Me a Chaperone??! At a Candy Factory!!!!!

Yes, I was a chaperone for a field trip! To a Candy Factory!! Sarah (sweet little sister, Sarah!) and I went to lend support and have fun. It was way cool. We watched the Leslie-Gibb candy factory make cinnamon cube suckers. We also found out that to make about 1600 suckers, they use about 55 pounds of sugar. They have a giant TANK of corn syrup. We also saw peanut brittle and peanut patties. This is peanut farm country so we have lots of peanut specialties. I was good and DID not touch and, believe it or not, provided a good but goofy role model to the kids.
We also toured the Norman Petty Recording Studio. Think Buddy Holly. It was really neat. Sugar Shack was recorded there! We also went to the local livestock auction and warned all of the kids NOT to raise their hands and thus buy a cow. I believe I told Caitlyn that if she bought a cow, her father would have a cow.
After fetching drinks, herding through bathrooms and dispensing hugs, we rolled home. What a fun day! Special thanks to Sarah, for driving and being the best buddy to hang with! Thanks to Kendra for keeping Sarah and I from getting lost, keeping my newly purchased candy cooled and by being a very fun lady to talk to! May our kids have many more fun times together!
Thanks kids...thanks Ladies!!

Coaching and the Dirt Squad

We had another soccer game. This one was on a Tuesday as the opposinf team couldn't play on Saturday due to a Little League conflict. We got there and the boys were all warming up. Coach's wife came over an announced that coach was tied up at work and could I coach the game! Before you think badly about coach...he's a great guy. He is a plumber for a major company and when dairy has a water problem, it has to be fixed right away. It's either the cows will get sick and die (majorly expensive) or the FDA will shut them down!

Back to the game. I coached it! It was great!! They were all over the place. Half the time I had to grab one and pick them up and swing them around to get them to stay on the lines. A couple times they started impromptu wrestling matches. Conner got to play a quarter and tackled the ball and then grabbed ankles on anyone else who tried to take it. Jimmy scored a goal and then at one point took a ball that rebounded from a goal post, ran it down the length of the field and was inches from scoring another goal. William played until he realized that the stray dog who came over was hanging out with Tristan, his "MonkeyMaster"! By the way, Tristan's mom, my good friend Sarah, took the puppy home. Follow the link to her blog for that story!!

Dirt Squad

We went to a great church social and while we were gone we had another of our wild dirt storms that inhabit the High Plains. At the social, we grabbed kids and toys and bouncy houses and headed indoors. When we got home we had to rescue the playhouse from Jori's front pasture. But apparently Jori accidently left a kitchen window open. I kid you not, there was about two inches of dirt and hmmm...pasture debris, I guess would be a polite term. As soon as Jori fowards me the pics I will post them (Jori, hint hint). So Sunday we spent 5 to 6 hours cleaning. Everything had to be taken from the countertops and washed. The wind pushed gunk into the cupboards so everything had to be taken out and washed. The cabinet faces had to be washed down and polished. We got to everything but the floors. Jori's husband, Cory, took on most of that but the fine cleaning is still going on.

Moral of the story....always close your windows before you leave the house!

Follow the link to Jori's blog for more details.

In Memory of Suzie...

I found out this weekend that a dear friend from high school passed away. Suzie was a kind soul in a school riddled with social climbers. She was a sweet, steady and quite frankly brilliant part of our group of friends. She attended and completed Vet school, but while there developed a fungal infection in her lungs from infected birds. Due to many complications, Suzie never was able to beat this infection. Suzie fought it for years. It was a horrible thing when she had to give up practicing her craft. She hated being away from the clinic, out of touch with animals. I always valued Suzie's insights and often emailed her for "appointments" for my dogs. Slowly this infection gained on her and I remember the day she told me that she was not eligible for a lung transplant. We both refused to discuss defeat and we both looked to specialty hospitals around the country. But Suzie was never strong enough to travel.

Despite her constant fight, we, her friends, never really considered how terminal the disease was. Suzie had a way of calmly explaining that she hadn't been answering her emails because she was in the hospital. She happened to cough up a cup of blood, or maybe two, but she was feeling better now. She was able to rebound over and over again. It was a joy to see her in the summer of 2006, when I went back to see my San Diego sister. She was tired and her face was puffy from yet another round of meds. but she and some of my dear friends gathered to meet. She even wanted all four of the kids there!

Her death is a sad sad loss to many of us. She loved her dear husband, Jim. She loved being a vet. She was a devoted friend who was always available when needed. She had so many talents, she must have been too special to remain on earth and God called her home.

Suzie, we love you. Journey safely and we will see you again soon.

Potting soil and an A$$ kicking...

My Sweet Bella

Okay, I am not one to use profanity on a regular basis, but I sort of had to for this. Read on and you will agree.

Jimmy wasn't feeling well and I decided Tuesday night to keep him home from school on Wednesday. Jimmy was happy with this and while he wasn't fully sick, our spring winds had reved up his asthma and I though a day off would do him well. Sick because of winds, you say? Being a pansy because of a spring breeze? Bite your tongue, dear reader. When I say "wind", I mean "WIND". Sustained at 35-40 with gusts up to 60 and one lovely day in the 90s. There is nothing here on the High Plains to break that wind except for the occasional cow. We have watched our trash cans, kiddie pools and assorted items blow across the pasture. When the wind dies down, we go looking for treasure.

So yes, WINDY. But when we get to school, in the sensory tub is a bunch of potting soil and little tractors. Jimmy decided he felt much better and really wanted to stay at school. I was dissed for potting soil.

Which brings us to the second half of the title.

Last week, my dear filly, Bella, had a wound of her shoulder. It looked as if she rammed a doorway or gate. She is very sweet, but kinda flakey. Of course, being my horse, the wound became infected. I called a wonderful woman, Vicky, whom you might remember from a previous post. She is a lovely Brit who is almost a vet! Well, after placing a call I found out the best solution to drawing out the infection would be a paste of sugar and betadine. So we began pulling Bella into the round pen and treating the wound. Being my horse, one wound isn't enough. Pretty soon we noticed that she could barely walk. A closer exam showed a nail in her hoof. I pulled it out and noticed it looked sheared. Was it always this way? Or had my flakey girl broken a piece of it off in her hoof? I borrowed a metal dector from Jori's son Andrew. No hits, another infection. Okay, I know this one, pack the hoof with ickthamal, wrap in duck tape and hope the infection finds a way out of the hoof.

I went out in the pasture to collect Bella, so that I could change her packing. I brought carrots (thanks to Mom for picking up the really big bag while in San Diego, they're gone...the kids ate them!) out to catch her. Shiloh met me at the gate and I gave him his carrot and started to walk out to Bella. I hear Shiloh coming up behind me and WHAM. He lashed out in jealousy and kicked my butt.Literaly. He kicked my hinney. I had a tizzy at him and said many many unkind words. I vented at length on his ancestry, lack of inteligence in specific and at the ever present wind in general. I went to collect Bella, who, by the way, has learned to stay out of Mr. GrumpyPants's way.

So in one day, I was traded for a tub of potting soil and had my a$$ kicked by my horse.

Soccer Boys!!

I am so proud of my boys! We all know how Will loves soccer. Today was no different. He went to his game despite having wheezing and coughing. He came, he saw, he conquered. After scoring four goals, coach pulled him out and let James play!

Way to go James!! He went in there, fought for the ball and SCORED HIS FIRST GOAL!! He was so proud! He went on to play hard and have two assits! This is a big step for him. It is very hard to be Will's brother on the soccer field, harder to be his twin! But James played hard and did very well! It was only when Will was put back on the field with him that he quit.

BUT WAIT...THERE'S MORE!! After the half, when James had petered out, coach came by to talk to James. Connner was sitting there with a pair of cleats on. Conner loves to practice with the team and is itching to play. Coach looked at him and said, "I'm tempted to put him in and see what he does." I said,"He's got cleats, I'll let him." Now, this was a cold morning and all the kids we wearing jackets and mismatched sweatpants. Conner really didn't need a uniform. Also, the kids in this division are U5, under five at sign up, so most are 4 or 5. Conner is 3, but he had the height and weight on some of the other kids. Don't forget, Rooney Boys aren't really built like boys....they're Man-Cubs.

So Conner goes in for the kick off. Coach lets him have the kick. He makes the first kick and here comes the other team. Conner kicks to the side and goes with the ball. He goes through one of the other players and takes the ball and scores a goal!!! The parents on our team went nuts!! Steve and I went nuts, Will was cheering, Caitlyn was cheering, James was bouncing. Coach is laughing! Conner was grinning to split his face! We had him sit out and let James play again. James had some good scrimiages and played well until Will took the ball from him and scored a goal. We tried to encourage James as much as Will because he was working very well as a team, but he felt put out and we let him have a break.

So Conner got to go back in. The other team had the kick and Conner went right out and challenged it. He helped move the ball until it went out. He was given the throw in and threw it to his team member who took it and made a goal. And that was game!

Now my boys showed great spirit and Will was full of excitement for his brothers. They did all of this despite a player on the other team who took to pushing our boys, even when the ball was NOT in play. I gave Will the code phrase, "Be a wild man." which tells him not to worry about the other kids and lets him release his inner hounds. The other kid grabbed his shirt and Will rounded on him and shouted in his face, "STOP THAT." Now, Will has at least 20 pounds and 6 inches on this kid. He left Will alone but went after everyone else, including Conner, who pushed back and gave him "stink eye". Which is a very ugly look that the kids aren't allowed to use at us. I told all my boys that if he pushed again, they had permission to push back. I guess he took Will's hint, because he left my boys alone for the rest of the game. What irked me the most was that his coach and his parents didn't rein in his behavior.

But, enough about that! I have three wonderful soccer players who played so well today and tried their very best. I can't ask for more than that.

So we're off the Pizza Hut to celebrate!

Bad Bad Me...

Yes, I have erred. I haven't posted much lately. William and I went to Albuquerque for an appointment at UNM's Nuero department. It went well and William was very cooperative. We will have a phone conference later this month to get the results.

Spring Break was fun and over fast. However, we are still having a great deal of fun! Today we cleaned duck ponds, made rivers in the mud and ran thru the sprinklers. I took the time to take pictures of Caitlyn in some of my newest creations. Sometimes she just stops my heart!