Sunday, October 14, 2012

celebrating....... THREE

I think we'll all agree that time has a way of flying by. For me, some days seem slow, but then, we are at the end of another week, and I'm thinking .. where did it go. However, I can "see" where the time has gone everytime I look at Abbie.... she's THREE... (or nearly).. and I just don't believe that. I took this photo at Kass's last night.. here Ab is showing Meme how to play "angry birds" on the i-touch. She's a whiz at it and my Mom just couldn't believe that Abbie knew just what to do.
Then Sean challenged her... I don't think he made out any better than Meme did... and don't even ask me to play, I don't think I even know how to turn an i-touch on!!! She also can run the dvd player at home and loves to look over your shoulder when you're on the computer.....








And... she was the one invited to go to the ultra sound with TeeTee and Krunckle., and got her very own picture of her baby cousin. (no, Kas didn't tell  her "what" the baby was.. guess Kas knew that we would try to ask.......)








We celebrated her birthday today... she was so excited to help decorate.. this year's theme was "Hello Kitty"....

Have to have birthday balloons!!!!!
And a crown, of course.....
And look at old pictures and blogs of when you were "little"  (didn't we used to look at photo albums???)
Family and friends arrive for the party!!! Abbie loves having cousin Naomi over.... they really do play well together and since both are "singles".. this will be as close to a sister as they will get!!!!!
After some food and visiting, everyone always likes to go to the barn and see what we have there. My sister Becky always loves our smaller animals... (she misses Beeker as much as I do).. but she found Lucille very sweet.
My Dad always enjoys talking with the horses... Duke was quite taken with his attention....
Then it was back to the house for presents and more fun times together.... love having my house filled with people!!!!
So many wonderful things, we are very, very blessed.....
Would love to know what this conversation was all about!!!!!
Cake time..... with a "Hello Kitty" cake made by TeeTee... which wasn't only cute, but very good as well....
Two years ago, she was just walking and smashing into her first cake...    now she's the one that cuts the pieces for everyone else..... Happy Birthday Abbie....... we love you more than you can ever know!!!!

it's called "fall"...

We are well into the fall season... had our first hard frost, which "kills" everything - good and bad. The flowers look kind of sad in the garden, but the flies are gone in the barn, so it's a trade off. We have had the most beautiful weather, and I feel like I need as much outside time as possible, storing it away for those cold winter days when I would rather be in.
The trees all around the pasture are just amazing (this picture doesn't nearly do them justice) and as the fall, I am beginning to see our neighbor's again. I like seeing their homes in the dark days of winter... it feels less lonely that way.
There are lots of beautiful places in the "US".. but somehow fall in New England beats them all......
Our old home town hosted it's annual Harvestfest, and I couldn't wait to be done with work so we could attend. It's a fun time with lots of good food and crafters.....
Great place to work an up and coming service dog. And since "dogs" aren't allowed... she certainly gets special privileges.....
Since the day was so pretty, there were lots of people. Which makes it a little hard to "see" all that is there, but it's all a part of it.











Rylie got a lot of attention, for a number of reasons.. first people always like a puppy... second the "service dog vest" always is noticed and thirdly... with Sesame street having just come out with "their" service dog.. a number of the kids recognized her right away. When the puppies are little like this, it's OK for them to socialize (with permission) with the public... but, I like to keep it at a minimum--- it's hard enough to walk around with her. 
 
Aside from the festival itself... our good friends were there with the Belgians... and we always try and hook up with them whenever we can.... (Sadie and Abbie got a front row seat in the wagon!!) 
And of course, you know that I had to take a few trips with Butch myself.... 












Rylie was funny, when she was on the ground beside the  horses, no big deal. She's used to being around our guys, so that didn't surprise me.. but once we got up on the seat with Butch and the team began to step up... she wasn't so sure she liked that idea. It took her a couple of trips and then she was comfortable and actually took a little nap.





I'm usually behind two big black horses.. but the "blonde's" are pretty  nice too..
One thing I will never get used to.. with riding with Butch.. is how people behave, or rather don't behave around horses. I can't tell you the number of times that the team is going along and people just step out in front of them. Mind you, they don't go that fast, but they also can't stop on a dime with that great wagon full of people behind them. Fortunately, Butch and the team take in all in stride, but it's all I can do to hold my tongue and not yell..."get out of the way you st****p people!!" Really, if you saw 4000lbs of horse coming at you.......
 
 
It was overall, a very fun day... Rylie made lots of new friends, and was one tired puppy at the end of the day. But, the day isn't over yet...





we're heading to Kassy and Nate's... read the next blog!!!!!