Report cards and road trips

Tyler got his first ever report card last week! I never thought I'd be so excited to see it, but I totally couldn't wait to pick him up from school and whip that sucker out of his backpack! Needless to say, the world's smartest boy ACED everything! The report shows what they've learned thus far, and what they'll learn the rest of the year. Tyler knows all of it already. It's stuff like count to 20 with 100% accuracy. Yeah, he can count to about 50, probably higher but that's about when he loses interest in counting for Mommy. It's recognizing and writing the color words, being able to sound out words, stuff like that. Tonight while reading to Marc, he read the words elephant, dinosaurs, airplanes, whales, skyscrapers, and universe. I'm telling you, the kid blows us away every day...I can't wait to see what profession he goes into.

I found out that "Disney On Ice" was coming to Huntsville, so I bought tickets and we spent the weekend up there. It's a 3 hour drive, and a relatively easy one. We took Jill, our GPS, which was gifted to us by Marc's parents. Thanks a ton for this amazing technology Mommy and Daddy; it's worth it's weight in gold! We use it all the time. It's name is Jill because when you look at the programming screen, each language is assigned a name, and American is Jill. That, and we don't personally know anyone named Jill, so when one of us says "go get Jill out of the drawer"...we know what we're talking about. Even Tyler calls it Jill!

The trip up to Huntsville was nice...until the belt blew out on the passenger side front tire, and we had to pull into a gas station to put the spare on. The car is Grandma's...and it's a 1996 model...and these are probably the original tires. We weren't really surprised it blew, but thankfully it happened on the trip when we were all together, rather than when I was trying to high-tail it to Tyler's school to pick him up! :) We used Jill to find us a tire shop...she found us 3, but they were all closed. On a Saturday. At one in the afternoon. It was quite odd. So, I spied the roof of a fairly new building way off in the distance, and told Marc it looked like a new Wal-Mart. Apparently my Wally-World-Radar was working that day, because we drove that direction, and lo and behold, there was a brand-spankin' new Wal-Mart. We got the one tire replaced, and went on our merry way about an hour later.

Our first stop in Huntsville was a cool kids science museum called Sci-Quest. It's a totally hands-on place where kids go to different stations to learn about some aspect of science, using the experiment at the station. One was pumping air into a tube filled with water, to try to get the little plastic diver inside to sink to the bottom; one was creating electricity by pedaling really fast, which would light up a series of lights in front of you (Marc not only got all 6 lights on, but they were as blinding as the sun...I guess all those spinning classes paid off!); one was static electricity...and the list goes on. We were there for 2 hours, and I'll bet there were at least 50 things to play with. They have a birthday party room and snack bar, too. It was relatively cheap; I think it was $26 for the three of us, and you can be there as long as you want. Tyler had a blast.

We then checked into our hotel, got a bite to eat at a buffet place (which pretty much sucked), and then headed to the arena for the Disney show. At this point, Tyler still has no idea what he's going to see/do. We walked in to the building, and of course there are booths set up everywhere selling crap for tons of money, and he saw the sign ahead...Disney on Ice. He almost flipped out! I was just so excited he read the sign by himself! We bought him a little stuffed Stitch (from Lilo and Stitch) and a plastic sword with Peter Pan on it. The total was $27; how disgusting is that?!!

The show was AWESOME...if you ever have the opportunity, go see it!!! The story line flowed nicely, it kept the kids attention, and they did an intermission about 2/3 of the way through so the kids could get up and walk around or go potty. The costumes were amazing...Sebastian the Lobster from The Little Mermaid actually looked like Sebastian! I was very impressed with the whole thing, and was truly sad when it was over. I'll definitely go again someday. And let me tell you...those people skating were amazing...not one slip or fall, and they were doing some really professional-type stuff. It was a very nice evening.

We slept in the hotel, which was very comfortable and quiet, and only $40! Gotta love off-season. Then on Sunday we drove around and found a few stores we wanted to check out, and then headed back home. Tyler's last "surprise" was a stop at PetsMart, to buy a fish he's been asking for. He had one in TX, and it went to the big aquarium in the sky before we moved to AL, and he's been wanting another one for a couple of months. So, we have another Betta, which is red and blue, and Tyler named him Quincy (one of the characters from his favorite show, The Little Einsteins). We finally pulled in the driveway at 5, which was nice, because we got unloaded, laundry washed and put away, dinner, play time, and relaxing before bedtime. It was a really nice weekend, and Tyler had SO much fun. And Quincy has himself a nice big tank, compared to the little cup he came home in, and he appears to be enjoying it!

I have a big trail ride coming up this Saturday, and Marc and Tyler will be heading over to the new Best Buy to drool over the TV's.

At some point, I'll figure out how to post a picture, and I'll be able to show you some of this stuff instead of trying to explain it.

ALSO, a quick "thank you!" to everyone who ordered something for Tyler's school fundraiser; he got enough purchases in his name to qualify for the much-coveted Glow in the Dark Scooby t-shirt! This fundraiser was something parents didn't participate in (as far as purchasing something is concerned), so I have no idea what you guys had to choose from, etc. We keep getting hit with these fundraiser things...we've had 3 so far...it's crazy. I'd rather just give the school a check for fifty bucks a month than try to sap everyone I know for a donation of some sort! So again...thanks so much for helping out The Boy. I'll post a photo of him in the damn shirt.

Time to head off to bed and read for a while. I'm reading books by Dick Francis; he writes mysteries that center around the world of horse racing...so far this first one I have is quite good!

Well, I'll never do THAT again!

Okay, so we spent Saturday at the Alabama National Fair. It was a really good fair...the Midway was enormous, and there was an area set up just for kids rides. We got Tyler a wristband, so he could ride whatever he wanted, and we got some tickets for me and Marc. I'm not a big ride person.

So, we walked around for a while, saw animals and crafts, played some games, and went to the circus. That was great...until the elephants came out. I'm telling you, the performances were wonderful, but when the elephants came out (they were the last act), people actually started to get up and leave. There were four of them, and they behaved nicely, but I think people are just fed up with elephants at circuses. There's no reason to have four of them jammed into a tiny little arena, you know?

We went by this ride called "Extacy". It was purple. It spun around. It went upside down. Marc thought it would be a cool ride, and tried to tease me by saying "come on...let's go on that one". Well, surprise to him...I said okay. The man nearly passed out! So were sitting in this thing that looks like a purple octopus. Each arm has 4 cars on it, and each car holds two people. The whole thing spins around clockwise, the pod of cars at the end of each arm spin around counterclockwise, and then the arms go up and down. At one point, the cars are above the arms...upside down...and still spinning.

Oh. My. God. It was quite a long ride. I did lots of screaming and laughing. The ride did it's whole sequence, and then paused for a bit...upside down...but spinning slower. I was thinking maybe the ride was going to be done. No. Of course not. The ride went through the entire sequence again. I'm telling you, this ride had to be at least a full 3 minutes long. That's a long time when you're on the spinning octopus of death. Okay, so now we're going through it for the second time, and I got reeeeaaaalllllyyyy quiet. Marc said "are you okay?" and I said "NO!". I was probably three shades of green. The only thing that kept me from barfing was the total embarassment I'd suffer in front of our friends and the kids. I was SOOOO dizzy; I had to sit down for a good half an hour. Marc said I actually got a little shocky. I had no blood in my arms or legs, and my head was hurting.

I will never go on a ride that spins ever again. I tried to be brave, for Marc. I know he just loves rides like this, but I'm either too scared I'll die or puke that I just can't do them. Now I hope he understands just how badly these things affect me, and will understand when I tell him "NO WAY!!".

So, you'd think I'd be better the next day, right? After a good night's sleep. Of course not!! I had some freaky 24-hour stomach flu thing, and wound up barfing anyway. Damn! Today I feel pretty puny, and have not had a real great day, but I feel a million times better than yesterday.

On a better note, we've been working on Tyler's big boy room. We have all of the painting done, and tonight we're going to put up the bandana border. Tomorrow night we'll clean the carpet, and Wednesday night we'll put everything back in, including the new twin bed. I'm so excited!

Well, off to play with the wallpaper!

Go Mustangs!

Okay, so we're suckers. We bought season tickets for the local high school football team. Two seats ran us nearly $200, but we get super-close free parking, awesome seats, and free food and drinks.

We weren't sure how Tyler was going to like watching football for 3 hours. Let me tell you, this boy LOVES it! He stands there screaming "touchdown!" and "Go, Mustangs!". When the bands come out at half-time, he dances, and sometimes pretends he's the conductor. When the 3rd quarter starts, he and Marc take a walk to the snack shack and buy me M&M's. It's great! We were at a game tonight, and I must say, these kids can play some ball. We stomped the other team, 49 to 28. This is the second of three home games we've won. The BIG game is next Friday; we play Prattville, which is the town two miles away, across the Interstate. Major rivalry; and right now Prattville is undefeated.

For those of you who don't know, I am NOT a football fan. I have no idea why I love going to these games so much. Maybe it's a "flashback" to my high school days; who knows??

Otherwise, things are fabulous. Tyler is doing excellent in school, and is reading like a champ. He's to the point now that if you spell a word, he'll tell you what it was. For instance, I looked at him and said "what is m-i-l-k?" and he said "milk". There was virtually no hesitation on his part. It's truly amazing to watch him grow up.

He was approved to receive therapy services through the school system. The next step is for the school's PT and OT to evaluate him, and make their recommendations for his care. We'll meet with them in about a month, and develop his plan of care. We're not as concerned about the PT as we are about the OT. The physical skills (gross motor) will pretty much take care of themselves as he gets older and needs to keep up with the other kids. He does need to be followed for his leg brace, though. The one he has now is so cool! It's really lightweight, and has helped him develop a proper heel-toe gait. You should see him run! He's faster, straighter (doesn't toe-in, which means he's not "throwing" his hip forward, he's actually using the right muscles in the right order), and he doesn't really look down anymore. There was such a long period of time where he ran looking down; we were sure he was going to run into a tree or something. But, between his last eye surgery and his legs being stronger, he's learned to use his lower peripheral vision to gauge where he's going.

Marc is same-oh, same-oh. Working hard putting together his big presentation thingy at the end of the month. He's also running the Booster Club stuff. He did not want that job. He was what we call "volun-told". He has to do it for a year (I think), so his time doing it should be over soon. Can you believe we've been here for almost a year already??? October 29th!

I went on another trail ride last weekend...this one was incredible. It was at Tuskegee National Forest (which, by the way, is the smallest National Forest in the country). This place was gorgeous! The trail was fairly flat, it went through some dense brush, some woods, and some open spaces. In total, it was 16 miles. We went the first 12 and then stopped at a lake to eat our lunches and rest the horses. Ranger was a good boy and drank from the lake before we left. The old adage about "you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink" is so true! However, Ranger has learned that if you're offered water, by God, you take it!! The last 4 miles of the ride was the best part...there were two LONG stretches of trail...and we galloped most of it. It was awesome!

The best part of the ride for me, though, was that Ranger jumped everything we came upon! I am so proud of the old man! The highest thing he jumped was 2'6", and he cleared it like a pro. I can't tell you the feeling of jumping over a downed tree with all that power under you. It was like nothing I've ever experienced before. There was actually a moment of suspension in the air; it was what I imagine flying would be like. Needless to say, I'm now taking jumping lessons at the barn. I'm addicted. However, my horse and I are both vertically challenged, I'm kind of a wimp, and he's kind of old, so I don't think we'll be doing BIG jumps or doing a lot of jumping at all. I'm just taking the lessons to make sure I don't hinder his motion as we're jumping, and that my position is correct so when we land, I don't get off balance. That happened to me once, and it was pretty scary. Thank God Ranger likes me; he helped me rebalance myself before we continued.

This weekend we're headed to the Alabama Fair. We missed it last year; it was the week after we came to look for the house. I absolutely LOVE going to the fair, so I'm all excited. We're going with our neighbors, George, Deborah and Lydia, and their grandson Austin (who's Tyler's best friend). We got the kids wristbands so they can ride whatever they want. I plan to watch them ride and eat lots of fat nasty fair food.

Otherwise, not much else going on. Marc got all the horrid border off the walls in the kitchen and breakfast area; now we have to prime the walls, paint the walls and paint the trim. I think we're going to wait another week or so to do that, though. We need to get Tyler's big boy room done. I have to paint, put up the chair-rail border, clean the carpet and put his new twin bed in there. I think we can get most of it done this weekend. I already have all of his new bedding...we just need a headboard. I'll take photos of the room once it's done...I hope it comes out as cute in person as it does in my head!

Tyler wants to be Buzz Lightyear for Halloween. Ugh. Buzz is kind of "out" this year, so I'll have to order the costume for him. We got a bumblebee costume for the dog...it's hysterical! The barn is having a costume contest; Ranger is going to be a giant bumblebee and I'll be the beekeeper. I got him a bright yellow sheet...I'll use strips of black duct-tape to make the stripes. His halter is black, and I'll put two pipecleaners on it with yellow pom-poms on the top for his antennae. I'm going to wrap his tail in black wrap so it'll look like a stinger. It should be cute...I'll take pics of Buzz and the two bees for you all to see (and get a good laugh out of).

I just have to say that lately, I've been really happy. We all know I've had my share of ups and downs, with this stupid depression/anxiety thing. Thank God for drugs! But, I think lately my brain has been functioning on a more normal level, because I've just felt so happy these last few weeks. Things are good. Tyler is an awesome kid who just loves going to school, Piper is the best dog on the planet, Ranger is the best horse alive, Marc is the hard-working super-hubby, I have two great jobs, a handful of exceptionally wonderful friends, and the best parents/in-laws anyone could ask for. Things have been going really well for me, and I just wanted everyone to know how "all good things come with time". Mine took five friggin years, but it came!!! Many thanks to everyone for being so supportive, even when you thought I had wandered into the deep end. And the biggest thanks of all goes to Marc, who truly needs to be ordained a saint when he dies. I do NOT know how the man put up with me, but bless his pea-pickin heart for doing it. I've put him through the wringer in the past, and he stuck by me. I love you, babe!

I hope everyone is doing well. I know everyone is busy these days, so that's one reason I started the blog. You can keep up with us at two in the morning in your jammies if you want to! Lord knows I type it at midnight in my jammies!!

Have a great weekend, everyone!!

No, I don't want to be a tree!

Okay, so this past Saturday, I went on another butt-kickin' trail ride with a small group of folks from the barn. There were 4 of us, and we've ridden together before. We have a total blast on these rides; they're at a state park-type area about an hour or so from the barn. You pay $20 at the gate, park and tack up, and then take off on the morning ride. This particular ride was anywhere from 5-6 miles, maybe more. I am NOT a good judge of distance! The ride is tough; both horse and rider MUST be in shape, or you'll both have a really tough time. There is a lot of up and down, lots of hills, rocks, fallen trees, streams, bridges, roads, etc. to negotiate in this very wooded area.

We were about 2/3 of the way through the ride, and Ranger had just about had it with going down hill. He'd get to the top of the hill, look down the other side, and I could just hear him saying "you've got to be kidding". We took a lot of breaks, and I always let him choose the pace he wants to travel at. He's older...24...and in fantastic shape, but he's the one doing all the work so I try to let him make some of the decisions. That kind of backfired on me...

We were last in line to go down a hill...because he was pouting at the top of the hill...and I finally encouraged him enough to head down. Well, there are a lot of trees in a forest. We had smacked into a few throughout the day, but mostly they were little skinny saplings that just moved out of the way. Not this time. So, Mr. Forgot I Have Someone On My Back starts going down this hill, and he's too far to the right on the path. There's a tree on our right side...about 6 inches in diameter...and it's flush with his shoulder. Incidentally, his shoulder is right in front of my leg. Which means that freakin' tree is about to whack me in the leg. I distinctly remember thinking "oh, crap, that thing is NOT going to move out of the way". It didn't. SMACK. Right into my leg, from the knee, through the shin, to the outside of my ankle. Something in the ankle went POP, and I said "OUCH!". It threw my balance off...remember, we're still in forward motion headed down the hill...and the next thing I know, I'm bounced up out of the saddle, thrown forward onto Ranger's neck, and I'm screaming "Help! Help!". Everyone stopped their horses, and told Ranger to "whoa". He did. He found a relatively flat spot just to the left side of the path.

So, the best way to describe how I looked at this point in time is to direct you to the movie "Toy Story". Remember when Woody had to get outside to the yardsale to save Wheezy the Pengiun? Well, he hitched a ride on the dog...the weenie dog...by hanging on to the collar and laying his body flat against the right side of the dog's body. This would be me and Ranger. The only points of contact I had with him were my left foot, over the top of the saddle and digging in to the saddle, and my chest over the top of Ranger's neck. My right leg was out of the stirrup and hanging almost to the ground, my right hand still had a hold of the reins, but was under his neck, my left hand was dangling down the left side of his neck, and I was looking at the ground thinking "hey, there's his front left foot!". Ugh.

I VERY CLEARLY heard Anna (the barn owner) yell to me in her "instructor's voice": Shannon! Reach down and grab the reins! I did as instructed with my left hand, pulled toward his butt, and that's how he came to a stop. At that point, I took a mental "inventory" of my body parts, everything was attached, and I looked behind me. There was Ed, Anna's hubby, smiling. I started laughing and asked "How the HELL did I stay on this horse???!!!!". I lowered myself to the ground, where I promptly had to "take a knee" due to the pain in my shin and ankle. I sipped a Propel, shook it off, mounted up, and off we went.

So now, I have a lovely bruise on my right calf, a swollen bump on my right shin, a "rug-burn" on my right elbow from the bark of the tree, and the outside of my right ankle is slightly swollen. I can walk on it today, though, without limping. I'm pretty sure I broke a teeny tiny something in there...but it's nothing that's serious enough to go get an xray done. The pain is gone, and for the most part if feels fine. There are a few positions that elicit a small scream from me, but not many.

Aside from the "episode" with the tree, the ride was a blast. There's a lot of flat areas to get in a good gallop, and lots of cleared forest areas to trot and canter through. The scenery is awesome, and the trails are very well marked. At the end of the ride, we wind up at the bunkhouse, where a stew or chili is waiting for us, along with homemade German sourdough bread, drinks, and cobbler with ice cream. Now, one thing about the cobbler. There are people who go on this ride specifically to get the cobbler...no kidding. It's homemade in cast-iron kettles and cooked in an open campfire in front of the bunkhouse. This time it was apple cinnamon...yum!

After lunch, you can either load up and go back home, or do the afternooon ride...which is a trail that goes in a different direction than the one you just completed. We don't do the second ride; our horses would scrape us off on the first tree they could find and run for the hills if we tried to do that. They would NOT be pleased with us!

Back at the barn, everything gets unpacked and put away, horses get baths, fed and put up for the night. Ranger got liniment on all four legs, pain reliever, and an electrolyte replacer. Spoiled???????

While I was off cruising the trails, Marc and Tyler got to have a "Daddy Day". Tyler LOVES these days! He gets Daddy all to himself, and they go do guy stuff. This time, they went to Cooter's Pond State Park to fly their remote control plane...which turned out to have a dead battery...but was okay because there was a HUGE RC demo going on. Tyler got to see all kinds of RC planes and helicopters fly around. Then, they came home and went to the park by our house so Tyler could swing.

School photos are Wednesday; I can't wait! They'll be taken without his glasses, so we don't have to deal with the glare issue. I have no idea when they'll be back, but I've ordered the packages I need. Don't freak if you don't get one of them; we're sending out Christmas cards this year with a photo of the 3 of us, so you'll be able to see his cuteness anyway!

Well, time to get my achy-muscle bod to bed. I'm headed to the barn to ride tomorrow. Yay! See you next time...

Conferences, Dr. Suess, and the paint

First, I have to report about our first ever parent/teacher conference. What a blast! We had a 15 minute time slot to visit with Mrs. Carlson about Tyler. We sat at a teeny tiny table, in teeny tiny chairs...I was cramped up, so I know Marc felt like he had his knees in his throat!! The visit went well...Tyler is doing amazing for a child his age. He's way above the average; his teacher said she was hoping he didn't get "too bored" in Kindergarten, since he knew almost all of the stuff already.

The statewide assessment testing was done in August, will be done again in January, and the last time in April (before school lets out in May). The testing is to see where the kids are academically, and track their progress throughout the school year. It lets the school know which kids are having difficulties (and in what area) and helps determine which kids will be ready for first grade. Anyway, the testing shows that the kids must have a score of "8" in two areas...letter sounds and letter recognition. Tyler scored a 15 in one, and a 36 in the other. The child blew the test out of the water!!!! In fact, the end of year testing goal is a 40, and Tyler already has a 36...wow!

Mrs. Carlson gave us a checklist of things she "grades" him on, since there are no real report cards for Kindergarteners. He aced the checklist. The only areas that she thinks he needs a little improvement is obeying conduct rules and demonstrating self control. In other words, Tyler likes to touch his buddies and constantly flap his gums. Unfortunately, these issues are actually genetic defects, passed down from me. :) So, he has to work on keeping his hands to himself and keeping his mouth closed unless it's time for playing and visiting. He's getting the hang of it.

On to Dr. Suess. Tyler has been learning to read. This child is scary. He and Marc sat on the couch every night for 3 or 4 nights, and read One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. They broke it up into sections since the book is so long (63 pages). Marc read the harder words, and Tyler read the easy ones. There's a whole two pages that he read by himself..."Who am I? My name is Ish. On my hand I have a dish. I have this dish to help me wish. When I wish to make a wish, I wave my hand with a big swish swish. Then I say, "I wish for fish!" and I get fish right on my dish. So, if you wish to wish a wish, you may swish for fish with my Ish wish dish". OH. MY. GOD. The only word he got stuck on was "right", but he did try to sound it out. Marc and I are completely blown away. He's actually starting to read some bigger words, like "mouse" and some of the names of states.

I'll make sure everyone gets an invitation to his college graduation when he's 12 years old...

The paint. Ah, yes, the paint. We are taking on three house projects at the same time (accidentally). We are taking down the hideous border in the kitchen/breakfast nook, painting the trim, doors and window casings a fresh new white, and changing the paint in Tyler's room to prepare for the big boy stuff. Ugh. I do claim responsibility for the overload, though. I can't sit still, so I started painting stuff and one thing led to another. I've already repainted the trim and cabinets in Tyler's bathroom, and it looks awesome. I can't wait until the rest of the house is done...it'll be so crisp and clean looking.

We got Tyler his big boy bed...it's in the garage. We're making him sleep out there until his room is finished. Just kidding! We still need a headboard for it; our neighbors have a twin headboard that looks like a fence gate that they used for their daughter. She's now in a bigger bed, and they need to get her a bigger headboard, so they said we could have the old one for Tyler. It'll work out great, since we wanted to make him a headboard that looks like a fence gate at the barn. A little paint (yippee! more paint!!) and some authentic looking hardware, and it'll be ready to go. First I have to paint the lower 36" of the room denim blue, then add the red bandana border I found (think chair rail) and clean his carpet. Then we can put the bed in and change out all of the decor. His old Classic Pooh stuff will go in my craft room (aka guest room) since the colors match the stuff in there, and I can't bear (no pun intended) to put away the wall hanging of Piglet my mom made before he was born.

Once I figure out how to do it, I'll upload some photos for you to see.

Otherwise, things here are status quo. The weather was AMAZING today...it was partly cloudy, a light breeze, and 76 degrees. Woo Hoo! I shut off the A/C and opened every window in the house. It was so nice to have the fresh air in here all day. We did have to turn the A/C back on before Marc went to bed, because he'd fry without it. I can't wait until the stupid thing is shut off all the time in the fall!

I have been riding Ranger at least twice a week, and he's doing so amazingly well that I'm almost thinking he was abducted by aliens and this is a different horse in his place. Wow! He's doing stuff I never thought we'd accomplish together, and I couldn't be prouder of the old guy.

On a nifty note, my best friend Stephanie (who sent Scout out here to live with me) is now less one horse...finally. The lady who owns the barn I board at (Anna) is taking Scout's momma Tequila to be a full time lesson horse. It's a great situation for everyone; Anna gets a well-broke sweetie of a horse to give kids lessons on, Tequila gets an awesome job with health benefits, free room and board, and all the love in the world from a bunch of little girls, and Steph gets the burden of one unused horse off her wallet, and into the competent caring hands of Anna. Win, win everyone! Anna and I are going to travel to OK to pick her up and haul back to AL. The drive will be about 14 hours one way; we'll go on a Sunday and Monday, within the next couple of weeks. It should be a fun trip!

Off to bed I go. I have to work tomorrow...by myself. It'll be fun, though. I'll have my MP-3 player, and I'll be working on the base so I can have lunch with Marc. ;) Talk to you later!!

Another one bites the dust!

Well, Tyler woke up this morning and reported that one of his bottom teeth was loose. By 7:30 tonight, that sucker was out! He wiggled it all day; it was really bothering him. He wanted Tylenol and a nap...you KNOW it was hurting if all the boy wanted to do was sleep it off! So, after dinner, he asked Marc to pull it out for him. It came right out, and Tyler is so relieved! We got it on video. This is his third baby tooth to come out in 6 months' time...wow!

I just read one of my best friend's blog...Leah's...and she posted a link to a Go Fish! video. They usually do a concert at the MOPS Convention. I've seen them twice, and totally love them. This year the Convention is in Dallas...I'm so bummed. If I was still living in Abilene, I'd still be with my beloved MOPS group, and going to Convention with them. Sigh. Maybe I'll just get in the car and start driving...

Today was the "spruce up the barn" workday where I board Ranger. I've never come home that filthy from the barn...EVER. It was gross. We took down cobwebs (and consequently killed lots of spiders), swept aisles, painted jumps in the arena, cleaned tack rooms and the bathroom, scrubbed water buckets...you name it, we did it. The owners provided pizza, potato salad and desserts. Someone was wonderful enough to fill a huge cooler with lots of ice and sodas. In all, the day went well, and the barn looks really nice and better organized. Lots of the 4-H girls were out there, so it was fun to listen to them chatter away all day.

Steph's horse, Scout, who is currently living here in Alabama at the neighbor's farm, has been recently renamed to "BRAT". The little creep jumped a four foot tall fence to get to the hayfield on the other side. What a punk! However, she just totally hosed herself...now we know she can clear a fence that tall with no problem...so in addition to her English training, she'll be trained how to jump obstacles, too! I think she'd make one heck of a nice Cross-country jumper. Those are the horses that go on the long courses and jump all kinds of cool things within a specified amount of time. She's not afraid of anything (unless it looks like a needle), and she looks built for speed. I cannot wait to get her to the barn and get her under saddle. She's trained to ride Western, but she has long elegant legs and a graceful neck so we're switching her over to English. She's gonna be gorgeous!

Not much planned this weekend. Last night we went to the football game; we bought season tickets for the local high school. We went with Deborah, George and Lydia. Tyler had a BLAST!! We were in the front row of the first elevated tier of bleachers, right on the 50 yard line; we have the perfect seats! Tyler really enjoyed watching, and rooting for the Mustangs, and has informed us he wants to play football. Then he got a hold of Lydia's pom-pom, and that's all he wanted to do after that...shake that thing! Go Mustangs, go Mustangs! He was a great cheerleader. The next game is the 26th, and we can't wait.

Otherwise, we're just watching Lydia for the night. George and Deborah are at some kind of a reunion dinner, so we took Lydia and their dog Pitty for them. They don't get too much time alone these days, and neither do we, so we're swapping babysitting duties. They're taking Tyler for the night next Friday; we're headed to see Bill Engvall perform in Montgomery.

It's time to put the "chitlins" to bed. I suppose I should wait until their movie is over. They're watching "Alvin and the Chipmunks". One of Tyler's favorites, and even I like it. The music is pretty good.

See you next time...

Mystery solved...

Well, it appears that Marc's weird insoles he got in the mail are to "tide him over" until the completely custom ones come in. I guess because it takes so long to get the fancy-pants ones, they thought he'd appreciate something in the meantime. He's using them, and so far, so good.

Tyler has been having some issues at school...it seems he likes to dork around in line and visit with his friends...when he should be standing quietly. I'm ashamed to admit that this trait is probably from me; just about the only thing I ever got in trouble for in school was talking. Imagine that! :) So, we've been trying to give the boy some incentive to do his best at school. We've talked about how his teacher has 13 other kids, and it's hard to keep everyone on track at the same time. He needs to be helpful by respecting the rules and doing as he's asked. He needs to be a good example to other kids in the class, so they see how to properly behave in line. We talked about how upset some kid would be if they got in trouble for being silly in line because Tyler was being silly...and it's not a "friend" thing to do to the other kids. He seems to be grasping the concept really well, so we'll see how the next few days go.

On the flip side, he's been getting a lot of "Gotcha's!" for good behavior. Gotcha's are little slips of paper that a child receives from a teacher when they're caught in the act of being nice, helpful, or respectful. The goal is to rack up at least 5 Gotcha's in a month; this enables you to attend the Gotcha Party. The party is held at the end of every month, and they try to do something different for each party. The only example I can think of is the play area completely covered in those giant blow-up slides and bounce houses. Let me tell you...these Gotcha's are a BIG deal. Tyler is trying so hard to get a Gotcha every day; right now he has 8. I think he's tied for first place (although it's not a contest...it's just to challenge the kids to behave).

Maybe I need to snag some of those Gotcha pads....

We are currently hurricane-free. There isn't even a chance of rain in our forecast for the next 10 days. We have some clouds, but that's about it. This is good for us...we need to cut and bale the hay at the farm.

George and Deborah got a call from George's mom, who lives on the property right next door to their farm. She said the last goat...the big black one who escaped from us AGAIN...was at the pasture fence, ramming it with her head. Apparently she wanted IN with the other goats. What a doofus. If she had just cooperated to begin with, she'd be livin' La Vida Loca with the rest of the herd. I'm thinking goats aren't real smart.

I spent 3 hours tonight reorganizing my scrapbooking paper. I finally broke down and ordered some more organizing thingies, and they were delivered today. It was insane. I have enough paper to supply a small store. The sad thing is...I'm not done reorganizing yet! ARGH!! Oh well; I suppose that's why they call it a hobby...

Tyler has decided he wants to be Buzz Lightyear AND Batman for Halloween. I'm assuming it means we'll have to take him on two trips around the block...one in each costume! Ha!

We've been sucked in. Alabama has sucked us into its football grasp. We are now the proud owners of season tickets (first row on the second deck, thank you very much) for the local high school! Our not-so-bad price includes reserved parking at no charge, reserved seats, access to the hospitality tent (which provides food and beverages), and the forthcoming new bathrooms. Oh, and Tyler is free! It should be fun...we'll be going with the neighbors. I've always loved high school football games, and even the games at USAFA (mostly because those had fly-by's!).

Work for me is going well. I really am enjoying both jobs. I'm getting a ton of experience at the barn, working with different horses on different issues. I'm also getting a ton of experience caulking tubs and cleaning ovens! Seriously, both jobs are fairly easy, and it's stuff I like to do and think I'm fairly good at. Beats any job involving pantyhose, that's for sure.

Off to bed. I say that, then I get in there and read "just one more chapter", and before I know it, it's an hour later than I thought it was. Good grief. Yet I still try...