Archive for Family
November 15, 2009 at 7:25 pm
· Filed under Bandit, Daisy, Family, Jake
Daisy was good again today-I used the spurs again and she pretty much did everything I asked without a whip. I think that I need 2 things, though-first, a little bit longer spur. The ones I have are pretty short. She’s already not really listening so I’m going to have to increase the size a bit to make them a bit more intense to make her listen. Second, I’m going to need something I can use for shows. The cool thing about this is that they are required in the upper levels, so it’ll look like we’re a little more advanced in a strange wey 
I’ll have to find some fancier ones, though.
I went out for dinner last night with Kurt, Vanessa, Kellen, Vanessa’s sister and her husband, and Vanessa’s friend and her husband for Vanessa’s birthday. Kurt wanted something alcoholic so he ordered something called “Joe’s Drink”. Sounds manly enough. Nope-it came in a martini glass with all sorts of fruit attached to it and it was a reddish girly drink. he was embarrassed. That was probably the best part of the night We had some sushi, too. I have tried it before, but only a couple times and I hadn’t had any with real seafood in it since I can’t eat fish. We had some with crab in it and it was very good! I’ll have to explore this sushi thing more LOL! Kellen was adorable-laughing and smiling the whole night. It was SOOO cute!
One thing that was really cute last night was Bandit-I was getting ready to leave and he thought he was going to come, too. I guess he really likes going on the weekends to see his girlfriend at Mom’s house. He was very disappointed when I made him stay home, but he survived. He’s really doing good-last time we were at Mom’s, he let everyone pet him. He was shy, but he did it! I guess he’s starting to really like the attention.
Lastly, Jake’s swelling is gone completely. I gave him some Benadryl yesterday in addition to the regular stuff he gets and it seems to have done the trick. Either the Benadryl worked or regurgitated wheat product is already part digested and doesn’t take as long to get though LOL! Maybe a bit of both….
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October 5, 2009 at 11:49 am
· Filed under Bandit, Daisy, Family, Jake
My coffee maker broke this morning 
I got about half of what I usually drink out of it, then it died. I’m emailing the company now to see if it was under warranty, but I’m pretty sure it is way over a warranty time. It was a Tassimo, too, so it’s not going to be too cheap to replace. The good news about it is that the price on those things has come down dramatically, so it won’t be TOO bad. Anyway, I dragged myself into work, made like 3 more cups, and I’m back in waking mode again.
It was a nice weekend-I rode both days, and Daisy was pretty good. We cantered quite a bit yesterday because she had so much energy, so I’m hoping it wasn’t too much for her. Diane wants to do a lesson tonight, too, so I’m really hoping she’s ok from yesterday. I’ve been concentrating on keeping her head down because that’s where we have our issues for the most part. Once her head goes up, she stiffens and we get all icky. We’ll see if we can get her head trained down more this winter. It’s funny, though, because when she DOES carry her head for me, she looks great! I know it can be done.
Bandit went with me to Mom’s house last night again. He was pretty comfortable, too-he gave Pop a kiss on the fingers as soon as we walked in! He was still shaking, but it was ok. Kurt sat next to him and petted him on the loveseat, too! It was a big night for the little guy. As soon as we got home, he crashed He actually went upstairs first-just like Max used to do! He went and put himself to sleep before I was up there, then when Jake and I finally made it up, we snuggled all night. He’s such a cutie. Jake never wants to snuggle, so it’s not like there’s a jealousy thing, either. In fact, if Jake is in my spot on the bed and I want him to move, you can’t just tell him to move. You have to be more cunning that that. You have to make him NOT want to be there anymore. So I’ll look at him and say, “Ohhh, Jake! I’m going to snuuugle with you-what a sweeeeet boy…” Then you move in and lay down right next to him, petting him and telling him how cute he is. He gives me a disgusted look for a minute, then turns his head away. Finally he gets up and moves to the other side of the bed. Score-Mommy.
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September 13, 2009 at 9:37 pm
· Filed under Bandit, Daisy, Family, Jake
We all went to Mom’s again for dinner tonight, so I brought Bandit with. He was so brave! He stuck by me most of the night, but he took food from pretty much everyone and by the end of the night he was walking up to Bill and playing with Zetta. Big breakthroughs for him! I still think about the scared little dog that wouldn’t even look at another person. Now he goes up to people on his on free will. We did have a good time-We got to see Kellan again and he is getting really big I’ll post the picture I got of him later on. My phone died so I only got the one picture.
Jake’s leg is swollen again, too. I tried giving him Benadryl instead of chlorphineramine and that really didn’t work. I don’t know why, but whatever. I’ll just keep him on what I was doing before-it seems like since it’s been working there’s no reason to change. I talked to that person at the stable again and she said that it’s not Adobe Angel that I was supposed to try but instead something called Earth Angel Herbs. I’m going to look it up further before I try it because Jake has had reactions to everything I’ve tried so far. Plus this one sounds like it’s more expensive. From what I saw on the ingredients list, there’s nothing that’s made with any kind of grain. I have to look everything up this time, though, and make sure before I try it. I’ll write more about that when I get any more information.
Daisy did pretty good today, too. It seems like she’s not in season anymore, so the psycho mare phase is over for now. She was more receptive to my input in our riding today. I’m hoping to work more on my balance before our last show. I’m trying not to put too much pressure on her leg, too-I want her to at least be show-able by that show. The best part is that if she gets a qualifying score in her first class and she looks like she might be going off at all, I can scratch her from her second class with no problem. I decided on Training 2 and 4 this time again-I was going to do 1 and 2, but I figured that I know 4 very well now and I’d really have to relearn 1. I’d like to do the harder test anyway.
The Bears game is almost over now and the Packers just scored another TD. Ugh…. Go Bears!!!
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September 2, 2009 at 6:52 am
· Filed under Daisy, Family
Everyone wanted to take me out for my birthday weekend-that was pretty cool I never thought much about birthdays, but this one was pretty fun. You saw the pictures from Mom’s house, then I went out on Friday with Becky to a martini bar in Antioch, and Kathie and Mike took me out to a bar for some drinks and dinner the following night. Kurt and Vanessa were going to this weekend, but something came up so we’re going out next weekend instead. That worked out pretty well so I don’t go out 3 nights in a row! So Saturday I have my lesson with Courtney, then Saturday night Kurt, Vanessa, and I go out to my new favorite restaurant, Risottos. I can’t wait to see Kellen again, too
Daisy’s been doing pretty good with her aspirin. I saw a huge improvement over the past few days. Monday I lunged her even without her aspirin and she was going so much better! Her trot started a bit stiff, but she worked out of it quickly and cantered both ways. She even picked up the wrong lead going the OTHER way-so she had her sore leg leading going on a counter canter. That’s pretty impressive because she chose what to do on the lunge line. There’s no real aids other than my voice telling her what to do. Oh, and of course a whip 
This one is a real pain if you don’t have a whip. Once you’re holding it, though, she gets the picture-although I did have to crack it a couple times in the beginning with no response so I actually swatted her butt with it too. That woke her up. Just to touch her is enough for her to realize you mean business usually.
She’s been her same possessive self, otherwise. I’m not allowed to talk to other horses-I get yelled at. God forbid I should LEAD another horse somewhere. She gets very vocal then-telling me every 2 minutes that I have the wrong horse. (Mommys are so easily confused sometimes-sheesh.) We’re pretty convinced that she thinks all people are just really stupid. You know-going in circles all the time, trying to go sideways when you could easily turn your body and walk that way, trotting when we could easily walk there-she thinks she’s pretty smart
Jake and Bandit are doing good too. Jake is doing alright, but he tires out quickly-pretty normal for him right now. Bandit is the opposite. He’s constantly got to be doing something. He’s always watching out the window to make sure no one comes near our yard then he barks ferociously when someone does. He’s a good guard dog. You know when they do something really really cute and you just really wish you had a video camera handy? Bandit found a moth last night that must have slipped in when I let him in. It was on the floor and fluttering enough where it could fly if it tried, but Bandit kept it down. He was pouncing on it like a cat-up and down and spinning and looking every which way for it. Very cute. After 5 minutes, the thing miraculously made it up to the light on the ceiling and the game was over. Bandit stared at it for a few minutes, but then gave up.
We’ll see if anythign more exciting happens the next couple days I’m practicing hard so I don’t look like an idiot in front of Courtney. Daisy can make me look like a dork when she wants to. Last night I had a lesson with Diane-I had nothing but trouble with the mare. She was distracted, locked her jaw, fighting me, trying to run me into the wall again, etc. As soon as Diane left, she was soft as could be-she collected herself and jest went along like it was her favorite thing in the world. We’ll see what happens.
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August 26, 2009 at 3:12 pm
· Filed under Family
We had a nice dinner over at Mom’s house on Sunday-Kurt and Vanessa brought Kellen over, My Uncle Dick and his wife, Carol, came, Pop came over, then of course there was me, Tim, Mom, and Bill. Everyone took turns holding Kellen (except me!!!) and I got a couple of pictures. Hopefully I’ll get to hold him on Saturday or Sunday when I see Kurt and Vanessa
Bill holding the baby
Kurt with women's socks on (notice the pink writing on the underside) (Yes, Kurt, I posted this on the internet so everyone knows you wear women's clothing....)
Pop holding Kellen
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August 22, 2009 at 8:06 pm
· Filed under Bandit, Daisy, Family, Jake
Teri got me the pictures from their last visit, so I thought I’d share some-Enjoy!
Dad and Sarah holding Kellen
Kellen's first game of Uno
Vanessa holding Kellen
They got to go see the new observation windows at the Sears Tower (now Willis Tower)
Sarah got to Ride Kody again
Daisy did a photo-op for them and rolled (right after a bath) Look at how happy she looks!!
Then she just laid down for a minute to relax
Bandit remembered Teri and Sarah and was happy to play with them!!
Jakey was obnoxious as ever
But he's so cute-how can you get mad at that face??
During a heated game of Uno the last night they were here, Scott and I went into fits of laughter-not sure why....
Whatever it was, I couldn't stop either!
I actually had tears streaming down my face because I was laughing so hard!!
And here's one of the best pictures of Kellen yet! I love the hands cradling him
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August 18, 2009 at 8:36 pm
· Filed under Bandit, Daisy, Family, Jake
First a quick update-Daisy was an angel again tonight-she held her head perfectly for me, but she was a little stiff on her back legs so we didn’t push the issuetoo much. I’m just very pleased that she tries so hard for me sometimes Lucky and Diane had a mishap, though-we were all riding outside and Diane and Lucky were way in the back of the arena when Lucky stepped off to the side a bit unexpectedly-Diane’s foot got stuck in the fence and was twisted to the side. That spurred Lucky hard and he started bucking. She stayed on, but her ankle was pretty swollen after that. We’ll see how she’s doing tomorrow.
Anyway, back to the pictures….
This was taken about 2 minutes before Jake destroyed that stuffed puppy. Yes, it says "Puppy Love" on the heart-too cute
This is Bandit's favorite spot to sleep-isn't this a cool picture? I can't decide if he looks more like a cat wanna be or a wolf wanna be....
I took Teri and Sarah to see how my farrier, John, does a horse's feet. They liked watching and seemed pretty fascinated by it
Tabasco was in heaven having someone to play with!
Kurt and Vanessa at the baby shower
A family pic from the shower-Teri,Mom, Me, Kurt, Sarah, and Vanessa (clockwise from the right)
Daisy getting her hair done
Jakey Kisses
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August 15, 2009 at 10:56 pm
· Filed under Daisy, Family
We had a great time today! This week has been a lot of fun having my family in from Texas. My Dad, Teri (my Stepmom), Sarah and Scott (my sister and brother) were all visiting from Texas to see Kellen. They’re leaving early tomorrow, but having them around for a few days, although I didn’t get to see much of them, was really nice. We went to Breakers last night-it was Kellen’s first visit, so it was an important ritual to go through to be inducted into the family
Kellen's First Visit To The Breakers
Today, Sarah and Teri met me out at the stable. I rode Daisy for a while and she did really good! I was very happy with how she responded to my aids. She even picked up the left lead canter on the first try. When she was done, I hosed her off, then I let her roll outside for a “photo op” for Sarah and Teri. They got some REALLY cute pictures of Daisy getting herslef all filthy again. I’ll post those pictures as soon as I get digital copies-I really liked how they turned out. I hosed her down again, then she begged for candies for the next half hour-bowing and flexing and pulling out all the tricks without me asking. It’s really cute, but I know I can’t encourage her to beg like that. We went shopping for a little while after that-they bought me a shirt for my birthday and I found some slacks that look pretty nice on me. We headed to Rosatis and picked up some pizza for everyone then went back to Kurt and Vanessa’s house. Kurt and Vanessa were out at a party for a while so we had Kellen-he slept the WHOLE time! The only time he was awake was after he pooped The chaos that came after the pooping was just so funny that I had to take out the camera phone and get some pictures.
Dad, Teri, and Sarah had the teamwork thing going on for the changing. Dad had a serious look of determination while he removed the soiled diaper, Teri helped by unfolding the new diaper and helping wrap the little guy up with the new one, and Sarah held his arms up so he couldn’t grab anything down below in the process. Scott and i watched in amazement as all this took place. I grabbed the camera. Hilarity ensued….
How many of us does it take to change a diaper?
Everyone gets their hands into it
Oh yeah-that's poop
Glad I was the one taking pictures and laughing
Teamwork is the key to a happy baby.....
OK-I know that the pictures are blurry. The light was dim and there was a lot of motion. It was SO funny, though, watching everyone freaking out over the poopy diaper that I had to put a few of the pictures I got in here.
After this incident, we played Uno for about 2 hours. Kellen slept the whole time. He was so quiet that we started worrying about him! He’s just the best baby! By the end of the Uno game, though, we were laughing so hard we were crying. It really was a lot of fun. I know you guys are reading this now-hope you have a safe trip home! We had a lot of fun having you here
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August 12, 2009 at 8:47 pm
· Filed under Daisy, Family, Jake
I love my mare She really does try hard sometimes! We had a lesson yesterday and she was pretty good. We started off a little shakey, but we cleaned up after that. She did everything she was asked, then Diane told me that she was going to make it hard. She gave me two specific spots on the ground to aim for to make a figure 8-I told her “piece of cake!” And she laughed with me-I figured we could do it. Daisy nailed it. She did EXACTLY what I asked her and hit the spots each time with relatively round circles. And Diane doubted we could get it so good We cantered after that-got a REALLY nice start with a big pick-up. She was fairly balanced and she got a big pat after that. We ttied the left lead next. Missed it the first and second time-Diane said that if she couldn’t get it the third time we would skip for now. She got it the third time, though, and we cantered along the straight side of the arena on that lead. It wasn’t comfortable to ride, but it was better than it hasbeen before.
Today I rode again at the same time that Sarah was getting a lesson on Kody. Sarah looks forward to visiting because we always get her in with Diane for a lesson So while Sarah and Kody worked, Daisy and I stayed on the end of the arena and worked too. She had a beautiful trot today-we held it pretty much the whole time, too. I cantered both ways too. She was nice to the right, but she took two tries to get the left lead-better than last night! She’s improving day to day. I would love to have her pick up her lead withno problem every time, but I think that she remembers that it hurt before and is reluctant to take that lead still. As she sees that it doesn’t hurt so bad anymore, I think she’s going to get better and better. It still feels very stiff-like she lands hard on the front left leg. We’ll see how it goes over the next few days.
Sarah did good at her lesson too-I didn’t get to see the whole thing because I was working too, but what I did see she looked nice. Good position and fairly brave. It comes with time She did a really nice two point! That can be tricky to get sometimes because at first your body tells you that’s not how it should be-it’s all in balance. It seems like that comes naturally for her. By the end of the lesson, they were trotting over ground rails (with Diane following). Very nice
Jake is doing better, too. His leg seems to have sealed up. The cut looks like it was pretty big, but we took good care of it and it’s healing nicely. I found the thing I THINK he cut himself on and took care of it. I hope that’s what it was and we don’t have another incident like that again!!
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August 7, 2009 at 9:03 pm
· Filed under Daisy, Family
Kellen is out of the ICU as of today. Apparently everything is pretty normal and he’s now in the same room as Vanessa. Vanessa has one more night (they think) to recover, then she’ll be out too and they can take Kellen home. Kurt was thinking that they should be home tomorrow morning so I may stop out there sometime this weekend. If I do, I’ll certainly post more pictures then!
Daisy did pretty good today, too. We rode for a while and picked up both leads at the canter again. She’s still pretty shy about picking up the left lead, but she did it after a couple tries and it actually felt pretty good. It wasn’t perfect-I don’t expect anything nice yet, but it was rideable and fairly comfortable for her too. Her ears were perked up and she seemed happy cantering. She’s had a ton of energy lately, so I know she wants to go. It’s just a matter of getting her comfortable enough where she can keep it up.
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