What I Learned This Week

Three things I learned -

First of all, when your vacuum is no longer "sucking," try checking the filter. First, I wondered how long I had been vacuuming without suction - just spinning the brush around on my floors. Real nice! Then, I about died when I saw my filter. I'll spare you the description cause it would more than likely hit your gagger - just think of hair and dirt - lots of it. How embarrassing!

Secondly, when my daughter is enjoying a girls getaway with her cousins and grandma up at the cabin, there is a LOT less shrieking in my house. So peaceful. I wonder if Lance was going through withdrawls not having her here to taunt her...and make her shriek "LAAAANNNCE".

And, last of all, I learned that I need to watch my toddler better. I should not let my toddler go out with a horse in the back lot (well, I kind of already knew that....the kids just an escape artist). I should not let him go in a backyard with a wild rooster on the attack either. Poor Wes. He looks a little worse for wear. First, he got stepped on by a horse. Luckily, nothing was broken. We were really scared though....did the whole urgent care thing and X-rays just incase. The horse must have felt Wes' foot and lifted it's own back up in order for Weston's not to be broken. Wes was even barefoot. We were really blessed that it was only a superficial wound. Then the kid fell off the jungle gym by the trampoline and scrapped up his nose and upper lip. And if that wasn't enough, there was the crazy rooster that scratched up Wes' face today. Anybody wanna eat fresh chicken? Go get him - he's in Sterling's yard. Wes looks like he had a bad week. I'll try to get a pic tomorrow. Poor kid!

Oh, we really did have a great week! On the positive side, my vacuum now sucks....literally. Sierra had a WONDERFUL time at the cabin. I'll get pics from my mom and post on it later. The boys and I enjoyed some back to school shopping. And, we had a wonderful family gathering at Sterling and Debbie's after they blessed their newborn, Conover.

How can I forget the biggest news on the homefront. She'll kill me if she knows I'm posting it. Sierra will be starting 6th grade...and since some of her other friends already shave....I caved in and bought her an electric razor. I hear it buzzing upstairs right now....gotta get those legs silky smooth:). I know, it's just the beginning. Make- up, bras, and the inevitable friend soon to follow. Can't I just keep her my little girl forever?


And, one more thing I'll have pics of tomorrow.....there's a Storm coming:)

Another great day!

You know it's going to be a GREAT day when you start it off swimming with your horses! I was sure to bring along a camera this time. Above, Sierra is getting ready to have some fun! Look at the smile on her face:) We took off our saddles again and went in bareback.
Here, we are heading into the water for some fun.

We decided to run back to the camera. That was really hard for me without a saddle on. I thought for sure that I'd end up in the water. My horse seemed extra bouncy, like he was trying to leap up out of the water while he ran. Luckily, I didn't fall off.

Here, Sierra is going for a deep swim.

Here, Sierra is running back with the crowd this time. My "Whoa" was to my horse that wanted to go run with the others instead of standing still to take the pictures (hence the camera jig). And,yea, I guess I should have offered Sierra a little bit of compassion when she said Pepper bucked. I'm a bad mom. The poor pony has it the roughest, being the shortest. He does a great job, even though I don't think he's too fond of swimming.

Sierra and I are in the far back going for one more swim. We tried going out together for a short movie clip, but it's a little too short. Better than nothing, I guess. It was a fun ride and a great swim! And, yes, it ended up being a great day all together. We should start everyday off with a horseback ride and swim. (listen to Sierra giggling out there)

Jumpin' on Rollerblades

Lance and his friend, Aspen had some fun jumping the ramps on their rollerblades. Above, Lance is working on his 360.
They had a great time. The best thing was....no chipped teeth:).

What a life!

Oh, What do you do in the Summertime Todd and Catherine?

I went out with the Pitts women last night to celebrate Debbie's birthday. So, Todd was home with the kids. And, what does Todd do (in the summertime:)? He takes Wes out on a scooter ride(vespa-kind) around the neighborhood. Of course, this time of year, there is a familiar buzz in the trees. Next thing you know, Todd and Wes were cicada/locust hunting. Yea, that 's what Todd does in the summertime (besides slaving away in a hot, unair-conditioned lawnmower shop:). **I found out later that he also helped Zane build a wooden tank from a kit that I had picked up at Michael's. What a good dad!

Me? I ride. Horses, that is. I got up at 3:40 am this morning to feed them so they wouldn't be grumpy on the ride. Then, I tried unsuccessfully to go back to sleep, but I was too worried about sleeping in. So, at 5:00 am we head out to Lower Bulldog - by the Salt River. We climbed some hills, loped through the riverbed, and ended up back at the Salt River. Last year, we had swam with the horses....but I was in a vinyl saddle. I wasn't too sure if I wanted to get my new leather saddle all wet. Jennifer, a 16 year old neighbor, tells me that we just do it bareback in order to "save" the saddles. What?! Never. I have never sat on a horse bareback. Okay, let's try. I wanna be a cowgirl. I take off my saddle and my socks and my boots, and very UNGRACEFULLY jump back onto my horse. (I don't think I should even call it "jumping" maybe throwing myself up onto him) And so, we went swimming on our horses bareback. LOVED IT! Cherokee is a natural in the water. Pepper, Sierra's pony, needed a little bit of coaxing, but then got in. You should have seen the smile on Sierra's face....probably just as big and cheesy as mine. I almost fell off in the water once, but luckily I pulled myself back up by the mane. It was soooo much fun. And, darn it, I didn't have a camera with me. I guess we'll just have to go back next week and do it all over again with my trusty camera in my cantle bag:). Woohoo!!!

Oh, What do you do in the Summertime, Weston?

Hmmmm. I do a variety of things, but if you look closely you'll see the remnants of orange paint on Takota. Yea, that's it, I paint dogs in the summertime:)

Oh, What do you do in the Summertime, Zane?

Play Nintendo DS, of course. ...and show off my new front teeth coming in:)
and play, and play, and play....until Mom tells me I have to turn it off.

And, yes, the tongue sticking out helps one earn more points.

Oh, What do you do in the Summertime, Sierra?

I have been able to spend some time with all of my three grandmothers. First, I went to CA to see Grandma Cake (see post last month). Then, I went up to the cabin in Pine to hang out, play games, and shop with Grandma Nonie. I had a lot of fun with Nonie. Grandma Nonie spoiled me by buying a Breyer horse they found in an antique shop. (note from Mom - Can you see me rolling my eyes....that she has another Breyer...but she is estatic!) I even helped Grandma get some work done. Grandma commented on what a great worker I am.

Lastly, I came home and made a purse with Grandma Beanie. All of the older girl cousins got to pick out their own material and go over to Grandma's for a lesson in sewing. Above, is the finished project. I really enjoyed it and I am very proud of my new purse.

(Note from Mom - Since, we showed her recent purse, we thought we'd also show off BOTH of her homemade purses. She crocheted the blue and white purse with Grandma Beanie last year during a cabin trip with all the girls. Rumor has it that they'll have another girls cabin trip coming up soon:).

Thanks to all three Grandmas for spending some time with our Sierra Dawn. She loves you all!