my appologies

With Jeff's broken hand, Bug's busy riding, trying to keep the kids entertained, and trying to stay sane while seeming to grown an inch a day...things have been crazy hectic around here. I promise that in the next week or so I will get everyone caught up with all of our goings on.

Much love to all.

Jealous much?!?

We have a little "breakfest in bed" tray that lives in the living room that the kids get to eat snacks off of. Tonight I was bringing Jilly a bowl of ice cream (Dibs are a wonderful snack for toddlers!) and Jilly pulled out her table and sat her excited little self right on down. I wasn't even half way accross the living room when Cooper looked at me, then at Jilly, and in no time had thrown herself down on the floor and started wailing!

It was amazing to me how quickly Cooper processed what was going on, and seeing as how she had no way of saying "Hey Lady, how about me too?" I went back to the kitchen got her a bowl of her little "Cooper candies" (which are the little puffs that Coop and Jilly fight over all the time).

And suddenly, all was right with the world.

how quickly plans can change

I was sitting here earlier today, half way through my last blog, all ready to spend some time getting all caught up, but then Jeff called from baseball. His game was in Reston today, and I thought it was strange for him to be calling me after only 2 hours after the game started. Well, to make a long story short (and spare you all the gorry details) Jeff fractured his right hand while playing, and I had to go pick him up and take him to the hospital for x-rays.

We will try to get in to see the Ortho tomorrow, bottom line is there is no rest for the weary. There went what little help I had around here to try to stick to as much bed rest as possible. So keep your fingers crossed that it isn't too bad and Jeff will at least be able to change a few of Cooper's diapers here and there for me so I can keep up with the rest of the house!

My Hero

Over this weekend our barn is hosting a Dressage Clinic, and with the influx of horses some of the horses/ponies that live there are living out in the field for the weekend. No big deal, right? WRONG!! Jilly has gotten use to giving out cookies (and sometimes special treats from home) to Friskey, Moose, "Old" Chester, "Boyfriend" Zeb, and New Chester. Well, these are some of the horses/ponies that get to camp out for the weekend. Friskey loves bread, and "Boyfriend" Zeb loves bananas. And wouldn't you know all of them were already out when got there on Thursday.

We went to the field and were able to give Friskey, Moose, and "Old" Chester some cookies, but Jilly had brought "boyfriend" a banana. I had just about had Jilly talked into letting Courtney and Lexi give Zeb his banana (there was NO WAY mommy was walking close to 150 yards carrying Cooper just to get there, hopefully be able to give him a banana and walk 150 yards back).

Just then Mr. Mikey told us that Zeb was in the small barn, also about a walk of 150 yards, but he was in a stall, and we could drive. So that's what we did...we all got in the magic van and drove over, and sure enough there was Zebby with his head hanging out of the stall. I got Jilly out, and she was so excited to be able to give him his banana.

The whole 45 minute ride home, all I heard was "I love Mr. Mikey, he's my super hero!" It doesn't take much to make her happy, and it was so worth it to see her give him his treat, and then to hear how much she appreciated Mr. Mikey was the icing on the cake!

All dressed up....

Back around Easter I bought Cooper a very frilly pretty dress to wear for her birthday. But since Mommy is very pregnant (and honestly a little lazy) these days, and Courtney practically lives out at the barn, we did not do anything big tonight. So I decided that we were going to have a mini fashion show to celebrate. Cooper had a blast and Jilly even got in on the action.

Tradition

Here is the picture of Cooper at precisely 8:25 pm July 22 on her one year birthday. It is very hard to believe that it has been a year already. I still can't figure out how the time goes so quickly. But it does, and we can do is sit back and enjoy their company.

Happy Birthday Sweetness

Are you hungry there Coop?!?

For the past few days, if Cooper is left in the play-pen for even 5 minutes she somehow manages to get her pants off. And to top it all off, she must have been hungry and in need of a snack. Thankfully I was able to get to the camera and capture the "hungry monster" in the act!

She pulled it out

After going 0 for 3 in the pleasure division (which is usually their bread and butter) Courtney and Moose went out for the Short Stirrup division and focused and came away with Reserve Champion. When asked after the show what was bothering her, Courtney told me that the PA system that usually pumps in classical music was getting to her. For what ever reason, Fox Chase Farm decided to change the radio station to 94.7 which we listen to, and Courtney said when a song came on that she knew it was very distracting to her. But she was finally able to block it out, and did all that we ever expected her do...try her best.

Where's Buggy?!?

Courtney has been sleeping over at Lexi's (aka the barn) and for the past 2 mornings as soon as Jilly wakes up she goes into Courtney's room to get her up. Courtney had a loft bed and Jilly stands no chance of being able to see if Courtney is in bed. So she just stands there and (nicely at first) starts to tell Courtney that it's time to come down for breakfast. Well, Jilly got so frustrated this morning that she actually started to bang on the wall, then she came down almost in tears and told me "Buggy's not whistling (that's how listening comes out of her mouth) to me Mommy, she won't come for breakfast time!" It was all I could to not to laugh at her while I explained that Buggy had a sleep over with Lexi again. To which Jilly replied " She needs to come home so she can take care of her aminals." Jilly was more concerned with all of Courtney's stuffed animals than the fact that Courtney wasn't here to play with her. I love the way the 3 year old mind works!

Noodle Nose

After (most) of us finish with our dinner, I take the dogs out so that the girls can put down dog food without being jumped on. While I had them outside, Cooper was still finishing off her noodles. When I came back in, Courtney had the camera in hand (like I said, my very own personal paparazzi) and was just cracking up. here is why.