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.

Birds singing, Robins appearing on your lawn, calves and foals being born, the greening of lawns and pastures, trees bursting into flower - yes, all the telltale signs of Spring. However, the most prevalent and best sign that Spring has sprung - the first trip to the hospital for those "project" injuries. So I can say for sure that Spring has arrived in SW Idaho:





So, Marc (my brother) fearless yard worker that he is decided to trim the huge old Willow in his backyard, but that is not a job for the weak at heart. The old tree does not give up its limbs casually and generally inflicts damage on the doer of deeds. Of course, when one decides to JUMP off the ladder instead of climbing down it ....

So a broken arm and tweaked tendons in the knee. That's okay. The fearless yard warrior will be back at it again in 4-6 weeks.

NAME CONTEST

Name that filly contest - just add a name you would like for the filly to the comments section of the blog and then we will vote on the ones we like the best. The winner gets the candy bar/candy of their choice.

Please get the kids to add names as well!

Contest will run one week from today - so ends March 30th!

It's a girl for Tinkerbell. Mama did a wonderful job this morning and had a huge baby girl. Tinks is eating some good hay and baby is trying to fall asleep standing up when I left them. Tinks has some cramping (you did all notice the size of that baby right) and baby has pooped so all is well.

Pictures were taken just as it was getting light out thanks to the wonderful new daylight savings time crap. But I had to get kids to school and me off to work.



If this shows up twice blame google. They seem to have lost my original post.

Well hope everyone wants a poodle puppy. After weeks of taking Jake to work with me and keeping the two apart (Montana and Jake) looks like they figured out that 2:30 in the morning while mom is dealing with a little boy with a 103 degree temperature is a good time to uh hum - do the deed.

With my luck they will be born and then ready to go right when I need to take off for China. I just know they did this on purpose. Well, of course they did but still....

Oh and Sarita's reaction - mom, can we keep one of these puppies too? Cuz you know that 7 big poodles is just not enough for one household.

And for my mom and other poodle people here are pictures of the newly shaved and bathed Montana and Jake. Montana had the red kerchief on. Both were plenty embarrassed at first but who knew they were so black under all that dust and dirt??!!

Just for Rori, Kris and Family. DaVinci is doing fine and getting fat.

And apparently they do not mind the kids helping out. Check out the new floor and the big ol' closet in one of the new bedrooms.

Finishing touches being done - floor being put in along with doors and light fixtures. This is mostly done today - Tuesday.

All the painting - inside and out - being done. My house on the outside looks like a brand new house.

Since everyone was clamoring for a house update - here is what it looked like just last week. I could not get a lot of pictures because it was dark when I left and dark when I got home.

I have heat!! Just in time for the cold snap. Yay for the contractors! They got my furnace up and running today. Tomorrow they finish the insulation so that the temp will regulate better. After a month of space heater heat it was great to walk into a house that was all toasty warm from top to bottom. And since it is supposed to be a high of 19 and a low of about 5-6 on Friday I am sooooo happy about this.

I took these pictures of house progress over the weekend. I could not do anything last week. Too dark morning and night to take the pictures. I think this week they are moving to get the inside stuff done - wiring, furnace, remainder of plumbing.

New Siding is up and roof looks great!

Back side looks good. The dogs approve.

View of the interior. I am standing in a bedroom and looking towards the bathroom and what will become my new closet. That is my old window that use to look outside that you see there. I believe that will become my closet door.

The most important thing - my new air conditioning unit. We never had AC before. You would think we would all have died now what with having 104-110 degree temps in the summer.

Poodles are smart. Poodles are very smart. Yessiree very intelligent members of the canine family. Unless, of course, you are adding on to your house. See the human members of the family- we all get excited to see things like interior framing and plumbing going in. We are fascinated by the dark hole that appeared in Sarita's soon to be bedroom. Now we definitely know where the access panel to under the house is. Everyone took a look then trooped inside. I had to go feed horses.

At some point in the feeding of the horses the kids let the dogs out. They very excitedly ran around barking, smelling , peeing and just generally happy to check out where all that noise comes from every day. I gather them all up and put them back in the house. I don't do an actual head count but I am sure that Molly (soon to be 3yo blond dog to Sarita) is still out. So I keep an eye out for here as I finish the chores outside. Now at this point in time it is about 6:30 pm and dark. no lights out back. They have all been disconnected while working on the house. I never see Molly. Figure I missed her going into the house.

Then as I walk past the new addition I hear this strange howl that echoes. At first I think Buster is at my bedroom window and howling out into the addition. But, no, sounds too close and more like a dog IN the addition. So in I go. "Molly, Molly??" Woof woof. There is a little blonde head and front paws peeking out of the crawlspace. She got in but just did not have the jumping ability to get back out. So I go sit down next to the hole and drag her out. Much doggy happiness ensues.

I make dinner, everyone eats and about an hour later I am handing out some scraps to the dogs. One for Jake, Montana, Cordy, Spike, Buster, Molly, and Midge. Midge? Smidge Midge? Where are you? Hmmmm - not here. Where could she be? Back out into the darkness I go. This time I take a flashlight because Midge is jet black. Into the addition - Midge? Woof?scramble scramble. I shine the flashlight toward the crawlspace and in the exact same spot that I had seen Molly there is a little black face and front paws. I pull her out. She goes in the house and alternates between sulking and insisting on sitting on my lap for the next hour. Yes, she is 45 lbs (and one of my smallest dogs at that).

I feel bad cuz who knew she was probably standing right behind Molly when I pulled Molly out but I never saw her. Well it was dark and I mean dark and as a defense for my missing her - she did not make any noise either. I just wonder what she thought when I pulled the cute blonde dog out and then left her all by her lonesome for another hour in the dark :(.

But the main thing we all learned is that Poodles are smart. Yep so smart that they follow their noses into that neat smelling place and then figure out they cannot get back out. So smart they can get into trouble but cannot figure out how to get out of it. Hmmm - sounds a lot like my horses.

On the plus side - I admit to being happy that only two of my dogs can clear a 4 foot fence. Those two would never get stuck in the crawlspace. Wait a minute. Montana was doing chores with me. Could she have possiby led the two girls into trouble and then left them there?? Noooo.