Sydney, Keauna, & Cinnamon

Sydney had a friend from school, Keauna, stay over for the weekend.  This afternoon our daughter bugged Hubby until he headed up to the Pond field and coaxed Cinnamon with a bucket of oats so the two of them could ride.

Keauna told me she’s rode a horse but never a pony.  I think the only difference is size, don’t you? :)

Here’s a bunch of pics from the day.

Cinnamon gives a jerk and a shake and it surprises Keauna!

Cinnamon needed a bit of coaxing, I swear she’s the most stubborn pony!

Sydney has such a laugh on her face!  I smile just looking at this picture LOL. :)

I tell the girls you have to let Cinnamon know you’re the boss because “Miss Stubborn” will walk all over you.  They seemed to do a bit better and here’s a shot of them all running fast!

Yup, they’re getting the hang of it now!

After the blanket was hung up and the saddle put away…

…we head over to see a new calf but we were surprised to find one born only minutes before we got there.

Between putting Cinnamon back into the Pond field and driving over to see the new calves, I had an extra lens crammed into my jacket pocket.  As I hopped into the truck I felt the lens let go and tried to grab it before the door slammed shut but all I heard was the sound of glass breaking!  I calmly turned to Hubby and quietly said “I don’t even want to look.”

He replied with “They make ‘em everyday Honey.”  I think he could see the tears welling up in my eyes.  :(

I forced myself to open the door and look…

This is my newest lens and all I can say is thank God for cheapy UV filters!  It truly did it’s job and saved the lens!

Quick, run out and buy yourself some UV filters if you don’t already have your lenses covered, they are much, much, MUCH cheaper than buying new lenses!!  And while I’m out replacing my filter I think I’m going to pick up a bag or a tote or a fanny pack or something light to pack an extra lens safely… any suggestions? 

For more pics of the girls on Cinnamon visit my flickr site. :)

Babies on the Highway

We often have sheep at the ranch and lately they are grazing on the front lawn of my BIL’s place as well as the fields.  But Tuesday they were up on the highway, and in few different spots too.  There’s so many babies, and hardly any full grown sheep, I often wonder if they have twins or triplets??

These sheep were wandering all over the road at an area known as 7 Mile.  Excuse the picture, it was taken through the windshield of my truck with one hand.

I always slow the truck down and let them meander across the road but this time they sort of scattered.  Some went away from me…

… and then some headed right at me!

The blur you see on the left side of the picture is the passenger side mirror.  I was driving trying to hold the camera up over the passenger’s side door and snap pictures with one hand!

All the sheep did get safely past me and then headed up the hill.  Once these babies grow up they’ll become a bit more road wise… I hope. :)

The reason I was heading to Lytton on Tuesday was because Sydney was at her play rehearsal and I decided to pick up Jevan from school.  We headed up to Jade Springs Restaurant for an early supper.  It worked out well because he can do his homework at the table and we get to chat, although we did have to borrow a pen and some glue from the waitress.  When we were done we had enough time to head over next door to the grocery store and finish up just in time to pick up Sydney at 5 o’clock.

Here’s a map posted on the wall of the grocery store.  The road we take home (Highway 12) is on the top between the two rivers.

 

Warm day at the Fraser River

This afternoon I packed the kids into my truck, grabbed the dogs, slung my camera over my shoulder and headed for the river.  I told Hubby where we were going and he said he’d meet us there in an hour.  Within 15 minutes of arriving he pulled up in his truck… “the tractor (he’d been working on) could wait” he told me.

The weather was beautiful.  The sun shining, the clear blue sky, the warm sand… and no phone.  A few hours of peace and quiet. :)

I parked my truck up at the top, kicked off my shoes, and ran through the warm sand.  When Hubby drove up, he came right down, almost getting stuck.  At one point we talked about heading back up to the ranch to grab the skidder, but with determination, and wheels spinning, he did manage to back out… silly boy in the soft sand. :)

I thought I’d wash the sand off my feet but quickly found out the river water was cooooold!  And not only that, if you got too close the sand opened up and sucked you right up to your ankles!  I felt panic as both my feet sunk into freezing cold quicksand!  Sydney kept her rubbers on and was able to get a lot closer to the water, without sinking, than I was.

I’ve been playing around with storyboards from this site: http://coffeeteaphotography.blogspot.com and am really enjoying them.  A storyboard of our day.

Check out other pictures at my flickr site.

What can make a man flinch?

A friend from town brought out two calves today.  The calves needed to be castrated by hand because they didn’t have the elastic bands put on their testicles when they were first born and they are much too big to have it done now.

Pops, Doug, Randy, Mike (holding the rope in the background), and Hubby (who is off to the side holding the rope and not in the pic) all get involved.

My BIL, Doug holding down the first calf.

A shot of antibiotics.

Pops is quick and gets the job done.  I think at this point all the men squeeze their legs together and flinch.

Lloyd, Randy’s Dad, shows up just as everyone’s ready to head up to Grandma’s.

Bake Sale

You all know how I take Mondays off, and the reason why, right?  Oh, maybe some of you don’t… so let me explain.  My Hubby is a dinosaur.  He doesn’t cook, doesn’t clean, and only does “man” things (chop wood, mow the lawn, stand to pee, etc., etc.)… and he’s usually gone all week for work.

During the week the kids and I often have “soup & sandwich” night, or Kraft Dinner, or “anything that takes about 10 minutes to make with the least amount of dishes and is somewhat nutritious.”  So on the weekends, when Hubby is home, it’s roast beef with all the trimming’s including yorkshires for dinner, as well as bacon, eggs, and toast for breakfasts… sometimes he’ll come up from the shop at noon and say “I’m hungry” and look at me like I’m supposed to drop everything and whip up a Martha Stewart full course luncheon with petit fours.  Okay granted sometimes he’s been known to throw his own laundry into the washer but he only does one load… socks, underwear, jeans, and work shirts all in one load, no sorting for him.

So if there’s extra things happening on the weekends then I take Mondays and do what I want with them, and that usually means not doing a whole lot.  “My” Monday is everyone else's Sunday; no kids, no hubby, peace and quiet.

Monday morning at 8:58 AM I see “Lytton School” come up on the call display, my first thought; “what has Jevan done now??”  But it’s actually Sydney, and no she hasn’t done anything wrong, she says "I forgot to tell you we have a bake sale right after school. Can you bake something, maybe peanut butter cups, and drive in?"  So much for my Monday off!

Here’s a few pics of the bake sale:

Savannah's parents let the girls set up in the Hotel lobby.
Kayla, Savannah, Robin, Mrs Adams, Sydney, and (sitting middle) Deidre.

Sydney and Savannah hit the streets to advertise their bake sale.

Everything looks delish, and the girls quickly sold out, including the 51 peanut butter cups I made. :)

Jevan taste tested, look close and you can see chocolate on his lips.

I then took him outside and he met up with a very friendly dog.

The bake sale is to raise money for the May Day Princesses.  They use the money to buy their own dresses, take out of town trips, and this Friday they are putting on a Valentine’s dinner and dance in town.  It ends at midnight so I don’t think we’ll be going!

Olympic Torch in Lillooet

On Saturday Dallas, Sydney, and I went to the Olympic Torch Relay ceremony down at the Mall and we saw the Olympic Torch.  At first I was really debating about going but, in the end, I have to say I had a really great time and I’m glad I went!  Spending the day taking pics with Dallas is great because I think we learn a lot from each other and we have fun! :)

I’ve already posted these to Flickr and Facebook and thought I’d post a few on my blog.  There’s quite a lot but I’ll only choose a few for my dial-up fans. :)  If you’d like to see the whole collection go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/kansasa/

With a large, cheering audience, Bob Sheridan ran the torch up to the stage.

George Leach, originally from Lillooet, came back to give us an awesome performance.

An artist with a spinning canvas did an excellent job of entertaining the audience.

The music was loud and the crowd was cheering as he continued to spin and paint!

The finished painting was donated to the Village of Lillooet.  Great job!!

Gymnasts Dancers with a ton of energy.  They moved so fast just watching them I was starting to sweat! LOL

The dancers were moving to the beating of drums, as well as 5 gallon buckets used as drums, with the drummers tossing their drum sticks in the air.

Sydney had a blast and got to see history in the making.  She was also our camera assistant and, for most of the ceremony, held my heavy camera bag and was quick as a whip exchanging lenses for me, thanks Sydney! :)

After the mall event the Torch was carried down to the Old Fraser River Suspension Bridge.

I put together a short video clip of some of the entertainers but wished I could have gotten some footage of the runners with the Torch.  I’m seriously debating whether to get a separate video camera because when I’m in video mode I can’t take pics and vice versa but I dread the thought of hauling around another piece of equipment!

If you can’t view the video at my blog click here to visit YouTube, and please rate the video while you’re there! :)

Check out the rest of the pictures at my flickr site.  I hope you all had a great weekend! :)

Dentist & Fog

It hasn’t been a great week.  Not much in the picture taking mode at all.  The reason?  Fog… and lots of it… not just in the mornings but all day long!  It makes everything seem so blah and dismal… when oh when will Spring get here?

The sun peeks out.

Last year these mountains were ablaze with fire and smoke, now they’re covered in snow and clouds.  If you look close in the picture below, the only smoke now comes from someone’s woodstove.  This picture is a view across the river on the Texas Creek side.

Yesterday I drove into Lytton because both Jevan and I had dentist appointments.  Yup my boy has his first cavity and got his first filling!  Ugh!  He was doing so well too, both kids had gone quite sometime without any cavities but, alas, Jevan has shattered the record.  Nick, our dentist, said it was probably “improper” brushing because I’m fanatical about the kids brushing AND flossing.  Growing up I had never heard of flossing and brushing wasn’t a high priority in our household.  Both my sister and I had terrible teeth.  My brother got off lucky, because I seldom remember him ever getting a cavity, but I wasn’t blessed with the genetics of great teeth.

As I turn my truck off of Highway 12, onto the Main Street in Lytton, I immediately stop at the crosswalk.  Two children are standing on the sidewalk waiting to cross.  Perfect timing, because it’s Jevan and Sydney!  When they spot me their faces beam and their little hands frantically start waving away.  In a split second Sydney’s face goes from joyful to stoic.  Her right hand clenches tightly around her brother’s, she raises her other hand high in the air in a “stop” motion, and, with a look of determination, steps into the street to swiftly cross the road.  To anyone else this may not seem like such a great feat… but in that second I realize just how much Sydney protects her little brother.  There’s no running ahead, no “I’m gonna get there first,” Sydney is growing fast and her first priority has always been to watch over her brother.  I’ve taught my children to never hit and only exchange kind words with each other, something I’m sure they will carry with them into their adult years.

The kids take the shortcut but I have to travel down the street and turn at the hotel.  I meet up with them a few minutes later at the front of the office.  They’re excited to see Simone, the receptionist, who’s always happy to see them.  She pretty much allows Jevan to feel right at home… at one point he packs his chart into the waiting area, spreads his x-rays on the carpet and gazes over his dental records.  I’m sure he has no idea what he’s looking at but he’s happy… and how many kids are happy in a dentist office?

Jevan was first in the chair and after he was done (thank you Nick for being so patient!) both kids head back up to the school  As I wait my turn in the dentist chair, I stand at the window watching Jevan and Sydney.  They have no idea I’m watching them, and I see Sydney spin her brother around, pop his mouth open and “inspect” Jevan’s new filling.  He patiently waits while she prods his mouth, then she zips his coat, grabs his hand and off they run.  Two best friends, brother and sister. :)