Fall Musings

I think I've mentioned before how much I love fall. The leaves are beautiful, even when I have to clean them off my driveway and out of my house.

Then there's the annual pre-Halloween snow. It's great how one day you barely need a jacket and the next you need all your winter gear.

I've really enjoyed sharing some of my favorite things outside with Dylan this year. He really loved the boat and water in the summer, now he's loving the "no".

My plan is to take him down the tow-rope hill before the end of the year and I get too big. Just like this summer; he doesn't have to learn any skills, he just has to think it's fun.

It really bothered him to have the snow on his boots. He kept sitting down to clean them off.

Dylan thinks that these pillows are a requirement for going to bed. We have to have them to kneel on to pray.

This is his room "re-decorated" for those who are interested. There are no window coverings or anything on the walls. What's the point? My sewing machine is in storage, I really wanted to do a cowboy room, but he loves cars. This works.

On a side note, I've been thinking lately about how the time with just the two of us is coming to a close. He's the guy I hang out with, eat with, talk to. In a few more months, he's not going to be the center of my world anymore and it makes me sad. Especially on days like today, when he's been so funny copying everything.

He's such a big, independent boy who likes to walk around the zoo like he doesn't need me.

And help Dad clean the kitchen. Have you ever seen such an effective sweeping technique?

I love a guy in boots, jeans, and a hat. Especially, when their bums are as cute as his.

New Horse

I know this is a small picture, but it's off a phone. This is Chester he's a 9 y/o haflinger gelding and we're going to start using him for the therapy program on Thursday. We got him from the animal shelter for $20. How would you feel if you're a well trained horse and your life was only worth $20. I think it's sad.

Cindy who runs the program asked me if I could take him home. After talking to Wes, we both decided that we're too stressed about selling the house and getting a truck to transport two horses, to take him right now. So he's going to spend the winter in Idaho with the guy we move cows for, then maybe I'll bring him home in the spring. After I talk to my grandparents to see if they're ok with me having a second horse. I'm really relieved that the decision can wait until spring.

You Wanna Die

I believe I've posted crazy urges in the past, but I have a new one. One so compulsive, I'm surprised we're still safe and sound.

I want more than anything to hit people with an Obama sticker on their car. The same goes for any ostentatious BYU stickers. If the two were ever combined, my auto insurance would go up for sure. I just start to see red, and not just because I'm a U fan. I want to run them off the road, rear-end them, swing a baseball bat at them as I drive by. I figure if you haven't taken your Obama sticker off, you must still support his campaign of taking my money to give to someone else.

It's still a free country for a little longer. You have your right to free speech, and I have the right to go to jail for assault.

The Bed

Dylan's crib was needing an overhaul. So we just took it down and stuck him in the toddler bed M&M gave us. He loved it. He was so excited about it. Then I bought the car bedset, and he was over the moon. For the 1st week he would go in his room by himself and close the door to lay on his bed. Not to nap, just to spend time there. If I would open the door to see how he was (he can't open the door himself), he would get upset, kick me out, and close the door again. I was thinking that this phase didn't start until he was a teenager. Only then would he be too cool for his mom to come in his room. Not before he was two!

Then, a bad thing happened. He stopped taking afternoon naps. I've loved that he's taken 2 naps/day for the last year. So I decided, since I'm the mom, that if he was only going to take 1nap/day it was going to be after lunch. This has been a rough transition since I worked a bunch unexpectedly last week before he was secure in this new schedule. Now it turns out that if I set up the pack-n-play for naps he'll go to sleep in a reasonable amount of time, but it's a ridiculous procedure to have to go through for a nap. Instead of playing in his room for 2 hours with no toys. He still goes down to sleep in his bed at night without a peep.

Getting my kid to sleep has never been so frustrating.

1 Down, 2 to Go

I haven't been keeping track like I did with Dylan, but I do know that I am through with the first trimester now. I had a MD appt last week and I saw what looks like an alien with a heartbeat. I was more concerned about the heartbeat, because I haven't been feeling pregnant at all lately. Those MD visits can be really reassuring. So now I'm going to have when 20 weeks is so I can celebrate another landmark, and forget how far along I am in between.

A Sad Conference

I have never slept through so much Conference. I'm usually alert and soaking in all that's said. This time it was unusual for me to make it through the first talk. We spent Conference at a cabin in Wanship with my family, so maybe it was that wood stove keeping us nice and toasty that made me so sleepy. Maybe it was recovery from a week of sick kid and very little sleep. I can't make this un-underlined.

Here's what I took away. Lots of love. Heavenly Father loves us, and we should love each other. Also, make an effort to stay close to those in your family who aren't living the gospel like they know they should. And love them. I'm sure there was much more, but I was asleep. I'll catch it in next month's Ensign.

My boys accidentally wore twinner shirts. It's just kinda cute. This is Dylan's new camera face.

And Dylan fell in between the beds and was asleep standing up.

The Thermal Effect

Friday I went up to Malad, ID to move cows for a guy I know. I love to chase cows on my horse, it's loads of fun. However, when we were starting out that morning it was about 24 degrees. So I had on my thermal garment bottoms under my jeans, a couple of coats and shirts, my ski socks, and a hat with ear flaps. This was not extreme. I was still wishing that someone would invent heated leather saddles.

So after riding several hours in a saddle that didn't have short enough stirrups, my thermals (which I have never ridden in before) had caused some unexpected chaffing of my backside. It gave a whole new meaning to saddle sores. I also tore my pants on a barbed wire fence trying to keep a calf from going through. Thank goodness for boots so I didn't tear my leg as well.

The calf did eventually get through, and Sampson was very concerned about it and kept walking looking back at it making him trip several times. He's a lot like me sometimes and has difficulty focusing on the task at hand.

He's a great cow horse though. He may not bite the cows like some horses (which makes me laugh), but he does step on them to make them move. He was really excited when we first got out on the mountain so I let him chase some down faster than necessary just to let him blow off some energy. But once we had them all round up, he fell into a good pace.

Sampson's a bit of a head tosser. If you consider the fact that he's a pro heeler rope horse it makes sense that if you don't use a tie down you're bound to see the star on his forehead now and then. (They would use a tie down during competitions to help him keep his balance while pulling back against a roped cow.) (not my horse, Sampson is black) While it doesn't make me nervous that he's going to throw me, like it does others, it is annoying. So by the time we got to the corral and trailers and the sorting part of the day, I borrowed a tie down and it made a huge difference.

I'm pretty proud that I sorted a couple of bulls into the pen by myself. Other than bulls I wasn't really sure what they were sorting. I just love how smooth my horse is at high speeds, so it was a lot of fun. Of course I don't go at his top speed, because it scares me.

Thank you Cindy, for letting me stay at your house the night before so I didn't have to wake up any earlier. Also, thanks for driving so I didn't have to trailer all the way up there. Thank you Mom for watching Dylan, so I could have a much needed day to play.