As if I have nothing else to do....

I started this blog mainly to share what's going on in our family with some of our non facebooking friends! I love sharing recipes, pictures, stories, etc. and I hope I can do that through this blog.

I am working on a dissertation right now. Well actually the word working is not appropriate. It's been dead in the water for some time. But, I'm resolved to get back at it. I am going to get this thing out of my life soon and very soon!

Recently, the girls got a horse for Christmas. My dad spoils my children and I usually don't mind. But a 1,000 pound creature?? Seriously that's a little extreme don't you think? I took some riding lessons in college and I have a degree in Animal Science, but this does not necessarily prepare one for horsehood! I was a little nervous about how this would work out, but the girls are in love with the horse. She's a Paso Fino with the prettiest gait you've ever seen! Thankfully Royce, one of Pete's old ABAC friends hooked us up with lead ropes, tail combs, etc. for Christmas. He gets the award for "Most useful and appropriate Christmas gift" this year. The fact that he brought a GREAT port wine to New Year's helped him win this award as well. The horse's full name is Fairwind Georgia Peach but we call her Peaches. Peaches has been especially good for Ali Grace who let's just say ... got her patience from her daddy. If she can't get it right the first couple times of trying, she's ready to forget it and wants to move on to something else. I really think it's important for kids to commit to something and learn to see it through. Her riding instructor is a midwestern type whom us southerners would consider brash and rude. However, she's very knowledgeable and puts Ali's safety above everything else. Her next lesson is tomorrow and she's excited about it.

I am hoping this will help Ali learn patience and persistence. She has always had a hard time with timed facts tests since 1st grade. Anyone who knows her knows that she moves like a sloth. It used to drive us crazy but now we've gotten used to it. But, her grade in math had started to slip because she just wasn't finishing her work in time and the timed facts scores were horrid. I'm a math teacher, so I immediately nutted up when her grade slipped from an A. My husband kept saying that not all kids have A's in math and that I was overreacting. Maybe. I don't know. But I do know that after the nutting up episode, Ali pulled her grade up to an A on her last report card and made a 94 on her last timed facts test! YAY! Maybe it's the horse.