Getting off the school bus after a grueling half day of school.

Sarita stops to check the mail while poor Heather (the bus driver) waits

That looks like a happy face!

Sarita's birthday party - the aftermath

Sarita's 11th birthday. She loves a party especially ones where she gets the gifts.

Sarita's birthday cake


the kids and grandma - she can handle them


Sarita making a wish


Kids all helping cut the cake which means they are telling her which piece they want


me (rebecca) with most the kids

Sarita and Katelynn ..

Marc (off to side), Shane, Sarita, Katelynn, Dallas ..


Think Uncle Marc is a High School Musical fan?


Sarita is ...


Shane loves the ice cream

TA -travel approval- received today to travel to China to pick up Callista (Fang). we will probably get our CA date confirmation early next week so can come up with a real schedule at that point.

Hmmm what to do on a hot day? What to do?

Check out the players:


And see below for the results ....

Swim Lessons for Sarita basically involve playing in the pool for 30 minutes. She already knows how to swim and quite well. A big difference from her first summer here where she loved going in the water but was scared to death at the same time. I think I spent two months with her attached to me at various body points that first summer.

Then she started swim lessons. Levels 1-3 the first year. Level 4-5 the next. Then she took level 5 again this year. Level 5 is the level where we all know the kids know how to swim but they want an excuse to swim every day for two weeks. So they teach them different swim competition strokes - breast, overhead crawl, butterfly, etc etc. Also, they teach them how to dive. I will say that Sarita definitely got the dive down and she could put half a pool length between herself and the other memebers of her class with the crawl. But she was beating herself up because she just could not figure out the butterfly. But voila! her instructor told her she knows it she just needs to practice. Now what kind of stupid thing is that to tell a kid? I mean now she wants to go to the pool every day. No, not to have fun but because she needs to practice. Yeah right.

The fourth of July 2007 - let's recap. Since my mom's birthday is the 3rd of july we tend to celebrate both events at the same time. This year we did something a bit different - at least for me. My brother wanted all the kids there for fireworks so instead of going earlier in the day so I could get back and feed the horses we went later and I fed the horses first. The day was supposed to hit about 105 degrees.

We got to my brother's house by 7pm after picking up Dakota, Dallas, and friend Austin en route. Had barbecue and the kids (even Nathan) played in the pool that all of them except Nathan are outgrowing. It is still big enough for some fun though and all the girls spent most of their time there while the boys spent their time on the trampoline. Nathan had a grand time in the pool and made everyone happy (hee hee hee) by insisting on being naked after going poop after dinner (yes, I cleaned his bottom very well). He spent another 45 minutes naked in that pool with Katelynn. We are all used to him getting naked and running around but Shane and Katelynn were a bit taken aback at first then got used to it.

Best time - my brother Marc brought out the big guns - super soaker!! Nathan loved loved loved it. He ran around squirting everyone. Then Marc got out his. He really sokaed everyone and Nathan did not like it one bit when he kept getting him wet! How dare he??!! So, of course, mom had to help poor little Nathan out by advising him to sneak up on Marc when he was busy trying to soak the other boys. Now picture this: Marc is squatting down under the trampoline and aiming up from the bottom to catch those boys as they jumped, Nathan sneaks right up behind him, aims, shoots, and soaks Marc's bottom with one mighty pull of the trigger. Marc reacted quite well. Nathan ran and hid laughing uproariously.

Then I had to have the super soaker fight with Dakota since he was picking on Nathan. Nathan thought that was hysterical too. So did my mom and sil, Vera. I got, well, soaked. But I got Dakota even wetter because he used up all his water before I did!

Then the fireworks. As per Sarita - the best 4th ever! Marc had a lot of fireworks as did his neighbors. Then the parks started lighting up theirs and you could see them all just sitting in Marc's front yard. Then there were the many "illegal" areial fireworks going up here there and everywhere. You so cannot ban fireworks in Idaho. People love their fireworks here. Fortunately, I do not believe fires were started so it all turned out ok. I must say there is a lot of smoke on those streets when everyone gets done though.

We got home by midnight and had the kids in bed and passed out by 12:30. So hate having the 4th on a wednesday. Had to get up and go to work the next day - ththpppphhh!!

Oh and I believe that my mom has now convinced Nathan that everyone in the USA celebrates her birthday in a big way.

Adding to the menagerie. The neighbor's new little pygmy goat decided she liked hanging with my horses instead of theirs. So now she has moved in and made herself quite at home. So far the dogs are a bit confused by the bounding like a springbok but the horses seem to take her in stride.

BTW - she has moved in with Chance (my stallion). She likes to sleep in his paddock. I think he thinks we gave him a new pet.

My driveway and parts thereof. This is just so that I can prove to my grandchildren to be that something other than the weeds and dirt that their parents remember as my yard grew here.


The driveway rosesbush - has been here since I moved in. Just has gotten much bigger.

The wellhouse honeysuckle. This little baby has now made it 3 years under my tender touch.

The original rosebush and friends. This rosebush lived right next to my front door. After many years of the dogs digging it up to sleep under it and yet perservering I decided to transplant it last summer. Looks like it thinks the move was just dandy.

This is just cute. This kids' watering can under the trumpet vine.

Roses gone wild! When I lived in Washington I thought people that grew roses were of a special breed - not only green thumbs but green blood running through their veins. Now I have discovered that like always it is location location location. Here in SW Idaho they grow and grow and grow. Some seem to think they are going to take over. Which is fine by me since my yard seems to be either roses or weeds.

Little brother's are so sweet. A rose in appreciation of his big sister's performance.

Whoops - not so fast there. Off he goes giggling like mad..

Awww - now there's the sweet moment:

More ballet pics with friends...

Spring is in the air. School is almost out. Days are longer and warmer. Kids are running amuck here and there and have all of a sudden developed selective deafness and unexplainable memory lapses (homework?? chores?? where are those dang shoes??).

Parents are being driven crazy running here and there for all the final dance practices and recitals (clogging and ballet). No time to get anything done at home and lucky to get there by 9:30pm when the kids are supposed to be in bed by 9pm. So is it worth the hassle, the frazzled nerves, the dirty dishes .... hell yes!! Check out the beautiful ballerina in the production of "Neverland Dance" - she was one of the mermaids in Neverland.

A little white fog action:

A little pose with her rose afterwards:

2nd Mother's Day Gift. Li'l Miss Majik gave birth to a very scrunched up little filly at 6:30 am - feeding time.

I have been worried about this little mare because she got very run down this last Winter. My only horse that did. I was afraid to feed her up because the mares have been having such huge babies and if you can call any of my horses refined it is her. So I have been waiting with fingers crossed and she did fabulously. The filly has been nursing almost non stop since hitting the ground so I think making up for some lost time in utero. Mama mare is happily esconced in a large stall where she is eating to her heart's content and then a little extra just to make me happy (I am sure).

Of course, I will not be truly happy until both are about a month down the road and looking fabulous.

Mother's Day Art. Submitted by the inestimable Miss Sarita for her mama's lovely Mother's Day.

Mommy & Me & Montana and the Monkey (Nathan) -Gotta love the sisterly love in her description of her little brother. Sarita told me she drew herself sitting on a rock so she could be as tall as me in the picture.

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Night and Day - that's what it seems like. Two weeks ago I dealt with the birth and death of a lovely black filly that hit me hard. Well sometimes life gives you a little something to offset the bad things that happen. Yesterday a lovely big buckskin filly was added to the Farm. She is the light to banish the dark (of course, Freckles has been doing a very decent job of keeping me in smiles as well).

Bailey did an excellent job and is a wonderful mother.This filly is huge. Very active. Long long legs with plenty of bone. Has already figured out the whole duck my head and get up to the milk thing. Bailey gave no indications she was ready to foal although I have been watching her for the last week and a half. She ate like a, well, horse yesterday morning. No pacing. No sweating. Just one lovely filly.

Hiding under mom:

Still shy (notice the buckskin shading on shoulders and neck):



Freckles finally has a friend. Notice the size of the six week old vs the one day old:

Happy babies:

Nathaniel has again discovered why we have dogs. He was hanging in the bathroom going "poop, mom" which can take him some 20 minutes when he has toys as well. But all of a sudden he jumps off the toilet (not an easy feat for a child barely 36 inches high and using a stool to keep his feet on. However, he did have naked bottom so no pants to get in his way) and grabs Molly (blonde standard poodle love hound) and starts pulling her into the bathroom and closing the door. Being all mom and no slacker in the potty department I ask -

"all done?"

"No mom - going poop!"

Door closes.

Approximately 4 minutes later door opens.

"mom, mom all done poop- look".

Now thank god he was not actually telling me to look at his poop (although that has happened and he has rightfully been quite proud of some of his potty accomplishments) but to look at Molly. Again he is holding her neck and she peers out the door and something - hmmm, something looks a little different. What is it?Oh, yeah, the dog is wearing my reading glasses.

What have we learned from this little story? That apparently Nathaniel has ways of entertaining himself while going potty that we as adults have long forgotten? That I should not leave my glasses on the back of the toilet (hec if I know what they were doing there or if I would have ever found them myself anyway)?

No, I learned that the dang dog looks good in my glasses.