November 19, 2009

Fall 2009 - This and That

C and his dog.


The ponies, Prince and Spanky.


Cowboy, looking contemplative.




The "girls" that provide our delicious brown eggs. :o)



One of Lily's kittens, that Spanky stepped on seconds after this was taken. I think she'll be all right.


Spanky, being friendly.




Daisy, who also had a litter of kittens, but would prefer that Aunt Lily do most of the mothering.




Prince is starting to look kind of shaggy - he's growing his winter coat.






Daisy





Lily. She's a good mama.






My black-eyed Susans are looking tired and cold.





'Autumn Joy' Sedum - I love it's red color in the fall.





The Johnny Jump-Ups are still blooming away, mid-November. Awesome. In our house, we affectionately refer to them as Jackie Pop-Ups.







October 16, 2009

Back from hiatus

Well! I took a long break from blogging, but hope to get back to it now. I was rummaging around a bit in my old pictures this morning and found my school picture from kindergarten.



I laugh at the bangs. Mom used to trim them by applying a piece of Scotch tape across them and cutting along the bottom edge. She also made my little chambray sailer top. When I was a kid, I LOVED red and blue . . . and still do!

Ahhh - kindergarten. Fond memories of dear, gentle Mrs. Hauge, singing around the piano, naptime, the little cartons of milk that we all got every day, the big cardboard building bricks, and drawing life-size pictures of ourselves. Life was very uncomplicated!

July 18, 2009

J's Graduation from High School

I forgot to post about J's Grad the end of June. Oops! I posted some pictures on Facebook but forgot about my blog, so will have to remedy that, however late! :o)

The grads always have a parade - J rode on her friend's 4-wheeler.



Before the graduation ceremony we took a few family pictures . . .



. . . and a few of J and her close friends.



J was one of 6 in her class that got an award for getting marks above 90% in at least 5 classes this year. Congratulations, J!







She was pretty excited!





In the evening they had a banquet for the graduates and their parents. It was pretty nice! The decorating committee worked hard to transform the auditorium. The theme of the evening was "One Night in Paris". There was an Eiffel Tower in the entrance that you walked under, a cafe, a bridge, the Paris skyline on the walls, and a replica of the Arch of Triumph, which someone's parents worked VERY hard on! It was amazing!

A. and I at the banquet:



The Arch of Triumph:



J in front of the cafe:



The other two girls from her elementary school:



All the gals in their very colorful dresses, taken on the bridge:



It's pretty hard to believe that this chapter of her life is finished - it's gone so quickly! Soon she'll be starting a new chapter.

We love you so much, J! :o)

Hotspot Festival Parade

Today K was able to participate in a neighboring town's festival parade. K was doubtful that it would work out, so she was quite happy when it did! We were up late last night, polishing the saddle, bridle and her boots. She was up bright and early this morning, raring to go. It was a short night!

She loves her pony, Spanky. Can you tell?



He seemed a little nervous, so she led him around the school grounds where they later saddled up.



A cute little girl with pink cowboy boots wanted to know, "Could I please pet your horse?"







A little ride around the grounds to make sure everything's adjusted right.



It was a pretty short parade. We watched it near the beginning of the parade route, and then moved so we could watch it again at the end.







Smile for the camera, Spanky!

July 7, 2009

Mercy and helmets - good stuff (mostly mercy!)

Every Monday evening this time of year, and weather permitting, K's 4H horse club rides at the riding arena. Yesterday we got there pretty late, since I didn't get home from bringing J to Wpg for a dental appointment until after 6. Right away when we got to the arena, K hurried up and got Spanky ready to ride as quickly as she could. I joined a parent meeting that was in progress, feeling kind of bad that I couldn't keep my full attention on K entering the arena.

During the parent meeting, I looked over now and then to try to see how things were going for her. I could see her riding, and everything looked fine. Suddenly I saw another horse and rider going at a fast clip toward the waiting kids on their horses, and it ran right into K's pony, T-bone style, knocking him to the ground with K on him. I ran over to see K laying on her side, helmet still in place. She was awake and crying. Someone called for an ambulance. She was able to move everything and talk to me, but had a headache. By the time the ambulance got there she was sitting up and things were looking pretty good. They checked her over and I made the decision to bring her to the hospital myself since she didn't seem badly hurt. We borrowed a van, since I had borrowed a truck and trailer to get there, and got on our way to the hospital.

I was second guessing my decision to not use an ambulance when K started asking me the same questions over and over and began complaining of neck pain and increasing head pain. I felt so bad about deciding to bring her myself, and prayed hard on way to the hospital. I called A and he left a jobsite and started for the hospital.

Once we got to the hospital, they checked her over and did a neck x-ray. The doctor didn't think a CT scan was necessary. He couldn't see anything on the x-ray and spent a lot of time talking to us about why they didn't do a CT scan, since I was wondering - I was pretty concerned about her having asked me the same questions over and over, and her intense headache.

Soon we were free to go, and brought her home. Once home, she seemed more and more her old self, joking with J and C. By then it was after 11, and she went to bed. Her neck felt better, and her headache was almost gone - she didn't even want any Tylenol. I roused her a bit twice before I went to bed, and she responded well, and has again this morning.

Can you say RELIEF??????? I am filled with thankfulness to the Lord for watching over her and protecting her. And I'm glad she was wearing a helmet.

That's Spanky, the pony K got about 2 months ago, on the top of my blog - I've been meaning to introduce him here, but haven't gotten around to it yet. I'll have to do a separate post about him yet. And by the way - Spanky's fine. :o)

July 5, 2009