Ramblings.

For her 14th birthday, Sidney treated herself to a nose piercing.  She had been waiting until the day she turned 14 to do this.  So far she loves it and has been taking very good care to keep it clean.

Kendall took this beautiful picture of the moon through one of our windows.

With all of the smoke in the air, we have been having some insane sunrises and sunsets.

I love this dog.  I was relaxing one evening, when he came in to see me.  A few seconds later, he plopped himself down right on top of me.  I still remember how crazy and insane he was as a puppy.  Now, he is the most chill dog ever.

So chill, that he even lets the girls dress him up in ridiculous costumes.  The look on his face says it all.

Sidney went to an escape room birthday party.  It was a lot of fun.  The mom had made matching t-shirts for everyone.  They managed to escape with just a few minutes left.

We got a treat puzzle for the doggo's.  Bella is super tenacious and has zero trouble finding all the treats.  Bailey is hilarious.  He spends a few seconds finding the easy ones, then he lays down and takes a break before trying to find the harder ones.  

On another note, these dogs are ridiculously spoiled.  The girls have not problem inviting the dogs onto their beds, in fact they encourage it.  Thus you can see their confusion when I blow a gasket when they jump onto my bed.

Kendall tells me that her and Abby found the cutest plant, thrift, craft store all rolled into one.  She showed me some cute pictures of the place.  She found this adorable dress and equally adorable little plant while there.

My friend Dana had told me about the 'game changing' heated vest she had bought for winter horse season.  I decided to invest in one myself.  Bring it on cold weather!

School of Choice. We Got This!

Sidney has started her fourth year at Gem Prep Online.  I remember when we first went down this road.  Sidney had always experienced a tremendous amount of anxiety.  At one point, Terrell had to have someone meet her at the car to get Sid into the school.  She also suffered from terrible migraines that were often triggered by this anxiety.  After Kevin passed away, I though it might get better, but it only got worse.  I explored some of the various options for school, knowing that I have a full time job and knowing that I needed her to get a good education.  AFter much research, interviews and discussions with teachers and other parents, we chose Gem Prep Online.  Sidney started in 5th grade.  It was a HUGE struggle at first.  I would say the first four months were a bit of a nightmare.  The curriculum was rigorous, Sidney was new to the online platform, and I had to figure out how to make her independent during the school/work day.  After much trial, error and tears, we figured it out.  At one point, I asked her if this was really worth it, as it was the much harder route.  She said to me, "Yes, mama.  I just need to be with my family."

Now, a few years later, she is thriving!  She is taking some amazing classes.  Last spring she took a veterinary science class.  This fall she is taking a digital photography class.  She has learned to reach out to the instructors when she needs help.  She also has met her best friend through the school.  Liza lives about 45 minutes away.  The girls often get on zoom and do their homework together.  

The format has also given her a ton of flexibility.  This week, she was able to spend two gorgeous afternoons at the Ranch with her horse.  Granted, she came home and did her schoolwork well into the evening, but with no complaints.  It is great to see her hitting her stride.

Sidney has even trained Bella to sit next to her during her daily live lessons.  It is hilarious to watch.  The first time I came down to see this, I almost flipped my lid.  However, it was amazing to see how Bella sat there so intently and watched the class right along with Sidney.

During the pandemic, Sidney was already set up in an online school that she loved.  Kendall, on the other hand, struggled as the public schools tried to pivot to online learning.  After Christmas break, in 2020, Kendall asked if she could enroll in Gem Prep.  I agreed to let her, but said she would need to finish out that year, regardless of whether in person school resumed.  She did Gem Prep that spring semester and asked to re-enroll last year.  I agreed to let her give it a shot.

At the end of last year, I was a bit on the fence with Kendall as she did not seem to thrive with the online learning.  I could not distinguish whether it was the rigorous curriculum or the learning format.  After talking with a few of her teachers, and the school counselor, I learned that it was likely a bit of both.  The curriculum is pretty advanced and moves very quickly.  I also know that Kendall naturally does better in person.  Her school counselor and I looked at her fall schedule and came up with a plan.  Kendall would normally take six classes (one of which is a college course).  Instead, we agreed to have her take five classes, (two of them being college courses and one of those being an in person elective of her choosing at the local community college).  Of all the classes, she chose philosophy - what?

We are now six weeks into the school year, and I can confidently say Kendall is thriving as well.  She has found the perfect balance.  She goes to in person class two afternoons a week and has the other classes online.  She is staying ahead of her coursework and doing very well.  I am super glad that we found a solution that worked for her.  I am also super thankful that we have so many choices, for both girls.  When I was growing up, there were not many options.  Now there are endless options.

The past couple of weeks, the girls have been waking up early to do pilates before starting school.  Kendall found this instructor that she likes I'm sweaty and I know it.  I have done it with her a few times, and it is pretty good.  She now has Sidney hooked.  This morning, I heard endless laughter coming from the den and went in to find both of them exercising and giggling incessantly.  Yes, this is a good thing!

Messing Around at the Ranch.

Sidney has been spending the extra hours she gained (after Eh Capa was over) out at the Ranch.  Last week they had a playday evening.  One of the trainers set up all kinds of fun things.  She even dressed up in a crazy dinosaur costume.  Pigeon was definitely not sure about this one at first.  By the end of the evening, he seemed a lot less leery, but still not a fan.

Sidney has been working with Pigeon on a few tricks, one of which is to get him to lay down.  Apparently this is not something horses naturally want to do with people around, as they need to feel very safe and secure before laying down.  With consistent ques and training, Pigeon has learned to lay down on Sidney's command.  It is the MOST beautiful process to watch.  He will even look at her for a que to get back up.  I am sure the treats help:). 

Pigeon did not have much jumping experience at all before we got him.  Sidney has taken a few jump lessons with him, and they have been putting in some practice.  He is really getting it down.  He is quite an athletic horse.  I think the sky is the limit for these two.

I received a call from the owner of the boarding facility last Friday.  Apparently there was a private clinic happening the following day, and one of the attendees had to pull out.  Sabrina and the attendee had talked and they wanted to 'gift' the open spot to Sidney.  What a wonderful and amazing opportunity.  Sidney attended a three hour clinic with Dana Lovell.  It was like nothing she had ever attended before.  It was a very small clinic.  Dana worked with each horse and rider individually.  She rode each of the horses and tailored her instruction based on the specific needs of the horse and rider.  She worked with Sidney on recognizing when Pigeon was starting to feel anxious and how to push him, without pushing him over the edge.  Dana even took Pigeon right up to that edge while she was on him, just so Sidney could see what that would look like.  It was amazing.  Dana had a very kind an gentle horsemanship that Sidney wants to emulate.

Sidney basically spent the whole next day at the ranch, watching the other clinics and generally messing around.  The ladies at the Ranch have really taken Sidney under their wing.

Indian Creek Festival (mom and me date).

Oh my goodness, we have had such a busy last couple months that there has not been a lot of time for me to just 'hang out'.  Thankfully my mom talked me into going to the Indian Creek Festival with her.  It was a lot of fun.  We went early to grab a bite to eat and stroll through all of the cool little shops.  My favorite shop was the Rediscovered Bookshop.  It is located in an old bank building.  I could have spent hours in there.  My mom is not so into books and humored me.  Really, I think the only thing that kept her in there as long as she did was that there were a lot of old things preserved from the bank.  

Here I am inside the old safe deposit box room located inside the old bank vault.

Here is my mom standing in the vault door opening.

They had the old truck on the plaza decorated for fall.  

It was a great time to just relax, people watch and listen to the band playing oldies.  My mom knew the word to every song.

Working Girl (x2).

Kendall has had such a great experience with her first job at Goodwill, that Sidney applied right after her birthday.  She was called in for an interview and got the job.  In fact, the manager said, "We have had such a good experience with your sister that we would like to take the next steps with you as well."  In keeping with tradition, Grandma Karen took Sidney out for ice cream to celebrate.

Sidney went through her orientation and has been working several 2.5 hour shifts each week.  It is such a great job, in that they work around the girls activities so well and the shifts are short enough that the girls earn a bit of mad money, but do not feel over extended. 

The bonus is that Sidney has a few extra dollars to buy some of the fancy horse tack she has been eyeing.  In another note of good fortune, she found these brand new spurs at Goodwill during one of her first shifts.  What a great find!

Homecoming Dance and Solo Trips.

Kendall's girlfriend, Abby, asked Kendall to go to her school's homecoming dance with her.  Kendall was super excited!  Abby's parents took some pictures of the beautiful ladies before the dance.

They had an absolute blast.  Kendall knew a number of the people at the dance, which was also fun, since it is not the school she regularly attends.

This video is awesome and shows off the girls' dancing moves.  I did have to laugh when I saw the video though, because it appeared that they were the only ones dancing.  Apparently this was not the case at all, as evidenced by some of the other pictures.  They even had a full fledged mosh pit at the dance.  

After a long night of dancing, both girls had to wake up bright and early for their third day in a row of Team dance choreography.  Oh, to be young again.

On another first...Kendall took her first solo road trip last weekend.  Yikes, was I ever a nervous wreck.  Last Friday, I received a text from Abby's mom that they were in Tamarack.  They spend a lot of weekends up there and had been asking Kendall to join them for one.  With our busy summer, the timing had not worked out.  Abby's family had went up there early Friday morning, but Kendall had work and dance that day.  Latonia asked if there was a chance Kendall could join them, only if I was comfortable with her driving up there by herself.  

Kendall and I talked and decided that she would drive up there Saturday morning, after a good nights sleep.  The drive is only two hours, but it is a windy and crazy road, with sometimes wild and crazy drivers.  We talked about 'all the things'.  Kendall was great about keeping me posted and pulled over to take a break about halfway.  She sent me this cute selfie once she had arrived.

I know we are supposed to let go a bit as our kids grow, but it is HARD!

Back to School - Part 3/3

For part three, here are their individual shots.  I just love these pictures.  Tina really captured who these girls are right now.

Back to School - Part 2/3

For part two of the back to school pictures, I bring you 'together'.  Here is the special, more serious side, of their friendship.  These girls rarely need entertained.  This is them.  Tina did not need to do any posing.  She just snapped away.  There were SO MANY to choose from.  I tried my best to narrow it down.

The one below is my absolute favorite.