Sad to see the weekend over....

It has been a beautiful weekend. Horseback riding, mowing, playing, friends, four-wheelin', digging in the dirt, riding bikes, swinging, grilling. All the things we love so much. I am hitting the pillow tonight with my heart full and so very thankful for God's many blessings.

The Redbirds - Soccer Game Day

Colby had a double header this morning. After last week's spectacular performance I had high expectations for her. So she showed me once again, that things don't always go as I plan. She lolly-gagged around for the first five minutes of the game and then she took a soccer ball to the nose and sat out. She went back in but tended to shy away from the ball. Her injury was still pretty fresh in her mind :) But, game two she came alive a little bit towards the end and she even scored another goal. She has scored more the last two games than she did all last season. So, not what I had hoped for, but a great game nonetheless. Today was picture day. I got a couple of shots myself over the real photographers shoulder. Hopefully his are better than mine.

More....

I know, enough already of the horse...I just can't help myself :)

Sharing....

Colby wants soooo bad to show her horse to all of her friends. So tonight I drove to town, picked up a friend, brought her out to ride the horse and eat dinner and then took her back home. Colby was thrilled to share her horse. And that is exactly why we have him--to share with friends that may not have the opportunity to do "country stuff" like horse-back riding. Thankful we have the space and time to do this.....

Blaze is here!

A girl and her horse.....

He is going to be so happy here. Lots to eat and kids to play with....

Blaze will get plenty of attention.

Even the dogs were checking him out!

Life

Life has kept us very busy lately. No time to post this week. So ready for the weekend. Sounds like it is supposed to be a good one. Blaze is coming home today. So some new responsibilities at the Carlson grounds. Colby is especially excited. Waking at 6:30 this morning she came out of her room and boldly announced, "Today is the day!". Hopefully, all works out as planned.

More of Blaze

Just a couple more pics of Blaze. Blaze has had a rough couple of months. He was a horse at a therapuetic camp that went bankrupt last fall. He has been somewhat neglected this past winter. He was purchased by a dealer about a month ago and he is slowly getting back to the horse he used to be. I can't stop thinking about him. I want him home with us where he will be loved, given tons of attention, have an abundance of hay to eat and will never, ever go hungry again.

In the short time we were visiting this horse Colby made friends with the neighbor girl and they both hopped on Blaze and took a ride together. Blaze was on his very best behavior for the little people.

Let the Work Begin :)

Tonight Colby said, "Next Friday, I will have to get up at 6 in the morning and go out and brush Blaze and give him some attention".

I didn't tell her that Blaze probably won't need to be brushed every morning before she leaves for school. She is excited to have a new responsibility. We'll let her be....

Ready to ride

Colby will be starting riding lessons soon. She already has great form and posture even when she is just being led. She hopped on Crystal with her head held high and even more confidence than she had yesterday with Blaze. She is going to be a great rider. We are anxious to get to know our horses better and learn about them as they learn about us. I think we have a great pair and we are ALL anxious to get them here.

Creighton rides too....

Crystal

We are adding family members around here quicker than I can type. This is Crystal. She is beautful. She will be joining our family within the next few weeks. We can't wait to bring her home and love her too.

Blaze

This boy is the newest member of the Carlson household. His name is Blaze, he is 11 years old and needed a loving home to take care of him, feed him well, and treat him good. He will be coming home Thursday. More when he gets here. Pictured is my friend Kelsey and horse expert taking him for a ride....

Colby giving him a test ride too...

I even gave him a few laps around the ring. He will do fine here.

Watching sissy play....

Colby's biggest fan.....

It is so hard for him to understand that he has to wait two more years to do any sports. So for now he'll just keep watching and learning....

She Shoots....She SCORES!

Colby played in her first soccer game of the spring yesterday. I was AMAZED at the improvement and strength she has gained since last fall's season. She was after the ball, playing hard, stealing the ball from the other team whenever she was near, she made several awesome shots on goal and best of all...she SCORED!!!! She was grinning ear to ear today. And she had good reason to...... (Colby is in red with pigtails in case you can't pick her out)

She controlled the ball very well today. A lot of good dribbling, footwork and kept good field position most of the game. Again, I was amazed at the improvement I saw today! Way to go kiddo!

Bad Words....

Last night before stories Creighton and I were in his bed chatting about the day as we do each night. Usually we talk about what he did at school, what he did at daycare, etc, etc. Tonight as we were just sitting down to read I asked if he had fun playing outside all day in the warm weather. Obviously, he had other things on his mind because his response was: "Mom,'burp' is not a bad word. But, 'fart', shut-up' and 'stupid' are bad words". Alrighty then :)

Out behind the woodshed ;)

Sitting out in the woodpile, deep in thought, dreaming and watching the world go by, one tractor at a time :)

Tomorrow is Monday already???

Another weekend has come and gone. It's Sunday night and I feel like I need another two days at home to get caught up! Is 'caught up' even possible?? Seems the work around here is neverending. I did get a lot more yardwork done today. But, the laundry was ignored so I dug through it and am washing the necessities tonight. Which means everything else will have to wait.

I mulched, picked up sticks, cleaned out the pond and set rocks today. I love a day of physical labor. I actually feel like I accomplished something and got a little exercise in the process. In between loads of mulch I stopped and pitched a few baseballs to each of the kids. They enjoyed a full day outside today too. But, of course in my busyness I didn't get any pictures all weekend. They did all of the same old stuff though--baseball, four-wheeler, digging in the dirt, etc.

Greg worked and then came home and built more fence. His projects are neverending too. Thankfully, we are done with inside projects for now and can concentrate on outside stuff. We don't do much inside once spring hits.

We are getting anxious to start our newest endeavor-- I'll post more on that when everything is finalized.

Tomorrow is the start of another busy week after an exhausting weekend. Five days of school, five days of work, three days of soccer, two days of preschool, two days of softball and a partridge in a pear tree.....

A lot going on...

I have had so much going on that I feel like my brain is just swirling with a ton of information that I am attempting to keep all straight.

I have been working endless hours on a new computer program at work that will allow for online registrations for our programs. It has been a daunting task and I am thankful I am just about done. I had about 40 hours or so of training, and since April 3rd I have logged 100+ hours of set-up and data entry getting it ready to go live. There have been many late nights for me as I have been working into the wee hours of the morning until I find my head bobbing and I lose all concentration. Then of course I sleep a couple of hours and head to work early in the morning to try to continue on with the program as I intermix my regular daily work. It has been an experience, but I hope I don't have to do this again, ever....

The kids had not been feeling well. Colby got sick last weekend and I finally took her to the dr. on Wednesday after the school called again and said her fever was back. Creighton is having sinus problems and I woke up with allergies in my eyes today and a sore throat. Tis the season.

Greg is working overtime so he we generally are just meeting him on the fly.

Colby is playing soccer and softball so we have 5 nights dedicated to practices and games. The schedule is a little tight, but so far we have worked it out. Of course her practices are scheduled for times that working parents are unable to take them so I have had to enlist some driving assistance. That always creates some interesting juggling acts. Is it rare for a mom to work from 8am to 5pm these days? Anymore, that never seems to be a consideration for coaches when they are setting practice times. I guess we are just expected to 'figure it out' and we/I do. Not always easy, but nobody said these times with young children were supposed to be easy.

Greg just got home from working 16 hours and instead of going to sleep he is outside building fence. We have some new additions to our family that we should be able to bring home soon (not babies, these will have 4 legs and don't wear diapers :). More on that later.

As for me, I haven't had time to blog nor do I want to attempt to process anymore information in my brain than absolutely necessary. I haven't taken any pictures, my kids think I am the meanest mom ever. Needless to say, that is kind of how I have felt lately. My patience has been worn thin this last two weeks.

Hopefully, things will calm down after next week. But for now, we'll just keep plugging along, taking it day by day.

A couple of Easter shots.....

A new found use for easter baskets when easter is over.....

Colby and Maddison hunting eggs at Gramma's.....

Creighton checking out his egg count.....

Colby, Maddison and Creighton......

Colby came down with a fever on Saturday night. No other symptoms, just a fever. Sunday morning she said she felt good enough to go to Gramma and Grampa's for lunch and the easter egg hunt. But not too long after we got there she wanted to go home. We got home and she went to bed and slept for several hours. Greg and I worked in the yard. Colby got up around 6pm and by 9pm her temp was back up to almost 104. So she stayed home today from school today with just a slight temp, but seems to be better this evening. Creighton on the other hand has a bunch of cold junk going on, but no fever. Needless to say, it wasn't a very healthy easter. Waiting for the REAL spring to arrive and this cold weather to be gone until late next fall.