It's Fair Week

I won't be spending all that much time at the 4H fair this year since Equestrian Girl isn't showing her horse but getting to spend some time with my two friends and their little ones was sure fun!

My Serenity

Seeing this as I leave home early in the morning just makes the world a little more okay that day.

Homeschooling

Homeschooling wasn't something we had planned on doing but it ended up being one of the best decisions we have ever made.  I truly believe it changed the future of our relationships with our children for the good in a way that never could have happened if they had been in public schools.  We didn't lose them to peer pressure and friends the way it happens with so many kids...they were able to participate in their chosen sports at a level that never would have been possible otherwise.  So much good.

And now we might be seeing an end to our homeschooling days.

Equestrian Girl is seeing her future and avoiding debt is a big part of that future.  She is hoping to enroll in the public school and dual enroll with the community college.  If all goes as planned, she will graduate high school with an Associates Degree from the college and then be able to transfer into a university as a junior.  Since she should be able to work some the next two years, we are hoping we can save up enough to pay for those last two years in full.  

Motocross Boy also wants to enroll in the public school part time so he can participate in high school level sports.  They require at least 4 credit hours to play so he'll still be doing some homeschooling but it's going to be a huge change just the same.

I'm not so sure how I feel about these changes...

Only Horse People

Oh yessir, yessir this is a sight that makes a horsewoman happy!

Dapper Dan

Took Motocross Boy/Man shopping today.  I think he rocked this hat!

Getting crafty again...

It started with this shirt that I bought almost 2 years ago (excuse the selfie - I was showing my mom how the necklace she gave me matched so well).

I apparently like these colors together because I was immediately attracted to them again, totally forgetting about the shirt, when I bought this fabric to make new chair cushions and placemats for the table.

And since I was on a roll, why not some more paisley and make an indoor awning?  Actually, I've been dying to make this awning for a while now but finding he perfect fabric clinched it.

I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. This window faces south and gets some pretty intense sun in the summer.  Hopefully this will help a little while also bringing in some color and pattern to my kitchen.  

Since I'm really not all that talented at this kind of thing, I probably shouldn't share how I did the awning but it really wasn't all that difficult.  The hardest part was getting the right width.  The top rod is actually a tension rod but it's hung from the ceiling almost flush to the wall with two hooks.  The bottom tension rod braces between the two cabinets.  I had about a 1 inch seam at the bottom purely by coincidence but it worked out to thread some 1/4" steel rod in there to give it weight.

I might go back and line the inside with some of that iron on interfacing if it gets kind of droopy.  Now that my sewing projects are done, I guess it's time to get back to painting!!

Making Progress

Our little Mata Hari is making progress in spite of some lameness issues as we get her hooves balanced and shaped up.  We are working on classical dressage principals and taking it all quite slow but she's a quick learner.  We have moments of greatness and moments of silly green horse.  Either way, she looks fabulous and is doing very well.

This was how we started out - about her 5th ride ever and Equestrian Girl's 2nd ride on her.  This was in WV when we met Mata Hari for the first time.

Now we have this beautiful horse that moves forward into the bit and is quite happy to be working with her partner!

I seem to prefer this horse's right side....hmmmmm.  

Pony time!

While Mata Hari recovers from an injury, Equestrian Girl took time out to have a lesson on a fun little pony.  Her young owner has become a bit fearful of her because she sometimes spooks so she needs lots and lots of miles put on her.  Equestrian Girl was happy to help.

Friends

I really had no idea that Mata Hari the horse and Miss Kitty were friends but Miss Kitty came right out to roll around in front of Mata Hari when she was out grazing on the lawn in the middle of her pedicure tonight!  It was rather cute!

Being crafty

Now that I'm mostly done painting all the walls white, I had to add some color so I spent this evening making chair cushion covers and placemats!

Independence Day Parade -2014

I don't recall that we've ever had someone playing the bagpipes before!













It's hard to see but there's an adorable black lab in the jump seat in this car!

When this stilt walker started to run I wasn't sure I was going to be able to capture a good action shot but I'd say I nailed it!  Love the shadow under him.

The fire breathing guy was another one I wasn't so sure I'd get a good pic but I actually got quite a few!

In this one you can see where he's spraying the igniter out of his mouth.  It actually looks like he's roasting a couple of hot dogs!

These people stopped pretty much right in front of us and the Haffie got rather impatient and started pawing the ground.  

The last bit of the parade is the zombie army...I can't quite figure out the meaning behind them but they actually support our local food bank.  There were certainly some creative costumes!

Young Love

Independence Day is one of Equestrian Girl's favorite holidays and she likes to celebrate it to the fullest.  And this year that included making sure her boyfriend of 7 months, Golf Boy, was part of every minute.  They started their day dressed in Red White and Blue and ended it that way too.

The day began with the Main Street Parade.

Later we spent some time with my parents who had just arrived from Florida the night before on their annual visit to Michigan and then it was over to my sister's house for dinner and the kids did a bit of swimming in the neighbor's pool.

Just before sunset, EG asked if I could get some picture of her and Golf Boy by the lake.  I think a few of these turned out pretty good.  A few do have some filters on them.