Riding Lessons

Abby and Phantom

If you would have told me that one day I'd be paying someone to give one of my kids horse riding lessons, I would have called you crazy. I spent more time on horses growing up than I did being social with actual humans. I could ride bareback, barefoot, in a pond. All at the same time. I always thought that I'd be able to pass on my knowledge of horses to my young ones without any problems. What I didn't think of was what I am obviously missing - a horse. My  mom has two horses, but neither of them are anywhere near being kid-broke. As I don't have land of my own, I can't have a horse of my own and neither can my kids.

So, Abby has struggled with extra-curricular activities. She doesn't want to participate in anything at school and most definitely doesn't want to play sports. When I asked her what she'd like to try, she said, "nothing." One day I ran across an ad in the local paper for a lady in our town that gives riding lessons at a very reasonable price. When I mentioned it to Abby, she nearly flipped out! She got so excited that I decided that it was something we could do for her. I signed her up and the lady, Miss Janna, is super awesome. She is very sweet, incredibly knowledgeable, and has a really down-to-earth attitude when it comes to riding and horses. Best of all? It's western riding. None of that fancy-schmancy english riding. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but it's just not my style.

Abby has had six lessons thus far and she's really blossoming. She can name all the riding parts (saddle, stirrups, bridle, etc.) and can lead her horse to the arena and ride on her own. She's ridden two horses - T.J. and Phantom. That girl is really in her element and she is in love. One day, I hope to go riding with her. It will be amazing and I can't wait. So am I ashamed to pay someone to do this? No. Because currently, I don't have the means to do it myself. I am so happy that she has found a new passion and I am blessed to know that we really are a lot alike, Abby and me.

She could groom them all day.

Abby and T.J.

Finally on "The Black". She's always wanted to ride a black horse.

Christmas 2015

Despite the cold weather (which I can't stand), Christmas is easily one of my favorite times of the year. Yes, it's been tough since Dad died. I always have my moment of tears. But having kids makes it hard not to enjoy the season. I get my moments of bah-humbug every year. I generally experience this moment around the shopping time. I love buying gifts for people, but I hate the greedy crowds. Nevertheless, I always seems to bounce back. The kids just get so darn excited that it's hard not to get excited with them.
This year we put up our tree a few days late because of the paint job being executed. Upon decorating, I became aware that my cheap Dollar General tree from my college days was starting to look old. Not to mention that the sheer number of ornaments (mostly handmade from the kids) was starting to overtake the tree. The conclusion? Our tree is too small and we need a bigger one. I've been trying to convince Josh for a few years that we need to get a nice big one and donate our old one to a family who has no tree. He has, thus far, decided it can wait until we (and I quote) "get a bigger house". Ha! I think this year he saw the light.

Anyhow, we had a great Christmas. It was filled with lots of love, good food, presents, and our annual singing of Happy Birthday to Jesus. Funny thing, I actually sort of forgot about that part this year and the kids wouldn't open their presents until we sang it. Great kids! We've started a new tradition (to help mom with her Christmas blues) of having mom over for Christmas morning. I think she really enjoys it. Milo comes to join in the fun. Poor pup was exhausted after it all.

We got to spend time with both Jake and Jeremy with their families at one point or another during the holiday break. The kiddos were so excited to spend time with all their cousins. We missed seeing Aaron and his bride though. Sure hope we get to see them for one Christmas sometime soon.

The kids got pretty much everything they wanted this year, save a few items of course. We had a great Christmas dinner and even had an awesome New Year's eve playing board games with Jeremy and Dianne. Let me tell you that if you haven't played Scategories, you're missing out. I haven't laughed that hard in years. My cheeks were sore! All in all, the holiday break was wonderful and filled with many blessings. Now it's the long, dark haul until spring. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

My three little turkeys in their new jammies.

The crazy kids tearing into Christmas morning gifts.

Abby's new cow girl hat that she wanted.

Mom enjoying the morning. It's our new tradition for her to celebrate with us.

Jetfire...the toy he loved from childhood.

A new fishing pole to go fishing this summer.

A mouse from Grandma.

Proving that I was actually there. I stink at selfies.

The crazy kids wore out Milo.

Evie and Grandma. So sweet. :-)

Merry Christmas, Dad. We miss you.

Quilting Fan

Thirteen years ago, I worked on my very first quilt. The one-year anniversary gift is paper/cloth. I used this as an opportunity to make a quilt for Josh for our first anniversary. I did the whole thing in secret. I only worked on it when he was gone and used mys sister-in-law's machine to quilt it. She had done a few quilts and helped me out. When it was all said and done, I'd bled way too many times (stupid straight pins) and messed up more times than I wanted to admit to. Once it was done, I vowed then and there that I would never again make a quilt. Well...oops. Turns out that I shouldn't have said "never". You know what they say. Never say never.

When Alex was about to go into his big-boy bed, I decided that I would try my hand at another quilt. The reason for this was his horrible problems with polyester. It caused really bad eczema and itching so I wanted him to have something cotton to cover up with. After it was done, I decided that I kind of enjoyed it. Then I went on to make my third quilt for miss Abby, a fourth quilt for my niece Greta, and just recently finished my fifth quilt for miss Evie. My grandma (mom's side) is a huge quilter. Turns out that she's passed this love on to me. Who knew? It's very relaxing and rewarding at the same time. I'll be starting my sixth quilt in January for my mom. It will be my very first t-shirt quilt of all my dad's old shirts. I hope it turns out good. I'm excited to start it. After that, I plan on starting new quilts for each kid. They've sort of outgrown the themes that they have on their beds and Abby's is showing significant wear and tear. Onward I go!