A boy and his horse slippers cannot be separated. Even tho they are twice the size of his feet. Even though he has to do the slipper shuffle instead of run. And the fun when mom holds both hands and he slides across the floor when we go to pick big sister up from dance class! Of course, a boy must maintain the right foot angle to keep said horse slippers on when being picked up or carried.

" Mold! Mama, mold! "

What the hec? Here comes Nathaniel running up to me with one of those little plastic tubs of chip dip in his hands. Uh, oh - I just bought that so there could not possibly be any mold in it. I open it up and see none. Without waiting for the mommy mold check Nathan sticks his finger(s) right in, scoops some up and sticks it in his mouth with a big smile. "Good mold mama".

Now I don't want anyone to think that this reflects on the, ummm, 'natural' state of the contents of my refrigerator but sometimes I do buy things for a specific purpose and ,well, if that purpose never comes to fruition or perhaps I purchased too much in my zeal to have enough then mold happens. Perhaps grandpa was visiting and pulled out some whip cream in a very similar plastic tub, opened it and discovered mold on the side. Perhaps he then let Nathaniel stick his finger in the non-moldy part and take a taste. Nathaniel loves whip cream (Of course, I guess all kids do). Then grandpa shows the moldy part to Nathan and says "Mold" and Nathan looks at it and thinks "yum, mold!".

I apparently now have a child who will proclaim to the world that not only does mommy grow mold, but she lets him eat it and he loves it.

Thanks grandpa.

48 hours - two days - Just a flash for most of us in our busy lives and yet for some a lifetime. At approximately 3pm Friday Little Girl Bear came into this world. She was huge, beautiful, and jet black with a big old star (almost a blaze) across her forehead. Bigger even than my colt that was 3 weeks old.

However, something was wrong. Her head bounced around on her neck and she could not stand. Her limbs awry and spastic. Totally out of her control and far beyond the normal for a newborn foal. Her mother stood in the corner watching her but making no moves toward her. I could tell she'd had a hard time with this birth - her first. She did not want anyone to touch her. Traumatic birth for her. I could not tell at first what had happen to Little Girl Bear - had she been kicked once on the ground; had mom kicked her when she went to nurse for the first time; had she had too much trauma in the birth canal (most likely)??

No real answers but what I could tell - this little one was a fighter. My thinking - if she wants to try her hardest then I would do my best for her. She could not stand on her own so I helped her. She could suck tho. My goodness this little one could suck. So I got out the foal formula and fed her through a syringe. She sucked so hard she actually pulled the plunger down on her own. I switched her to a bottle. I called the vet and ran up at 10pm that night and got the plasma to give to her the passive transfer of antibodies that she should have gotten from her dam's milk. During the next 48 hours there was feeding every 2-3 hours. I called the mare's owner - a friend from down the road. He came up to help. We got her up and standing on her own. By Saturday evening her dam, Bear, was trying to manueuver her into position to nurse on her. She was steadier and, dang, she ate!

For those of you that know horses you know that a foal that does not start life well generally does not make it. They are prey animals. They are born to get up, walk, and run within hours of birth. So we all knew there was a very good chance this little girl would not be with us long but she was so determined. So full of spunk. As soon as she heard voices she would roll up and start looking for us. She would struggle mightily to stand up on her own. So I knew when I went out to feed her Saturday night at midnight that there was something wrong. She rolled over and even ate quite a bit but she did not try to stand. It was like her short life had already tired her out immensely.

And that's how it went until Sunday afternoon. I would go out to feed her and she would want to eat but it was less and less each time and then she would close her eyes and rest again as if just that had taken so much out of her. Her final moments were between 4:20 and 4:40 pm on Sunday. I was with her until she took her last breath and her heart finally stopped beating. She was lying in the sun on a bed of sweet smelling hay and while she could no longer hear me I still spoke to her.

48 hours - truly a lifetime for Little Girl Bear. I do not know why this one has affected me so much. I have lost others both young and old for all sorts of reasons. Perhaps it is because she follows so closely on the heels of losing Smidge Midge (the poodle). Or maybe just the cumulation of so many "big" things happening in such a short span of time (for me 2-3 years not 2 days). I don't know . . . truly - I'm not that good at sorting emotions. But deep down her spirit and spunk and just plain will for living in even that short time has touched me and I feel her passing strongly.

My sincere hope is that she is now on her way to a grander adventure where she can run full out and enjoy the wind, the rain, and the sun as only a horse can do.

feeding time:

Nap in the sun - on top of mom's hay:

Easter Parade. Not really but we did actually have Easter this year. Last year we were all in China picking up Nathaniel so this was his first Easter and I almost forgot how to celebrate it. Fortunately, Sarita has it all figured out by now. If you want to do holiday stuff better not count on mom to remember. Baskets were courtesy of the kids. Hey, I did remember to get the candy and the coloring stuff for the eggs. And, oh yeah, the eggs!

Nathaniel loved the coloring part. Sarita got to try out new marbling type of colors which actually looked pretty good. They colored over 2 dozen eggs. Good thing everyone in my house loves hard boiled eggs and egg salad!

Nathaniel chooses just the right color:



Prepares the scientific dunk experiment:



Look ma, no dye on my hands :



So what do you do with these things once they are colored?:



Hmmm, so this is where eggs come from :

Hmmm what to do on a beautiful Spring day? Well, if grandpa is around and it is a beautiful sunny day you take the kids out front and teach them the "stump jump" and the "monkey drop". And I wonder why Nathan wants to climb on everything everywhere...

The "big boy" on the stump



Sarita lends a hand



The BIG jump into waiting arms


And the big drop into waiting arms.

trust issues - nah none here. Of course, we have to remember this is the same kid that climbed to the top of a 17 story pagoda and thought it was just dandy to hang off the edge when he was but a wee lad of 2.5.

This is why I love living on the farm. Cats are happy and content ....


and the dogs are happy and entertained.

Ok so the foal's name is ..... drum roll......

Tink's Chocolate Chip Lost Boy -we'll call him Freckles.

Wait -was that Boy?? Chip??? Whoops she did it again! No matter how many times I tell myself I should do a double check especially after divining gender in the dark after a night of no sleep I just never find the time to do it. Then when I am out there watching the little thing take a pee I am thinking "hmmm, that seems to be going the wrong direction" but it is a fleeting thought since we are standing in 50mph sustained winds. Then I come home from a business trip and my father breaks the news - Rebecca, there is something hanging down from that there little filly. I go running out and check out ,yes , a boy toy thing just hanging there as happy as can be. The thing with little horses is that when they first come out everything is pretty sucked up but about a week later everything is loose and hanging in the breeze and they cannot suck it up if you paid them. And, yes, my dad is cracking up at me - again. Did I not do this same thing 2 years ago??!! Yes I did.

Oh and this means that Grandpa (chocolate chip) and Shane (Freckles) win the candy bar.