When was the last time that you made Jiffy Pop?
We had some last night.
Surprisingly " It taste like movie popcorn". A direct quote from Paige and Megan.

Mike had to get in on the action, he likes to shake things up!

Is it just me or do they look like they are watching a science experiment? I think they were waiting for it to explode. You have to use a fork to let the steam out and open the foil top. Not as exciting as an explosion.It was as much fun to make as it was to eat!

Just like the package states.

Q- How much does this girl love her dog?

A - Enough to crawl under the desk with him so she can scratch his ears!

Here are some more pictures from Wed. 9-24-08

This is sweet little Daisey one of the four dogs at the stables. Paige has a beagle webkinz that she had named Daisey so Paige does not have a problem remembering her name.

Miss. Ginette thought it would be a good idea for Paige and Lindsay to switch horses this week. The girls were not thrilled at first but they really didn't have a choice. The teacher knows best and I think these girls would ride any horse they were offered. Any horse is better than no horse.

Look there's our girl holding up C.C.'s front hoof and giving it a cleaning with the hoof pick. It makes me smile to see her taking care of her horse and using her muscles.

Paige's friend Kylie was with us. She has been coming over in the morning's to ride the bus to school with Paige and coming home in the afternoons too. Her and her mom just moved into a condo down the road. It is still in the school district but not the same school. I am glad that Kylie will get to stay with her 5th grade class (her and Paige have the same teacher) since she has been at the school since 1st grade. Next year when they are in middle school she will be able to take the bus to school, but until then she is welcome at our house.

Paige enjoyed having Kylie along. Kylie's mom used to ride and show horses so Kylie was thrilled. I am glad that Paige enjoyed riding C.C. I can tell that it gave her even more confidence. It was also fun to hear her compare C.C. and Calliope. She said "C.C. is a little more responsive and easier to get into a trot, if the horses were cars then C.C. would be a sports car and Calliope would be like our minivan". I just hope she doesn't get to used to the sports car because I have a feeling they will be trading back and forth.

Sunday, September 14th was Rebel's 2nd birthday. We had a little doggy celebration with Frost Paws and presents. The Frosty Paws were big hits with both dogs. Peanut butter is their all time favorite next to popcorn of course.

After treats it was time for the gifts!

Rebel was checking out his gift bag. He does not get as excited about gift bags as Rowdy does. Rowdy will help open a gift bag even if it belongs to others, people or dogs. He is always willing to help open gifts. Rowdy is the original party animal!
Rebels loot, a new collar, a green mint scented "Fetch" ball (it is very bouncy and so far chew proof), a red bouncy toy that you can stuff puppy treats in and a "busy buddy tug-a-jug".

The fetch ball and the red bouncy thing were big hits with Rebel. He is all about chasing toys and catching them mid bounce.

Rowdy was really into the "tug-a-jug" in fact we think this is the most active he has been in months, maybe years. The bottom of the jug unscrews and you place small treats inside. There are tiny vents on the bottom so the dogs can smell the treats. The idea is that they pull the plunger and the treats dispense one at a time. It took Rowdy about 10 or 15 minutes and then he had the hang of it. Of course we put low cal treats in it for him.

After all the birthday party excitement Rebel conked out and I was able to get a picture of him wearing his new collar.

Paige's first riding lesson.
The 10th of September finally got here after Paige x-ed off each day for the past three weeks. We arrived to class about 10 minutes early so she could have a few extra minutes for her first lesson on grooming her horse. When I say "her horse" it is in the context of the horse she is riding not that we have purchased a horse, two dogs are plenty! Her teacher Miss. Ginette got Calliope out of her stall and showed Paige where her bucket of brushes are kept. Each horse has their own brush bucket and it matches the color of their harness. Calliope's are pink, I thought that was fitting for Paige. After grooming and saddling her horse Paige was instructed to walk her around the inside of the large barn. That way Calliope would relax and not puff out her belly, making it easier to cinch her saddle before riding. It also gives the kids some practice leading the horse. It takes some time to feel comfortable leading such a large animal around. Miss. G had to remind her to look forward, where you are walking. If you keep turning to look at the horse it may loose confidance in you and think that you don't know what you are doing, and you may end up walking yourself into a corner or wall. At one point Callipe tried to veer towards the open end of the barn, but Paige had it under controll and got her back on course. She did a great job for her first time.


Here Paige is above leading Calliope out to the riding pen, Miss. Ginette is walking ahead. There is one other girl taking lessons at the same time (they only have 2 riders at each lesson). The other student is Lindsay a very sweet 4th grader. She is not at the same school as Paige but in the same district so they will end up at the same middle school and high school. Lindsay has already taken lessons so she will be a good example for Paige.

Here Paige is getting up in the saddle with the help of a nice sturdy plastic step stool. Hey where were those when I used to ride? I used to have to find a rock, tree stump or even the high side of an embankment back in the day. It's not fair being a short girl when it comes to riding, because your stirrups have to be shorter so it's just not fair!
At first she just rode around while Miss. Ginette walke ahead giving her instrution on reinging the horse and getting her to walk if she stopped.
After a while Miss. Ginette had Paige guide her horse around the obsticles in the center of the pen. She also walked her through some cones. I asked Paige if she was going to learn to parralel park too?
She had a great first lesson. I'm very pleased with how well she did. When we got in the car afterward Paige said "I forgot how BIG horses are". She said she was a little nervous at first. I told her that she did great and I couldn't even tell she was nervous and more importantly neither could her horse.

Our little girl has grown into a young lady, but not too fast.

She still likes to make silly faces for the camera, she still sleeps with her favorite blanket and has me come in and "tuck her in" (that's a hug and a kiss say good night and turn out the light). She's a pretty nice and innocent ten year old. So far so good.
I snapped these pictures last Tuesday while we were waiting for Megan to change out of her dance outfit. That is Paige's monkey webkinz, Mono one of her friends gave it to her for her birthday in May. Mono is Spanish for monkey.