Here, There & Everywhere (June 18, 2010)

This week we've done all sorts of things along with some schooling. We got our PASS tests back & the kids did well on them. Glad those are over-I really don't put much stock in tests, but we had to do them, so I'm glad it went smoothly. Now I don't have to wrestle with the school system. Working on end of year quarterly reports now. A friend of mine who works as a teacher's aid in a public school near here tells me so many things that go on in that school & tells me to make sure I keep our kids out. :)
Hannah had Teen Council Monday-they're planning a trip to Gettysburg, PA this summer. Pat will be a chaperone (otherwise she wouldn't be going). Tuesday was drill team. I think the theme is "Cowgirl Up." They're going to have turqoise shirts & black chaps. Don't know what they're doing to the horses yet. County fair is in a couple weeks, so they're working hard to learn their patterns & get the timing right. Casey is being used for that & he's really coming along well-seems to be done with bucking now.
Wednesday we went to our trainer's ranch to bring him some sawdust. We don't have a horse there anymore, but have become good friends with them. Don taught Jonah how to rope, so he's been practising it all week. We just need to get him better in the saddle now. He can ride the old horses very well, but they don't care where his feet and hards are & are very forgiving of his mixed signals. :)
Today Jonah & Susanna are going with my best friend & her boys to see "Toy Story." My kids don't get to the movies much, so they were very thrilled. Aunt Chris is the best. She's not really their aunt by blood, but by heart, she is.
We started rowing "The Story of Ping" since we've got the ducks. Susanna loves to doing school & is after me all the time to do more with her.
Alyssa is just busy-I just try to keep up with that little spitfire. LOL
Hannah is babysitting tomorrow for some friends at church who are giving a concert at a Christian camp. Sunday we're going back to Don's for the cow-roping day. I think we're bringing Copper. This is new for him, so we'll see.
Last weekend we had a gymkhana horse show. Susanna got 3 third place ribbons on her pony. Hannah got a second place for pole bending, didn't place in anything else. They had fun & learned some new things.Last weekend we also went to a Civil War Reenctment-that was amazing. I need to post pics of it later.
So, this week has been mostly about horses & damage control in the house . Pat had to have one of his ankles injected yesterday with cortisone. He was born w/ club feet, which were corrected w/ braces when he was a baby, but he has pain all the time now due to arthritis build-up in the ankle joints-esp one of them. We're praying this lasts 6 months because they can only do it every 6 months. The doctor wasn't very hopeful that he'd get relief for that long, though-it's pretty bad-he has almost no range of motion. He's going to have to have surgery eventually with screws put in.
Me-well, I've been kind of blah with all the rain we got this week, but today is sunny. Amazing how it affects my mood. I'm sewing some cloth baby wipes for my sister. Her little one is 2 months old now, but I haven't seen him yet. I think we'll get to see him in a couple weeks-I can't wait. I've been doing work with the guide dog puppy, but I don't know if he's going to make it. He's nothing like the other 2 dogs we did & honestly, I can't wait until Fletcher is gone. He's driving me crazy-he jumps up on tables & counters when no one is looking & yesterday ate 2 lbs of raw venison burger that was on the counter. It wasn't on the edge, either. We had to put a gate in the chicken coop door to keep him out of the chicken feed, but make it so the chickens could still get in and out.
The beef cows are back-they were at a neighbor farm for the winter. One calf has been born so far-he is so cute. We have some of our neighbor's cows here, too. B/w his & ours, we should have lots of cute calves to get pictures of!!
Hoping to get some work done in the garden this weekend. Pat is rebuilding my raised beds, so I've got a late start on my garden since his time is limited. I'm using all started plants because of that, except for lettuce, carrots & bush beans.
I'm just glad he's home this weekend. He was gone the last 2 weekends because of fishing tournaments. We've got a freezer full of salmon & trout now, though! They got 5th place our of 40 boats 1 weekend, got 13th place the other weekend.