Time goes by in the blink of an eye!

Life is nuts, I'll say! I've been so busy with work and 3 children and school that I haven't had time to breathe! So, here's a bit of a catch up.

1. The girls are fantastic mounts. Here's a few pics of my lovely horses with my children.

2. The boys are two now. I'm so looking forward to training them. I have no recent pics though so I'm going to have to work on that.

3. We've had a break through with John. When he was returned to us, he was a terrible mess. It's taken me over 6 months, but he is now one of my pocket ponies, except just a bit more skittish. We hope to resume his riding training soon.

Well, horse wise that's about it. We're looking at getting some more chickens, the cow and the pig are in my freezer, and my children are off to the in-laws for 2 weeks. (Well, not the baby, but the other two.) I've decided to return to blogging so like it or not, you might have to ignore me from now on!!!

Ta ta for now!

I SURVIVED

WHOOOO! Here I am, back at home, 1200 miles and 5 days later. I can't tell you all how terrific all of the children were. "Are we there yet" got a little old after a while, though. The snow on the way home was a chilly treat.

The baby did fabulous. He got fussy after the first 200 miles because he was hungry and dirty, but a clean butt and a full gut and he was happy as a lark. He threw one hissy the entire visit because he hates turkey. Who knew? He got a bit fussy about 40 miles from home because he was hungry. The rest of the trip, he was an angel. Smiling, happy, and willing to go to anyone. The best thing about visiting the in-laws? You stand up, make the announcement "WHO WANTS TO HOLD THE BABY?" and you aren't going to see him for the rest of the trip!!!

The other two kids were great too. They looked adorable at the wedding. Only my son.... he walked down the isle and yelled "HEY LOOK I HAVE A PILLOW!!!" I will no doubt plaster pics all over this blog when I get them off the acer. Even the baby was spiffy in his new sweater vest. I think we clean up pretty good!

The animals survived without us. I'm pretty sure Baby saved her bladder from the last two days so she could express her gratitude for us coming home because my entire porch and half my driveway is sopping now. I can hear Keno whinnying at me for some food. Time to go and start the chore of unpacking. It's off to the Dr. tomorrow because I now have two sons and myself who are sick. Wish my pocket book luck!!!

Happy Survive-the-inlaws Giving!

Well, I'm fixing to leave on a marathon trip to the in-laws. First stop, Paris, Texas.. 400 miles away. We'll celebrate Thanksgiving with the in laws there. Then on to Kansas for a wedding vow renewal, another 300 miles away. Happy 50th anniversary to my husband's grandparents! THEN, we get to drive 514 miles back home, where I will no doubt collapse from an overload of in laws, football, turkey, and 3 screaming and tired children. Wish me luck.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone out there!

Playing Catch Up

Well, it's been a century since I've posted last! Things got quite insane there for a while and now I've slowed down just a moment to update all... 7 of you that may or may not read this.

Item#1. We have sold John, the project. We are sad to see him leave, but hopefully, he can have a productive career in another home.

Item #2: I am now part of the American workforce, of which I am not real happy about. I work in an internet help desk. There I get all sorts of pissed off people who either know more about their problem than I know about fixing it or people who seriously have no clue where the start button is. It's a job, and for that I am thankful. However, if money fell from the sky, the world would be a happier place.

Item #3: The boys are growing up quite nicely. Their pictures are at the top. I don't believe they'll be ready to even begin starting as two year olds, but they really have mellowed out and become great little pocket ponies.

Item #4: Keno is very sick. He lost a TON of weight and quit eating for a while. He's probably dropped 100 pounds or more and looks like a skeleton. We moved him in with the boys and he started eating about 3-4 days later. I'm happy to say that he's feeling good enough to run the boys off his food now without me having to pen him up separately. Hopefully, he'll turn around and be over whatever mystery illness he came down with.

Item #5: It's my son's 4th birthday tomorrow. Happy Birthday Little Man!!

Random thoughts: Anyone ever roped a cow and had it lay down and refuse to move afterwards? Ours does.. touch him with a rope and he acts like a fainting goat! It really is quite annoying. He broke out of his pen this morning after an exhausting attempt to get him in there in the first place just yesterday. Driving him back to his pen was.. shall we say... a lesson in creativity. BTW, all this blabber about farm animals has pegged me the hick of the office. If they only knew..... :D

And the winner is......

ME!!!!

We just got Keno's blood test results in today. He is, in fact, a horny old gelding. What a relief! Hopefully, the mares won't go into season anymore this year. (Yea right!)

In other news, we had a fantastic Labor Day. My dad knows someone with a house on Buffalo Springs Lake. He gave us permission to use his place whenever we want. We got in for free and cooked out at his house. Hamburgers and hot dogs were delicious, as was the chips and dips, and don't forget the COOKIES!!! Man, the cookies were the best part!!!

The kids swam and then they guys and the kids went down to do the paddle boats. My mother and I stayed at the house with the baby. It was so peaceful. Nice cool breeze, tunes wafting in from various boats, the neighbors playing with their kids, and the fish jumping high in the air. It doesn't get much better than that! Well, back to the grind. I should have a training update on John soon! Stay tuned!

Happy Trails

toooo ME! So, for the first time in a month, we rode!!! YAY! Since it had been awhile, I made my husband be the crash test dummy. I wanted to ride Keno, and given his behavior yesterday, I wasn't about to just jump on.

I can hear you all now. Behavior? What behavior? Oh yes, I forgot to blog this. My little cranky gelding has been breeding my mares. His blood test is pending, and for his sake, I hope he's just a horny old man. No frankenbabies for us. Anyway, he went in for his blood test yesterday and went completely nuts. Dallas, who is in heat, went TWICE as nuts and into the batshit crazy zone. So, we decided not to ride yesterday.

Today, they were less crazy so we gave it a shot. Keno was a bit snotty at first. However, hubby put him on a cow and it was like the light flickered on. He LOVES chasing the cows. YAY COW! He got some zip in his step and seemed extremely grateful. Afterward, he was very very tired. Time for me to ride! Okay, so it sounds bad, but I only walk so it's good he wasn't fresh.

Then we saddled up Blondy. We were told that she doesn't tie, but.. she fell asleep tied while hubby was working Keno. Anyway, she saddled without a flinch. Riding, however, was another subject. She's as sound as she could possibly be and we couldn't be prouder. We almost cried watching her move out. No ouchiness at all! However, going forward was OUT OF THE QUESTION. As was turning. Or backing up. She almost fell over sideways, but eventually she learned that he wasn't about to let her weasel out of it.

And, we strolled around the pasture without a hitch. Although Keno was insistant that we stop and go see his lady. Or.. stop. And Dallas was delerious with lust. She broke down the coral to get to us. Came RUNNING straight at us, and then bucked. I bailed. She turned and winked. And peed. And winked. Ugh. So, we decided to go down the block.

The rest of the ride was uneventful. So pleasant, except for the constant screaming. How DARE we seperate the herd. And HORSES! Look mom, other horses. But, no one protested. They both did splendedly and we turned back when they started getting tender. It isn't easy to go from a flat dirt pasture to asphalt and rocks and hills. Blondy got a bath, they both got treats, everyone got hay, and the world was pleasant once more.

We like it so much, we might just do it again next week! Oh, and gaited horses ROCK!

I'm skinny

Ok, so not skinny like I can fit into a zero (BTW, I have NEVER been able to wear a zero) but skinnier than I have been in almost 5 years! WOOT! Before I was pregnant with my first son, I weighed in between 160 and 165, always up and down but never more than 5 pounds. After pregnancy, I lost down to 175 and I got stuck. Then, slooooowly I creeped up to 185 and said THIS IS ENOUGH. I starved myself, ate nothing but salads for 2 weeks, worked out every day (even if it was just a walk). I felt horrible, hungry, tired, and weak, but I lost 10 lbs in those 2 weeks!

Then I found out I was pregnant AGAIN. Grrrr. I gained that first 5 in a week. Then I gained all the way up to 216 even though I promised myself I wouldn't gain more than 25 lbs. For all the math challenged, that's 41 lbs. Weight management FAIL. I've never gained less than 40 lbs with a pregnancy. Now I know what your thinking. YOU WERE PREGNANT. Yea, I was pregnant, but you seriously don't need to take in any extra calories until you start breastfeeding.

So, after the birth of the baby, I immediately dropped 20 lbs! Then, I was back down to 183 in 2 weeks. Yep, 33 lbs gone. But for 3 months, I hadn't lost ONE pound. Not one. Then one day, I stepped on the scale and I weighed 175! I was sooo excited. I started eating less, taking walks, exercising, drinking just water and I gained ALL of that back. Right back up to 183. Soooo frustrating.

I thew my hands up in disgust and said the hell with it! I'll just be fat. I still walked. I still exercised some. But I ate whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. I drank tons of cokes. I stepped on the scale this morning. 173 BABY!!! I guess the key is to not trick your body into thinking it's starving. The metabolism slows down and your body leaches all fat to preserve itself.

So, that's my brag for the year. Cookies for everyone!!!!!!