25 January 2022

King Of The Hill

It’s the kids job to go feed horses on weekends or if it’s warm enough, and light enough, after school. They fight it and complain a lot but do a descent job. I go out an help them sometimes. It’s fun to watch how they divide up the work and go about getting it done.

Last time I went a long I had to help The Goblin Child onto the hay bale. Then down again. It was a long ways up there. 8 stopped to pet HIS mare. He claims her now, until his sister decides she wants to ride for once and fights him for Lady.

Then we stopped to play on the rock pile. King of the hill is fun. Until it isn’t. Somehow they are still surprised when it ends in tears.

 

25 January 2022

Exploring The Sheep Barn

While my poor cow hating husband and I rearranged the sheep barn to better fit cattle the children climbed around and explored. My favorite thing for them to do. They had fun, even if the fun was punctuated by requests to please be allowed back inside.

As we looked for ways to better allow cattle to find shelter, calving is coming up quickly, they studied dead mummified raccoons? Whatever they are, they’re fascinating. They climbed the ladder to the loft, but weren’t quite brave enough to go all the way up. The took my phone and used it for light and to share findings with the one waiting below or outside. Not quite brave enough to go in.

6 December 2021

Before The Snow

Yesterday morning started out nice. We rushed to get outside before the predicted snow. Loosely bundled we let the horses out. Rusty stood patiently, halter already on, and waited. Giving The Goblin Child her halter I sent her to put it on their horse.
She doesn’t do this regularly. Something we need to work on.
It was so fun to watch her struggle to get the pieces figured out and in the right places. At first she firmly ordered 8 to get away. She was doing it and didn’t need help.
As she fought her battle Rusty smiled frantically at the camera, wind blew, Harvey, left behind, screamed. The chaos was real.
After struggling a bit her tune changed and she was asking for help. Together they were able to get the halter on their very patient little mare.
Proud of themselves and a job very well done we headed off for a brief chilly ride as dark clouds blew in and the snow came much earlier than expected.
3 December 2021

Christmas Parade ’21

We had so much fun at a local Christmas lights parade last night. It was even more exciting to see a handful of horses in the parade. And one dog the size of a horse.
It’s always impressive to see horses taking this sort of thing well. The big draft horses walked along as quiet and well behaved as could be. Not at all worried by the lights and noise. We talked to the person with the mini after the parade she said the very well behaved little horse was about worn out by the time they walked all five blocks. That’s one way to get them to behave
The dog on the other hand we saw walking home afterwards quite a ways away. He must not have been as worn out by his load.
Maybe next year we’ll haul horses in to our local parade. Not this one. Too far to go at night down a road constantly crossed by deer and elk. We made it home without hitting any but passed one crumpled car who hadn’t been so lucky and deer grazing happily along the road who were kind enough to stay where they were instead of jumping out in front of us.
Would ours do as well as these did? It seems unlikely but it would be fun to try!
The weather for this one was much warmer than usual. We all wore coats but were perfectly comfortable with them unbuttoned. Lots of people gave out hot chocolate. It was good even in the warm weather. On the way home we drove around looking at Christmas lights while we waited to pick up pizza for the kids book-it tickets.
1 December 2021

Christmas Pictures

At first I thought we’d do a manger scene for Christmas pictures. A somewhat horsey one. Rusty would make a wonderful angle in his wings. I could make the children play with me for Mary and Joseph.
Then things went a bit awry and we headed off the opposite direction and ended up with a Christmas snow fairy instead πŸ€¦πŸΌβ€β™€οΈ
And Santa on his tractor of course.
Now all we need is some snow. Why is it so hard to get a girl to put on a dress and take pictures with a horse? It seems like it would be a fun thing. At least Santa was enthusiastic. Oh well. We tried.
29 November 2021

Trunk or Treat ’21

We hit Chadron on Friday. The annual Trunk or Treat was great, as always. We went with friends, all of us loaded in two cars together. We got the rowdy bunch and my poor beleaguered husband was happy to drop us off and run for the peace of Walmart. The rest of us enjoyed the last of the warm beautiful fall days.

4 November 2021

This kid.
This mare.
I had thought she was going to be my daughters horse. They’ve all proved me wrong. My son enjoys her zippy quick moving ways. We all enjoy her quiet, dependable, completely trustworthy ways. She’s a saint.
Not vaulting but still gymnastics on horse back.
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1 November 2021

Halloween ’21

October has been so full of festivities that by the time Halloween proper rolled around I was exhausted. The kids weren’t and that is the important thing.

It was cold all day. We worked inside on shelling beans, freezing brussel sprouts and fitting in one last little bit of Halloween WOW and LOTRO. When evening rolled around we bundled up nice and warm then headed out into the chill.

That wasn’t actually all that chilly. I had forced layers of long underwear, coats, and gloves onto the children. They quickly discarded them. The weather was actually just about perfect. It’s supposed to be cold on Halloween. Even with the hint of mist in the air we all stayed warm walking as fast as we could, anxious to get to the next house and the next treat. We had planned on doing one street. They finished that in record time and we decided to go down the next one, then the next, and the next. They canvased most of the town and we were still home well ahead of bed time!

The littlest of the children had a hard time keeping up with the big ones. One of them crashed a few times right on his head in his rush to keep up and enjoy the fun. Luckily his trusty hat saved his face. He wore out quickly and retired to the car with his father who was as easily tired of trick or treating as my darling husband. The men followed in the vehicles, as the women ran behind the children loosely herding them along. No serious injuries were received, no children ran over by cars, we even made it home without hitting any deer!

Halloween was a success.

There’s nothing like a small town Halloween. There are houses where all the children are ushered inside. We stand on the street waiting without worry. All the children we meet we well known to each other. Even if not recognized under the costumes. They join together in bands then separate coming and going through the night. Home made treats are handed out without us worrying about who made them or what could be inside. Supper is traditionally held at the church, a combination of irony and beauty.

 

 

 

 

28 October 2021

Fall Program ’21

The first grade class dressed up as crayons. The second and third grade classes were all cookies.