Elk Fest

I am getting so behind, that I'm going to have to have posts in between the weddings & trips until I get the days all posted.

This Sunday we decided it was time to head out of town and to the mountains. That is what they are there for and we really do take them for granted living here. It was Elk Fest in Estes Park this weekend. We got up Sunday morning and did some things around the house and got ready and headed out around 11am. The goal though was to not spend money, just go and enjoy the day and the mountain air. We told the kiddos this before leaving so they understood we were not going to buy stuff and shop, just to look. Junior thank goodness took a nap on the way up the mountain because he wouldn't lay down earlier for a nap when we tried. Katelynn was really fun and in awe of the canyons on the way up. We hadn't probably been up there since she was 2 1/2 or so (isn't that horrible). It was a rat race when we got there; which I figured it would be, but the weather was beautiful. We had to walk a ways to get to the park with the tents and did some walking and stopped and sat and the kids each had a bananas we brought them. After that we decided to head to the shops to find somewhere to get a snack and a bathroom. We found a local grill and Dan and I had a beer and we got some onion rings and cheesy fries. The kids were so good in the restaurant, it is so hit or miss with them when we take them out. After that we walked around a little more and headed back to the tents. The kids were not interested in the elk bugling contest so I took Katelynn around to some of the Indian arti-crafts they had set up. I wanted to see some elk for elk fest -where are all the elk? It was too warm for them to probably be down the mountain yet, so last resort I told Dan to drive by the golf course. I have yet to be disappointed on a trip to Estes Park where the elk were not gracing there. Sure enough there was one big, bull elk lazying around a tree. I personally think they transplanted him there because he just sat there and was so nonchalant with all the people. We took a little walk down the road and I got some great pictures, which is what I wanted for the day. We stayed in Estes for a few good hours and it was time to head home. Down the winding mountain we went and Junior eventually started screaming in the back seat. Poor little buggers ears I'm sure were hurting. And then - BLECK and YUCK - the banana came back up and he got car sick. Too much winding and too much motion. We found a little convenient store to pull over and attempt to clean him up the best we could. You can only imagine the commotion in the car. Windows down the rest of the ride home and he was fine after that. Lesson learned: take it easy on the way down the mountain and daddy will probably never take him on a trip to Estes Park in the corvette!

Can't beat the view! It almost looks fake.

The Elk is in the background.

Day 3 in Minnesota - Wedding # 1

Congratulations to Josh and Makayla Blanchard. Married on August 28th, 2010.

Thank you for letting us be a part of your day.

Katelynn and I had to be at the hair salon at 8:45am for her appointment. Good thing it was only a few blocks away and we were able to follow the bride there and not get lost, a good way to start the day. A few of the girls looked a little rough from the night before, but everyone seemed happy and ready. It was a great place that they had chose. All the girls had their own room to do hair and the salon was huge, so it went pretty quick. I ran to Target to get some Starbucks and some donuts for the two flower girls to eat while they waited their turn. I got back and Katelynn's hair was already underway. She did such a good job of coloring in her coloring book while she waited for her turn. I had pre-warned the girl doing her hair that her head is very sensitive, but we had worked on brushing it out good that morning. She did awesome and was such the little princess and a little Starbucks smoothie didn't hurt!

Katelynn and the bride.

Once the we finished with the hair we went back to the hotel. The bridal party had to be back at the church at 11:45am for lunch. Those of us with vehicles at the hotel had to drive as many as we could to the church so they wouldn't have their cars there, I said I would take 3 people. I figured I had some time to start getting myself ready and let Katelynn watch a show with strict instructions to not lay down on her hair! Well, I wasn't quite fast enough because I was just finishing blow drying my hair and had most of it up in clips and one piece straightened when my phone started ringing and they were ready to go. I am sure I looked like a gem! Into the car we went and it was the funniest ride from Fargo to Moorhead. Katelynn wanted to make sure that everyone was buckled and we were telling jokes or more making comments that were slightly over her head and she was asking a million questions. We got to the church and I dropped them off and told Katelynn to listen to all the girls. One of the girls in the wedding was a make-up artist so I asked her to cover up Katelynn's bruise and 2 huge mosquito bites on her forehead she had gotten the night before. I drove back to the hotel to finish getting ready and get back by 1pm so I could be there when they were taking pictures. The picture taking is long as it always is, but the two flower girls did good. They took pictures inside and then outside and there was a lot of just hanging out for us. The pictures I'm sure will be beautiful. There was some pictures they were trying to take of the bride and the 2 flower girls, but Savannah had, had enough and wasn't really wanting to listen. It's a long day for the kids and no time or opportunity to nap.

Here are some of the pictures that I took.

Katelynn and the Groom.

The wedding party had to then hang out in the back once the guests started arriving, but it was nice that I was able to go out and say hi to some of my family that I didn't see the day before. Dan's mom and nephew met my mom at my hotel room to watch Junior during the wedding. We figured that it would just be easier and I would actually get to watch Katelynn and the ceremony instead of chasing after him or trying to keep him quiet if he didn't want to sit still. We did feel a little bad for him because here he has met how many new people and then Grandma has to drop him off with more new people and leave him there with him, poor little guy.

I went back and gave Katelynn a kiss and hug and told her to do a good job and be sure not to talk during the ceremony. She did really good walking down the isle and standing up. A little bit into the ceremony Savannah started to walk around and her dad had to come and get her. Katelynn started looking really tired and I motioned to my cousin to have her go ahead and sit down where she was. It was cute, her dress was spread out all around her. Although her being tired made her yawn and it was quiet in the church and she gave a big, loud yawn, twice; that should be interesting to watch and hear in their wedding video. Katelynn walked back down the isle after the bride and groom and all went well. Yeah, she did it!!

Katelynn and Savannah and Great Grandpa Barney.

Katelynn and Savannah and Great Great Grandma Faye and Great Grandma Laura.
The reception was good food and Dan's mom and nephew were able to come and eat with us at our table. Katelynn was so excited to see her other Grandma. Just think she had 4 Grandma's in the same room - Grandma Renee, Grandma Davids, Great Grandma Dickhaus, and Great Great Grandma Faye - wow - I should have gotten a picture of that. Katelynn and Junior mostly hung out with Grandma Davids and Tyler in the room after that. We went and got Katelynn so she could come and dance for a little bit, but she only danced for a few songs and then she said she was just too tired and wanted to go to bed. It was 10pm. The rest of the night was mine and we definitely did some partying, dancing and lots of visiting. It was great! I had my own room to sleep in that night since I had originally booked a room for just me and Dan. I went to bed around 2:30am after having a few bottles of water in my aunt and uncles room visiting with them and my dad. (I couldn't find any of my cousins? I wonder if I got ditched?)

Also - a bad word?

Katelynn's preschool has a new show and tell program this year. Each week they have to bring something that starts with a letter of the alphabet, obviously A is the first one. I see on the calendar about 30 minutes before bedtime that Monday is show and tell day and Letter A. I call Katelynn into the room and tell her we need to find something that starts with the letter A to bring to school. She starts thinking and asks: Frog - no honey that's "F"; Dog - nope, that is "D". We go through a few more ideas and then head up to her room to look through her toy box. I cannot think of a toy that she has that starts with the letter A. All we keep thinking of is the word "Apple". Katelynn grabs a little stuffed kitty and says this is what she really wants to bring. I start thinking, how can I pull this off. Then I ask her, What is your kitties name? I knew the cat didn't have a name. I told her we should name the Kittie, Apple, and then she could bring it to show-n-tell for her letter A. We agreed on it. A little while later we were in my bedroom and I wanted her to remember that she named the Kittie, Apple, and mentioned to her, You could go into show-n-tell and tell them: This is an animal and it starts with the letter "A" and her name is Apple which also starts with the letter "A". You would think I told her to swear at the class. MOM, I am not going to say the word ALSO. I just looked at her and said, okay.
This morning I wanted to remind her of what she was presenting and probably forgot about exactly what I said the night before and said it again: This is an animal and animal starts with the letter "A" and her name is Apple which also starts with the letter "A". MOM, I already told you that I am NOT going to say the word ALSO. Oh yes, I forgot, okay honey you say it however you would like to say and that was the end of that!
I am still wondering what she has against the word?!

Day 2 in Minnesota

Friday morning we all sort of slept in and my mom was on vacation from work the entire time we were home. I was so grateful for that. We kind of just hung out at the farm for most of the day and let the kids get re-acquainted with everything from the night before. I was scrambling that day though to decide exactly how I was going to get everything organized or planned for the wedding on Saturday. We had the grooms supper that night and then Katelynn had to be at the salon for her hair appointment in Fargo at 8:45am. After that we had a short break before needing to be at the church in Moorhead at 11:45am for lunch and then pictures and then the ceremony. My dilemma, when was I going to be able to check into the hotel, I also had Dan's mom coming to Fargo to watch Junior during the ceremony and she was bringing Dan's nephew to do some shopping and she would need to be able to get into the hotel room. Also, when and where was I going to get myself ready during this time and drop our stuff and Junior's pack n play, etc.? So, finally after going back and forth I called and asked for an early check-in for one of our hotel rooms for Friday night and decided I would need to spend the money and Katelynn and I would stay at the hotel on Friday as well. I made my phone calls to those who needed to know and then we drove to Fargo to check into the hotel and get to the church for rehearsal. Me and Katelynn left and met my mom and Junior at the hotel. The hotel room was really nice. We brought in our luggage and the pack n play and I got Katelynn changed into her dress. Of course she spots the candy they left on the table for us immediately and opens one for her and one for Junior, what a sticky mess! At this point I was starting to freak out a little bit and we were starting to run behind on time. Out the door we flew. Making our way back to Moorhead to the church I took the exit off the Interstate that I should have, but I usually have drove to the church from a different exit or my grandparents house and got lost! So, here I am already running a little late and getting upset with myself for not knowing my way around anymore. I called a few people and they kept trying to tell me where to go and I kept asking for the address. "Just give me the physical address of the place so I can look at my navigation system and the street signs!" I did finally get there. You would think I would remember how to get to the church that I got married at, but apparently not.

It was so great to see my family at the church. Most of them had not seen Junior since he was born and he did really good with meeting everyone and sitting in the pew for the rehearsal. Katelynn was a doll and was pretty excited to be at practice. She did pretty good at practice, but I still had my concerns about her not talking during the ceremony the next day.

After rehearsal we went to a park for the groom's supper. My mother left me thinking I was following someone else to the park. I did try to follow one of my aunt's and ended up driving in circles around town again because they apparently didn't know how to get there either. Leave it to the out of towners to follow each other I guess. We did eventually find our where and I thought it was pretty funny; at least I wasn't the only one getting lost!

The groom's supper was set up wonderfully. There was even a park for the kids to play at. The food was great and there were a lot of people. For the entire week before we left I had been watching Katelynn closely - "Do not get any bruises on your face, you have a wedding!" One night her and Dan were having a fight with the ball pit balls and I kept yelling that over and over. We had done good keeping her face clear of marks. At the park that night she was climbing down a ladder and when she got to the bottom she took off in a dead run and made it only one step before plowing into the pole that was there - OUCH and bruise! Dang-it. Okay, we'll cover that with some make-up I guess.

As the party came to a close the wedding party, which included a lot of my cousins, were deciding where to go and grab another drink, but I told them that I had Katelynn and we were heading to the hotel. They finagled my mom into taking Junior and Katelynn to the hotel and watching the kids so I could go out. I called my mom around 10:00-10:30am and asked if the kids were asleep and told her she should just spend the night; no use waking up Junior and she was tired already, so she did. I was a good girl and had only 2 beers at the bar and was in my bed at the hotel room at 11pm. I felt a little bad about not going to the hotel with Katelynn. I was kind of looking forward to staying there just her and I and thought she'd think it was pretty neat. We'll have to get a hotel room for ourselves one night and have a girls night out to make up for it.

I have to add one thing at the end of Day 2: I don't think my right butt muscle will ever be the same again after driving for 17 hours. I don't know what I did to it, but there was no way I could sit in a pew that day and every time I had to get into my car I cringed because of the pain.

Here are some pictures of the Groom's Supper:

Uncle Jeff, Junior and Grandpa Randy

They were shocked that Junior ate 3 hot dogs, 3 strawberries, 2 garlic toast, some raspberries, 5 pickles and then still had room for dessert! That's my boy.

Always the characters when they are together.

Grandma and Junior at the church for rehearsal. Riley and Katelynn and our Nana in the background. Katelynn

Nana and Katelynn

My smiley little man.

The Drive to Minnesota

I got up on Thursday morning at about 4 am, noting that I wanted to be out the door and on the road by 4:30 am. I washed up, packed up, and woke kids up and they did pretty well getting up and going that early. It was definitely a first for Junior. We gave hugs and kisses to Dad and said see you in 12 days and we were off! I had decided that we would stop every 3 hours, so our first stop would be at 7:30am and we would get out and stretch our legs and have some breakfast, potty break, diaper change, and gas up the car. This went well. The kids watched a Disney movie and we stopped at a McDonald's and all went well. Next stop at 10:30am, no problems again and the kids were doing really good in the car. After that they decided after 2 more hours they wanted out, I decided that it was lunch time and saw an exit with a Perkins so I figured we'd take a nice lunch and run around a little. Lunch ended up lasting an hour long and we got back into the car. Junior started to get a little irritated after an hour and wanted out again - ahhhh - it had only been an hour and we were already behind schedule. I stretched it out as long as I could and finally pulled over at a rest area and let them run around in the grass for awhile. We stopped after another couple of hours because Junior started to scream and was not content at all. The poor kid did not want to sleep in the car at this point (keep in mind he got up at 4:30am) he had taken a 40 minute nap and a 30 minute nap and it was now pushing around 4pm. We stopped for supper at a Burger King at around 6:30pm. At this point I was still a way from home and I had really thought my plan and time line would have me home by supper time, that was definitely not going to happen. Junior eventually did fall asleep and Katelynn and I trudged on while it started raining bugs outside. She thought that it was pretty cool to see both the sunrise and the sunset in the same day. As we drove along we were chatting and then something came flying at my window and SMACK! in the upper right hand corner of my windshield, it scared the crap out of me. I thought it was a bird and then as I thought about it awhile I realized that I hadn't seen a bird in like six hours, so what the hell was that thing?! (Later my brother said it was probably a bat, duh!). So I drove freaked out for awhile and then about a half hour later right in the middle of the lane was a dead deer and it was dark, by the time I saw it, it was too late to do anything and I ended up straddling this deer. I was so lucky. I can't believe that it didn't bottom out my car or if it had been a buck with horns one of my tires would have been toast. At this point I could do nothing but keep driving along. Katelynn eventually fell asleep as well. We finally made it to my parents house at around 11pm (we lose an hour on the way). How did my 12 to 14 hour drive turn into 17 hours in my car?! Whew, at least we made it safe and sound.

First Hair Cut

The before picture. Look at this look on his face.

All the nice curls in the back are gone, sorry Grandma.

The torture, not even a sucker during the clippers was going to persuade him it was okay.

The After picture, still tears in the eyes, but starting to recover.

Just Some Update

I seem to find a hard time lately getting to my blog and really posting anything significant that has happened or even the short funny things. I'm sure once fall and winter roll around there will be more time because I don't like the cold and would rather be indoors.

Our summer has been pretty awesome so far. We have enjoyed so much time in our backyard. Dan keeps it looking like a golf course always! The kids just run around out there and do anything from sprinklers, the kiddie pool, swinging, sliding, coloring with chalk, playing in the sandbox and just kicking balls around. Katelynn is definitely my swinger. She has loved the swing since she was a few months old. She will ask all the time if she can go out and and swing. Junior is a slide man. We have a small slide in the basement and it's the very first thing he pulls out and will go down it over and over and over again. Outside we have a couple of slides and again he loves it. He is not so much into the swing, he will go for a couple of pushes and then he wants to try and figure out how the latches work.

Katelynn has been busy this summer with vacation bible school, horseback riding lessons every Saturday, and she is now taking swimming lessons. Gotta love the daycare provider who is willing to take 7 kids to swimming lessons everyday for 2 weeks, it's got to be a lot of work. Katelynn has been doing awesome though. This is her first time in lessons and she has already started jumping off the diving board (with the teacher catching her). Katelynn is signed up for Preschool again this year because she misses the cut-off date for out town's kindergarten class. She will go three days a week. She is also going to do tap and ballet dance class again. Eventually we will stop the horseback riding lessons because we just can't pay for it all and once it gets colder I don't want to be standing outside (I know a little selfish on that part!) Katelynn has recently really started to pick up on her hand writing. She is so hard on herself when it comes to trying new things. She must do them perfect or she won't do it at all and forget Mom or Dad trying to help! She has sheets of letters that she practices on and we call them her homework for preschool and she will sit down now and try out more and more letters. She can write her name and mom and dad without help with the spelling or letters. She has started drawing a lot more in the last 2 weeks as well. She has started drawing our family, flowers and bumble bees. The flowers are actually really good and very colorful. A few weeks ago we went to the store and picked up some art stuff to keep them busy and we picked out these beads that you put on shapes and then iron the beads and the shapes stays. I remember seeing the one's that I did when I was younger. She has finally found something that can entertain her for hours. She asks everyday if she can go in her room and listen to her CD from vacation bible school and do her beads. It's so nice! This is really the first thing she has grabbed onto and really enjoys and entertains herself with. She is getting really excited for her birthday and knows that it is around the corner.

Junior is such a little man! He is the baby by the book. Everything that you read in a book this kid seems to do. None of these things happened with Katelynn. Junior was a good, happy baby. He crawled, he walked and now he is running everywhere. We have numerous bumps and bruises. We've had a bloody nose and still a scar on his forehead from the 4th of July fall on the cement. He has tried to stick things in the outlets (which now all have covers). We have caught in trying to clean the toilets with the toilet brush and when he couldn't find that he just stuck his hand in or a toy. All bathroom doors are to remain shut even when not in use now. The boy runs us wild. He is finally starting to pick up some words and use them. Just this week he has said Bubbles, Car, Hot, Truck, Ball, and Juice. He is trying very hard to jump and get his feet off the ground. He is a Daddy's boy. If he can be in the garage tinkering with any tools or following Dad around he is there. He actually throws himself on the ground and screams when we are in the backyard and the garage door gets shut. He loves balls. Any kind of ball he will hold it, throw it, kick it, golf it, bat it - you name he does it. He listens for the most part and helps pick up. If you give him a good enough direction to follow he will do it. He has had his first hair cut and you would think the clippers were attacking him! He looks like a little boy now.

We are preparing for a trip to Minnesota for the 2 weddings this summer. It should be interesting. Tickets were priced to high now that Frontier Airlines no longer flies to Fargo, what a great loss. Me and the kids will be home for 12 days and I decided that with high ticket prices and the number of days and driving that we will do at home that I would feel the most comfortable having my own car there, so we are driving. We are still trying to figure out Dan's situation. It's always hard with his work. He can't just take a week off and tell people to wait. He is all of the sudden extremely busy and has a bunch of work going on and our hired man is leaving at the end of the month to do his internship for his master's degree, so that leaves Dan. Tickets prices again are burning up and it is more expensive to fly him back on a one way then the round trip. Either way I will be driving the 14 hours with the 2 kids by myself, wish me luck!

The Shack

A friend at work passed on a book to me called The Shack. I enjoy reading books and thought, yeah, okay, I will give this one a try. It is a book about God and is based on a man who receives a note to meet God under some circumstances that I don't want to give away. The timing for me reading this book couldn't have been better. I read it the same week that Katelynn was going to Vacation Bible School. Everything in our household was relating to God and Jesus that week starting with Katelynn's homework from VBS, to my reading this book, to the music we were listening to. The book was a very good read and I do recommend it to anyone who is possibly looking for some answers to hard questions. Where is God when the bad things happen? Why doesn't he stop the bad things that are happening in the world? What do I do in my life to live according to the way He wants? I do have to say it made me look at how I judge people and will probably continue (or at least try) to ask myself many times, who am I to judge? It also hit a spot for me on love and respect and how these are the main pieces of any relationship and if we work at those two pieces we can have a true relationship. The book has definitely left me with questions and it is still hard to know who and what to believe with so many religions and followers of different types in the world, but it has left a positive impression on me and I am glad that the book was passed my way. I hope that anyone who reads my blog will also take the time to read this book. I would love to hear any comments on other's thoughts.

The Shack

Vacation Bible School

Katelynn is going to Vacation Bible School this week and is loving every minute of it. She has come home singing new songs, dancing around, and telling us about it. I am so grateful for our daycare provider and that she takes her kids and is able to let ours join in. The cost was only $10 to send her. They have a CD of the songs that they learn during bible school for sale for another $10 and Katelynn told me tonight that she just had to have the CD. I had to explain to her that with swimming lessons coming up, horseback riding lessons, and sign-up for dance class in the next couple of weeks that I just couldn't pay for it. I gave her the option of going into her piggy bank and spending $10 of her own money on the CD if she wanted and she actually jumped at the idea. She even seemed to grasp that mommy had other things that she was paying for, for her to do and that this was something she wanted bad enough to spend her money on. She rationalized it and said if she paid for the CD then I would still pay for the other things for her to do. Sweet child! And so, she will be getting her CD. A little side note: She doesn't understand money quite yet - she said that she didn't care about the dollars anyway, just the coins~!

The Guilt of a Mishap

It was time for Dan and I to have a much needed date night and there was a co-worker of mine whose daughter had just turned 16, got her license and was looking for work. I called her mom and asked if she could drive to our town and her mom said she thought that it would be all right so I gave her a call and we were all set to go. Everything went pretty smoothly. Dan and I enjoyed a dinner out and did some window shopping and had a few drinks and headed home. The kids did great with their new babysitter and she said that she would love to come and babysit for us again. Great! We got a phone call a few minutes after she left and she had gotten a little mixed up leaving our sub-division. Dan went and found her and brought her out to the road that would take her where she needed to go. I called her cell about 10-15 minutes later to check on her and be sure that she found the right turn for the highway and left a message on her cell phone. Dan and I were pretty excited to have a high school student who was really good with the kids and would be available and started planning different things that we would like to go do. In the morning on my way to work I noticed that I had a couple of voice mails and listened to them. Well, one of them was my co-worker and she had called at around 10:30pm the night before. Her daughter got mixed around in the dark and ended up getting in a car accident. I immediately called her to find out what happened and be sure that she was alright. Thank goodness she was okay, but she did hit a car that was in a turning lane head and smucked up her car. Let me tell you how bad Dan and I felt - HORRIBLE! I still keep replaying what we could have done differently - better directions, sent her home a different way than she came, numerous things. I still feel bad. Here you have a brand new driver who is now probably a little gun shy of driving, she now has no car to drive, and she has to go to court for the accident. UGH. I talked to her mom today and she is doing okay and has gotten behind the wheel again. She is also upset because she wants to come and do some more babysitting for us and is probably a little embarrassed. I think for a few times (if she can use one of her parents cars) we will have her come and watch the kids on a Saturday or Sunday during the daytime until she is more comfortable with how to get to our house and then her mom said if we could pick her up to watch the kids she could come and get her or meet us halfway. I still feel just horrible, but her mom said that it's not our fault and then at the end of our last conversation said, You are released of all of your Catholic guilt. (I thought that was a little funny).

4th of July Weekend 2010

We had another great 4th of July this year! We invited some friends and neighbors over to BBQ and lit off some fireworks in the rain. The party started around 2pm and we were in bed at 11pm. It made for a long day for everyone, but so much fun. There were tons of kids running in the house and outside. The adults hung out and we played some lawn golf. Dan did a great job making brats for everyone. Katelynn was so exhausted from no nap that day and staying up until 10:30pm that she actually slept in until after 9 am the next morning, too bad I had to get up with Junior!

We of course had our 4th of July shirts on again this year for pictures. As we were getting ready to take our pictures before our guests started arriving we were all rushing outside and Junior was in the front. He must have felt rushed or excited, but he didn't step down quite right and then toppled over and BANG! head plant into the cement. What a bummer, the poor little guy. If you look at his head you can see the red mark. I figure next year we may not host a BBQ because we won't have the following day off, but you never know. I would also like to try to get home next year if possible for the 4th and head to my lake cabin.

Daddy & Kids

Mommy & kids

Kids

Dan & I

Katelynn

Locomotive Train

Here are a few pictures of the Locomotive train that came into town. Katelynn, Junior, and I walked over and took a few pictures, but it was hot and humid out that day. We had just come from Katelynn's horseback riding lesson and had an hour and half before heading to a birthday party. It was a busy day. For those that like trains, I thought I would share.

Horseback Riding Lesson

Me & my little cowgirl!

I found a place in Greeley, Crossway Farms, for Katelynn to start horseback riding lessons that are convenient for my work schedule and I can afford. I don't know who was more excited, me or her! We went and found her some boots at Target (I know, I know - Target?, but I didn't want to spend too much if it didn't stick). Her trainer is actually from Minnesota, how ironic, huh. She did an amazing job. She first taught Katelynn about walking behind the horse safely and all the different brushes and how to care for the horse before you ride. She then brought out an English saddle to saddle the horse and I about tipped over. English? I have only ridden Western and preferred Katelynn to learn the same, but then thought maybe they start with an English saddle so they won't be tempted to hold the saddle horn the entire time. I kept my mouth shut and Junior was keeping me busy chasing him around. Katelynn then was shown how to get on the horse and then she lead her around the arena. Then she put on a lounge rope and had Katelynn doing circles with her arms and then not holding on at all. She was a little nervous doing some of this, but did really good. She is excited to go back this Saturday for lesson # 2.

Katelynn brushing her pony before the ride.

Lounge rope time.

Teach Them Early

Here is Junior helping me with the laundry. He is such a good little helper! He will put toys away when asked (obviously not every time, but here & there) and always wants to help run the vacuum cleaner. He will grab a broom and try to sweep the floors. He is obsessed with the garage and anything that Dan has in there with a motor, especially the leaf blower. He tries to start the blower and the lawn mower by pulling the cords already and the little bugger is strong and can get them pulled out, thank goodness it's not ever fast enough to start them!
Of course will all of his helping ways and wanting to be everywhere fast he has new bumps and bruises every week. He has fallen at least 3 times on the cement outside. I swear our daycare provider probably thinks I throw him on the cement every weekend.