And a Good Time Was Had by All

Jordan's first horse show experience was very good. It was a small local show where we knew the majority of the people. The Midway Expo Center is a big, nice indoor show area so it is exciting to ride there, but the small crowd and friendly faces made it lots of fun.
Jordan was nervous going into her classes, but did very well. She rode Daisy, a school horse from Kris' barn. They were a good pair. Jordan tried to complain about things she didn't do perfectly, but I said she didn't fall off or forget her patterns and she's excited to come back, and those are the main goals of a first show. Good heavens, the girl first sat an english saddle in June! Another fun aspect of these shows is watching the dogs that come. From a dauschund that my friend Betsy had to a friend Sara's Great Dane (I really should have taken a photo when they were sniffing each other) and everything in between, dogs are a big part of horse show life.

To top it off, Jordan looks really natural on a horse, and Daisy is a good girl, so they ended up getting three second place ribbons and two fourths. We did tease her that the Nebraska girl had to get all red and white ribbons :-) She actually had her eye on the pink and green ones until I told her they were fifth and sixth place but I could trade them in for her if she wanted. Later we learned that she earned reserve high point for her division, which gains her another bigger ribbon. October 11th is another fun show just a few miles the other way from our house we should be able to make. She will try Payton at that one, and judging from their rides together I'd say she will do very well on him. She was all smiles and ready to ride again.

Saturday night was the Fall Festival at Midway School. To give an idea, they generally pre-sell around 10,000 tickets for the raffle. Add to that the chili supper, pizza sales, silent auction, games, music, hayrack rides, bake sale, face painting and kids running and playing all over the playground, and you can imagine the big fun event this is, as well as a phenomenal fund-raiser. Bill, Jordan & I each had volunteer stations at times, but plenty of time to hang out also. Ethan was so excited to show us his school and see all his friends, you could tell he felt ten feet tall.

Sunday Jordan, Kahlea and Makayla were part of a big bus of youth group kids that went to Shryock's corn maze. Afterward was a bonfire with hot dogs and marshmallows, and a fun time was had by all.

Ready, Get Set, Weekend!!

Another crazy fall weekend is launched. The kids are out of school today for a Teacher Workday. Andrew, Bill and Ethan ran errands and are now in Jeff City doing some guy stuff. Alaina is at preschool because Jordan and I have been running around getting ready for her first horse show tomorrow! Everyone wish her luck as she negotiates the groundpole division at Midway Expo Center at 8AM. The 8AM part may be the hardest!
So today she gets a last practice ride and we bathe her horse. Tonight Bill and Andrew will be at the Providence Bowl, which is the annual matchup between Hickman and Rockbridge, the two high schools in town. It is played at MU for added drama. Go Hickman!!!
After the horse show tomorrow we will get ready for the Fall Festival at Ethan's school. This includes making sheet cakes, setting up for a game in Ethan's classroom, and working various shifts running the game, serving pizza, giving out numbers at the silent auction etc. It is a big, fun night with lots of people.
Sunday I get to teach sunday school for the first time. I need to brush up on my parables before then. I have Ethan's class first and don't want to get shown up by a bunch of Kindergartners! It's a fun classroom though where we use multimedia to teach. I get to have the kids dress up and act out the stories on video tape, then we get to watch them. A new age group comes through each week as they rotate around different classrooms like cooking, cinema, art and science.
Sunday afternoon Jordan goes to the big corn maze with her youth group.
Guess that's it. Next weekend we will be in Nebraska for the NU vs. MU game. They guys finally found tickets and are excited to go. It will be Andy and Bill's 6th or 7th year in a row I think going to that match-up together.

Autumn in Missouri

This is my favorite time of year, although it is hectic. Festivals are nearly every weekend, often several, making it hard to choose; Pumpkin or Craft festivals, Twilight Festival, Roots n' Blues, Columbia Art Fest, Heritage Fest, Taste of Rocheport, the list goes on. Football games, the smell of drying leaves, s'mores over the fire on perfect fall evenings, walks on the trail, and if we're lucky fall color and some visitors to share it all with.
This weekend was no exception, and although in print it looks like we ran ragged, it was spread out among us and enjoyable enough not to notice anything but the fun of it all.
Friday night, I enjoyed a quiet evening in with Ethan and Alaina. Bill and Andrew went to the Hickman homecoming game and Jordan stayed the night with her friend Alexis.
Saturday we had a lazy morning, then Bill and Andy were off to the MU game and I had some choices to make. One friend was going to the corn maze (big corn maze) east of town, but the Heritage Festival was on and my friend Julie who just moved here was game to go with her two girls. We chose the festival, and it was very cool. It's just on the edge of town where the Historical Museum is (Chuck and Judy went to the museum with us once). There were dozens of crafts people and reenactors, wagon rides and petting zoo, three music venues, food, tours of the historical Lenoir home and lots of interactive booths for the kids. They got to try out games that kids played in 1800, pound wheels onto wooden cars they could keep, milk pretend cows, try on old time hats and accessories, dip candles, do sand art, and more. Ethan was disappointed we were not there at the right time to see the Indian dancers but all four kids danced to music and had a great time.
After that, Julie and I were still wanting to hang out and let the kids play. Then I remembered that Rocheport was having a festival as well. It was getting toward evening, so the main activity was the wine stroll where you buy a wine glass at one of the B&B's and follow a map to 15 or so stops at various antique stores, cafe's, B&B's and other businesses in that pretty little town. Julie hadn't been there at all so we sweet talked Bill to referee while the kids played at our house and drove in to see the town, sample foods and wines, and hear a bit of music on Main Street.
Jordan went to the MU game also and stayed Saturday night with her friend Kahlea and met us at church Sunday morning. We spent a lazy afternoon, highlighted by Ethan and Alaina hunting for snails and frogs in the yard and the guniea pig enjoying some sun and fresh grass on the lawn. Then Jordan, Ethan and I went back in for a Family Fun Night that her youth group was putting on. Now back to Monday, and looking forward to more beautiful fall days!

Persuasion

This weekend Ethan decided he wanted to spend the money in his wallet on an Indiana Jones figure.

We stalled for a while, pointing out to him the virtues of saving and that his wallet would be empty if he bought the toy. He pointed out that this toy was the purpose of his saving.

We tried to pose it as a "very expensive" item that perhaps his funds would not cover. He got online and found the toy on the Indiana Jones website so we could verify the price.

We suggested that he could get by with his existing toys. He assured us that since he is Indiana Jones, it is important that he have this particular toy with a golden skull and a booby trap with large spikes so he could really act out his movies for us.

After a bit, Ethan came to me and said "Mom, do you think that maybe you and me and my money and your money could go to Toys R Us?" I said "My money's not going to Toys R Us."

We counted out his money, and sure enough with the $3 gift card that Toys R Us sends at birthday time, he had enough, and he got a great math and money counting workout in the process.

Eventually, I needed to go to Hy-Vee and told him if he was very good during that and we got him a haircut, we would then go get the toy. Ethan said "Mom, I'm gonna be so good you won't even believe it." "Great", I said. A pause, then "Well, I'll probably just be like normal, regular good kid good, will that be all right?".

So off we went to Hy-Vee, where Ethan was very good and undemanding, but kept saying "Oh, I like those but I'm not gonna ask for them", "See, Mom, aren't I being good?", "Mom, do you think I'm gonna earn that toy?", "Mom, I'm seeing all these things I like to eat but I'm not asking for them because I want to earn that toy", you get the idea.

Next to the hair cutters, where a guy we hadn't had before took Ethan's cranium in one hand while clipper cutting the entire thing with the other. Yikes! At least he used a slightly longer guard on the top. Hoping it grows out a bit before picture day.

Finally, we stopped at Toys R Us, which was thankfully not busy. We approached the checkout and Ethan dumped out his one dollar bill and heap of coins and proceeded to count out the whole bit. I think he had 17 cents left, but the Indiana Jones reenactments have been spectacular!

Weekend

We had a great visit this weekend with Fred, Anna and Elliot. Bill, Fred and Andrew went to the MU football game Saturday then turned to the television for more football action. Meanwhile, Anna, Jordan and I went to town for some quality mall time followed by a wonderful meal at Addison's, a downtown restaurant that has great food and a lively atmosphere. Anna and I will be dreaming of that chocolate nearly-flourless brownie wrapped in phyllo, drizzled in chocolate and caramel and served warm with vanilla bean ice cream until our next visit.
Elliot is getting so big and really had fun playing with his big cousins, as they had fun playing with him. He is quite the kisser and even Sasha got some lovin'. He spent quite a bit of time wearing Ethan's old Tigger outfit, which looked so cute on him, especially when he and Lainey started bouncing up and down and dancing. It might even be on the Halloween short list. Another highlight for him was riding the big mower with Uncle Bill. He was VERY interested in steering it around.
Sunday we actually got to go out in the back yard and up to pet the horses. Saturday was a five inch rain day, so it was great to be out. Also, Jordan had a haircut Saturday from my salon gal rather than Cost Cutters. Wow! You can definitely tell when someone has a really good cut. She seems quite thrilled with the new look. Fun weekend!!

Social Networking Acceptance Speech

OK, I'm ready to admit I like Facebook. At first I only knew two people or so and it all seemed a bit silly. But as I found more and more ways to express my interests and personality and discovered more people who had also joined Facebook it got really fun. Apparently there is a subliminal message sweeping the thirty-something crowd because two of my neighbors, two book club members and a few other friends have all joined within the past month or so. After viewing their profile pages I feel like I know so much more about each of them and we have so much to talk about. Not only do you see photos, where they came from and where they've been but what shows they like, books they read, you name it.
Then, my biggest find. I started typing in names of exchange students our family hosted over the years. I found two and one, Regina Steimel, none of us had heard from in years. When she responded and I got to see photos of her life and hear her updated life story, it was the best. Add a few high school buddies, a few family members and I have a great bunch of Facebook friends I am more up to date with than ever before.
Darn it Anna, why didn't you warn me Facebook is addictive?!? :-)

Little Couch of Horrors

I'm gonna tell on myself and my not so thorough housekeeping, but this made me laugh. Alaina lost a barette in the couch cushions so asked me to remove them so she could find it. It wasn't immediately easy to see so she started digging in a crevasse at the back. It was like a comedy skit or Mary Poppin's valise. Out came several barettes, trading cards, playmobil guys, crayons, you name it. She thought she'd struck treasure!

Weiner Horse

OK, this may be hard to describe but it was really funny to see. I was driving home and glanced at an old tile silo on a farm near our house. Behind it, a brown horse was standing with only his rear end showing on the left of the silo. On the right, another brown horse was standing with only his front showing. Looked so much like one VERY long horse. I wish I'd had my camera!

I'd Write It In Purple...

Ethan was telling me about various of his classmates in an effort to stall bedtime last night. Most were run of the mill comments like "he likes dinosaurs", "he's kind of a bully", "she wants to play with the computer every day". But his comment about Julisa tickled me. Her name is like starting to say Julie then switching to Lisa, which is pretty much what my family has done all my life. He said "if I wrote her name I would write it in purple". I asked why and he said "I don't know, it's just a good color for her". All right, Cassanova.
This weekend Jordan has a friend over named Haley. She lives just a few miles away but hadn't been over yet. Later Bill and Andrew will go to the Mizzou game. Missouri has made parking for tailgates nearly impossible this year, so not sure where they'll end up. Tomorrow evening we're having a few friends over to cook out. It has been a gorgeous weekend, sunny but mild, a great follow-up to 3 1/2 inches of rain between Tuesday and Thursday.
Monday Andrew has his first meeting of Academy of Rock. Hoping he'll enjoy it. He has started looking for a part-time job for fun money. Thursday he texted me for some information. His next message was: this applying for jobs stuff is hard. He was just filling out an app online at the time :-)
Thursday night I took Jordan to Ragtag cinemacafe for the first time. It's this offbeat theatre that has two screens (until a year ago it was one screen in a tiny storefront), a bakery and cafe. It shows independent films, documentaries, foreign films, stuff that is great but doesn't make the big theatre houses. You sit in a smallish theatre in comfy couches, old armchairs etc. There's a thriller coming up called Transsiberian with Woody Harrelson and Ben Kingsley that I want to take both Andrew and Jordan to.
Also Monday Jordan starts taking her riding lessons then instead of Wednesdays. Partially since I start teaching the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University course at church on Wednesday. And next weekend Fred and Anna are visiting!!! Can't wait.
In other news, guinea pig is great. She will sit on Ethan's carpet quietly while they pet and feed her, sit in laps, whatever. She's very sweet. My book club started back up Friday and after the group threw out dozens of titles, we picked two; The Whistling Season which is Columbia's One Read selection for this year (last year was Water for Elephants). The other pick was Anna Karenina. This is a long, long, Tolstoy book but a great story. I read it as a sophomore or so in high school and am excited to re-read it. Bill and his partners think they may have the narc nabber figured out. Now they just have to prove it. Meanwhile a new and improved security setup is in place. Yeah!!!!

And More

Bill's excitement yesterday was learning the south store was robbed Monday night sometime. So on top of the busiest day of the year for Kilgore's he was shopping for a better security system and trying to help narrow down suspects.
Yeah, can't really think of anything else that exciting...

Ethan's Six!!

Today is Ethan's sixth birthday. He lobbied for a home day so he could play, but we were mean and said no. He didn't mind too much though. Last night my Mom and Harlan were here for a quick stop on their way to my aunt's house in Tennessee, so we went ahead and had a birthday meal and gave him his main present from us. That worked out well anyway since the present was a guinea pig that I had picked up that afternoon. It was a little scared at first but Ethan got to hold her for a bit, brushed her and fed her carrots and hay from his hand. Of all the pets I've had, I've never had what I would term a rodent, but she's even growing on me.
We're having a cake tonight and treats at school tommorrow since his teacher is gone today. Then this weekend we're hoping to have a few friends over for a cookout (barring continued Gustav rain). Added to last weekend's cake and presents in Nebraska, Ethan's having quite an extended celebration. All I want to know is; where did six years go?