New Year's Eve Visitors

We had some visitors to make New Year's Eve special! Kim and Ryan drove over from Richmond to see the new house (and dog!).

We met up at the barn before we headed out to the tavern for lunch. They chose to drive the back roads to get here. Kim was happy to report they didn't get trapped behind any tractors or slow-driving country folk on the way over. 

Shane wanted to show off his room (and Pokemon stickers) to Ryan before we headed out. Like me, Ryan said, "That's Mewtwo," only to have Shane correct him, "NO! That's a Mewtwo Y!"

I tried to catch a wild Shane on the way back from lunch. Shane rode with Ryan and Kim. Kim's window was down, but I missed!

I had to hop out of the car, pick it up from a puddle's edge, and slam dunk it in.

"Daaaad!!!!" Shane yelled.

No, we weren't driving. We were parked at the hardware store for an errand. The roads don't have passing lanes, so it's not like I could drive up beside them. Plus, Carrie would have been in the passenger seat and killed me. 

Kim commented that she didn't need a radio while we sat around. Ryan and Shane kept up a steady stream of beat-boxing to keep her 'entertained.'

We gave the official tour of the property when we got back. Heidi pulled up and Carrie peeled off from the group to saddle up herself.

Kim, Ryan, Shane, and I went back to the house and opened presents! I don't know how they find time to shop for as many people as they do, but they manage and they're good at it. Shane got some Harry Potter LEGOs, a HP coding game, and a LEGO Technic car.

He pulled out the wand right away and started to treat it like a weapon. "Say it! Don't spray it, kid!"

There excitement was broken when Max stirred up some excitement of her own. She was stalking some shelves, so I shifted them to see what she was on to.

A mouse shot out. Max caught it.

"Good girl, Max!" I said.

"Let me see! Let me see!" Shane shouted. Kim had the opposite reaction.

I had to stop Shane from racing over to Max. She trotted out of the kitchen and down the hallway with her prize. I started to laugh as she moved to Shane's room. (She was bringing him a present!).

"What!?" Shane yelled. "Noooo!" He ran after and Max dropped the mouse! The mouse skittered into the laundry room and I had to move shoes to help Max zero in on her target again.

I'd hoped she'd kill the mouse, but she was treating it like a prized toy. Stress can kill a mouse and I didn't want it tortured, but I wouldn't cry if it keeled over.

After Max dropped and caught the poor thing multiple times, I pulled out the camera to take a video.

You can tell I got highly distracted at the end. We never had the chance to see if Bucket had hunting instincts. By the time Ryan and I had retrieved her from behind the TV, Max had dropped the mouse and it had run under the fridge.

When the excitement died down, I let Shane show Slime Rancher to Ryan. Shane interjects Slime Rancher into any random conversation, so I figured it would be best to get it out of his system.

With Shane plugged in, that gave Kim, Ryan, and I time to sit down, talk, and play a board game! We learned to play Azul!

That's the temptation with video games and kids. The games can buy you a moment's peace, but if you overuse them...

I pulled the plug shortly after our game. Shane showed Kim his room and ended up wrestling with Ryan and Loki!

Carrie came in from riding and showed Kim Happy-cat while the boys played. (I didn't get this picture pre-approved, so I put it in small until the censors could look at it!)

"We should get a picture before you go," I said. 

Everyone agreed, but not everyone had the same type of picture in mind.

This led to a few tries.

Ryan applied tickling to try and get a smile.

And I guess that's the best we could get out of Shane posing. He stood still, at least.

Amazingly, Kim barely moved even with some wrestling adjacent to her! She knows how to avoid getting blurred out!

I'm glad they visited, because it made New Year's Eve a special memory. We weren't planning on staying up or anything of the like. I would have been happy if they chose to stay the night, but it was not to be!

Shane started working on his new Harry Potter LEGOs right after they left.

I'm going to need to get him working on a thank you note....in 2020!

Warm Monday

It's been an odd winter break. The weather is more akin to spring. Baby grass is starting to pop up throughout the yard and we opened up all of the windows for fresh air. 

It hit 70 F in the house!

Carrie heated me up some 'taco soup' and then really wanted to catch me with a cheese runner. I obliged.

The morning was mostly quiet. Shane played around and did some Final Fantasy II and some Slime Rancher. I did barn chores, cleaning, writing, and took Loki out to pace some cars for a while. Carrie did a 'mercenary' dungeon run or two with her friend from Asia that calls her 'Sis' (True story).

The evening had more 'out of house' activity. I took Shane with me to wrestling practice.

Wrestling continues to be the one place it's okay for him to try and tackle people he doesn't know.....which turns into how he gets to know them, I guess!

Shane doesn't always get when to stop. He started trying to throw the ball at the coach as we were talking. He entertained himself for an hour before I gave him my phone for 30 minutes to let me work without worrying about him.

We left practice a little early for Shane to make it to TKD. Shane went in with a bad attitude ("Why do we have to come here?") and left singing praises ("It's always a good time when [Instructor Papa]'s there!").

We had a little talk about how attitude is important and you can be sure I pointed the transformation.

As we were leaving, Shane got a turn on a balance game.

The beginner's class is more for kids lower in rank than him and has more play, but Shane loves it. The class with higher ranks is earlier in the day and in the middle of wrestling. I'd love to take him to the higher ranking class, but it's not an option right now. We have to leave practice 20 minutes early to make it to this class!

It's not the same as having a friend over, but Shane needs to get out and about. We stayed home except for errands and church over the weekend. 

We listened to Spy School on the way home and chilled the rest of the night.

...and it was a literal chill for me. When I went into our bedroom I was hit by a wave of cold. The windows were still open! There was a thermometer on the clock that told me exactly what I was in for.

Carrie had conked out on the couch, so she was warm, snug, and none the wiser! I went full blanket burrito mode and pretended I was camping. 

New Year, New Goals

I doubled up on yesterday's post to leave a spot for my yearly goals post.

Reflection -

1. Prepare and sell house - Done!
2. Build, Move, Adjust - A LOT has happened.
3. Carrie with horses - Companion horse? We've got spares now. We've got one boarder. Hope for more!
4. Figure out job - New job in progress. Almost halfway through the year.
5. Community - Life has become more and more busy. Tried a small group, but it broke up. Working to stay connected with people. We are attending a local church. Shane normally asks to go there.
6. Career - I don't have time for a PhD. I don't have time for a side job. Work, barn, and parenting take all my time.
7. Have fun - Got some of that in!
8. Shane - Well, he is reading more!

Goals -

1. Hook in at MHS - Don't just survive; Thrive. Make a difference. Make friends. Make the most of it.
2. Start to ride again - I'm around horses all the time. Need to keep learning to be useful.
3. Carrie's surgery - She's going to need knee surgery at some point again. We're thinking this summer. She'll need time to recover and I'll be in charge.
4. Carrie's health in general - Any and all of it. I do what I can to help relieve stress and pressure.
5. Establish a boarding barn - Already in progress...but we need more boarders! It would be nice to turn it into at least somewhat of a revenue stream. It would be fun to have some sort of social events here, too, like a potluck (or something where I get food!).
5. Have a sleepover with a Shane friend at some point - It'd be fun and a sign we're closer with a family.
6. Volunteer more....somewhere.
7. Keep building connections:
   Me: I'd love to get a board game group going. Somehow. Somewhere. I'd like to get involved in another small group or the same one if they form back up again. I've been so busy lately I haven't kept up conversations with some of my old friends as much as I wish I had. I want to stay connected with people. Shane's cousins on Carrie's side are back in Virginia, so I'd like to add them to the family we visit.
   Carrie: Keeps meeting more horse people and I hope we'll have more boarders to keep track of. When she's feeling better, she can go on fox hunts (which she's wanted to do anyway! Hopefully, we'll have a "Guild Meeting" one day and Chris, Gen, and maybe even Emily or Bill will make it to the farm.
   Shane: I plan on signing Shane up for the local soccer league instead of SOCA this spring. I want to join the pool this summer and do swim lessons there instead of ACAC, as well. Henry has been our most regular friend, but I'd love to have a more steady stream of social appointments for Shane's sake and my sanity.

I may think of more later. My goals are a starting point.

Farming Work Weekend

After a busy week, it was a quieter weekend. Carrie hopped in the gator and dragged all the fields while I stalled the horses for feeding and morning chores. We rotated fields (Carrie came in concerned one afternoon when Sam had enlarged lymph nodes. Research said that it was his saliva glands working over time from a lush new field!).

I caught Nibs laying down and relaxing in all the nicely smoothed poo.

What's the attraction? Is it cooler? Or warmer? I couldn't say.

Farming is cheaper than boarding.....over time. Building a barn and buying all the related toys cost a chunk up front.

Carrie found some deals after Thanksgiving that have been locked on the trailer. I like shoveling snow, but with our massive driveway and the hope of boarders I asked for a snow blower.

I broke it out of the crate and wheeled it off the trailer instead of lifting it. So far, it hasn't looked like I'll use it much this year.

Our well is electric and we're a little out there, so Carrie found a deal on a generator, as well. This wasn't solely a barn purchase, but the automatic waterers for the horses factored in.

Once the trailer was empty, we loaded it up with all of our trash (about 6 cans worth). The cardboard is what took up 80% of the floor space.

Saturday was gorgeous. It made it much more pleasant to change the oil on the riding mower. I worked on it while Heidi and Carrie were out riding. Shane was inside playing Final Fantasy II.

Random horse observation of the day: I've developed an opinion on horse blankets. It started off where Carrie was afraid to let me change them, and now she's happy to stay inside and avoid the cold while I do it!

Annie's blanket is my least favorite. 

But first, a quick explanation.

Blankets help with the cold, but not all horses need to be blanketed. Wet weather increases the chance blankets will be needed.

Sam and Maddy are examples of horses with thick winter coats and are less likely to need blankets. There was one night when I brought them all in and Sam had started to sweat under his blanket (which is a no-no). Annie and Nibs have much thinner coats while Eddie is in between.

Blankets normally have Velcro and some sort of straps to secure in the front. It's much easier to do when the horse's head is up or at least not snout down scrounging on the ground.

There are belly straps that require reaching under the horse to the other side. Twisting the hooks just right took me a few nights to get down pat (the cold didn't help), but practice makes perfect.

Some blankets have leg straps, but Carrie bought simpler blankets or removed most of ours. Our last step is pulling the trail over the butt strap. 

And voila! You have a blanketed horses. Thanks for posing, Maddy!

When removing the the blanket, I remove the belly straps first and the chest straps second. Then it's slide off the back in a downward motion to clear the tail.

Annie's blanket is my least favorite, because her butt strap rides too high. I feel like I have to be careful not to accidentally give her an enema. She must have grown.

Saturday evening, I headed into town to meet up with a fellow math teacher to hang out and maybe play a game.

To keep the trip productive, I donated a bunch of Shane's old clothes at Goodwill and stopped by the recycling center to offload our plastics, metals, papers, and glasses.

I drove up to a new brewery to meet my friend, Scott. His friend, Mark, was the head brewer. Google took me to a locked gate, but it was a fun night.

I only stayed for a couple of hours to make it home for evening horse chores.

Bonus dog update: Loki loves cardboard boxes as much as any cat.

Both to play in and to nom on.

Carrie put a pillow in the box and Loki had a Grade A playpen. I threw him a chew to preserve the box for an extra night or two.

Cousins Visit the Farm!

 It can be hard to wait! Especially when you're young!

Grandma, Grandpa, Chris, Rachel, and the cousins all met us at the Tavern for lunch. 

I tried to get Shane to play some paper games with Nate like Connect 4 and Boxes. I had to play with him myself. Uncle Chris tried to get the boys to play a Scrabble game on paper, but that wasn't to Shane's interest. 

Cell phones did the trick. Uncle Chris had a word game on his.

We headed to the farm after we finished. Sophia drove with us in the truck. Carrie let her sit up front, where she immediately commented her mom would want to clean up the dirt on the dash!

"We live on a farm," I said. "There'd never be time for anything else if all we did was worry about dirt." 

I talked from the backseat. I'd been temporarily banished to give Sophia the First the royal treatment! (There's a joke there if you know kid's cartoons!)

Shane was excited to show off his room when all the cousins arrived.

The kids piled in and made themselves at home!

I encouraged the boys to play some Kirby to quiet the racket down some. I was a little worried 10 people and lots of noise would put Carrie over the top.

I needn't have worried. Carrie wasn't even in the house. Heidi had brought a friend over and she was out playing barn manager and socializing.

It let the adults hear each other, at least.

Sophia showed more interest in the animals instead of the video game.

She popped back and forth and could have joined in.

But she checked in on Loki and then went and found Max.

Uncle Chris thought that was a great idea and called in his boys to greet Max, too! They've all met Max and even played with her at our house and at Grandma's.

Carrie was worried Sam and Eddy might be out of hay while Heidi and her friend were walking around, so she sent me to check on things. Rachel wanted to go with and see the barn and the group quickly grew from one to two to everybody not addicted to a video game (aka - Shane and Noah!).

Nate, Sophia, and I scrambled up the hay bales for an impromptu climbing game.

Grandpa and Grandma strolled down at their leisure.

Carrie played group leader for the trip (which she's done before!).

Heidi popped out of the tack room like a local celebrity as we entered the barn. Chris and Rachel's crew have never been anywhere 'rural' before, so the whole experience was new to them.

Sophia and Nate were ready to go back to the house, so I started to walk back with them.....

...and then I detoured everyone to the gator! We went for a joy ride out front while everyone else walked ever so slowly on their own two feet!

There may be pictures out there somewhere. I'll post them if they ever float up to where I can find them.

There was a minor scare when I got back to the house and found the door wide open. A quick check located all the felines and averted a rescue mission.

The big event of the evening was Sophia's first ride. She was a little nervous about whether or not she should do it. Her dad helped her fit her helmet and Carrie provided her with some breeches.

It went well! Carrie was excited and handwalked Sophia on Maddy around the arena a couple of times. 

Carrie's hoping to teach Sophia more in the future!

While Carrie was cleaning up, the rest of us went back up to the house. Chris and Rachel were eager to get back on the road, but I brought up cards. Specifically, bridge and spades.

It turned out Chris was a card player! He started to shuffle and bridge rapidly. I asked if he enjoyed cribbage as a Navy man and Grandpa asked Chris, "Did you get a cribbage board thrown at you?"

"Yeah," Chris replied. "I double-skunked my [navy position I forgot] and he said I could keep it."

So we ended up playing an impromptu spades game while we waited for Carrie to come back in.

Meanwhile, the kids were having a party in Shane's room. We'd kicked them off the video games and I saw Shane and Nate hustling Loki into the room ("Poor dog. It'll be good socialization training, at least."). There was a bunch of hooting and hollering, but it all sounded friendly.

The lights were off when we opened the door to check on them. Sophia was shining the spotlight and it looked like the boys were throwing things off the bunk bed.

I didn't even notice Loki trapped up top until after a few moments! I helped them down as the kids chatted rapidfire about the war they'd been waging.

However, it was time to go. Everyone shoed up and we headed back outside.The cousins piled into the car with their parents and grandparents. It was great seeing them.

I don't know when it will happen again. Chris has to report for duty next week. The kids and Rachel will stay and Grandma and Grandpa's until their house is ready. Both Chris and Rachel said it was a long drive with their kids to get to our house from Grandma's and it's a longer trip from their new house (Shane's a terrific car traveler, so I sometimes forget road trips are harder for others).

After a wild afternoon, Shane was ready to put up a bunch of Pokemon wall stickers and hang out with us.

He'd asked me earlier and I said, "Ask mom." Carrie said, "They're for walls," and I breathed a huge sigh of relief!

It's been an excellent holiday week. I have no regrets. We made it to church and made memories with family on both sides of the tree.