Apples of Gold

"Keep me as the apple
of the eye..."
Psalm 17:8

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~Apples Of Gold~

Jun. 30, 2009
~Rocks...Frosting...Horses~

We had fun making Father's Day special for my dh. We made cards, made a big meal w/ some of his favorite foods-steak, loaded baked potatoes, fruit jello salad, veggie salad. On the Homeschool Lounge, I saw this idea in the Father's Day thread. 4 yr old Susanna & I had a lot of fun making this "Dad rocks" project. There's a rock for each one in the family. Isn't it adorable?

We have a 4 yr old horse at a trainer right now. He's been there for 2 months & has 1 more month to go. We would have gotten him trained last summer when he was 3, but he impaled himself with a stick b/w his hind leg & his peritoneum. He missed all the important organs & muscles by the Grace of God. The vets at the emergency animal hospital said it was a miracle. But, it took awhile to get him healed up & dealing b/w the hind legs of an untrained 3 yr old horse was a bit tricky. And I couldn't help, being at the tail end of pregnancy. So, Casey, will be home soon and we can't wait. We love our trainer & he's been teaching us all & especially Hannah (13). We go every week to watch & most times Don puts Hannah on a horse, too, & gives her riding pointers. She's been on Casey once. This upcoming month, she'll be on him more so that when we bring Casey home we'll be able to continue Don's methods w/ Casey so we don't confuse him. Isn't he a pretty boy?

Here's Alyssa after having a love affair with a cupcake. LOL The cupcake loved her very much...and vice versa.

Regarding our poor injured CopperTop...he's doing ok...there's been many challenges and we're learning as we go. He started to develop proud flesh on day 8. Too much of that & they'd have to cut it out & we start at square 1 on wound care. So, we've prayed a lot for guidance & healing...and then our trainer told us about a medicine that is made in Oklahoma & is not advertised, except by word of mouth. He's cured 2 bad wounds with it. Then, another person from 4-H told us about the same medicine. So, I ordered some & we started using it & we're seeing dramatic improvement in the wound already. The proud flesh actually is almost all gone now. It doesn't sting, you don't wash or wrap. Those 2 things actually can cause proud flesh, apparently.
I spoke with the man who came up with this medicine. He's a total delight to talk to-a friendly 75 yr old cowboy who talks straight & honest. He helped me get started with it & then he answered questions from me 2 days after that. He told me I can call him 24-7. The medicine is called Underwoods Horse Medicine.
I also did online research on this & found many pages of people who have fixed their horses' wounds with it-including pictures.
Anyway, it's working great for us already & it's only been 4 days. The only problem we're having is that Copper is eating the baking powder off the wound during the night. So, we have to get him a cradle to put around his neck or rig up a contraption that Mr. Underwood told me about. My dh is going to work on that today.
I will now have this medicine on hand at all times...just in case. But, I hope we never ever ever ever deal with this kind of wound again. EVER.
I can't wait until this is behind us.
But, we certainly have learned a lot about wounds and about leaning on the Lord every minute.

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Jun. 20, 2009
~Joy and Pain~

I've had a real hard time blogging this post. I just didn't have the heart to post it. But, we're all doing better and I feel up to sharing now. This may not seem very important to some, but to my horse-crazy daughter & me (who wants to give her the whole horse-crazy world), it has been huge.

Last week, Hannah was getting ready for 2 horse shows over last weekend. I trailered her & Copper to a friend's house twice so they could practice barrel racing together-the skill, the technique, the finesse. Also, pole bending & the 50 yd dash. This is a young horse & young girl-both learning together. They've learned so much, bonded in beautiful ways. Hannah & I have had so many conversations about training & prayed for patience & wisdom so often, I've lost count.

So, they had the first show. Thyey did great. Copper was so perfectly behaved, loved competing. He & Hannah had a lot of fun and Hannah gained a lot of confidence. They even placed in everything they did.

The second show, the next day, went even better. They improved their times, tightened up their turns & bends. I got an awesome picture of them going around barrels, & accidentally deleted it. I was really upset, but Hannah told me not to worry-I had all summer to get more.

We also brought the baby bird with us-the little thing was doing really well-eating a lot, full of energy. I can't believe we carted a baby bird with us to 2 horse shows. LOL. Here's Hannah feeding him.

The back of our car got a lot of traffic-lots of kids came to see and some of them even brought worms they had found. LOL. Here's Copper w/ loosened saddle having some hay b/w classes. But, mostly, he & Hannah hung out together.

In this next picture, he wanted a taste of soda. Hannah gave him some-and then she drank out of it. A true horse girl she is. He flipped his lip up after tasting it. He's always wanting to taste whatever you have in your hand. Yet, he spits out apples & carrots!

Hannnah & I had a couple people tell us that once they both get more polished & more comfortable, they've got a lot of potential. We even talked about the National Barrel Racing Assoc. Someone told us he could take her there. That was really exciting to hear. For years, Hannah had 3 old horses-in various stages of lameness or arthritis or not enough skill/athletic ability, etc. Two of them are harness horses, so they pace. When they canter, it's a pleasant surprise-but you can't ever count on it. They're awesome trail riding horses, great personality & temperaments-very child friendly. We love them, but they can't compete in gymkana.

So, to have a horse (and another horse being trained, but is rather lazy) that has a lot of athletic ability & such a great personality & loves to compete-well, it's been great. When we bought him, I wasn't very impressed with him at first. He was smaller than I like & underfed & very dull looking. He has shined right up, gained weight & muscle and has turned out to be a diamond in the rough.

So, the next day, Hannah didn't ride him, but turned him out to graze & relax all day w/ his pony pal, Tootsie Toes. We don't put him w/ the 3 old horses because the last time we introduced a new horse into the established herd, one of the horses got a broken jaw. So, first we put the pony & the 2 younger horses across the driveway in a make-shift pasture. Then, we put them in adjoining pastures. Everything had been going fine & eventually, we'd put them all together.

Well, Hannah went down to check on them. She sent Jonah up to get me from the house-he was yelling for me to come quick. I went w/ fear in my heart. (the last time I was gotten like that, our young horse, Casey, was impaled with a stick & had to go to the vet hospital-he's fine now, but it was awful for awhile). When I got to Hannah, she was sobbing & panic stricken. And Copper's left back leg was torn all up-around 3/4 of his hock. It was a gruesome wound & he wouldn't walk. He apparently got into an altercation with 1 of the old horses thru the fence & must have got caught in it-it's high tensile wire, not barbed, thank God. But, still, we could see bone in places.

I can't begin to explain the terror, the fear of not knowing how bad this was..the helplessness at not being to fix this for my daughter. The vet was an hour & a half away. My husband was at work, but got out & came home. Soem friends came & backed up our trailer to Copper & he got on 3-legged. Our first fear was he'd die...if not that he'd be permanently lame...not to mention the end of gymkhana & the barrel racing that we'd been dreaming about.

So, to make a long awful story short. The vet came & no tendons or ligaments were cut & that he'd be ok, although, maybe not for gymkhana, as he may lose flexibility due to build-up of internal scar tissue. He got medicated, stitched up & put on stall rest. He's getting antibiotics, pain meds & we have to change his dressing. Here he is with that:

It's been 5 days now. The day after it happened Hannah said she wished that barrel racing picture didn't get deleted now because what if they can never do that together again. I did get a video clip of it, so that's good. He's doing better & we feel more hopeful. He started putting weight it on the day after the injury and now is walking around with barely any noticeable limp. The wound is looking good. He's perky & friendly, like his usual self. Oh, I almost forgot-the baby bird died the same day as the injury, too.

Hannah had drill team on Tuesday & had to ride one of the standardbreds. He was such a good boy, but he doesn't canter-no flying lead changes with him. Riding him instead of Copper was really painful for Hannah. She cried a couple times when Retro didn't do something the way Copper would have. I think it just made it more real. Her friends & their moms were so supportive. Everyone understood & made such an effort to cheer her up.
We've done a lot of praying...a lot of talking...Hannah spends a lot of time w/ Copper in his stall. He likes to lay down with his head in her lap. It's the sweetest thing & breaks my heart, too.
A couple days ago, a friend sent us pics via email of the horse show-he got some pics of them barrel racing & pole bending. I was so thankful and it kind of feels like an answer to prayer...like encouragement. Like, maybe Copper won't end up lame forever, but that maybe next summer, we'll see Hannah & Copper doing this:

...and this again:

They've had a set back...we're prayerful and hopeful that it's only temporary...that God would make something beautiful out of this difficult situation for them.

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Jun. 14, 2009
~Pieces and Bits~

Oh, I really stink at coming up with titles. LOL Susanna & I took a walk by ourselves the other day and I showed her how to use the camera. She really liked that. She took this picture of daisies.

This is our cat, Reggie. He finds the funniest places to relax-sinks, boxes, buckets..the stroller. I get such a kick seeing him in his various positions of relaxation. It always encourages me to slow down.

Here's my 2 horse crazy girls. I think I've got a #3 in the making now, too. Alyssa is trying to say horse now & gets very excited to see them-bats them in the nose if she can reach. We went to a friend's house that has an outdoor arena so Hannah could practice poles & barrels before her shows this weekend.

Alyssa, asleep in the truck:

Hannah & Copper had her gymkana show yesterday & they did fantastic. It was their first time & they worked on technique & not rushing around the barrels. Our horse trainer encouraged Hannah not to plan on winning anything-to put her young horse's training before her desire to win. She did just that, but still placed 4th in barrel racing. So, that was a bonus. She got 5th in pole bending and 3rd in barrels & poles.
Our trainer even came to watch her, which made Hannah nervous because she really looks up to him and wanted to do well in front of him.
She was thrilled that he was pleased with how she & the horse performed-even though she was thrilled anyway-she knew they did well for the first time ever doing it. She had a lot of fun. She knew a lot of people there from 4-H, hippology class & also drill team. And, she had a good friend (who been doing this for 2 yrs already & was competing with her horse, too) who stuck with her through the whole thing, encouraged her, helped keep her calm before classes, gave her pointers & reminded her from the fence to sit back back going around each barrel.
I just love that Hannah has a friend like that-those kinds of friends are worth more than gold. And, I do love her friend, also. (Danielle)

Before we left, I found a baby bird on the ground-alive. I couldn't find it's nest anywhere-believe me, I tried. Well, Susanna became it's Mama and we had to take it to the show armed with worms, tweezers & a dropper.

She told my dh that he could the bird's father. He said, "I'll eventually be his undertaker." LOL. She didn't get that, of course. We've tried to save baby birds almost every year. I do wish the birds would take better care of their babies-they are a lot of work!
We ran out of worms, so Jonah, Hannah & Danielle were searching for worms in between show classes. LOL. Jonah was in charge of chopping the worms w/ his trusty pocket knife. Hannah was in charge of feeding. Susanna was the supervisor. LOL

He's still alive this morning-peeping away, wanting more food. This little one eats a lot. I fed him once during the night. I don't know if bird parents feed their babies during the night, but I did. Hannah did, too.
This morning, I was chopping strawberries for Alyssa at one end of the counter, while Hannah chopped worms at the other end for the birdie. LOL later, we found a worm trying to make a get-a-way along the counter. Ewww. I tell ya-life sure would be dull without kids around.
Hannah's got another show today-but Danielle's grandfather is picking her & the horse up. Pat's got to work & I'm not comfortable towing the trailer on the highway. We'll meet up with them there, but won't stay for the entire thing.
Right now, Pat & Jonah are rounding up cows so we can get one steer on the trailer to go to the butcher.
Life never gets boring around here!

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Jun. 11, 2009
~Bits & Pieces~

I haven't had time for a normal post. There's been lots of life going on here. So, here's pics w/ some explanations. Susanna's been enjoying doing more artwork & crafts. This is painting with marbles:

Here, Jonah was doing science with our flannel person:

Susanna is learning to ride her pony without anyone holding him with a leadrope. He's such a good boy for her!

Here's Alyssa showcasing her luscious babyness-those eyes! those lashes! those cheeks!! This is our baby swing in the woods. It's been hanging there since before out house was built. All the kids have swung in it. Hopefully, someday grandbabies will swing in it, too.

This is Hannah at a horse clinic (she's on the chestnut horse-Copper). These 3 girls were calling themselves the 3 muskateers. Danielle's grandmother said, "more like the 3 stooges!" LOL

This is the dairy parade. I'm in the pink. Hannah's in the green on our bay horse named Retro.

My MIL & the kids watched from the sidelines. They met up w/ Jonah's friend, Ethan & their family.

We've been busy w/ schooling-lots of it and with animals-lots of those-and with children-lots of them, too. LOL It's been a good week.

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Jun. 6, 2009
~Learning Something New~

What a busy day yesterday. I mowed grass, weeded the blueberry bushes, did some weeding in the corn patch, weeded & added mulch in the veggie garden, added rocks to my flower garden walls, unraveled a reel of temporary fencing cord that the kids got messed up, moved 20 pallets w/ help from my oldest dd, and all the other usual things like meals & looking after the 2 little girls.

Pat, Jonah & Hannah moved several logs & loaded them into the dump trailer. The tractor comes in handy here.

This dump trailer load is being sold to a lumber mill. We don't usually sell logs, but we had enough firewood for the next 3 yrs and this load will help pay for the materials to finish the outdoor riding arena.

I also learned how to tow the horse trailer-and believe me-it was not under the best of conditions-and certainly was not a good atmosphere of learning environment. It was trial by fire.

First of all, I got my period yesterday. Secondly, my dh was in a bad mood. Thirdly, the trailer had horses in it and fourthly, the truck was filled with 5 children-one of them not ours. Fourthly, my dh made me back it up into a driveway when I have not ever backed anything up successfuly before. That part didn't go well. Dh started yelling, I panicked, started crying, couldn't think clearly, he ordered me out and he finished backing it up. Then, I resumed driving to the fairgrounds, with many comments about going too slow, with an occasional, "that was a good turn."

Considering all those factors, I should recieve an award-maybe a cash prize, even. LOL. I thought my first run would be w/ an empty trailer and no children. And, I visualized learning to back up in an empty parking lot.

Oh well. I'm getting the hang of it and felt more comfortable on the drive back home-and my dh was in a much better mood, too. So, I don't like going down hills and I don't like backing up. And figuring out how to be in tune to the trailer brakes, the truck brakes, a smooth road verses a gravel/dirt road, movement of the horses, not being able to see out the rear-view mirror and watching the trailer tires in both side view mirrors is going to take some getting used to.

But, I do feel pretty good about learning something new, even if it was under duress. The funny thing is the kids were in the back shushing each other. And when we picked up Danielle & her horse, Susanna told her to be very very quiet and don't say a single word. LOL

Reminds me of when I was little w/ 3 of my siblings in the back seat when my Mom learned how to drive(I was 10). We were quiet as church mice.

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Jun. 1, 2009
~Morning Food & Escapades~

I have the least inspiration when it comes to breakfast. If it were just me, I'd have oatmeal w/ honey & cranberries or apples every day. But, only 2 of my children will eat oatmeal. Probably the thing we eat the most often is home-made yogurt w/ granola & fruit or pancakes. I love trying out new granola recipes. Here is one I tried this weekend that is a my new favorite. It's called "Crunchy Granola."

I didn't make it exactly like the recipe, however. I didn't have any dried fruit except raisins and we all like granola without fruit in it anyway. Instead of doing 1 c wheat germ, I used 1/2 c wheat germ and 1/2 c oat bran. I increased the amount of almonds and I also put in a tsp of almond extract. I also added sesame seeds & flax seeds.

Oh, it smelled heavenly!! It makes a lot of granola. It tastes wonderful in our yogurt. Another neat thing is I used the maple syrup we made from our own maple trees this past Spring.

I don't need to add sweetener to the yogurt when I add granola. This morning I made pancakes and was in early-morning-not-enough-coffee-yet-mode. Alongside me was Susanna who wakes up ready to zip into the day. She asked me to make heart pancakes with sprinkles. So, I did-no problem.

Aren't they pretty? The only thing was that she kept asking me questions-she was firing them at me one after another...

"Is Grammy blind?" (no)

"Is Grammy's hair grey?" (yes)

"Then why isn't she blind?" (huh?)

"Do you die when you get old?" (umm...yes, sometimes)

"Well, is Grammy going to die-because she's old." (not yet)

"But, she has grey hair, so she's old." (but, she's not ready to die yet...and grey hair doesn't always mean you're old-Aunt Chris got grey hair when she was 20.)

"Aunt Chris doesn't have grey hair!" (that's because she dyes it.)

"She killed it?" (no, she colors it a different color. Oh, help!)

"So, when do people die?" (only God knows the day & time that happens. Umm...can you go and see what Daddy's doing?)

"He's in the bathroom. Mom, do you think Daddy has big feet?" (sure...here's your pancakes-eat up. Don't talk while you eat, ok?) LOL

While she ate, I finished my first cup of coffee & started a second to get ready for the next barrage of questions. Thankfully, she got distracted by wanting to show Daddy how she can ride her pony after breakfast.
I imagine, however, that we'll be talking more about dying later, though. Every so often, she has days when she asks about that a lot. Usually, the conversation involves one of our dogs that died, her grandfather that died and 2 dogs that did not die, but are gone from here (they were guide dog puppies that went back). But, in her mind, they're all gone from here, so it seems the same thing to her, I guess.

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May. 29, 2009
~Thanks, Mom~

Tuesday was a busy day. Thankfully my MIL came for the day to help out. She comes every Tuesday. I had to go to the dentist for the next step of a root canal. It was for the post & temporary crown. I went grocery shopping afterwards.
My dh was still home when I left to go. When I got home, my MIL was here-and she had dinner in the crockpot.
What a wonderful thing for that was-to not have to worry about or think about what was for dinner. I've always loved cooking & baking...
But now that I have to do it 3 times/day and then hear "I'm hungry-what can I have for a snack?" before the previous meals dishes are even washed up...it just so wearies me.

So, anyway, since my MIL was here & "manning" the baby, I was able to concentrate on the older kids' schoolwork without interruptions.

And, then she took the 2 little girls to get their pictures taken. That is something they haven't had done yet. I probably sound like a wimp now, but the thought of getting everyone ready, getting out the door & going to walmart for pictures overwhelms me. I'd rather do all the outside animal chores without help than do that. I'd rather clean the bathroom, even. LOL

So, the older kids & I finished up schoolwork and they both made models of cells with playdoh, which was fun. I felt so unrushed. I so enjoyed our time together. I missed the little girls, but this was a nice break to just enjoy the older kids and give them my undivided attention. Here's their cells w/ labels written on the plates:

In the evening, Hannah's friend, Danielle, came here because I was taking her & Hannah to Drill team. Next week we have to bring their horses. When I see we, I usually mean Pat. But, this time I mean me.
And I'm very nervous about it. I have to learn to tow the horse trailer this weekend.
After drill team, I took Danielle home, and when we got home, Mom had the girls ready for bed.
It was so very nice having help for the day. My dh works evenings and also overtime, so I often depend on Hannah for help. It was a blessing to both of us to have Grammy here for the day-and every Tuesday. Thanks, Mom!! We love you!

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May. 26, 2009
~A Good Day~

What beautiful weather we've had this weekend. I thought I'd post some pics. I love journaling with pictures!
My dh was off all weekend, but he's working a double today, unfortunately. He got a lot of cattle fence built. He & Jonah (11) have got this down to an art. I felt like an old fashioned farm wife bringing their lunches to the field.

I got a lot of work done in my gardens. And now that it's enveloped in snow fence, the chickens can't undo my work.

I did some weeding, put more wood chips in the garden paths & planted swiss chard, spinach & lettuce.

For the first time, I am mulching the beds. I love the look of the soil showing, but I very quickly lose the weed battle. I read a gardening book this winter called "Gardening Without Work." It was great-loved it. She highly recommended mulching w/ 8 to 10 inches of straw. I still have more straw to put in & will keep adding it throughout the summer as the plants get bigger.

The green plants that are in the paths along the edges of beds are stray strawberry plants that I couldn't bear to pull out. After the berry harvest, I'll move them somewhere else-I'm moving all the strawberries-they are very invasive & need their own place w/ room to roam.

This bed was a disaster. I never got it mulched until 2 weeks ago & it was loaded w/ weeds, old garlic plants & pricker canes. You'd never know it now! I layered paper feed sacks over all the green stuff (cut the prickers down to the ground, though), put about a foot of old manure filled hay (from horses), then put a layer of clean straw on top of that. Yesterday, I took off the clean straw, raked out the top & planted swiss chard & spinach. I can't believe how fast this worked. I got this idea from a book called Lasagna Gardening.
I have 12 of these beds, but could really use more. I might throw together some make-shift growing places in other sunny places.

Alyssa is getting easier & harder at the same time to do gardening work with. On the one hand, she doesn't fuss as much & doesn't mind the grass. But, on the other hand, she keeps trying to crawl to animals in the pasture. Here she is heading for a pasture with a bull & steers in it.

I quickly scooped her up and as soon as I saw another child somewhere, I called them over to play with her.

In my flower gardens, I planted spanish lavender, lemon verbena & bee balm. These were already started at a nursery. My kids went bananas when they saw the verbena. In fact, they got so excited, people were looking at us. It turns out that lemon verbena is Miss Beetle's perfume-you know, the teacher on Little House on the Prairie. LOL So, we had to buy some-it does smell wonderful.
I also split some patches of tiger lilys and put them in other places. Here's some grape hyacyths. I love these!

Here's some of the chickens meandering around. I love watching them-it gives me such a peaceful & calming feeling. That's our pony, Tootsie Toes in the background.

Here's a patch of wildness by the pond along the driveway. I think a good title for this picture could be "waiting for wind."

Yesterday was our last day w/ Abbie, our guide dog puppy. We brought her back in the afternoon. It was easier for me & Susanna than the last puppy we brought back, but harder for Hannah. Here's Abbie & Alyssa:

When we got back, we distracted the kids by surprising them with going to a friend's house to swim in their pond. I forgot the camera again, but it was a great time. Pat & I are now excited to get back to work on our pond. We've gotten side-tracked by so many other projects that we never finished the pond. We need to fix the berm, add fish to eat the green stuff, plant grass, level an area that we want to put sand in, build a dock & make an area where we can hang out w/ a built in fire pit. The fun thing around here is all the projects that we never run out of and never stop dreaming about.
After that, we went home, had a quick dinner & got ready for a neighboring family to come over for a bonfire & s'mores. That was a lot of fun.
They left around 10:00. It was a full and very good day.

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May. 24, 2009
~I SO Wish I Had Fur!~

Sometimes I see things in an out of my body type way. Yesterday our front lawn looked so odd that way. It usually looks normal to me.

In the front yard were 2 horses eating grass, several chickens pecking around, and 2 dogs wrestling nearby w/ Susanna also pretending to be a dog and only wearing undies.

I was weeding the flower garden around the house w/ the baby crawling near me. I've never had a baby that liked grass on their skin. They didn't have an aversion to it, they just didn't like it. She also tries to crawl on the driveway.

Anyway, I asked Susanna (4.5) why her clothes were off and she said, "I can't be a dog when I have clothes on. I SO wish I had fur!!"

That made me laugh out loud. She's such a silly, romantic, imaginative girly. She spends a good part of every day pretending to be a dog or a horse. And she is always playing with the dogs, too. Yesterday she had plastic rings on Abbie's front legs and on her arms while she crawled alongside Abbie.
I didn't have the camera, but I wish I could have captured her later in the day on the side hill (with clothes on) in tall grass w/ yellow flowers & the sun shining on her blond hair trying to catch little white butterflies.

What a funny girl she is-I love to watch her when she doesn't know it.

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May. 24, 2009
~Summery Day~

We had a really nice day Friday. We got our schoolwork done and then I watched 2 of the kids swimming in the pond (I know, it looks like pea soup). It was such a nice summer feeling. I love lazy summer days. I really enjoyed watching the dogs, too.

but Abbie was extremely busy. She is the great frog hunter. She walks around the edge of the pond very attentively & quietly-until she sees a frog and then she pounces. She also likes to flush birds out of bushes & tall grass. She'd be a good hunting dog if she doesn't make it as a guide dog.

The guide dog assoc called us 2 days ago to say they were ready to take Abbie back Sunday( today). So, I've been thinking about her & praying for her & the blind person who will get her eventually.
I find myself watching her & trying to memorize moments with her. I'm going to miss her.

I think it'll be easier than giving the last dog, Piper, back though. I had a really hard time taking Piper back. But, the last time may have been worse because right before we gave Piper back, my FIL died and then our dog, Samson died. Giving back Piper felt like the third loss in a row. But, then we got Abbie the same day & that was a lot of fun. Plus, we still had our dog, Freya. And all the other animals, of course.

Anyway, later in the day we went to the library (picked up a friend of Hannah's on the way) and the playground and walked all over town w/ Abbie. Here she is in the way back w/ Susanna:

We stopped & got an ice cream at a local shop. Then, back to the playground. Here's Alyssa on a swing. She belly-laughed so much in it.

Here's Abbie tied right next to us:

Abbie did very well. I think we've done all we can to get her ready for her formal training.

I didn't feel like making dinner & my dh works evenings, so we went to a fast food restaurant-which is a treat since we rarely do that. Hannah's friend ended up coming back home with us, so the 4 older kids went swimming in the pond again for a couple hours. I made them all take showers after that. I'm not really into the smell of pond. LOL (please let me know if you see the pics!)