Saddle-Up Saturday, 9/19/09, & other stuff

It has been a while since I've done a "Saddle-Up" and before I got too far behind again, I thought (at 10:30 PM mind you) that I might need to share before I forgot everything...

look at that straight back...she's continuing to improve...

This is Shelby - she is one of ours and is spending some time with Miss Kacey trying to get some training under her belt - if she does well, one of the older students is already interested in buying her. Although I hate to sell any of "my babies", at least I know she would have a great home - we'll see...

She is three and like all of my horses, I think she is spectacularly beautiful -

here, she is watching Pal and Grace doing their ditch work...

As so many of you know, growing up, I always wanted a horse - now, I've more than made up for all of my longings, but you have no idea how it makes me feel to see her so happy riding - it just makes my heart dance!

She is so poised, so confident, so "in the moment" -

...and she thinks Mrs. Robin is pretty funny, too...

Taking a small break from the riding lesson, this is Gracie with Fynley - she is doing great as you can see! She has a ton of spunk and, believe it or not, my 5 year old wears out long before my 2 week old does! :)

OK, now back to the lesson - she makes her momma proud! :)

I think that's it...oh, no...one more thing...Today, I went to Gracie's school to help her class tie-dye t-shirts...that was big fun! I might forever have purpley-blue, sunshiney yellow, pinky tuscadero hands, but we sure did have a good time - :)

Now, we're off to see what trouble we can get into, so we can have more reports for you later - Have a good weekend!

Babies, Babies Everywhere!

I know, I know! What a great picture to open up with, right? But, you guys always want the whole story, so here it is...in all its glory!

When I went to feed on 9/14, Greta was acting funny, standing by herself...she came to the feed trough, but wasn't there more than a couple of minutes and she started moving down the fence line, rubbing her heiney the whole way - she was in labor!

Everybody moved with her...for these guys to not want to eat - something's up! Look at little Delaney right there in the middle - even she knows something big is about to happen - after barely a week, she won't be the baby of the herd anymore...

When I left, Greta had chased everyone away and was in the very back of the pasture by herself...I've just got my camera zoomed in so you can see her hiding...

The next morning, I was introduced by the whole family to Fynley. Cloudy, to the right, has been the only other baby we've had that has been almost all red, so I was so excited when I saw her! Cloudy is more of an orangey red, whereas Fyn is more of an auburn color - you can see Delaney standing behind her...she's even more tiny than her! Fyn has the gumby legs like they all do when they are first born, but they will straighten with time...

Dallas was feeling a little outnumbered by all the women I think...he went and hid in the bushes...

Greta's giving Fyn a bath - looks like it feels good -

she's looking mighty sleepy...

yep...

We gave Greta 24 hours to see if she would let her nurse...and nope. The other two moms didn't take her either, which really surprised me...so, here we go again...we brought her home. Lexie loves her although we don't let them be together too often. Fyn's too fragile right now, but when she gets a little stronger, it looks like Lexie will finally have a friend of her own kind...

Got milk???

Mmm, mmm...deeeelicious!

Put Your Helmet On...

...strap yourself in...we're going on a time machine! Remember when I said there was a Part II to our Hill Country Vacation? - yes, that would be back in July... The Fiesta Texas pictures? Better late than never...Here we go...

Whoa...that's a bit too far...

...still too far...

...getting closer...

Yay! Fiesta Texas... That's me & Grace with Bugs...

The water park wasn't open yet, so we decided to sneak in a ride or two until then...the Roadrunner Express (yes, a roller coaster) was the first thing that we came upon that she was tall enough to ride and she wanted to ride... BAD. We told her that it would go very fast and there would be some "dips"...yeah, dips. The kinda dips that would make Mommy want to lose the Filet-O-Fish that she had just eaten at McDonalds minutes before... but, she was still game and who were we to refuse? This was the part of the trip all for her...

Well, it's a long story, but we were separated by a couple of seats because two teenage boys jumped in where I was supposed to be...the ride was over ...you can just get a glimpse of her poor little face trying to find her Mommy...

...it scared her, but I just kept telling her how brave she had been and how she was going to be able to tell all of her friends that he had ridden a roller coaster ...and things got better...that's the ride over my head...yep, she did that!

awwww....

...and then the water park opened and after we changed clothes and got a locker, well, they were ready to close...just kidding, but it felt like it took that long...we're on the lazy river here...

oops...that's not Gentleman Jack...

playing on the pirate ship...

...then in the wave pool...

some underwater shots...

she really does look like a mermaid...and that's a good thing because that's what she has chosen to be for Halloween... :)

We had a great time, but we all went back to the hotel and totally crashed...we slept for three hours and went to a late dinner at Maggiano's Italian...a great end to our last day of vacation!

September 4

A super Friday...first, Jack served as Guest Reader for Gracie's class. He read What Happens When I Talk to God: The Power of Prayer for Boys and Girls by Stormie Omartian.

I thought he was doing a great job, but after the first page, Gracie corrected him and told him he had to show the class the pictures before he turned the page...so here he is back-tracking. That girl - she's a bossy little thing! I think she gets that from her Daddy :) (Becky, shhh.)

So proud - she just told one of her classmates, "This is MY Daddy reading, you know?"

The reading was at the very end of the day, so the three of us left school and headed to feed horses... and what did we find?

Do you see her? From left front, Matches (5 mos.), his Mom, Stormy, Greta, Dallas, and Cloudy, and in the back, our new little girl, Delaney, and her Mom, ZsaZsa - the whole crew!

Whereas Matches and Lexie just had the red crown on their head, Delaney has a full rosey red face and just above her tail on her back is also quite rosey.

Welcome, Delaney! You are a real cutie!

This is Greta, Lexie's Mom, and we think she should be having a baby soon, too. If she has it soon, we're hoping that ZsaZsa would raise it as well...or, if we're double-lucky, maybe by watching ZsaZsa with Delaney, she would get the hang of what being a Mom is all about.

Poor ZsaZsa's bag is so heavy - supporting another baby in this heat might do her some good - here, she's headed to the feed trough...

Delaney decided that she had had a full day fighting her way into this world and it was a great time for a nap... sleep tight, little one.

Waitin' on a Woman...

Turn up the volume and enjoy the song...I know this is what you guys feel like...you've been waitin' on this woman to do some bloggin'! Jack and I went to Brad's concert last night, so this seemed appropriate...anyway, after Becky and Aunt Mary emailed/called to see if I was still kickin' or not, I thought I better at least make a short post - it feels so warm and fuzzy to be missed - thank you. Even though Bec was teasing me about it (because that's just what I need - another chore on the ever-growing list), I'm Grace's Room Mom, and with the start of the school year, things have been slightly hectic CRAZY! I'm sorry for the long hiatus, but we're all doing fine, even if sleep-deprived - OK, here we go....


These are pictures from three weeks ago - this is her first Show-n-Tell - she brought one of her stuffed ponies - she doesn't look proud or anything, huh? ;)!


One day before school - still lookin' happy...good news for Mom & Dad...

One of Jack's good friends since high school, Sergio, had a birthday party for his little girl, Mariana. She turned two. Here she's having a grand ol' time on a big blow-up water slide/pool...she's a super cutie patootie!

This Mommy forgot her daughter's bathing suit (please reference the "CRAZY" comment above), but miraculously, Sergio and LeAnne found a size 3 outfit that we squeezed Gracie into and it fit (kinda) like a bathing suit. They had a great time!

They drug the big, purple porcupine up and down the slide more times than I can count...

...and then - CAKE! If there were a Cake Monster instead of a Cookie Monster, it would look just like me :) YUM! LeAnne's Mom made this awesome little monkey cake for her - so precious.

That Sunday, Jack mowed the pasture - the entire pasture. It's a good thing, too - with the showers that we've been getting the past couple of days, it will start to grow fast again.

This is Gracie's riding lesson from a couple of weeks ago - we didn't have one this weekend because it has rained even more in Friendswood than here - and for this lesson, Friendswood had just received a shower the evening before and Pal decided to take a roll. Boy, did Gracie have fun trying to clean him up for a ride...can you say "stinky"?

Then can you say "pur-dee" (that's "pretty" for all you non-redneck folk)?

She's cleaning his belly, too...such a little hard worker we have -

Finally, the ride... try not to get dizzy...I don't think I was awake yet (major case of the wobbly camera), but Ms. Robin and Pal got a little workout, and Grace is learning more with every post-

I promise that I have more news...but this is a start...and you'll hear from me much sooner next time...have a good weekend!