Friday bullets, August 9, 2019

I'll jump right in, though as I think about it, this may be horse heavy.

• We rode Bristol and Java today, and all went well. Bristol is going to make a great horse to teach the littles on, I think.
• The day after the horses arrived, Java started to act just a wee bit nutty. It turns out she has gone into heat, and has spent several days making googly eyes at Emmy. Emmy, surprisingly, doesn't seem to mind, but there is still a fence or stall between them.
• I was a little concerned that Bristol and Java had bonded a little too much on their trailer ride down here and were going to become a little buddy sour. Well, it seems that Java has switched her affections to Emmy. See above.
• L. took a writing class that was offered for late elementary students at a local bookstore. I signed her up because she can fill notebooks with her stories like nobody's business. She was excited about the class and even agreed to reply back to people when they spoke to her. Well, after the class, she comes out and I ask her how it was. She shows me a paper covered in drawings. That was her story. I was informed that the teacher said they could either write or draw. This child...
• A. got her final grades for the classes she was taking this summer and she received all A's. We're pretty proud of her and she is pretty darn proud of herself.
• The heel came off my riding boot this evening. This does not make me happy. Riding boots are expensive!
• I'm pretty sure the geese are starting to lay eggs for real. It's either that or a duck has started to lay jumbo sized duck eggs. These are some pretty darn huge eggs.
• R. has had a better couple of days. (Last week was pretty darn dreadful.) I think it was the new seizure med we have been titrating up on. It is supposed to be a mood stabilizer, but apparently not for R.
• I am not ready for school to start, so it's a very good thing we are not starting until next month. I have only very vaguely started to think about planning for the school year.
• B. was out last weekend and checked on the beehive. It is evidently doing very well, with busy bees making lots of honey.
• I was working a Horse Power booth at our church's Abilities Fair tonight (where different organizations who work with people with special needs could present their information, plus there were fun things to do for families), and next door to our booth, I discovered a booth that could make a huge difference for H. Young Life has designed Young Life groups for teens with special needs, and there is one that meets at our church. Who knew? Obviously not me. I think it is going to be perfect for H., and provide her with her own "thing" and a chance to make some friends outside the family. She lost the most in the move in terms of a peer group because we left behind a lovely group of girls who graciously included her in their lives. I'm so excited that I may have finally found something to fill that gap.
• Tuesday night was the National Night Out, so we headed into our little town for free food and a close up look at fire engines. I'm afraid we have reached a new stage in life. My littlest people are no longer interested in fire engines nor do they want to sit in the cab. They all chose to go play in the park instead. R., however, was thrilled with the fire engines, so I still got the obligatory sit in the driver's seat photo with her.

• It takes me an hour in the morning to feed the three horses and muck the three stalls. It takes an extra ten minutes if I need to do the chickens and ducks, too. I hope I can get this time down a little bit with some practice, but I'm afraid I am going to be waking up a bit earlier during the school year than I have had to in the past. This I may have to start practicing before we start school. It will be a challenge. I do not wake up easily.

And I think that's it. Have a good weekend!