The Cry of the Wolf

Way to go Zane for earning your WOLF in Cub Scouts! You ROCK!!!

Footprints?! Jan. 2010

They say that someday you'll miss those handprints on the wall ...someday. What about those footprints on the fridge? hmmmm. If I were to guess, I'd say they were Zane's size!!!

Texas Fort Worth Stock Show - January 2010

hmmmm. Sadly, we went to this show SIX months ago. I am so far behind it is quite pitiful. But, I am catching up this week!!! My memory stinks, but I usually save Sierra's show sheet with the results. Of course, that is the only show where I can't find the paper for. I'll have to rely on my memory.

The Forth Worth Stock Show is a higher level of competition than our local P.O.A. shows. I think people that travel to out of state shows are usually pretty good. Otherwise, they wouldn't waste their time or money.

At this point, Sierra had owned Buster for about four months. We didn't think she was at this level yet, but her teacher thought it would be a good experience for her. It would be good to see the girls that ride how Sierra should ride... in time. I told Sierra going into it to expect that, but I think deep down one just naturally hopes to do better.

So, Sierra and I went to Fort Worth, TX. It was a very humbling experience for her. The classes are usually larger in size at these bigger shows, but for some reason the turnout was very small this year. That fact helped Sierra out in the end!

On the first day, the western classes were held. There were five girls in Sierra's age group. Now this is where my memory fades on the details. Overall, Sierra placed last in most classes...but since there were only 5, she got 5th place, which still earned her "points". She did have some classes where she did better. It seems like trail was 2nd or 3rd...which was GREAT because it was the FIRST time she ever competed in the class EVER. I can't remember much more. Overall, she was one sad little girl.... many tears. She was so frustrated. But, her teacher calmly told her to "watch" the other girls and pointed out what she needed to learn to do.

The second day were english classes and gaming. Pretty much the same thing happened. Although in jumping, I believe only her and one other girl jumped the course. So, she earned second (remember that gets her more points). The same thing happened in the english classes - mostly 5th, but occasionally she earned a 2nd or 3rd for which we were very pleases considering the competition.

When it came to gaming, she was the ONLY one in her age group. Can I say cuz she is gutsy! She may still need to work on the showing classes on holding her hands and legs "quiet", but she is an awesome rider when she is just out there having fun, gaming, racing, trail riding, etc. Her balance is wonderful. Well, or course, she earned FIRST place in all five gaming classes ...which gave her more "points". And, since we keep track of her times, we knew she also bettered her times in a couple of classes. So, that was a high note for the trip. Buster's former owners were there also. It was great to see them and they had some helpful tips as well.

At the end of the show, points are totaled. Sierra won the High Point Belt Buckle for her age division... because she tried/competed in all the classes she could. She was thrilled. It made the whole trip worthwhile and she felt better about all those 5th places. Overall, she did learn a lot. And since I am actually writing this 6 mos. after the show, I can tell you now she has become a much better rider since then. Her teacher really thinks it made a difference when she watcher those other, higher level riders. We'll see at her next big, out-of-state show!

Sierra and the belt buckle that made the trip worthwhile:).

Sierra and Cindy (Buster's former owner and one of the sweetest ladies around)

Sierra with the three older girls that came to compete from AZ (Lindsay, Katie, and April) along with Diana, the teacher/trainer.

Sierra and her love:)

Since it was a stock show, we also got to walk around to other areas where other types of animals were being judged. Sierra was determined to find a way to get this little guy home with us.
There was a carnival in the evening, so one night we went on a few rides together. It was a fun mother-daughter trip.

When we had some down time between showing, there was plenty of silly fun with the other mothers n daughters.

There was this cool maze that the girls tried to find their way out of.

I told the girls that they had to "bow down" to APril because she was the only one to find her way out. The other girls gave up and cheated their way out. Silly girls. We had a great trip. We look forward to going next year - to having fun ... and being more competitive!!!

This is why I don't try to run marathons

I'd never make it. I'd get distracted or have too many other things that became a priority. I think I did 2 out of the 13 posts that I wanted to the other day. My next post should be on our Texas trip, but I can't find the cd with the photos on it. hmmm. Somewhere in one of these piles...of the dusty piles...or one of the tarped-covered piles. I know it's here somewhere. Maybe on Sunday I can find it:).

On a lighter note....

Out of the blue, Weston tells me the other day in a very defiant, challenging tone of voice,

"Mom, you're not in charge."

"????"

"You're not in charge, Mom, you know who is in charge?"

"Who?" (I am wondering if he is going to say Todd ....maybe Todd had thought I was wearing the pants in the family a bit too much? and said something in front of Wes??? )

"Jesus Christ is in charge. You're not in charge."

It would have been cute except for that snotty tone of voice he used. It would have been so touching...almost a spiritual experience, except for his tone of voice scared away the spirit:). I know he's right in the big scheme of things, but I don't think that's what he was referring to. Oh, are the teenage years already starting at 4 for Weston?!

Momma's Helper

Wes insisted on helping scoop the horse poop. I kept trying to sidetrack him because he has a hard time getting it in the trash can. The poop seems to go everywhere else BUT there. (He just needs to be a bit taller). But, Wes really wanted to help. What a good boy! I thought that maybe I had done something right in raising a child that was so insistent on being so helpful. Pat myself on my back. We start having this little conversation on helping out. Wes said he likes to help. But, then he let me know that he was doing it to earn a dollar. What?! Oh well, I guess he's an entrepreneur. I guess as long as he's willing to work to earn that buck. Funny thing was that he forgot about it and never asked for his buck.

Walking in Water

I'm really not sure how the idea came about. But, somehow, Todd and the boys thought it would be cool if you could walk through the pool on the stilts, thereby not getting wet. So, Todd, not even changing his clothes yet from church, decides to show the boys how to do it.

Imagine the shock as he realized the resistance from the water was too much to push the stilts through. Imagine the shock to his body as he landed in the ice cold January water. Too funny! I still laugh just looking at his expression. So glad I was smart enough not to try it. Needless to say, the boys decided not to try it either after Todd's failed attempts. Smart boys.... they must take after their mother:).

I didn't get the first one taped. too bad. It was the funniest. But, since he was already wet, Todd attempted it a few more times. Cash didn't seem to mind the cold water at all.

Marathon

Today, I will do a marathon. No, not run a marathon. I'm not that crazy... or that disciplined...or that extreme. I am happy with 2-3 miles:).

Today, I am talking about my marathon posting, as my SIL, Jan, likes to call it. I haven't posted in about two months. Can you believe it?! I have A LOT to catch up on. I seem to be doing this a lot lately. I really don't like doing it either because I forget about all the little things that I had wanted to post about. If I took a pic of it, then I remember. But, that's as far as it goes. So, here's to a few hours of hopefully catching up on our family blog.

I realized that as I finished off another year (2009), I now also have another year to prep for book printing. sigh. I still haven't finished that for 2008. How come I can never seem to catch up?!