Monday, October 27, 2008

The Most Patient Horse in the World




Meet Huckleberry.





How many horses do you know that would put up with this?





He's the cutest little pony and he lives at the barn where Bridget takes lessons. While he's generally used with young beginners, some kids DO ride him over jumps at a full canter. He's about a hundred in horse years and just loves his job.





As part of this weekend's horse show (Bridget did not compete - still not ready to make that leap), there was a costume parade.





Bridget and two of her barn buddies wanted to enter. We mommies said "Only if you figure it out for yourselves, we are not sewing costumes anymore!" So, on Saturday those 3 crazy girls dug through all their old costumes and decided to be a punk rock band with a horse.






Besides having to do very little work, wanna know what the best part was?

They WON!


Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Wheeeeeeeee!

If you read THESE POSTS, you'll recall that we spent several wonderful days in Destin, FL this summer.


Aidan and I got to go parasailing. It was a blast. Here are some photos!




Sunday, October 19, 2008

Weekend Update

Just your average run-of-the-mill weekend in the Glynn household. But Papa Bud was commenting on how much he likes hitting the blog for the goings on, so in honor of his birthday, I'll do another post, even though there is no big news or extraordinary accomplishments.


Little Miss had a swim meet today. This photo is her "warming up" before her event. Little Miss and Aidan are two completely different kinds of competitors. To Bridget, the meets are big, overwhelming, and scary. Just to compete in one is a triumph for her. Today, she swam a 100 yard event for the first time. She said "Mom, on the last 25 yards, I felt like I was going to throw up!" I told her that is EXACTLY how it should feel, so she did it right!


We had to arise at 6:30am to get to the meet which was in south Fort Worth. After she was done with her events (about noon), we headed to the Las Colinas Equestrian Center (yes, it's as big and fancy as it sounds!), to see a couple of her friends compete in a Very Big Horse Show.


The Boys had the "day off." Aidan and his friend Mo spent much of the day running around in the woods with their BB guns looking for things to shoot (sorry Judy!). Mostly grasshoppers and wasp nests, but they DO try to bag the occasional bird. Not with much luck though. Ray worked in the newly cleaned garage putting the final touches on a piece of cabinetry he's building for a friend.


Bridget and I eventually made our way back home and I tried to cobble together a quick "mock" paella for dinner. It was not a success.


Yesterday (Saturday) also started off early with Bridget needing to be on the soccer field by about 7:30am. Her team pulled out a rare win. I think this will be Bridget's last season of soccer, it is really not "her sport." She is finally willing to let it go and try something else. After soccer, we hit the farmer's market and loaded up on tomatoes and peaches, then tried a new breakfast joint. Full of biscuits and gravy, we ambled to the baseball field to watch Aidan play in a nail biter that eneded in a tie.

After the ballgame, we had a Family Event called Clean Out The Garage. The dog hair, sports clutter, wood shavings, spider webs and birds were threatening to take over the place and make Ray nuts. OK, me nuts too, as most of that flotsam & jetsam gets tracked into the house.

After dinner, we built a bonfire out back and roasted marshmallows. The kids are perfecting their technique for the most perfect golden brown marshmallow with a warm liquid center that Ray and I love so much!


It's now Sunday evening and all is quiet. Steeling myself before another busy week which includes one baseball game, one writing contest practice session, eight swim practices (at 3 separate pools), one day of "work" on a consulting gig I picked up, one geography bee practice session, one PTA meeting where Bridget's class is performing, a few hours volunteering at the school, one riding lesson, one Boy Scout meeting, one Parks & Rec meeting where a friend and I are lobbying for more horse trails, one soccer game, one "Sock Hop" at Bridget's school (where IS that darn poodle skirt, anyway?), one "social" for Aidan's swim team, and one horse show where I must contrive a halloween costume for the horse.

Monday, October 13, 2008

Zoom zoom

Went to an air show over the weekend. LOTS of fun, especially w/ Ray as the guide.





Saw the USAF Thunderbirds. AMAZING!





Very hard to photograph..... ;-)



Thursday, October 9, 2008

Head Games

I always knew that motherhood involved wearing lots of hats. Chef, taxi driver, laundress, etc. are the obvious ones. But I never knew I'd have to don the hat of Psychologist quite so often.

I often find myself saying "I'd hate to go through life with Bridget's head." That little girl can psych herself out ninety-six ways to Sunday. This would be a typical conversation:
"Mommy, what if a big monster came and stomped on our house while I'm sleeping?"
"Sweetie, there is no such thing as monsters, so it wouldn't happen."
"Yes, but what IF??? What if it DID happen?"
"But, it's not GONNA happen, so there is no point in speculating!"
"Yes, but what if it DID happen?"

..... and on, and on, and on..... unfortunately, her worries aren't just limited to the fantasy world.

"What if I miss my swim event?" (like I would EVER let that happen?)
"What if I flunk my test?" (a straight-A student? C'mon!)
"What if the horse bucks me off?" (You will hit the ground. Can't you figure out that one on your own?)
"What if, what if, what if....."

Aidan is a little less silly, but still requires regular Mom Therapy. He was injured several weeks ago and it's been a slow recovery that has impacted his swim training. The first meet of the short course season is this weekend. He is SO WORRIED that the coaches will think he's "slacking" if he doesn't turn in a whole slew of "best times." He's worried he's entered in too many events and won't have the stamina to do well after 4 weeks of abbreviated training. I'm not supposed to "coach" him, so I mumble platitudes and fire off an email to his coaches to make sure they know they've got a head-case on their hands, they promise to talk w/ him at practice.

I can't ever recall being worried about stuff like this before a swim meet.

He worries his hair looks funny. He worries he's not popular. And you know what I am learning? There is nothing I can say to assuage these fears. I try to tell him that everybody thinks they're not as popular as the next kid. He says I'm wrong. I tell him that unless you have serious bed-head, or a mohawk, nobody really notices your hair. He says I'm wrong.

Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe everyone notices that I'm overdue for my hair color, haven't plucked my eyebrows or shaved my legs in way too long. Maybe everyone notices the dust bunnies under my bed and the crumbs on the floor near the toaster. If that's true, then everyone notices the empty soda cans and crumbled goldfish littering the floor of my car and the chipped polish on my pinky toe.

OK. Now I'm worried.