No words needed.
31 Jul 2008
28 Jul 2008
More Fun Times
We have finally finished the painting downstairs and that includes the toy room. Painting the toy room was the worst. Where do all the toys come from? I am starting to think that when we turn off the lights at night and creep up to our bed the toys reproduce. Compared to many children Lily and Rose don't even have that many toys but they are still taking over the house. We decided to have a HUGE cupboard built in the there that runs the whole length of the room so that everything can be hidden away and the room will always look neat and tidy. We are planing on putting a computer desk in there for Lily so that she can sit and do her homework. The contractor cannot start until the 16th.......I hate waiting for things. I am a "do it now" kind of person so when I have a brainwave I follow through immediately and hate the fact that I have to wait for this man. Perhaps I will try it myself.....no, maybe not. That could be grounds for a divorce!
Today is the first Monday in 8 weeks that I haven't had to go to the eye doctor. My eye is finally getting better and now I only have to go once every fortnight. I have vision again which I must say is a wonderful thing. I find it quite incredible that I am having such intense side effects from little tiny drops that go into my eye. I had to come off of the steroids and switch to some different meds and one of the side effects to one of them is headaches....urghhhh. Do I really need any more of them....no I do not.
Back to the fun.......
One day last week I had to go out rather early in the morning and Jacob had both of the girls. He came home from work very late the night before had had only had about 4 hours of sleep so when he put Rosie down for a nap he told Lily he needed to lay on the couch and asked her to entertain herself. It was only a few minutes before he was snoring and Lily, not being one to miss an opportunity, took advantage of the situation and took out her nail varnish and painted Jacobs toe nails! He was a really good sport about it and I must say I think it is an absolute classic.
Talking of Lily, she finally worked out how to breathe in a snorkel and mask last week. She was so excited about it that she jumped out of the pool and ran to the phone to ring her daddy and tell him. This is how the conversation went:
Lily: Daddy Guess what I can do?
Jacob: I don't know.
Lily: I can do maskeling!
Jacob: You can do what Honey?
Lily, repeating herself: Maskeling.
I was trying so hard not to laugh and was able to say, not maskeling sweetie, snorkeling.
Lily: Oh yeah. Daddy I can do snorkeling.
The conversation continued for a minute and then she went straight back into the pool to continue maskeling.
Jacob has always promised her that once she learnt to snorkel he would take her to Pennekamp and take her out on a boat trip to snorkel in the Florida Keys. He kept his word and yesterday the 2 of them headed out early and she got to do some real snorkeling in the ocean. She had such a wonderful time and when she got home she was able to name all the fish that she had seen and yipped for ages about her day. When she went to bed she looked at Jacob and said, "thank you for such a wonderful day Daddy." Sadly hubby was a bad photographer and he failed to get much footage on my camera and all I have is this one little video.
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In between my appointments today I came for quite a long time and as I continued to organise the toy room the girls got into the dress up box and this is what transpired. Perhaps they are planning for Halloween. They laughed so much it was so wonderful to hear.
The Little Pumpkin
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Funny Bunny's
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Dorothy times 2
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Scary Rosie
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Now onto some Rosie news. From the very first day Rosie Posie has been very jealous of Lily and has on many occasions hit her. This weekend she even clawed at Lily's face and today she hit an all new low and actually bit Lily. Lily takes it all in her stride??? She even said to Rose the other day, " Why are you so mean to me? I am nothing but nice to you." It's true, she is nothing but kind to Rosie. She loves her and treats her with kid gloves. When Rosie does something mean we tell her off and ask her to say sorry to Lily. If we are really strict with her Lily gets all upset??!!
Well that's life in the mad house. We are getting very close to school starting again. Lily has her new uniform, her book bag and is ready to go. Me, well no I am not ready cos I love having hr home and I can't get my head around the fact that she is going into first grade...sigh.
Today is the first Monday in 8 weeks that I haven't had to go to the eye doctor. My eye is finally getting better and now I only have to go once every fortnight. I have vision again which I must say is a wonderful thing. I find it quite incredible that I am having such intense side effects from little tiny drops that go into my eye. I had to come off of the steroids and switch to some different meds and one of the side effects to one of them is headaches....urghhhh. Do I really need any more of them....no I do not.
Back to the fun.......
One day last week I had to go out rather early in the morning and Jacob had both of the girls. He came home from work very late the night before had had only had about 4 hours of sleep so when he put Rosie down for a nap he told Lily he needed to lay on the couch and asked her to entertain herself. It was only a few minutes before he was snoring and Lily, not being one to miss an opportunity, took advantage of the situation and took out her nail varnish and painted Jacobs toe nails! He was a really good sport about it and I must say I think it is an absolute classic.
Talking of Lily, she finally worked out how to breathe in a snorkel and mask last week. She was so excited about it that she jumped out of the pool and ran to the phone to ring her daddy and tell him. This is how the conversation went:
Lily: Daddy Guess what I can do?
Jacob: I don't know.
Lily: I can do maskeling!
Jacob: You can do what Honey?
Lily, repeating herself: Maskeling.
I was trying so hard not to laugh and was able to say, not maskeling sweetie, snorkeling.
Lily: Oh yeah. Daddy I can do snorkeling.
The conversation continued for a minute and then she went straight back into the pool to continue maskeling.
Jacob has always promised her that once she learnt to snorkel he would take her to Pennekamp and take her out on a boat trip to snorkel in the Florida Keys. He kept his word and yesterday the 2 of them headed out early and she got to do some real snorkeling in the ocean. She had such a wonderful time and when she got home she was able to name all the fish that she had seen and yipped for ages about her day. When she went to bed she looked at Jacob and said, "thank you for such a wonderful day Daddy." Sadly hubby was a bad photographer and he failed to get much footage on my camera and all I have is this one little video.
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In between my appointments today I came for quite a long time and as I continued to organise the toy room the girls got into the dress up box and this is what transpired. Perhaps they are planning for Halloween. They laughed so much it was so wonderful to hear.
The Little Pumpkin
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Funny Bunny's
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Dorothy times 2
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Scary Rosie
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Now onto some Rosie news. From the very first day Rosie Posie has been very jealous of Lily and has on many occasions hit her. This weekend she even clawed at Lily's face and today she hit an all new low and actually bit Lily. Lily takes it all in her stride??? She even said to Rose the other day, " Why are you so mean to me? I am nothing but nice to you." It's true, she is nothing but kind to Rosie. She loves her and treats her with kid gloves. When Rosie does something mean we tell her off and ask her to say sorry to Lily. If we are really strict with her Lily gets all upset??!!
Well that's life in the mad house. We are getting very close to school starting again. Lily has her new uniform, her book bag and is ready to go. Me, well no I am not ready cos I love having hr home and I can't get my head around the fact that she is going into first grade...sigh.
22 Jul 2008
Lots of Stuff.
Lily had her 6 year old check up today at the pediatrician. In England you only went to the doctor if you were poorly, there were no such things as healthy kid visits and annual physicals. I think in many ways this method is much better because lets face it, an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure. In the past 12 months Lily has grown 6 inches and she has only gained 1lb.
She is 44 and a 1/2 inches tall and weighs 43 lbs. I thought she was feeling a little difficult to carry about. She is only in the 50th percentile for height and just under the 50th percentile for weight. The doc' said to feel free to give her a few more healthy yet fattening snacks because it is obvious she doesn't gain any excess weight. I just sit in the exam room now like a spare part. Lily and Barbara just chatter away and I am not needed. She had to have a blood test done for anemia which came back negative and a booster for her chickenpox jab. She cried today for the first time ever at the thought of getting a jab. I think the finger prick must have hurt more than she anticipated and she got all worried. She took it like a champ though. Barbara asked lots of questions, i.e., can your ride a 2 wheeler? Answer, yes. Can you tie your shoes? Answer, yes. Do you like to read and write? Answer yes. Do you have lots of friends...and then she added, as if I need to ask? Answer, yes. That pretty much summed up her visit. She is as healthy as a horse but she is never going to be the size of one.
( sorry about all the details but this blog is now my record system for the girlies )
Now onto the everyday silliness that is our life. It has been so hot here of late that even the pool and the beach offer little refreshment so I decided to stay indoors today and let the kidlets paint. Lily has always loved painting but Rosie has never tried it before. I think you will agree when I say she needs a bit more practice. We had so much fun.
A masterpiece in the making....perhaps not!
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Hmmmm.
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We need more practice, I think.
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Ta - Da, I give you, "Little Miss Messy"
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Excuse Lily's fashion statement but that ratty old t-shirt is her painting shirt so she put it over the top of her other one so that she wouldn't get messy.
After all of that we had a monumental clean up session and it was on to the next job.
Lily the puppet master.
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And of course the little helper.
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The sister act.
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And finally I give you this: trouble with the props!!!
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When I go home to England I shop. I shop for everything from shower gel to beads and I bring home enough to last me about 8 months cos that is usually the amount of time between trips. This summers trip got cancelled and we are running out of some stuff. HELP......I need a visitor who is willing to do a little, ok, a not so little, shoppy for me before they arrive. Hint Hint! Someone must want to visit.......doesn't anybody love me?
She is 44 and a 1/2 inches tall and weighs 43 lbs. I thought she was feeling a little difficult to carry about. She is only in the 50th percentile for height and just under the 50th percentile for weight. The doc' said to feel free to give her a few more healthy yet fattening snacks because it is obvious she doesn't gain any excess weight. I just sit in the exam room now like a spare part. Lily and Barbara just chatter away and I am not needed. She had to have a blood test done for anemia which came back negative and a booster for her chickenpox jab. She cried today for the first time ever at the thought of getting a jab. I think the finger prick must have hurt more than she anticipated and she got all worried. She took it like a champ though. Barbara asked lots of questions, i.e., can your ride a 2 wheeler? Answer, yes. Can you tie your shoes? Answer, yes. Do you like to read and write? Answer yes. Do you have lots of friends...and then she added, as if I need to ask? Answer, yes. That pretty much summed up her visit. She is as healthy as a horse but she is never going to be the size of one.
( sorry about all the details but this blog is now my record system for the girlies )
Now onto the everyday silliness that is our life. It has been so hot here of late that even the pool and the beach offer little refreshment so I decided to stay indoors today and let the kidlets paint. Lily has always loved painting but Rosie has never tried it before. I think you will agree when I say she needs a bit more practice. We had so much fun.
A masterpiece in the making....perhaps not!
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Hmmmm.
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We need more practice, I think.
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Ta - Da, I give you, "Little Miss Messy"
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Excuse Lily's fashion statement but that ratty old t-shirt is her painting shirt so she put it over the top of her other one so that she wouldn't get messy.
After all of that we had a monumental clean up session and it was on to the next job.
Lily the puppet master.
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And of course the little helper.
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The sister act.
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And finally I give you this: trouble with the props!!!
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When I go home to England I shop. I shop for everything from shower gel to beads and I bring home enough to last me about 8 months cos that is usually the amount of time between trips. This summers trip got cancelled and we are running out of some stuff. HELP......I need a visitor who is willing to do a little, ok, a not so little, shoppy for me before they arrive. Hint Hint! Someone must want to visit.......doesn't anybody love me?
18 Jul 2008
The Horses Mouth And Teeth
Little Miss Rosie is, how shall I put this politely, deficient in the tooth department. By 24 months most kids have all their teeth but at 17 months Miss Rose has her 2 uppers, and 4 lowers. I expected a tooth to erupt as she had been a little cranky and was drooling and biting on anything that would fit in her mouth so each day I would check the upper gums for any sign of new life. There was nothing new or so I thought. Yesterday she was laying across my legs with her head all the way back and I saw something at the very back of her mouth so I put my finger in to retrieve this foreign object only to find it is her molar ??? This oddball kidlet has 2 front teeth and now a huge enormous molar. Anyone else have kiddos who have managed to sprout their teeth in no particular order? Let me know please.
Lily had riding lesson number 2 yesterday. She galloped! Yes you read that right she galloped and at the end of her lesson, which for some reason ran over 2 hours, they were given a freestyle session and Lily kicked the horse like mad and made that poor old equine run and I mean run! She loves it. She nearly fell at one point but regained her balance, I on the other hand didn't regain mine for about 20 minutes. Her hands were raw towards the end and she rode over to me and asked if her time was nearly up cos they were so sore. I will now go to the, "Yeehaw Feed and Supply" store and get her some riding gloves. I have been informed by the very informed and knowledgeable, Franymag, that the reason Lily isn't wearing "proper" riding garb is because she is learning Western style riding and not English. She will be learning English very soon but she still only has to wear jeans. They are put on Western saddles to begin with so that they can attach seat belts to them. I was told yesterday by 2 people that Lily appears to be a natural rider. Well guess what? Lily appears to be a natural at all she tries so the idea of her heading to a competition didn't really surprise me. But let me tell you , the idea does not thrill me.
The videos this week are really short. Sorry about that.
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I just realised that I didn't get a decent shot of her galloping, I think I was a little dumb struck. She takes off in this video but "Latin Fire" wasn't cooperating.
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One very tired girl after being in the saddle for 2 hours. The lesson was only meant to be an hour but Frenchie just kept going. Once we got home Lily ate enough food to sustain an army. She was famished, hot, and tired. I thought this would be the case so I had everything prepped and ready to go before we left and even turned the air down in the house so that when we got home she would feel nice and cool.
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Lily had riding lesson number 2 yesterday. She galloped! Yes you read that right she galloped and at the end of her lesson, which for some reason ran over 2 hours, they were given a freestyle session and Lily kicked the horse like mad and made that poor old equine run and I mean run! She loves it. She nearly fell at one point but regained her balance, I on the other hand didn't regain mine for about 20 minutes. Her hands were raw towards the end and she rode over to me and asked if her time was nearly up cos they were so sore. I will now go to the, "Yeehaw Feed and Supply" store and get her some riding gloves. I have been informed by the very informed and knowledgeable, Franymag, that the reason Lily isn't wearing "proper" riding garb is because she is learning Western style riding and not English. She will be learning English very soon but she still only has to wear jeans. They are put on Western saddles to begin with so that they can attach seat belts to them. I was told yesterday by 2 people that Lily appears to be a natural rider. Well guess what? Lily appears to be a natural at all she tries so the idea of her heading to a competition didn't really surprise me. But let me tell you , the idea does not thrill me.
The videos this week are really short. Sorry about that.
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I just realised that I didn't get a decent shot of her galloping, I think I was a little dumb struck. She takes off in this video but "Latin Fire" wasn't cooperating.
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One very tired girl after being in the saddle for 2 hours. The lesson was only meant to be an hour but Frenchie just kept going. Once we got home Lily ate enough food to sustain an army. She was famished, hot, and tired. I thought this would be the case so I had everything prepped and ready to go before we left and even turned the air down in the house so that when we got home she would feel nice and cool.
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15 Jul 2008
Updates
Yesterday was our 6th month post placement visit with our social worker. One of the reasons that we have not moved out of this area yet is because of this lady. She is a phenomenal SW and we just love her. She has known us since 1999 and was genuinely thrilled to meet Rosie yesterday. So, the visit should have gone really well but alas, not so. Lily decided yesterday to exhibit behaviour that is rarely seen in her. Translation: she was an absolute brat from start to finish....arghhhh. After Barbara left Jacob sent Lily to her room and she spent the remainder of the day there. That is a first for her and as much as I would like it to be the last I suppose this is just the beginning. Today her manners are impeccable and her attitude, as sweet as honey. The SW was very impressed with Rose but we won't know much until we get the report back in a couple of weeks. Wish us luck.
Rosie Posie is feeling much better. She finally started to eat again yesterday and this is the first day she hasn't had a temperature. She really looked pathetic with her big black circles and her red eyes. She had no energy whatsoever and needed to be held constantly. It was so sad. Now she appears to catching up on all the sleep she missed.
As for me. I woke up 5 weeks ago looking like this. If you are squeamish look away. I have Iritis again.
Last week things were not going well and my eye pressure was so high that the Dr. was concerned about permanent damage to my optic nerve. In fact his actual words were, "Oh Sh*t". I love this man and he has dealt with my eye for 10 years and knows that when I get this I always get bad cases of it. He changed all my meds and yesterdays visit was better. The pressure is back to normal, my vision has improved but it is still to early to tell if there is any permanent damage. It appears that all good news comes with a catch and yesterday catch was that the virus is now worse than last week because these meds are not so good and my eyeball is drying up. The doc told me to look straight ahead and then literally poked me in the eye, twice! I told him that wasn't very nice and he told me not to complain cos he was having a bad day. (he has a great sense of humour and when I am dealing with this stuff I need someone who can make me laugh cos (a) it hurts and (b) it is just a general pain.) He explained that by poking me like that my eye should have produced massive amounts of tears but it didn't. I have so many eyedrops I think my brain is water logged and I am on massive amounts of steroids and the side effects are starting to rear their ugly heads. I have spots....yuck, I tell you. I never had spots as a teenager and I really don't need them now. Lily keeps looking and saying things like....eeewww. Very helpful.
There is a large tree between our house and our neighbours and this morning I was in the kitchen and I heard a funny noise,. I looked outside and a very large branch from the tree was in our garden. The kidlets were fascinated by it. There fascination was short lived because with 2 hours it had been chopped up and removed.
This was a fun filled post wasn't it I bet you are just thrilled that you stopped by.
Rosie Posie is feeling much better. She finally started to eat again yesterday and this is the first day she hasn't had a temperature. She really looked pathetic with her big black circles and her red eyes. She had no energy whatsoever and needed to be held constantly. It was so sad. Now she appears to catching up on all the sleep she missed.
As for me. I woke up 5 weeks ago looking like this. If you are squeamish look away. I have Iritis again.
Last week things were not going well and my eye pressure was so high that the Dr. was concerned about permanent damage to my optic nerve. In fact his actual words were, "Oh Sh*t". I love this man and he has dealt with my eye for 10 years and knows that when I get this I always get bad cases of it. He changed all my meds and yesterdays visit was better. The pressure is back to normal, my vision has improved but it is still to early to tell if there is any permanent damage. It appears that all good news comes with a catch and yesterday catch was that the virus is now worse than last week because these meds are not so good and my eyeball is drying up. The doc told me to look straight ahead and then literally poked me in the eye, twice! I told him that wasn't very nice and he told me not to complain cos he was having a bad day. (he has a great sense of humour and when I am dealing with this stuff I need someone who can make me laugh cos (a) it hurts and (b) it is just a general pain.) He explained that by poking me like that my eye should have produced massive amounts of tears but it didn't. I have so many eyedrops I think my brain is water logged and I am on massive amounts of steroids and the side effects are starting to rear their ugly heads. I have spots....yuck, I tell you. I never had spots as a teenager and I really don't need them now. Lily keeps looking and saying things like....eeewww. Very helpful.
There is a large tree between our house and our neighbours and this morning I was in the kitchen and I heard a funny noise,. I looked outside and a very large branch from the tree was in our garden. The kidlets were fascinated by it. There fascination was short lived because with 2 hours it had been chopped up and removed.
This was a fun filled post wasn't it I bet you are just thrilled that you stopped by.
11 Jul 2008
Giddy Up Horsey.
Since the first time Lily was introduced to a horse she has loved them. When we go back to England she usually rides one and whenever we are at a carnival, party or any event with horses she has to ride. She has never ridden a horse without someone leading her but she doesn't care she thinks she's a pro.
Our house is one street over from an area called Horse Country. We see horses all the time and feed horses all the time but I have never seen a riding school there which I think is peculiar. A few weeks ago we were feeding the horses and a man came out of the farm opposite and invited us to see his horses and told me Lily could learn to ride there. I wanted to suggest a sign but I bit my tongue! We walked down to the stables and found out all the information and today Lily got her first lesson.
It isn't just riding a horse but she has to learn all the tack, be able to put on the saddle and bridle and care for the horse, she even gets homework! She has to have special boots a hat and loose fitting blue jeans and a t-shirt. No jodhpurs and hacking jacket in this country but she still looked adorable. I am really, really impressed with the place. I love that you can just go there anytime and wander through the stalls and out to the paddock. Sadly many of the farms here don't care for the animals very well and the horses all look half starved and mangy but here they look healthy and they even have a world champion Paso Fino stallion who we have met and whom I had a close encounter with today....scared the living daylights out of me. I suppose I should mention here that I do not like horses. Yes, they are beautiful, yes they are smart but don't expect me to get on one cos they have a mind of their own and their mind and my mind just don't get along. I am fine if a fence or a stable separates us but up close and personal....well, no thank you.
On to the photos which is all you really want anyway. I have to write a disclaimer here: Rosie woke up this morning with a temp 102.7F or 39.2C by lunchtime she was feeling wretched, refused to eat or drink anything and after a good dose of medicine to bring her temp down it was up to 104.3F or 40.1C. Not sure why the meds didn't work but I knew we needed to go and see the Dr., so off we trotted only to find out that her ears and throat were fine her white blood count is fine and the only thing left to check was her bladder. Since a little girl had sobbed on and off all morning, had barely drunk anything except a few gulps of water her pee was hard to come by. The doc sent us off to the toyroom with her hooked up to a bag and we waited and waited as I coaxed her to drink. After an hour she was wrecked and tired and it was getting close to the time of Lily's lesson. I spoke to the Dr. and he told us to go and stay in the A/C and after the lesson to return if the bag had been used. I stayed out of the heat as much as possible but kept leaping outside to snap a shot or two of Lily. By this point I had given Rose more medicine and she was actually feeling a lot better but I still didn't want her in the sun. So the photos are not the best and some of them are from far away.
One happy girl grooming her horse.
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Picking it's feet! Well yes I am sure it does have a proper name but I don't know what it is! I was a little concerned about my sweet little girl having a horses hoof in her hand so I wasn't paying attention to the terminology.
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Frenchie, her instructor, teaching her to adjust the stirrups.
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Finally, ready to ride. Doesn't she looked chuffed?
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The first moments riding all by herself.
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Yee Haw
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Here she is "controlling" the horse. I call it steering but she assures me it is called controlling.
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During Lily's lesson a little girl who was talking to us suddenly said, Oh look there's 222 (the champion Paso Fino)he just loves to run free. I nearly snapped my neck as I jerked around to see this "stallion" come cantering along all by itself!!! It was bucking and rearing and generally just having a grand time but I am sure this is not normal to let a horse run free. I gathered up Rosie so she was truly squashed in my arms and high tailed it out of there. I am a serious chicken. All I could think was Holy Sh*t my little girl is out there riding on a mare and this big boy ( and indeed he was!) is roaming free. Now I did grow up in the countryside and I know how that boy girl thing works but I just didn't like the idea of him getting anywhere near my little girl on her mare. A few minutes later a chap came out with a bridle to round up Mr Big Boy but he wasn't going to have any of that. They caught him eventually but not until I had said at least 70 Hail Mary's and I don't even go to church and I am definitely not Catholic! Mr. 222 had a cold shower and was led back to his stall so I was able to crawl out from under my rock.
This is the fear inducing 222 behaving like a normal horse and heading off to his shower. See how far away from him I was? I was meant to be in that barn area keeping cool but I took off at a brisk pace and ended up half way up the driveway.
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I am so proud of Lily. I love her zest for life and her constant exuberance. She faces every new challenge or venture with such gusto. She is going to go far.
As for Rosie, we have to head back to the Dr's first thing in the morning. She has been in bed for 2 hours and has already woken up 3 times. She really doesn't feel well. I hate to see her like this. Children shouldn't get sick, their parents should have to do it for them...well maybe just their Mama's. The poor little soul is burning hot and she can't have any more meds for 3 more hours. If all else fails there is always the tub, nothing like waking up from a sound sleep and being plunged into a lukewarm tub. I'll keep you posted on her. Send us happy thoughts please.
Our house is one street over from an area called Horse Country. We see horses all the time and feed horses all the time but I have never seen a riding school there which I think is peculiar. A few weeks ago we were feeding the horses and a man came out of the farm opposite and invited us to see his horses and told me Lily could learn to ride there. I wanted to suggest a sign but I bit my tongue! We walked down to the stables and found out all the information and today Lily got her first lesson.
It isn't just riding a horse but she has to learn all the tack, be able to put on the saddle and bridle and care for the horse, she even gets homework! She has to have special boots a hat and loose fitting blue jeans and a t-shirt. No jodhpurs and hacking jacket in this country but she still looked adorable. I am really, really impressed with the place. I love that you can just go there anytime and wander through the stalls and out to the paddock. Sadly many of the farms here don't care for the animals very well and the horses all look half starved and mangy but here they look healthy and they even have a world champion Paso Fino stallion who we have met and whom I had a close encounter with today....scared the living daylights out of me. I suppose I should mention here that I do not like horses. Yes, they are beautiful, yes they are smart but don't expect me to get on one cos they have a mind of their own and their mind and my mind just don't get along. I am fine if a fence or a stable separates us but up close and personal....well, no thank you.
On to the photos which is all you really want anyway. I have to write a disclaimer here: Rosie woke up this morning with a temp 102.7F or 39.2C by lunchtime she was feeling wretched, refused to eat or drink anything and after a good dose of medicine to bring her temp down it was up to 104.3F or 40.1C. Not sure why the meds didn't work but I knew we needed to go and see the Dr., so off we trotted only to find out that her ears and throat were fine her white blood count is fine and the only thing left to check was her bladder. Since a little girl had sobbed on and off all morning, had barely drunk anything except a few gulps of water her pee was hard to come by. The doc sent us off to the toyroom with her hooked up to a bag and we waited and waited as I coaxed her to drink. After an hour she was wrecked and tired and it was getting close to the time of Lily's lesson. I spoke to the Dr. and he told us to go and stay in the A/C and after the lesson to return if the bag had been used. I stayed out of the heat as much as possible but kept leaping outside to snap a shot or two of Lily. By this point I had given Rose more medicine and she was actually feeling a lot better but I still didn't want her in the sun. So the photos are not the best and some of them are from far away.
One happy girl grooming her horse.
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Picking it's feet! Well yes I am sure it does have a proper name but I don't know what it is! I was a little concerned about my sweet little girl having a horses hoof in her hand so I wasn't paying attention to the terminology.
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Frenchie, her instructor, teaching her to adjust the stirrups.
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Finally, ready to ride. Doesn't she looked chuffed?
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The first moments riding all by herself.
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Yee Haw
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Here she is "controlling" the horse. I call it steering but she assures me it is called controlling.
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During Lily's lesson a little girl who was talking to us suddenly said, Oh look there's 222 (the champion Paso Fino)he just loves to run free. I nearly snapped my neck as I jerked around to see this "stallion" come cantering along all by itself!!! It was bucking and rearing and generally just having a grand time but I am sure this is not normal to let a horse run free. I gathered up Rosie so she was truly squashed in my arms and high tailed it out of there. I am a serious chicken. All I could think was Holy Sh*t my little girl is out there riding on a mare and this big boy ( and indeed he was!) is roaming free. Now I did grow up in the countryside and I know how that boy girl thing works but I just didn't like the idea of him getting anywhere near my little girl on her mare. A few minutes later a chap came out with a bridle to round up Mr Big Boy but he wasn't going to have any of that. They caught him eventually but not until I had said at least 70 Hail Mary's and I don't even go to church and I am definitely not Catholic! Mr. 222 had a cold shower and was led back to his stall so I was able to crawl out from under my rock.
This is the fear inducing 222 behaving like a normal horse and heading off to his shower. See how far away from him I was? I was meant to be in that barn area keeping cool but I took off at a brisk pace and ended up half way up the driveway.
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I am so proud of Lily. I love her zest for life and her constant exuberance. She faces every new challenge or venture with such gusto. She is going to go far.
As for Rosie, we have to head back to the Dr's first thing in the morning. She has been in bed for 2 hours and has already woken up 3 times. She really doesn't feel well. I hate to see her like this. Children shouldn't get sick, their parents should have to do it for them...well maybe just their Mama's. The poor little soul is burning hot and she can't have any more meds for 3 more hours. If all else fails there is always the tub, nothing like waking up from a sound sleep and being plunged into a lukewarm tub. I'll keep you posted on her. Send us happy thoughts please.
9 Jul 2008
As Promised....The Girls
Lily still loves playing with bubbles.
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Walking their babies......just one small problem here and that is that Rosie forgot her dolly.
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Lily had a Daddy day a couple of weeks ago and they spent the day playing miniature golf, air hockey, racing go-karts and that kind of stuff. She had so much fun and I got to spend some time with Rosie. All good.
Looking so calm and peaceful....
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This video of Lily makes me laugh it is just so "her". She is in the middle on the right hand side. She is the one you can hear shrieking and note that she doesn't even sit still when being plunged the ground. We call her "wiggle"
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I have a new favourite song. It is Cinderella by Steven Curtis Chapman. He is actually a Christian singer but this song doesn't mention religion at all and I can't stop listening to it. Steven Curtis Chapman and his wife are very well known in the China adoption community as they have (had) 3 little Chinese daughters and 3 grown biological children. About a month ago one of their sons was reversing his car and ran over their youngest little girl and sadly killed her. She was five. He wrote this song a while ago but it is much more poignant now.
Well that's it. I have to go and do some more painting. Our SW arrives on Monday. I know I am blonde but we have only been home for 5 months and this is our 6 month post placement visit???? See, I would have had plenty of time but she is early. Perhaps it is so that we can have all the paperwork to our agency in time for the 6th month mark. Talking of the SW coming to visit, Rose fell flat on her face on the tile floor tonight and is now sporting a big egg. That should look really nice on the report!
7 Jul 2008
I Love It.
Today we went shopping and I got one of these:
I really love it. It is so different this year than the last few years and feels alot more like a car and is so much nicer on the inside. Gone is the feel of a pick-up truck. My only dilemma was the colour. I really wasn't very keen on any of them and wanted something light so that it would stay a bit cooler....not a lot but a little. I finally choose the colour only to find out it came with black interior....yuck. So it was back to the drawing board. I settled on the is pale blue one and I must say it is growing on me quite quickly.
I drove the salesman bonkers from the second I walked in and said that I wanted to test drive 2 cars....is this really unusual? Anyway I decided on something bigger over the Accord even though the Accord had tonnes of bells and whistles. They were all things that I really don't need.
I am all giddy and excited but at the same time it was hard to say bye bye to "little car" cos it held so many memories for me and was so faithful but now we can start making new memories in this car who at the moment remains without a name.
The next post will feature the girlies I promise.
I really love it. It is so different this year than the last few years and feels alot more like a car and is so much nicer on the inside. Gone is the feel of a pick-up truck. My only dilemma was the colour. I really wasn't very keen on any of them and wanted something light so that it would stay a bit cooler....not a lot but a little. I finally choose the colour only to find out it came with black interior....yuck. So it was back to the drawing board. I settled on the is pale blue one and I must say it is growing on me quite quickly.
I drove the salesman bonkers from the second I walked in and said that I wanted to test drive 2 cars....is this really unusual? Anyway I decided on something bigger over the Accord even though the Accord had tonnes of bells and whistles. They were all things that I really don't need.
I am all giddy and excited but at the same time it was hard to say bye bye to "little car" cos it held so many memories for me and was so faithful but now we can start making new memories in this car who at the moment remains without a name.
The next post will feature the girlies I promise.
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