Happy New Year!

 

I guess that greeting is a bit late. Please forgive me. I've had gallbladder surgery and the whole family was sick for what seemed like forever. On a positive note, BB graduated her puppy class! She is now taking an Intermediate Class.

After a full recovery for us all, Hannah and I were able to take a special Mother/Daughter Retreat.
I am so thankful that we could have that time. It was a wonderful weekend get-away.

We rented a cottage at Hard Labor Creek Park in Rutledge, an hour and 15 minute drive from home.

We had a puzzle race and listened to music. We talked and ate.

On Saturday, we had a lesson and trail ride at Paradise Ranch in Locust Grove. You can check out their facebook page by following this link.
     https://www.facebook.com/deeshorsemanship?hc_location=timeline
We had to really bundle up because of the cold, but God graciously opened up the clouds and let the sun shine through which helped tremendously. This was mine and Hannah's favorite part of the weekend other than just spending time together.
Gudrun was a great teacher and we learned things about horses that we did not know.

I noticed the thick, beautiful coats on some of the horses. She said they grow that coat because they are allowed to stay outside more. This helps them to stay warmer in winter than a blanket.

She had us do exercises with the horses in the ring first, before doing the trail ride. We made our horses walk backwards, then we had them go between poles. She made sure we were both comfortable before heading out. Once on the trail, we rode up and down hills, under hanging branches, and over plastic bottles (a little obstacle course), but most of it was a leisurely walk - through woods and pastureland with a short traipse through shallow water. We saw other horses in pastures and QUADRUNNERS! My horse got a bit nervous. They were coming down the same trail we were on. My old 32 year old horse quickly caught up with the others, then he was fine.

It was nice to come back to our cottage afterwards and put our feet up by the fire as we completed our sessions. What sessions? Well, this weekend was mostly about preparing Hannah for adolescence.

We used materials from Family Life that Theron had wisely purchased when Hannah was still quite small. He's always looking at the big picture. You can check them out at www.passporttopurity.com   I noticed that our version is old (at least ten years) and uses cassette tapes (remember those?). They have updated it since then.

Little Lady came with us and enjoyed the peace and quiet while we listened to the tapes and Hannah took notes. It's a great time to build a connection with your son or daughter and share some important things with them, whether or not you already have a good relationship with your preteen. I would highly recommend it.

We ended the weekend with a Sunday lunch at Blue Willow Inn. You can follow the link to their website.      www.bluewillowinn.com

It is no longer an inn, as the owners decided that the restaurant business was more lucrative. The meal is an all you can eat buffet and your main dish is served on Blue Willow china (just like my Granny used). Maybe that's what drew me to take Hannah there for her special dinner.

We dressed up for the occasion and I presented Hannah with her passport (for completing the sessions and making a commitment to purity), which we both signed (the parent signs as a witness)  . . . 

and a gift (a ring).

The meal was very good. We enjoyed chicken and dumpling soup and iced tea. Then Hannah selected rolls, mashed potatoes with roast beef and gravy, and green beans while I had fried chicken, squash, green beans, mashed potatoes, and fried green tomatoes!
After eating, we walked around and looked at the sites (like the frozen fountain) and visited the gift shop.

So, if you have a preteen, do it! Plan a wonderful weekend get-away. Family Life can help. Don't put it off. Start planning today. You'll be glad you did.

B.B.'s Upgrade

This is Blue Bell when we first got her. The small crate was perfect then.
Now that our little Southern belle has doubled in size, she needs more stretching
room. Enter Craigslist.
Success!
I-Crate medium at half the price, still in the box (unopened even).
We set it up, move her bedding, and

 

Voila!

"That's what I'm talkin' about! Thanks for the upgrade, Mom," she seems to say as she stretches
out her growing form and welcomes some sleep-time.
Sweet Doggie dreams.

B.B. at 3 Months

She's growing. At least for now she is still about the same size as Little Lady as you can see in this picture.

When we got Blue Bell, we were told that she was a mix between a Bichon Frise and a Boxer. We don't see any resemblance to those breeds. Other than the "Flying Nun" ( Who remembers that show?), what does she look like to you? I mean what breed of dog.
Some people say they see Jack Russell Terrier, definitely Terrier though.

Little Lady says, "You don't have to guess what I am. I know that my mother is a Tea Cup Chihuahua and my father is a Toy Fox Terrier."

Lady and B.B. are getting along (with supervision). Lady wants to make sure she keeps her Top Dog status and this "annoying" puppy doesn't get "out of hand". So far Lady has helped teach B.B. how to ask to go outside.

Hopefully their relationship will grow and they will be good friends.

What a Lot of Butterflies Go Flying By!

 

 

All of these pictures were taken on the same day. It seemed we just kept seeing them. And not just butterflies, but caterpillars, too. Josiah even got "stuck" by a Saddleback that just dropped onto his hand. It did hurt, but none of the stickers stayed in his skin. We put ice and then a baking soda paste and it started feeling better.

Blue Bell

No not ice cream. Nor is it something that you ring. And it's not even blue!
It is the name we chose for the puppy.
Which puppy did we pick?

If you guessed the one that Hannah was holding,
you are right!

Blue Bell (B.B. for short) came home Monday evening and our life with puppy began. B.B. was the runt of the litter. She is very attentive, but easy-going.

She likes to play with Josiah.

And then when she's tired, she likes to cuddle with Hannah.

Yep, she's a sweetie!

She is already beginning her obedience training and we've also been able to check off some of the things on the socialization chart. Maybe I'll post a video soon, so you can see B.B. in action.

Which One Would You Choose?

Our family has been researching Diabetic Alert Dogs. I was intrigued when I heard about it on a YouTube video that someone shared on Facebook.
These dogs actually can smell when a person's blood sugar is too high or too low and be trained to signal the owner. Well there is actually a lot of training to do, but the fantastic sense of "scents" is a God-given gift that dogs have. They just have to be trained to use it.
We've also been looking for a puppy to train. We think we found it in a litter of puppies that were rescued. They were a breed we weren't familiar with, so we researched Bichon/Boxer. Both breeds are low shedders and eager to please, and the Bichon is supposedly hypoallergenic (a plus). Of course, the ancestry is not that certain, as they only knew the breed of the mom (whom they said disappeared).

There were six healthy looking pups all wanting to be adopted - 2 tan and white males and 4 white and tan females. We wanted a female. We held them and watched them and narrowed it down to two.

Both were so sweet. It was a tough decision. Which one would you choose?
Find out on my next post.

Did you know . . .?

Okay, I feel a bit silly here, but I am going to risk it.
You probably already knew this about mechanical pencils, so just humor me while I share my newfound knowledge with the world.

Recently my daughter bought some of these type pencils at Kroger in the marked-down section. She has enjoyed using them for her school work and writing her books.
Today, she surprised me by taking off the eraser and emptying out the contents saying, "Look, Mom,
I found out where the lead comes from."

When I got over the shock of such an incredibly clever thing that had been hidden from me all these years - You know I wasn't born yesterday, but I always thought you had to buy those packages of extra leads. Sure I read instructions and labels, but maybe all of mine were given to me without packaging or labels. Well the secret is out now! - I explained to dear daughter that those were actually spares and showed her how to replace one.

I had to check out my "older" models just to see if maybe this was a new thing, but NO even my old ones have that feature. Who knew? Did you?

My kids thought I was crazy. I was so excited - snapping pictures for my blog and wondering how many other people did not know.