
She gave them some broth and 3 loaves of bread
And gave each a kiss and tucked them in bed.

Very good!  Tucking them in bed is even nicer than sending them to bed. :-)

Rachel 3:

There was an old lady who lived in a house,
Who loved all her children and so did her spouse.
She loved them all, so she gave each a pear
And then took them all to Temple Square.

Nice.  I might have said ". . . to go see Temple Square." —just for the meter. But it's pretty good.

Rachel 4:

There was an old lady who lived in a house,
And all of her children kept out every mouse.
So she gave each child a small piece of candy,
And all of their lives were quite fine and dandy.

This must have been a family of cats. :-)

Rachel 5:

There was an old lady who lived in a car.
She gave all her children a small, little jar.
Inside of each jar was a small little pet.
Each child was so happy they never did fret.

Again, just for meter, I might have said, "She gave each of her children . . ."  Apparently pets equate to happiness . . . at least for children. :-)

Rachel 6:

There was an old lady who lived in a tree;
She had lots of children—even one that was three.
They found different leaves in the spring and the fall,
And every last child was having a ball.

And Rachel 7:

There was a young teacher who lived in a school.
She taught all her children who sat on a stool.
She taught them all math and gave them all candy,
And all of their lives were quite fun and dandy.

Woo-hoo!  Let's hear it for Rachel!  Good job!

Kaylie entered three poems:

Kaylie 1:

There was an old lady who lived on a penny
She had a small son whos name was Benny
Whenever he cried she rushed to his side
She called him a sweet boy
Then she gave him a toy.

Uh-oh!  A very small house, but not quite enough children. ;-)

Kaylie 2:

There was a young lady who was a vet
She gave her children any pet.
They asked,"May we have a rabbit?"
"Don't give it a bad habit."
"What about a bird?"
She thought,"Well, that's not absurd."
It was when they asked for a snake
That she began to shake.

Oooooh! I might shake, too!  It's a silly poem, but doesn't fit the original meter.

Kaylie 3:

There was a young woman who lived in a peach.
She gave her children $100 each.
She told them to spend it on bikes and candy
And their lives were all fine and dandy.

There we go!  Apparently candy makes life good too. :-)

Kaylie 4:

There was an old lady who lived in a shoe
She loved her grandchildren, and they loved her, too.
On Tuesday morning, they all went biking;
On Saturday morning, they all went hiking.

Yeah, I guess if she's an old lady, maybe she'd be the children's grandma and not their mother. And this grandma must be in really good shape!

Kaylie 5:

There was a young lady who lived in a school house.
It had a pool complete with a pool house.
She had a girl whose name was Limming,
And every day they both went swimming.

Very creative, Kaylie!

And Ryan entered four poems:

Ryan 1:

There was an old women who lived in a shoe.
She had so many children she didn't know what to do.
She gave them a cow (except for the head).
Then she hugged them all nicely and sent them to bed. ;)

Ummm, I don't know if giving your children a headless cow would make them very happy. Silly guy!

Ryan 2:

There was a young women who lived in a pipe.
She sent all her children to look for a snipe.
They all came right back with faces quite sad.
She kissed them all sweetly and told them "Be Glad!"

OK then. :-)

Ryan 3:

There was a small woman who lived in a tree.
She had a few children all counting to three.
She gave them some soup and a loaf of bread each.
and they all went right out and played on the beach.

Well these children are well-fed and happy!  But why were they counting to three, I wonder?

Ryan 4:

There was an old woman who lived in the butter,
She had many children who made her heart flutter.
She gave them some toast and some raspberry jam,
Then she kissed them all dearly and gave them a ham.

Wow!  Now that family is really well-fed!  And if they run out of other stuff they can always eat the butter. ;-)  Good job, Ryan!

And that's it for the Children's Division.  Give the kids a big hand!

Now on to the Everyone Else Division:
Stephanie was the first to enter her poems, and she entered no less than five!

Stephanie 1:

There was an old woman who lived in a shoe.
She had so many children, she didn't know what to do.
She gave them some broth with all of her bread,
Then she tucked them in soundly when they were in bed.

Stephanie 2:

There was an old woman who lived in a box.
She had lots of children, and one was a fox!
She loved them all dearly, or so it was told,
So she kept having children, although she was old.

I love the last line, but is the one child a fox, like "she's so foxy"? (Is "foxy" getting archaic now?) Or was that child really a fox? I do love that last line!

Stephanie 3:

There was an old woman who lived in a shoe.
She had so many children, she didn't know what to do.
She gave each one a purse with a bag full of money,
Then she told them all proudly, 'now you can buy honey!'

Money, candy, pets, honey . . .

Stephanie 4:

There was an old woman who lived in a shoe.
She had so many children, she didn't know what to do.
She said it was time to go on vacation,
So they went to the beach without a Play-Station.

Yaaaaayyy! Hooray for no Play-Station!

Stephanie 5:

There was a young lady who lived in a house.
She had eight great children and one loving spouse.
Today was her birthday and so they did say,
"Happy Birthday to you! Let's eat cake and go play!"

Hahaha! Thanks, Stephanie. :-)

I got one poem each from the Ben and Tami Bailey family.  Well, not their kids, just Ben and Tami.

Ben:

There was an old woman who lived in a stump
With kids so abundant her house was a dump.
But she read them fun stories and snuggled in bed;
Their family grew stronger—or so it was said.

Yeah, an abundance of kids can make a house a dump.  But they were happy anyway—I think . . .

Tami:

There was an old woman who lived in a shoe;
She had so many children she didn't know what to do.
So she packed up their bags to go away
Where they frolicked and played and had a great day.

Running away for a day is always nice.  :-)

And Jason entered two poems:

Jason 1:

There was an old woman who lived in a fiddle.
She had many children, and gave each a riddle.
To get them all going she offered a prize;
A red rubber squid, with ninety-nine eyes.

Wow—what an awesome prize! Maybe I should keep my eyes open for something like that for next year's contest.

Jason 2:

There was an old woman who lived in a knoll.
She had more children than even a mole.
When they were young, she taught them a game,
And now they are old, and play it the same.

Good for them!  For the meter, I'd say, "and they play it the same."  :-)

And last of all, one entry from Becky:

There was an old woman who lived in a jug.
She had so many children, she couldn’t feel snug.
She informed her spouse a new home was past due,
So they packed up their bags and moved into a shoe.

Heeheehee! That's a clever twist.

There you have them: all of the entries for the 2012 Loralee's Fancy Poetry Contest!  Yaaaayyy!  Honorable mention goes to Kaylie for the woman who lives in a peach, and to Ryan for the woman who lives in butter. Honorable mention to Stephanie for vacationing without the Play-Station and for the old woman who kept having children; and honorable mention to Ben, because that one just appealed to me (maybe it's because the family can be happy in spite of living in a dumpy stump).

And now for the moment you've been waiting for . . .
The winners of this year's Poetry Contest are . . .
In the Children's Division . . .

Rachel, for the woman who wasn't as mean as a viking! (Wild applause here.)

There was an old lady who lived in a shoe.
She had lots of children who lived in there too.
She sure wasn't as mean as a big, old viking
Because every Tuesday she took them all biking.

This one made me laugh.

And in the Everyone Else Division . . .

Becky, for her clever twist on the family's living arrangements!  (More wild applause here.)

There was an old woman who lived in a jug.
She had so many children, she couldn’t feel snug.
She informed her spouse a new home was past due,
So they packed up their bags and moved into a shoe.

This one really made me laugh.

Rachel and Becky will each be the recipients of  a Loralee's Fancy Poetry Contest certificate and some yummy treats.  And you can look for their winning poems in the sidebar of my blog.

Thanks for playing everyone!  'Til next year . . .