Horse Show

Horse Girl's friend.

Getting ready.

Proud winners! Both girls took Champion in their classes and got 2 first place and one second place each. Way to go, girls.

Bulbs and plants

Hubby's mom, Horse girl and I decided to plant bulbs and winter plants in the front flower garden. We spent several hours total of back-breaking work. First we had to pull out all of the old mulch and dirt to remove the weed-barrier we had put in last spring. We then had to replace the dirt and add several more bags to give it the depth we needed. We planted over 100 bulbs in this bed alone and then added the pansies on top.

Horse girl watered while Grandma planted.
My back hurt so badly at this point that I wasn't sure I would be able to get up.
I did manage to get up, though, and continued pulling out plants for Grandma to place. The bed looks wonderful and I'm glad we did it.

Battle of Secessionville

The re-enactment of the Battle of Secessionville happens twice a year. We previously had gone to a re-enactment at another location, so this was our first time here.

Arms inspection.

Grandma and Grandpa checking out some historical facts.

Parade to the battle grounds.

Beginning of the battle.

Hubby's new hat.

Corn Maze

We once again went to the Corn Maze a couple days before Halloween. Horse girl was pleased to hook up with two friends and Tall boy managed to find himself a group of teen boys to hang out with. Hubby and I followed the girls and let them lead us through the maze. It took us one hour because the girls had trouble finding the first 6 spots. Finally, one of the girls took over and we breezed through the last 6.

Victory is ours!

World Equestrian Games

As a semi-surprise, we took horse girl to the World Equestrian Games in Lexington, KY at the beginning of October. Hubby could only take so many days off of work, so we were only able to stay for one day. Horse girl wanted to see the Cross-Country event since she is planning to do Cross-Country.

It was absolutely amazing and nothing like I had imagined. We arrived around 9am, along with about 10,000 other people. We heard later that there were around 30,000 spectators that day. We walked through the shopping area and took notice of the shops we wanted to visit later. Horse girl of course wanted to go into the Breyer store.

This is a picture of the back-side of one of the arenas. You could walk all the way around the lake to get to different jumps. We started on the left and ended up hitting all of the jumps over the course of the day. There were around 28 jumps and a ton of riders. The event lasted from 10am until around 3 or 4pm. Each rider took roughly 11 minutes to get through the entire course.
This is a practice area and we got to see this horse rearing up.
Mom and horse girl, waiting for the first rider to come through this jump.

The spectators were able to get right next to the course, giving us great photo opportunities.

Take a look at the amount of people watching just this jump. This was typical for all of the jumps. We were free to wander the course over the course of the day and watch the jumps in whatever order we felt like.
This horse decided he didn't want to take the jump at the last minute and almost threw his rider. The rider held on, circled around...
took the jump beautifully. The crowd cheered!
Us, at the end of a very long day. Horse girl managed to spend close to $100 at the Breyer store of her own money. She had been saving up for months and was able to purchase Secretariat, a mare and foal, and a Cavaletti (a type of training jump).

The World Equestrian Games were started in 1990 and are held every four years. This was the first time they were held outside of Europe.

Christmas musings

Christmas is quickly approaching and I do not feel like I am as prepared as I want to be. I always set such high goals for myself and desire to enter the season with a well-laid plan. I sat down in mid-November and wrote down a list of events, people to give gifts to, and cookies to bake. My goal is to have a simple, relaxed December, without all the hustle and bustle that make the month dreadful.

We are planning to attend the Nutcracker ballet and drive around to look at Christmas lights. My sister, daughter and I have plans to make several different kinds of cookies, including peanut butter fudge. I am including a couple of recipes that I don't normally do, but they were my mom's favorites. It will be like having her here with us.

I was able to purchase the bulk of dd's presents this summer while she was at her grandparents house. The only things I still need are stocking stuffers, but I don't want to fill her stocking with meaningless nothings. She has requested knee-high socks in funky designs, so that is one idea.

Ds is another story all together. He does not have any clear interests besides playing the guitar and video games. With his attention span being so short, I hate to spend money on something that will be tossed to the side within a short amount of time.

Husband and I are not doing gifts this year as we just spent a good deal of money on our 15th anniversary. We spent the weekend at the Inn at Middleton Place and just enjoyed being alone for 2 whole days. I think I might get him something small, but I want it to be something he will truly enjoy.

My sister will be here for Christmas week and I am so excited. This will be a hard Christmas for us as it will be our first without our mom. Mom passed away in January which means we are also coming up on the one-year mark. I think of her frequently and am brought to tears when I think of all the things in my life and her grandchildren's lives she is not going to be here for.

Contentment

"A contented man is the one who enjoys the scenery along the detours." George Herbert

"...Sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything." 2 Corinthians 6:10

"I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want." Philippians 4:12

"Suffering is having what you don't want and wanting what you don't have. Subtract your wants and you'll have contentment." Joni Eareckson Tada

How many of us suffer from a lack of contentment? For me personally, it's a huge struggle. I find myself frequently looking at what others have and wishing I had something similar. Wouldn't it be nice to have a larger house, better furniture, more money to play with, a body without stretch marks, etc? As Joni says, though, we need to subtract our wants from the equation if we ever want to be truly happy.

When we aren't content with what God has blessed us with we're essentially telling Him that He's not good enough for us or to us. When I look at it like that, I sure don't want to offend God with that attitude of ungratefulness.

Faith is...

Faith is...doing the right thing regardless of the consequences, knowing God will turn the ultimate effect to good. Pamela Reeve

Backyard birds

I have recently developed a passion for bird watching. I have two feeders in the backyard along with a hummingbird feeder. So far I have seen a Northern Cardinal, a Tufted Titmouse and either a wren or sparrow of some type. We also have a hummingbird that just found our feeder.

House Wren

Northern Cardinal

Tufted Titmouse

Earthquake

I was jolted awake at 5AM this morning by a 2.8 earthquake. It felt like something had hit the house. I checked outside, but didn't see anything. I then passed it off as Annabelle (our rottie) jumping up too quickly and hitting the bed. The local Christian radio station just happened to be talking about it when my alarm went off at 7AM.

Birds of Prey

We were able to go to the Birds of Prey sanctuary last Friday for a field trip with our local homeschool group. Dd had a great time and took lots of great pictures. I, unfortunately, spent the entire time lying on a picnic bench in the shade as I got sick within 30 minutes of our arrival. We learned that the sanctuary opened in 1991 and they ministered to 8 birds that year. This past year, they ministered to around 360!

Look at that wingspan!

I believe this is a kestral. They are pretty small compared to the other birds shown.

Kingfisher environmental

This past Thursday we got the opportunity to go to the Isle of Palms beach for a field trip. We learned about erosion, all sorts of neat sea creatures, and sand dunes. We had a picnic lunch on the beach afterwards. Dd fell asleep in the car on the way home. Playing at the beach really wears you out!

Learning about erosion.

Shells that we brought up in the seining net.

Seining in the surf.

A small flounder. All living creatures were released back into the sea.

Fathers, Help Your Kids Stand Tall

Taken from 30 Days to Experiencing Spiritual Breakthroughs by Bruce Wilkinson. This excerpt was taken from Steve Farrar.

1. Be a leader yourself - "There is as much risk in doing nothing as in doing something." "Are you standing tall or just standing around?"

2. Be a spiritual submarine under the surface of your children's lives - "A man who has put on the full armor of God is a force to be reckoned with. The prayers of a man who has put on the full armor of God are lethal."

3. Expect your children to be leaders

4. Encourage your children to be leaders - Encouragement-to put courage in

5. Remind your children that they are leaders

6. Support them in their leadership - be there with large ears and a large heart

7. Reward them for demonstrating leadership - "acknowledge their achievement or accomplishment verbally"

Wisdom

But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness. James 3:17-18

Weekly Recap

Last weekend I was able to spend time fellowshipping with other moms while we watched Sense and Sensibility and then Monday night was Bunco. This past Saturday I spoke at our local homeschool mini-conference on using Tapestry of Grace to simplify homeschooling. I also attended a workshop about reluctant writers and learned a ton.

Dd got to enjoy playing and chatting at the park on Tuesday while I again got to fellowship with other moms. She also had riding twice last week, so she was pretty busy.

I have started reading Les Miserables, but am only 1/3 of the way through. I don't get too much time for free reading so it will take me awhile. Dd and I are reading Black Storm Comin' for our read-aloud.

I made a yummy banana roll, similar to a pumpkin roll. It was delicious. Today I made a three-layer raspberry chocolate cake. Dh will be thrilled.

For my quiet-time, I am reading 30 Days to Experiencing Spiritual Breakthroughs by Bruce Wilkinson and Discovering the Treasures of a Godly Woman by Elizabeth George.

I am still having problems with daily headaches. I am on a new medication and had 2 days last week of no headaches, but other than that, it has been headaches every day.

Yard Work Part 2

Our poor, uninteresting tree in the front yard. Again, this was taken last spring.
This is a view of the whole front yard with the new flower bed in all its glory.
We are very pleased with how this one turned out as well. The flowers are starting to take off and getting fuller.

Yard Work Part 1

This is off our front porch and was taken last spring. We hated these bushes as they were so sparse and blah.
This is our new and much improved flower bed. We are very pleased with the way it turned out. We also had gutters installed to keep the rain from 'waterfalling' into that area.
Here is a view of the front porch as a whole. The hanging basket has fake flowers in it this year because last year we had a mama bird make a nest in my freshly planted real flowers. She came back this year and is currently residing in her nice, comfy home with her two babies. Our cat loves to sit in the window right there and watch all the goings-on.