Riding the Range

Today, we picked up M and CJ early. Then we went over to ride horses. It was starting to get ugly out, but we got Ponette saddled for the kids. Then, because Grandpa was being smart, he motioned to CJ to come get on the horse. Boy, you should of seen M jump out to get on the horse. CJ wasn't going to be first in her book!



Ponette is an old pony and she is very well trained. Ponette heels off leash better than most dogs that I have seen. She is just a sweet old pony, and easy to ride. M rode without Grandpa having to hold on to Ponette.




You can see that M is really enjoying herself! Who thought a horse could be so much fun!

Here she is looking like a real cowgirl, intently watching the cows and waiting for her next move! Not really, the cows weren't out, but it sounded good!



Here is CJ on the horse. It is so funny the things that this kid will do! And he is afraid of the dogs. This kid is going to go great guns when he gets over the dogs!


See CJ go!


When the kids got done, the weather had moved in, so the horses got quickly moved into their stalls, with saddles on, and everyone ducked for cover in the trailer.

And there we sat thru the thunderstorm. When it was over, actually a lull in the storm, Grandpa and Rob quickly unsaddled the horses and turned them loose. Then we all left quickly to get down the hill before it became inpassible.

Softy

Yes, I am a softy. I can't resist. I tried really hard to give all five of the kittens away last weekend as birthday gifts from Clyde. There were no takers.
So this morning, I called the feed store, they had room for kittens, and I quickly put four of them in the carrier to leave. But I just couldn't put this one in too.



The good thing is, while I was getting them settled at the feed store, a call came in looking for kittens, so I know that at least one of them has found a home by now, probably more since they usually go in twos.



But isn't she just the cutest thing? Of the other cats, Peaches runs from her, Cream tries to get close, but just isn't sure of this, and Garfy comes right up and sniffs her. He will probably be the one she plays with the most. Amanda is another story. Amanda is the last newfoundland that we have, and at 105 pounds is probably 25 times the size of the kitten. And Amanda loves kittens! She tries to get close to sniff her, and Callie arches her back and hisses and spits like a little spitfire!
It's so cute to see this little cat try to scare off the dog!



Now all I gotta do is find her a place to sleep and teach her where the litter boxes are. And make sure she gets water and food, since that is all up out of Amanda's reach. Right now she's sleeping.

Now there's just two kittens left, and they are too little (only a month old) to go yet. BUT I AM NOT KEEPING ONE OF THEM!!

A birthday party and memorial weekend

Since Grandpa's birthday was on Wednesday this past week, we had a party on Saturday.
It was the Second Annual Give Myself a Surprise Party (Grandpa has a sense of humor!). We invited lots of people, but since it was a graduation weekend, everyone didn't come. But we had fun anyway. And we had lots of food!


Bill and Diane, Solitare's parents came, as did Cindy and Mike, Bekka, Brent, and the kids, and James and Solitare.


Susie and Linda enjoyed talking at the bar. Rob and Kristie were elsewhere.


Grandpa had candles to blow out.


James and Solitare stuck around the next day. We didn't accomplish a darn thing all day. CJ and M spent the night, and Bekka called about 5 p.m. to see if we were taking them home or keeping them.


CJ has a way of putting himself down for a nap. He just lies down where ever he is and falls asleep!


Molly wasn't up for a nap, she stayed awake. Of course, she didn't wake up until 10a.m. that morning, so she was plenty rested!


Grandpa and CJ continued their nap, until it was time for James and Solitare to leave.


On another note, on Monday morning, when I wanted to mow the yards, it was cold, and wet from the day before. (We've had snow or rain every weekend since Easter, so it's hard to get any yard work done.) So I had to bring in the big guns to mow down the back yard. Yeah, right, Harley ate for an hour, then we put Squirt out there and he ate, until he ran thru my newly planted patch of grass. Redman and Nick both got to go out and eat some too, but they were anxious and someone had to stay out with them! Guess we'll keep trying, or I'll have to go out and mow at some point, before it's 5 feet tall!

What Grandpa did to make Grandma happy.

I started with mowing the lawn (what there is of it), and Grandpa got some manure from the pile for me. I started spreading it around, and he said, "You need to do this with a rototiller to dig up the dirt".

To which I replied "I don't have a rototiller, and I don't know if I can run one."

He said "No one said you had to run it."

So we ran to Home Depot and rented one! And he dug up the yard, and then the flower garden with it!





Meanwhile, I had to keep M and CJ busy. What better than buckets, trowels, and lots of sand! After coating each of them with sunblock, we went out the the not so round pen (a whole other story) and they proceeded to play! Moving my big pile of sand one bucket at a time.



This is M moving sand.



And this is CJ. The funniest part was watching CJ crush the lumps of sand. Some of them actually exploded when he squeezed them. I really tried to catch one of them breaking up in his hands, but wasn't fast enough.

Then we found something else to do. M rode with Grandpa on the tractor and steered it, but CJ wasn't having anything to do with it. What a wuss! Then M decided she wanted to climb. All the way to the top of the five foot panel.



And CJ wasn't far behind. For an almost two year old, this is a tall climb!



Of course, I had to stop this fun because I didn't want anyone to fall and get hurt.

Who says you need expensive toys to entertain kids. These two are getting the same things that their mother got to play with.

If it feels like a truck stop.....

Remember this photo of my little patio spot out by the driveway of the house?





Well, it's been invaded. Now it feels like a truck stop! Just look at my view!



Luckily, we now have two new batteries for the truck, so maybe I can get my view back soon. Clyde got the truck started, drove it over onto the drive in front of the garage, and then couldn't get it started again to move it. Sure did ruin the view.

Today, we went to the early show to see Star Trek. I must say, after seeing all of the TV shows, and then all of the movies, I think this movie stays with the characters the best. The story is a good one, and all of the young actors that played the main parts must have spent months watching the TV shows, they reenacted the characters so well. Scotty and Spock were the best, Ohuru was good, Kirk was good, Bones was still funny, and the other two (the russian and the oriental) were really good too. Oh, yeah, one was Checkov. Great story line, lots of action like you would expect, and it tells how they all came to be on the Enterprise.

If you get a chance go see it. I'm definitely getting the dvd when it comes out.

Now off to find the dvds of the TV show.

Pictures and an update

Well, it seems I'm as bad as the rest of my family for updating my blog. I have been busy. We left on Sunday, April 26th for Grand Junction so Rachel could have the baby on the 27th. And so Cordelia could have someone watch her while all this was going on. Let me tell you, she had Grandpa and Grandma napping every afternoon while she was in school! She is so energetic! But here's a picture of her and Wyatt the night he came home (Wednesday). I didn't really get a lot of pictures because I was trying vainly to keep up with a 5 year old.



When we got home, on Friday, the other female cat was noticeably thinner. But we didn't see any kittens. Then one night she stayed in the garage eating, so we thought that they had died. They didn't. I was outside on Sunday, and I heard noise coming from the semi that sounded like kittens. I looked all over that truck for them and couldn't find them. Told Clyde, and he went out to look. He found them quite by chance. He happened to see a cat's paw in one of the storage compartments that he had open to clean out the truck. She had to have moved them there that day. Now she's in the garage with the kittens. She had one little light orange one, and two pure white ones!

Now I have eight kittens, but the first five are almost ready to find new homes.



Today I worked really hard, since I have no more homework for class. Class is over for the summer! Yay!

First I cleaned six cat boxes. Yes, six, three in the house for the five cats inside and three in the garage. Then I cleaned the dog yard. Then I repaved part of my "deck" that was sinking (picture follows), and then I cleaned and watered the horses. I'm tired now.



Got to go watch NCIS now.