Miss A's Birthday

It was a very busy birthday weekend. Aleaha's school held an end-of-year campout, complete with potluck, campfire, glowsticks, smores, tents, sleepingbags, and a pancake breakfast the next morning. Mommy & she spent the night in a tent at the school. Oh boy! (Thank you, Daddy, for bringing that coffee to Mommy the next morning!)

Miri helps out.

Aleaha wanted a Candyland cake ("...but with horses on it too..."). It was a hit with the kid crowd.

Because we just happened to be at the campout, and it just happened to be her birthday, she just happened to have a very large crowd to sing to her. She liked it, but was a tad embarrased.

Back at home, we did presents. Nice stack, girlie!

That's a horse book. Can ya tell?

New favorite shirt.

Games and activities to help keep her entertained this summer, when she's home with Daddy. She's not looking forward to this, she tells me. She wants Miri to stay home with her. How cute (and impossible!) is that?!

Miri does a little hula dancing during the festivities.

After the big gig with the school, we were all fine with a small family dinner at Papa's pizza (and they weren't even crowded - amazing!). She was given a birthday shirt.

Aleaha wanted to borrow Mom's camera phone to take pictures in the backyard if a deer. The pics of the deer were not exactly recognizable. This one of Miri is a smidgen better. You can tell she takes after her mother in the photo skills department. Then again, ahem, she has zero experience. And Mommy can't claim that....

Miri says

"I don't ever want to get off of Jake, Mommy.

I want to stay here FOREVER."

Also in recent conversation:

Miri, pointing behind our barn: "Mommy, whehr are de cows dat were in dat pas-chewr?

Mommy: "I'm not sure, honey."

Miri: "Maybe dey are making more calves."

Mommy: "Um, well, maybe. Where do they do that?"

Miri: "In deir barn, of couwrse!"

What she wants for her birthday

For her birthday, Miss A really wants more "horse lessons" -- good for her and for Shorty. Here, her instructor helps fit her stirrups. (We're mixing up the English and Western tack a bit, but that's OK - more exposure is a good thing.)

She did several rounds of "Simon Says" ....

...and practiced starting, stopping, slow walking, and fast walking.

We love how the lessons always begin and end with proper horse care. Aleaha has even learned how to pick his hooves.

Making Memories

We spent some quality time with Shorty this weekend, taking advantage of our nearby training facility. Mommy gave a couple of casual lessons, as Aleaha will have formal lessons starting next month.

Mom's Lesson 1: Thou shalt carry at least some of thy own tack.

She wants to lead him. (Lesson 2: proper person-to-horse positioning and leadrope handling for safety.)

Hitting the trail. (Yes, with questions already of when can we trot and gallop and jump!)

Did a little arena work too. Just can't get over the sight of this little tiny person (my first baby!) on a full-size horse.

Wanting to hit that trail again. (Miri is suited up for her lesson, just in case)

Working on steering and starting and stopping. Important stuff! (sure is nice to have a safe place to do this)

You don't dare take Daughter #2 to a horse lesson and not let her have a moment too. (We're finding it's a very hard thing, helping Miri understand why she can't quite do all the things Aleaha can do. Someday, honey.)

Aleaha wanted to lead him, and Miri wanted to ride "by herself", so Mom walking closeby was the compromise.

Yeah, it's a tad close up, because the videographer couldn't get back very far or else Shorty would follow her right into the woods.

Finished off the weekend with some tasty spare ribs and babyback ribs. We broke in "BABS" (our new Big-A$$ Barby).

Miri liked the BBQ sauce.

And Aleaha preferred the homemade chocolate ice cream. With 2 spoons (eating Miri's leftovers).

Grandpa and GrammaBon have readied a new pen for Shorty in the mountains, in anticipation of our upcoming visit. THANK YOU!!

Chores and such

Daddy and Miri on the four-wheeler, taking horse food down to the barn.

Now that the weather has been dry for a few weeks, we can finally begin the mucking out of the barn. It takes a while, as those critters have had months to do their business there. Aleaha saw this and was aghast:

Aleaha: "Mom, that black stuff! That looks like llama fur. WHERE'S MAMMALLAMA??"

Mom: "No, honey. That's just old rotten hay."

Aleaha: "Eeeeeewwww. YUK."

Daddy is really on top of shit.

The girls, playing nice together. (Yes, it's fleeting.)

I told the boys to get in the front yard and get to it. They did!

Mommy's home!

Mommy took a long business trip to Germany. It was super-great to return home to the family, in time for Mother's Day.

I want to give a very big THANK YOU to my own mother for coming to our house to help for a week.We definitely could not have done this without her! She did EVERYTHING. Wow, we were so lucky. She shopped, cooked, cleaned, taxi-ed, petted, managed, laundered, and restocked. It was amazing. THANK YOU, GRAMMABON!! (And thank you to Grandpa too, as he had to get by without her for that time. It was sacrifices, all around! :) )

Photo op at the HP site when returning the rental car.

Cleaning the picnic table. Any excuse to use the hose...

... and then they decided to put their swimsuits on.* But Miri was a little cold and didn't want to get wet. So she "had a plan"...

...which involved wearing her rain coat over her swimsuit.

Aleaha thought it would be fun to set the pool under the slide. You think the water might be a little chilly?  

Miri's ready-set-go collage. (slight wardrobe adjustment needed after the slide)

Shorty, having a test-ride to see how he will be as a lesson horse for Aleaha. Although he was a little unfamiliar with expectations in the arena...

...he did super-great on the trail-riding test. Pawed at the water for a moment, then calmly walked through it. Yay, Shorty!! 

Back at the ranch, after that workout, he needed a good roll in the dirt.

Such a honey-pie, this guy is.

Arby, ready for his close-up.

Jake, ready for his dinner!

* In photos of our backyard this time of year, you will see that we have electrical tape up everywhere. And if you look carefully, many photos include horses in the background. Yes, we are rednecks and let our horses graze in the backyard. It solves a couple of problems at one time. We tape off areas where they aren't allowed to go, such as the swingset area. This keeps the horses safe from the children. wink-wink

Happy Horses

'Tis the season....to eat the backyard! Here are 3 buddies, mowing away on the hillside.

  

Special bubble effect courtesy of Aleaha. 

In the process of feeding Arby his pellets the other morning, I discovered omeone had already filled his feeder. Someone with amazing aim.