Happy Halloween 2010...our neighborhood actually had trick or treating this past Thursday. Don't ask me it's a central Ohio thing to have it practically any night but the 31st. I don't really understand it, but whatever.
The kids had fun trick or treating with Deb, Bud and Joe Boxer. Bud designed Joe's train costume and everyone wanted pictures with him. He was quite the hit with our neighbors.

Lauren and Paige has a horseback riding theme, Lauren was the English rider and Paige was the Western rider.

Megan and Ayva posed for a quick picture.

It's flashback time...October 2009.....
Megan was a pink and green haired witch for trick or treat.

It's a new year now and a new witch.....it's the "2010 version of Megan the dancing witch"
She will be absent from her ballet and jazz classes next Thursday because it will be trick or treat night in our neighborhood. So she got a little head start in dressing up last night for her dance classes. Plus she has a Halloween party to go to tonight.

We are not crazy about spiders...but snakes are no problem, especially when they are as pretty as Kovu. Kovu is the class mascot for Paige's Watershed class. We were supposed to have a class campfire at the fire pit at their school last night. It started raining about 45 minutes before it was to start (the 3rd time it got rained out) so we had an indoor potluck and played "Watershed games" in the gym. We all had a fun time and made lots of good memories.

First Trout

While I was working (sweeping and cashiering in the Nursery at The Anderson's) Mike and the girls were fishing. Last Thursday they stocked a local pond with trout. So Paige and Megan caught their first trout on Saturday, Oct. 09,2010! The weather was about as good as it gets for early October, sunny blue skies and in the low 80's plus there was a slight breeze as the day wore on. Wish I could have been fishing with my family instead of ringing up mums and mulch. Oh well, at least they remembered the camera!

Paige wore my old red boots (by the way they were made in the U.S.A. over 20 years ago) to riding lessons. I never wore them to ride in, back in the day I had a great old pair of pigskin boots that I wore when I was out riding horses in California. My red boots were my dancing boots. I'm glad that she is wearing them it's much better than their previous fate of sitting in a plastic storage container in the basement. They are feeling the love now!

Wednesday is her favorite day of the week...at least for the next 10 weeks! Paige is back in the saddle again for fall riding lessons and she is thrilled that her best friend Brittany is taking lessons with her. We pick Brittany up after school and take her to lessons with Paige then Brittany's mom swings by our house on her way home from work and picks Brittany up. The girls are thrilled to get to see each other for over an hour each week (they do not go to the same school and we live about 10 miles apart). Luckily the stable is just a few miles from Brittany's school so it works out perfectly and as you can see they are both happy.

Brittany looks like a pro in the saddle, look how nice and tall she sits. She has done some riding at horse camp so I think her and Paige are pretty close in their skills.

It was a bit dusty and warm , about 87 degrees...we are to get some rainstorms tomorrow maybe that will settle the dust for next week.

I asked Paige what they were chatting about and she said "I was telling her how we ride bareback when it's real cold out". That will come in a few months...about mid November when they are doing a lot of their lessons in the arena inside the big old barn.

She wears a size 6 in woman's shoes now....she got these cute high tops at Payless..it was B.O.G. (Buy one get one 1/2 off) so they were all of $4.50!

So the other day Paige says the kids at school have already started talking about Halloween costumes. Her friend Lauren suggested they go as horseback riders. Lauren is going to wear her English garb and Paige is going Western. This made me think (fondly) of my lovely red cowgirl boots (the ones like Lori Singer wore in "Footloose" ). I got them as a Christmas gift one year from the Turpin's. I wore them out dancing for many years. Then after I had Paige my feet got wider and a size bigger so they haven't been on my feet for more than 12 years. But I kept them...because I love them. So today I dug them out along with my leather belt with the silver heart buckle that Lisa got me one year for Christmas. They fit Paige perfectly! I told her she could wear the boots to riding lessons (her riding boots are getting tight) too. I figure they might as well get used and loved a little more. By the way I looked inside of them to check the size, they are 6 1/2 and they say "Made in the U.S.A." gotta love that!

Here are the pictures from the camping trip we took the weekend before the kids went back to school. Rowdy was relaxing in the shade while we put the tent up.

Paige relaxing in the tent Friday afternoon while Mike did a little fishing on Hook lake. We camped right next to this lake...you had to walk down a steep trail but hey nothing like fishing from camp.

Me and Rowdy dog Saturday on the canoe.

This one cracks me up...Mike trying to fish and Megan posing like a superstar.

Can you tell that quarters were cramped...that is Paige's foot, my hand and Rowdy resting on his beach towel at my feet next to the sack with the snacks and camera in it.

The one that got away. Megan caught the first "keeper" on Saturday, unfortunately Mike dropped it as he was trying to put it in the fish basket that hangs in the water on the side of our canoe...so now Megan has a "one that got away" story to tell. We told her she can catch him again next time we fish there..and it will be even bigger!

My first keeper of the day...and Paige got one too!

In this picture you can really tell how crowded our canoe is with 4 people and two dogs. Lucky for us the dogs are small and like to sleep on their beach towels. Also it is kinda hard to take photos from the front of the canoe..you have to be careful not to rock the boat when you are turning in your seat and trying to point the camera behind you.

The kids were enthralled with all the dragon flies, they were even giving them names. There were also a ton of butterflies but for some reason I didn't snap any pictures of them. There would be clusters of 10 or 12 butterflies on the road and paths. They would land on our tent too. They were pretty and entertaining.

The girls sacked out on Sunday morning.

Rebel was licking his chops...we had puppy treats and the doggy water bottle for them on the canoe..he also swiped a few pringles from Paige.

Mike caught this nice size bass on Sunday...but not quite big enough to keep.

Rowdy our happy canoe dog...he snores so loud I worry that he'll scare the fish away.

Back to School 2010-2011


Today was the first day of school for the girls. Paige is in 7th grade and Megan is in 4th. Paige gets on the bus at 7:15 and Megan gets on at 8:25. So that means a long morning for me...get Paige up..make her breakfast and pack her lunch on most days then I take the dogs out while she gets on the bus. Then it's back inside to do it all over again with Megan.

Paige gets her locker today so she has lots of supplies to carry in. I told her she could bring in a little each day but she wanted to bring it all with her today. I talked her out of taking her clarinet...I'm pretty sure they don't play music on the first day of band class.

Megan's allergies were bugging her but she seemed to perk up when we went outside and she saw all of her friends gathering at the bus stop. Lucky for us we live on the corner that the bus stops at (that is especially nice when it is raining or there is snow on the ground).

She was originally going to wear her new jean leggings but I told her she would get too warm on recess so she changed to jean shorts. The pink shoes that Aunt Shann got her for her b.day look great with her plaid shirt.

Is it me or does Megan look too mature in this photo? I just can't believe she only has 2 more years of elementary school then she's off to middle school. I'm not ready for that :(