Our baby chain

We are 77 days from my due date. Now, everyday Matthew asks us how many more days until Gabriel comes. I told my mom about this and she had a brilliant idea. Make a count down chain like the ones at Christmas. So tonight me and the girls made a baby chain. We each cut out some strips and glued them all together then showed it to Matthew. We explained that each day he can tear off one link and then when all the links are gone, Gabriel will be here. He seems excited. I hope it will help him understand better how much longer we have to go as the links disappear!

A valuable lesson learned. (WARNING...NOT FOR NANA!!!)

As any parent knows, sometimes a child has to learn the hard way. Today Matthew learned the hard way NOT to walk on the couch. He learned firsthand what can happen when you don't listen to Mommy and Daddy. His foot got tangled in a cushion and he slipped off. He landed forehead first right against the edge of the coffee table. He was okay and is doing fine although a bit whiney all day. What started as a dent quickly became a knot.

My Little Cowboy!

Here are some photos of Matthew wearing David's old cowboy boots. They barely fit Matthew now so they'll soon go back into the box for Gabriel!

Bookends...

As most of my 2 loyal readers know, I've recently put up a play yard/porta crib in my office for Gabriel. Yesterday I caught two snoozing furballs guarding it diligently. Here's a photo.

BIG animals...

This week at Katlyn's riding lesson I had Rudy go with me. I wanted to get a picture of Ozzie, Susan's largets horse standing next to Rudy so you could get a good idea of just how big he is. I also took a picture of Rudy standing next to Rev. He's the baby around these parts. I think she said he's 8 months old but I can't remember. I know they just weaned him from mom.

Here are some photos:

This is the baby Rev. A real cutie but full of spunk and fire.



THIS is Ozzie. (the dark one with his head up) If I stand at his back end I cannot see over him without tiptoeing. That's Nikki in the front and Max hiding in the back.



This is Buddy. He's my favorite. If we had the money and the land I'd buy him in a heartbeat! He's the one on the left. Mostly black with a white diamond on his forehead. Next to him is Ozzie, Max hiding in the back and Nikki.

Bowling

Devi's teen group had a bowling social on Friday. We dropped her off and ended up staying and bowling too. Matthew did great! Daddy helped him with that heavy ball. By the end of the first game Matthew was doing it on his own. We played two games and Matthew actually beat Rudy by 1 point!

Cot experiment

So Rudy and I have decided to spend some of our tax refund to beef up our camping gear. Rudy thought for temperature's sake perhaps cots would be a better option for the kids than an air mattress. We decided to buy one and try it out. Lori volunteered as our first guinea pig and slept on the cot with a sleeping bag on the back porch last night. Just kidding! We set the cot up next to her bed. She said she slept great. She was a little too warm but in all fairness she was in a heated house inside a cold weather sleeping bag! I managed to get a picture before she woke up. I say that was a successful experiment and the kis are getting new cots for camping!

Becoming so real...

Tonight I purchased and assembled a play yard for the new baby. Having something so large and in the middle of the living room has really shown me just how soon this baby will be here.

Field Trip to the Walker Popcorn Factory

Today our home school group went on a field trip to a popcorn shop. It was a lot of fun. They owner runs the tour and he was very fun and extremely generous. The kids were given cotton candy and tons of popcorn. They had lots of interesting flavors like Cherry Chocolate. In some of the photos you can see the many buckets of popcorn on the shelf. Each bucket was a different flavor.

Out of luck

Let me tell you about an experience in bad customer service I had today. I am currently shopping for Paddock boots for Katlyn. She needs them for horseback riding. I was referred to a tack shop in town called Dan's Boots and Saddles. I called over the weekend to confirm hours, location and ask what kind of prices/selection they carried. I was assured on the phone that they had what I needed in the price range I was looking for.

I went to Dan's today. I will not go back. The young lady who "assisted" us was very polite despite having no clue as to the proper way to deal with customers. She was quite young and I don't blame her at all. So we arrive at Dan's and ask about riding boots for Katlyn. She takes us back to the boot area and I explain to her that Katlyn is:

1. Just starting out and we do not know yet if this is a lifelong committment.
2. Still growing

I explained that I did not want to invest a lot of money at this time due to the above stated reasons. She said "so you want cheap?" I said sure. She proceeds to search through the shelves handing katlyn first a boot that was only $50 but almost 2 sizes bigger than I told her that Katlyn wears. I said no. I don't want her tripping all over the place. Next she pulls a pair of the shelf that are $119! You all heard my request right? Not expensive, or in her words cheap! Did she forget??? Is $119 cheap for her? Would ANYONE really spend $119 on boots that someone may only wear for 3-6 months to tromp around in horse poo and mud??? She can't be serious. I did not even let Katlyn try them on.

We were unable to find a pair of boots in Katlyn's size that were less than $100. So I asked her if they get more in stock that may work. She says to me...are you ready for it? Write this one down, its funny. She says to me, "I guess if you want a good price in that size you're just out of luck." I was in shock. Out of luck. As in don't bother coming back here because we aren't even going to try to be helpful? As in you're out of luck because we have enough business without you and so we will make no attempt to help you find what you need?

Needless to say, I probably wasted $6 in gas driving up there for nothing. A mistake I will NOT be making again. Just a hint for any business owners out there:

Never tell your customers they are out of luck. Find what they need or kindly refer them to a resource that can help them.

Suntan anyone?

This light comes from a small window in the entry way of our house. In winter it casts light onto the wood floor and moves along throughout the morning. You can usually find an animal (cat or dog) lounging in the sunlight. Today it was Bandit our schnauzer.

Horses

Today we took Katlyn to meet a horse riding teacher. We have agreed to a weekly lesson along with helping out around the ranch. Her first lesson will be next week and is a trial lesson for the horses, the instructor and for Katlyn. She is very excited.

What I found most interesting was how calm and comfortable Katlyn seemed around them and likewise how settled they seemed with her. One did accidentally bonk her on the head when she was picking up hay to feed them. She thought it was funny. I wish my camera had been on because it would have been a cute photo. Anyway, here are some pictures from our day.





This white horse is Nara. She is the horse Katlyn will be training with. The instructor told us that Nara had been a show horse but the young girl who was with her moved away and had to leave Nara behind. She said that Nara "needs" a little girl again. I am so excited to have found this opportunity and its very close to our house too.

More snow. Isn't it February?

The kids had a lot of fun playing in the new snow and even made me some snowmen! Don't be fooled. These men are no bigger than a cat! We are going to park day today to play in the snow. I'll try to remember to get photos.

Have I mentioned that I HATE blogging???

I really do. When its personal its no big deal. No one cares about the content really, they're just looking at the pictures and skimming the text. Now I've decided that it may be a good idea to start a business blog to possibly attract some new business. What an ordeal!

I got the site up, chose a theme and posted a first post welcoming myself to the blog world. Now what? I have no idea what to write about. I HATE writing! I look around the net for ideas but then I feel like I'm just copying someone else. I feel like I can't come up with an original idea to save my life. Stay tuned and click here to see what I've done and please feel free to suggest subjects for my business blog. Its focus is to be virtual assistants who specialize in real estate so either topic is good.

A Super Bowl of cuteness

Nana sent Daddy a SB42 t-shirt from Arizona since we couldn't be there to enjoy it. Matthew just had to have the first chance at wearing it.



Go Giants!