Another Horsey Morning

Every morning, I get up with the sun (or before) and try to sneak past Davey who's sleeping in his crib so I can pull on my boots and head out to the barn to feed, water, and pasture my mares & mom's mares. I go out, throw a little hay and open the gate to the main pasture so my girls can go graze in the tall grass of the big pasture. There is all kinds of Timothy, Brohm, and Alfalfa along with orchard grass, and blue grass out there. There are also a couple of short wild blueberry bushes, wild strawberries, and dew berries all over out there, and an apple tree that they nibble the fruit from in the fall. The majority of the grasses out there is as tall as I am right now. Sure, there are spots that are nibbled down, but for the most part, they could eat out there all day & night and still not eat it all down. But, I digress.
Every morning, I trek through the back yard, past the pony staked out in the clover, towards the barn where I am greeted with cheerful and warm nickers from (in order) Trixie, Lady, Dona & Velvet. Rosie & Wheezy call to me too, but it's my mares I'm focused on. They are usually grouped up near Rose & Wheeze (who stay seperate from them 90% of the time) until they see me. Then they ramble on up to me because they know I'm going to pet them, then let them loose. They all need snuggles. So I am happy to oblige them. I finally took a camera with me.
They were in a good mood, and happy together. What more could I want from them?
Well, maybe a ride later. We'll see how the day shapes up.

Kayleigh

My sister has this darling little girl - well, she has two, but this one makes me laugh much more than her big sister.
Kayleigh is 2. Whoever said they were terrible just didn't have an appreciation for a very small child's outlook on life. How can you take up issue with such big innocent eyes when they look at you and say 'WHY?'. I will never know. Yes, it gets irritating around the 40th time, and it doesn't get any better around time #463, but you got to admire that insistence that there must be more to ... whatever it is.
She adores her cousins. Loves to spend time with Larry even if he says 'I just can't take her anymore!! She makin' me crazy!!!' Which, makes me laugh a little every time.
Every time she sees me without David, her first words to me are not the usual 'Hi, Kimi'. Oh no, it's - 'Baby up-tairs? Why? Where baby?' She will sit there, and watch him and say 'Hi, baby' about a gazillion times.
She keeps up with even the biggest kids most of the time, and she can kick her big sister's butt. I've seen it happen. Of course, Hannah likes to pick on her - as most big sisters will do.
There was an instance a few weeks ago that, I'm sorry, I had to laugh.
Hannah snuck something out of the refrigerator, so of course, Kayleigh wanted one of whatever it was too. Only, Hannah blocked her, and wouldn't let her get in. Kayleigh said 'Want. One. ... WANT ONE TOO!!!' but Hannah just looked at her like 'ha ha, can't make me move, and I don't want you to have one'. Kayleigh punched her square in the face. Maybe it shouldn't have but it cracked me up right on the spot.
I bring her up because she is hanging with me & the little boys for a little bit this morning, and she always ends up doing something very uniquely Kayleigh. I look forward to whatever silliness she comes up with.

The Campfire

After the birthday bash week, Larry rekindled his friendship with his ol' buddy ol' pal, Kathleen. They have spent the night together at her house, and now, they've had a campfire, with her little sister, Kyra in tow. It was a fun evening. They had burgers for dinner then played while I got Champ ready to give them pony rides. Larry was showing off his horsemanship by leading his pony for the girls to take a ride. Then, they headed up to cool off, and play in his room while I put Champ away, and then we got to have a campfire to roast some marshmallows & make some smores. They seemed to have a pretty good time, running around like little maniacs, screaming, throwing a hackey sack at each other, and falling into fits of giggles. They caught lightning bugs, and had races up and down the gravel road. Before it was all over, they didn't want to leave. Even Kyra wanted to stay. They played balloon volleyball, so to speak, and when it hit the ceiling fan, holy wow. You'd think there was never a funnier thing in the world.
Makes me remember being a looney kiddo myself, and doing the same things.
This is one of the best parts of summer ... well, that, and riding the horses, thunderstorms, fresh produce by the ton, and swimming in the lake. Yeah. That's about it.

The BIRTHDAY week.

I swear, I am going to start keeping this up regularly. I swear. Any day now, I will get my chit together and start writing daily ... well, maybe weekly to start. Or, when something cool happens. Eh, Guess I'll keep playing it by ear, but try to up date more often.

There is a week in July that is pure birthday extravaganza around here. It kicks off on the 25th when we celebrate my hubby's birthday - not anything huge usually, just a nice quiet dinner is usually in order, and a cake of course - this year it was peanut butter cup cheesecake.
Then I get a day off to wash the pans. Then it's my little boy's birthday - that I will write more about below. Another day off, and then Mom's birthday. She got a blueberry pie and potato sausage. Silly me didn't take pics of the process.
On with the kiddo party!

It's been about 2 weeks since Larry's 7th birthday. It was a BLAST. It went far better than I had anticipated. A dear friend and mentor offered to let me borrow a couple ponies to ease the Old Man's load, and bless her heart - she brought four. FOUR. There were a total of 5 ponies of various shapes and sizes all tacked up (except for Mr. Huggs) giving rides to nearly every kid there. And, there were about 14 kids. There was very little wait time. We had some games in mind, but the ponies proved to be so much fun that we skipped over some of that other stuff :D
He had a blast with his friends, and cousins, and my friends' kids too.
We did it old school - kids, and hot dogs, and ice cream cake. And pony rides. The pony riders got ribbons for participation. We all had a nice lunch together, of course, presents, and then, a nice water fight in the back yard. There was much merriment, and all the kids went away with some bubble gum & tootsie rolls too.

Thanks AGAIN and SO MUCH to Dona, Sarah, Piper and Riley for bringing the ponies, presents, and partying with us - (a big thanks to their ponies too - Mr. Huggs, Midnight, Dreamer, and Cookie). Thanks, also to all the kids that came - Reagan, Cooper, Lillian, Scotty, Joey, Kathleen, Kyra, Hannah, Kayleigh, Lex, & Josh. Parents, it was great to see you - love you like family Jeana, and Valerie. Love you cause you ARE family Jess, Jimmer and Steph!

And, of course, it goes without saying, but I'll say it anyhow : Thanks Mom & Dad for all the effort you put into making Larry's party a success. It was afterall what he REALLY wanted for his birthday. More than any presents, or cake or balloons. He wanted to enjoy some time with his friends and the people he loves. And that's just what he got.

4th of July

Another 4th of July has come and gone, without much fanfare around here. Our party hearty neighbors have all seemed to use the celebration of our country's inception as just another reason to get blind stinkin' drunk and act like jackasses. It's been like this since they moved in.
So, as I sat under the fireworks display in our local little berg, with my 6 year old son on my lap, with his ears plugged with his little fingers to block the sound, and his new green LED light sabre on his lap, I couldn't help but wonder what happened to the patriotic enthusiasm that so many people had when I was a kid his age. Even at the nice small town display I was unfortunate enough to sit next to a motor mouth, and a motor mouth kid that could do nothing but criticize the offerings of explosions that tiny town could offer. It seems that every year I hear more, or maybe I just notice more people bitching about the display, rather than just enjoying them.
I know it's basic, but if you aren't pleased with what they have to offer, they do hold fundraisers, and ask people to donate to make the display bigger and better.
The 4th was a holy holiday when I was growing up, due in no small part to my Grandpa Harry who LOVED the 4th. I won't get into his story now, but one of these days.....
That's probably why the more I live where I do, the more bitter I get about the 4th.
Every year, the 4th of July is celebrated (by our neighbors & near neighbors) the same way every long weekend is. It's an excuse to get blindly drunk, not just on the day, but for the entire weekend. The only difference is that they may even light themselves on fire - it has happened, and it's not as funny as you might think it would be.
Well, it was pretty funny. Kind of like - karma, with a side of HA HA HA!!!
But I digress.
Is it really necessary to be three sheets ALL weekend? I'm not kidding here. When they finally move in the early afternoon, the first thing all of them do (including the teenagers - what kind of parent encourages their kids to be BLASTED???) is to crack open a cold one. And, not of the good ol' Coke v. Pepsi variety. I don't believe they even grilled out this year - just liquid lunch all the way around. It's disheartening. But I will quit ranting now.
In fact, I just hope everyone had a fantastic 4th, with family, fireworks, and good friends. I also hope no one got lit on fire that didn't entirely deserve it, and that those that did, were promptly put out, without serious injury. Maybe just enough to give them enough of a scar to straighten them out a little.