NEW BLOG

I finally had time to figure out my Blog situation and I am happy to say, that I have begun a new blog. You can find me from now on at:
http://thwrightmommy.blogspot.ca/
Please come check out our adventures as our family grows!!

HEAVY HEART!!

Today, my heart is soo heavy. I feel so much sadness and pain for the children, the babies of the school in Connecticut that lost their lives today at the hands of a maniac.  I feel sooo much sadness for the Families of those children, for the community and for the future.....this horrific incident comes on top of a horrific week at my own school. A third grader was found passed out  in the bathroom on Wednesday. He was non-responsive once discovered and remains in critical condition in the hospital today.  The first teachers on scene administered CPR and everything was done to try to breath life  into this child's body.  I hate that we don't know any facts about his status, but I respect that the family has way more important people to keep in touch with than the school...but the wondering, the wondering, if he will live, if he will be brain damaged, if he will be back to school...ever is weighing on all of us...I couldn't leave the building and get to Ryder fast enough after work today, and I am sure many parents, no matter how far removed from all of these incidences felt the same...when it comes to our children, we all kiss them good-bye in the morning expecting to kiss them good-night again at the end of the day.  I  feel soooo lucky that I got to kiss Ryder good-night tonight.  I did not want to let him go. I had a hard time leaving him in his crib, I almost just wanted to crawl right in there with him.  I feel such a strong urge to hold him and never ever let him leave my arms....
My heart breaks for those parents who did not get to tuck their own children into bed tonight. 

WHEELS ON THE BUS

I am in "Wheels on the Bus Hell." Seriously, do you know how many versions there are of that song on Youtube?? There are hundreds of them and I have seen them all....in a row!!!!!! It is -27 degrees here...COLD! So I figured it would be ok for Ryder to watch a little Wheels on theBus on Youtube, little did I know that's all he'd want to watch....only that song,over and over. To save my own sanity, I find a new version everytime, but still...even Scout has started singing along!!!!! Come on Sunshine! Where are you!??????????????

PHOTO FRUSTRATION

GRRR! I have been putting off writing an entry here on my Blog as everytime I try to put a picture on my blog, a pop up window informs me that i am out of photo storage space. What? I didn't even know it was storing the pics anywhere? In fear of losing my favs, I have actually selected my blogs about Ryder (from pregnancy announcement until last month) and am having them printed into a "baby book" just because I think I recorded more on this blog than anywhere else, but now I still can't put pics on. It's really no fun to read blogs without pics, so while I work out this little problem (oh, don't worry, I can purchase more space for a monthly fee..what? A monthly fee? No thanks) I may not be posting very often...oooo, maybe I will start a new blog, one that can begin with this pregnancy announcement:

We are expecting!!!!!!!!! Little "Peanut" is due April 20th! Ryder is going to be a Big brother and he's going to have to share Scout and "uncle Dirt" with his sibling.  So far, at 20 weeks little Peanut is active and healthy!  I've heard the heartbeat and had an ultrasound pic!  soon as I can put pics up here again, I will show you!!!
I am excited to write about the Wright Family as our adventures continue and our Family grows....stay tuned, I just may start a new blog with a new "address" just so that I can put more pics up!!! 

Everyone keeps telling me how fast these toddler years go by.  I don't know about the toddler years yet, but the toddler days are slipping away and I already find myself forgetting details that I never thought I would!! 
I can't remember the first time Ryder started saying "Thank you" without being prompted, but he does! No, not all the time, but he does and it makes me sooo proud every time!!  His manners are really developing. More than once now, I've heard him say, "Excuse me, Scout" to the dog when he passes by her!  Infact, Ryder has been interacting even more and more with Scout. I can't remember the first morning, he sat down to "read" his book to Scout, but now he does it all the time while he waits for me to get ready for work.  I can't remember when he got strong enough to hold the rope for more than one second when playing tug with, Scout, but he does all the time now!  The first time he fiigured out how to wrestle with her, he got down on all fours and started head butting Scout's front legs, Scout started swatting at him with her front legs and belly laughs emerged from Ryder's cute little mouth!!!
I can't remember what day that was, but I know they wrestled like that again tonight!!  Sooo adorable!
I have no recollection of when Ryder first became obsessed with busses, mostly school busses, but I swear it's been almost a year! His favorite things to play with are his busses and his animals. Lately he has been filling his busses with his animals, his horses, goats, sheep and cows. He wants them to "drive" and to "ride." He gets quite upset, when they won't all fit in his big bus. He loves his busses so much that they are the first thing he grabs to play with when he wakes up in the morning, after he comes downstairs and the first thing he grabs when we come in the door at the end of the day. I so badly want to play with him, but when he is playing with his busses, he is so happy all by himself that I hate to interrupt. Instead, I catch myself just watching him, smiling at how he has really started using his imagination.

 Every now and then Ryder will play with some of his toys that are not busses.

He has also become very partial to this tuque, handed down to him by our good friend, Bailey.

This bus is his fav!!!

I don't remember when Ryder's other obsession, horses, started, but I know it started with our visits to Dirt.  Ryder wakes up in the morning, talking about Dirt, or busses, talking about horses or busses and goes to bed talking horses and busses!  Ryder has recently started pretending to feed his horse (actually a purple unicorn) treats. He even brushes his "horse" with Scout's brush.  Sooo cute to see him, do with his stuffie, what we do with Dirt at the farm. 

Yep, he feeds his horsie "treats" from Scout's bowls.

I am happy to be living in the moment, and I know I can't write everything down and I can't take pictures of everything, but some things I can!

 

 Nic's latest visit was a fun one to remember!

 

 Another memory: making Christmas ornament "cookies" with Auntie.

 

I know this winter is going to be full of "firsts" and the joys of discovering things for the first time. I am excited to make all kinds of unforgettable memories with my little cutie!!

Kiss your babies, count your blessings and lock those memories into your heart!

GOOD BYE SHADOW!

Friday, I had to say good-bye to one of the best friends I have ever had.  He was old, for a horse, 32 years, but that didn't make it any easier to let him go.  I can't remember how old I was when I got Shadow, but I must have been 12ish.  We rode together through the innocence of youth, the turbulence of adolescence and the caos of young adulthood.  Shadow knew all of my secrets, all of my dreams and all of my hopes.  Shadow had been there for me when I cried, when I laughed, when I made knew friends, found love, lost love and just needed to be alone. 
He was the horse of my dreams, black, beautiful and full of kindness.  He didn't have the most "spirit" of any horse I've ever known, no, that wasn't Shadow. He was slow, some might say lazy, unassuming and quiet.  He made me work for every lope, every gallop, every lap of every arena, but I wouldn't have had him any other way!!  We often compared his personality to that of Eyeore from Winnie the Pooh.  It was his super laid back/lazy side though, that made him sooo reliable, the horse everyone could ride.  I can't even count how many people had their first horse ride on Shadow's back. I can't count how many people's confidence and trust in horses was restored after spending half an hour riding Shadow through a wide open hay field.  Actually, riding through wide open hay fields was our favorite thing.  Shadow wasn't much for mountain riding.  Too much work, too clausterphobic, not his thing.  Get him in a hay field though and if you knew what to look for, you could feel him come alive.  He'd pick up a gallop a little easier for me when I asked him to run between the rows of mowed hay.  He'd pick up speed happily at the bottom of every hill, relishing the thrill of a gallop to the top.  Sometimes we'd go for a "hay field" ride with friends, or with Mom, Aim and Nic. Sometimes, we'd ride alone and just talk. Sometimes I'd take someone behind me, for a ride on Shadow, double.  Sometimes, just Nic and I would go and we'd sing and sing and sing at the top of our lungs, watching the horse's ears flicker back and forth listening to us.  Those memories are my favorite!  But there are sooo many. 

We showed through 4-H together.  He was my only 4-H horse from the time I was 12 until 21.  We were a team, he and I.  We started off pretty rough around the edges, but by the time our show career was done, we were not only showing in 4-H, we showed both hunter and western at open shows and Class A Arabian shows.  (Shadow was anglo-arab.)  Nic and Shadow even won a championship at Region 17 riding him side saddle. 

 

In his prime, he was absolutely beautiful!! This is a pic of us, lined up after a Western Pleasure class.  I have carried this picture around in my wallet since the day I got it from the photographer and I will continue to even now.  In my eyes, there was never a more handsome horse and there never will be.  This is my most favorite picture of him ever!!!

Most of my Shadow pictures are at Mom's house in albums.  Most of our memories together happened before there was such a thing as digital photography. I had to take a picture of this picture just so I could post it.  

Once I left for University, I joined a rodeo club and not wanting to miss out, but not having any rodeo experience at all, I drug Shadow along as my pole bending horse.  We had done quite a few gymcanas in our day and though we were never really fast, we were precise.  I figured pole bending was our best shot at not looking totally ridiculous! Needless to say, our rodeo career together wasn't as successful as out show career, but Shadow was the kind of horse you could try anything with.  Upon his back, I was never embarrassed or never felt out of place...not even among all of those long haired blond girls on their giant quarter horses.  Shadow and I were a team, sometimes we were winners and sometimes we were losers, but we were always in it together!!!

After University, I had the rodeo bug. I really wanted to rope.  Shadow was not big enough for this adventure, but I did take him to some arenas and chased around some steers just to get a feel for it.  I moved him to Sylvan Lake with me when I got my first job, even though, by then I also had a rope horse.  I could not imagine NOT having Shadow with me!!  It wasn't long after I moved to Sylvan that I met the Kentz Family.  They had just moved to an acreage and were just getting into horses.  They wanted to know if I could give them riding lessons.  Bailey was 4 years old when she started riding Shadow and Brooke was in grade 2.  He was their first horse ride, their first horse experience and eventually, he became their first horse.  A deal that involved one dollar and a promise that I would still be an "owner" of Shadow, being able to ride him, visit him and love him whenever I wanted, saw Shadow move from my place, to the Kentz Family acreage, AKA: Paradise! I continued to give them riding lessons, help them load him before each of their 4-H events, coach them through shows until they could do it all by themselves. Shadow was patient with them, teaching them everything they needed to know about owning a horse and in exchange, they gave him the best semi-retirement and eventually retirement home an old boy could ever ask for. I continued to visit him until the very end. I rode him every chance I got and I do not regret for one minute that I decided, when my life was too busy and too "roping" focused, to let the Kentz's love Shadow for me.  Connie became my best friend, Craig, and her kids are like nieces and nephews to me.  Shadow brought us together and I think that friendship might be the best thing he ever gave me!  My family and theirs have shared a lifetime of memories with the most amazing horse!!

I had always hoped I would have a child of my own one day, who might get to ride Shadow.  It looked for a long time like it might not happen (I didn't get to have children as young as I had hoped...) but it did! Ryder and I have been out to visit Shadow together a few times and Ryder did get to ride Shadow. Shadow got to see that finally all of my dreams had come true!! Having Ryder, sit on his back was an emotional moment for both of us.  Shadow knows how long I had hoped to be a Mamma and how desperately I wanted him to be alive to see it happen!! 

 The following pics were taken this summer

 This was not Ryder's first time meeting Shadow, but it was the first time he was able to walk up to him by himself.

 The most trustworthy horse in the world giving the most trusting boy in the world a ride.

Saying good bye to Shadow was not easy, but I am glad I got to be there to hold his "hand."  I had a few minutes alone with him "before" we shared a hug, some tears and a knowing in our hearts.  The actual "moment" was incredibly sad, but also peaceful.  Shadow went to sleep. His body remains at the Kentz homestead, but I know his spirit and his soul are up in heaven running free through endless hay fields!

It is impossible to write about Shadow and do him justice. I have 24 years worth of memories with him.  I could write forever and one day, I will write a perfectly fitting story about him, but tonight I just wanna close with my top ten memories of him right now, in no particular order....

1. Seeing him for the first time. I was a little kid. A black horse was my wish.  He was perfect....well perfect enough for me! :)
2. Riding him bareback...everywhere, all the time!
3. Going for rides with Nic (she on her own horse) singing out LOUD the whole time
4. Running through hay fields
5. Qualifying for the Arabian Region 17 Horse Show
6. Practicing the "Three Amigos" jumping over his butt from the ground...or a bucket.  We rarely made it successfully, but as long as he had a bucket of oats in front of him, Shadow would stand there all day and let us crash into his ass! :)
7. Riding under the old swing set, grabbing the top rail, swinging over it and landing back on Shadow's back!
8. Watching our boyfriends show off, by jumping all the way over Shadow.  They'd take a run for it and jump over his butt and clear over his head!  Again, as long as their was oats, he'd let us do anything!!
9. Riding him side saddle in my wedding dress to my first wedding (hey, I got the groom part wrong, but my ride was perfect! :)
10. Taking people for their first ride ever on Shadow.  I especially loved sharing him with kids he and I would give rides to whoever asked.

Rest in Peace, Shadow. You will never ever be forgotten.  Mom once said, "you will never have another horse like Shadow. You will never have the time or miles to put into another horse like the time and miles you have put into Shadow."  She was right.  Don't get me wrong, I love Dirt Face. He has been the perfect horse for me, for the time he has been in my life, but he is not and never will be, Shadow.

Kiss your babies, count your blessings and if you have a horse whose touched your life, hug him, love him and let him know how much better your life is because he is a part of it!

HALLOWEEN, 2012

Halloween!!! Phew! I survived the week of Halloween as a K-8 Teacher!! The anticipation of sugar is almost as crazy as the sugar high itself!!! Yikes!!! I will admit, that in order to keep up with the energy and excitement of my students, I had to indulge in plenty of sugar myself!!!
I do love the whole, Halloween experience, the dressing up, the candy, the spooky, the pumpkins and the black cats!!
This Halloween, Marty and I even got to dress up together for a Halloween party, something we love to do, but havn't done for a while.  I went with some friends as "The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" and Marty and his buddy, went as the guys from Duck Dynasty, the TV show. 

 One of the Turtles showed up late to the party, so she's not in this pic.

This year, we decided to take Ryder Trick or treating.  I figured we'd hit up a couple of the neighbour's houses and call it a night, but Ryder really got into it!! We had a friend and his little three year old daughter with us, so Ryder had a Trick or Treating expert to learn from. It didn't take him long to catch on. He'd always yell something on the porch at the door when Hayden did, though, I am pretty sure it wasn't Trick or treat!! He'd always say, "Thank you," though usually not until after the door was already shut and he'd scream if we had to empty his little pumpkin bucket a little so it wasn't so heavy.  He definitely knew there should be candy IN it!! We all bundled up as it was damn cold and foggy and damp that night, but we were all too excited to notice whether or not we were cold!  We lasted an hour, just doing our street.  I left a bowl of candy on our porch with a note saying, "take a few, but please leave some for those who come after you." I certainly was NOT gonna miss out on Ryder's first trick or treating adventure.  We hit up a few houses with bowls and notes on the porch too..not as fun as when someone opens the door, but I get it, those parents didn't want to miss out either!!! :)

 Just getting warmed up for the evening's events....putting stickers on my bucket

 Yep, there's a full snow suit on under that Lion costume!

 Got my bucket and I'm ready to go!!

 First, a warm, indoor, photo op with Hayden, the night's Trick or Treating expert.

 What? It get's better than a plastic handle? Candy, you say???

 Just heading out. Yep, Trick or Treating in Alberta, brrrrr

 Cutest little lion butt!

 October 31st, right? NOT December?? lol

 Trick or Treat!!!

 I got this!!!

 Nothin' like a little ride. That bucket gets kinda heavy!!

 Eating on the road!!!

As far as Ryder knows, there were only 2 suckers in his bucket. That's all he ate and that's all he's ever asked for!! Yummmy.  

So, whose eating the rest??? I'll never tell.....ha ha hah ha!

Kiss your babies, count your blessings and don't be afraid to enjoy a mini chocolate bar or two, or three, or.....

JUST ANOTHER OCTOBER DAY

I should be working on my report cards but I have 15 minutes before I plan to crawl into bed and I have decided I just wanna do something more fun than come up with brilliant, professional sounding comments about how kids are doing in French class.
I don't have anythin specific to write about, I'm really just procrastinating, but here's a couple pics...

 Me and my drooly 19 month old.

The weather was cold today. Really windy and snowy. A perfect evening to bake chocolate chip cookies!!

 This was taken, Oct.30th, check out the snow in our yard!! Yep, it's winter here!!

 Baking Face

 "See, Daddy, eggs!!"

 Cracking the eggs, with Mommy's help.

Yummmmmy!!

Kiss your babies, count your blessings and eat some cookie dough!!

WEEK OF OCTOBER 25TH

The week that included, Thursday, Oct.25th, turned out to be a pretty fun week even though it included a huge snowfall that left our city looking more like mid December than October.

October 25th was Dad's birthday. Ofcorse we celebrated with some good friends at a Burger joint down town. We all enjoyed our burgers and fries, though I am pretty sure, Ryder ate only fries..only yummy, salty, sweet potatoe fries!!

 Ryder sucking on Dad's EMPTY beer bottle.  Some people don't think it's funny when parents let their kids suck on beer bottles, but I know my Dad would have found this moment as humorous as we did. :)

The lil ones enjoying the booth! Thanks, Straile family for joining us on our tradition.

 I used Nic's home made apple pie filling to make an apple pie (store bought crust, I confess) for us to enjoy once we returned home.

Friday, Marty had to go away for the night, for work, so Ryder and I were on our own.  We woke up, Saturday morning and though it was snowy, we decided we should take, Scout for a walk.  Well, I figured, I'd walk, Scout would walk and, Ryder would ride in the chariot...Ryder had other plans!!

 

I did manage to get Ryder into the chariot and we had a great walk, until we were the farthest away from home as possible, and Ryder began to declare that he wanted, "out! out! out! out!out!" This went on and on with him hollering, "out! out! out!" It was gonna be a long walk back home, if I didn't think of something fast.  To actually let him out this far from home would make the walk WAY to long and slow for both Scout and I.  Instead, I began to sing. I sang, "The Wheels on the Bus," "Old MacDonald had a Farm," "ABC" and "5 Little Monkeys." I learned then and there, that Ryder has the verbal ability to make requests. He will, say, "Bus, bus, bus" until I sing the Wheels on the Bus song, he'll ask for, "baby, baby" until I sing the verse about the babies on the bus. During Old MacDonald, he will call out, "horsey," "moo" and "baaa" until all of his favorites have been included.  I was sooo excited, Ryder was really, truly, interacting with me during a sing song and he was happy to be IN the chariot!  Later, after his nap, I took Ryder to the soccer field by our house for some tobagganing!! He loved it!!

 I could actually send him down the small hill all by himself in this sled.

The sled is a little small (more of a baby sled than a toddler one,) 

but sooo much fun!

All decked out for winter!

Saturday night, Marty and I went to a Halloween House Party. Some friends and I dressed up as the Teenage Mutant Ninja turtles...I left my camera at the party, but there will be more pics to come....you gotta see Marty's costume too....

Sunday morning, after another sing song, dog walk, Ryder and I hopped into Marty's van and headed for a family trip to Rona.  Until I had a toddler, I had no idea, there was such a thing as shopping carts that look like cars with steering wheels, but there are and Ryder is drawn to them, like a magnet.  Holy cow, this was the longest cart, I ever pushed!!

 Sooo fun though!!

Ryder fell asleep on the way home from Rona, for I swear, 60 seconds, but apparently that was enough for him to declare a sleep strike.  He refused to go down for his afternoon nap, and after some good solid effort, by both, Marty and I, we decided to skip afternoon nap. We loaded up in the van again, Scout joining us this time and headed for the farm, for some quality, Dirt Face time!!  Here's how the majority of our time there was spent, me brushing, Dirt, Ryder eating horse treats, Scout refusing to bring the ball we threw ONCE for her back and Marty building the season's first snowman!!

 Ryder may or may not have shared a treat or two with Dirt...

 Fun snowman, Marty!!

 Marty not only introduced Ryder to his first snowman, but also to his first yummy icicle!

I taught him to dip his icicle in the snow.  Yummmy!!

Saturday, as I faught to get Ryder's awkard, winter boots on, sweating in my own winter gear as I struggled to get his adorable, chubby little feet into the incredibly unflexible boots, I envied my cousins who live in warm states.  I bet they never spend more energy pulling boots on their kid's feet than they do, pulling them uphill in the toboggan.  However, today, as we sucked on icicles, rolled snowballs and caught snowflakes on our tongues,  I was sooo happy to be living in a place where we can enjoy the snow and all it brings with it, even heavy, cumbersome, winter boots!!!  Vive l'hiver!!!