Horseback Riding 101

Hope all is well with everyone. Hope all my friends in Texas are safe and dry. We are getting by here. Last week Mike came down with a "cold" and has been getting worse each day. Today he finally gave up and went to the doctor and was diagnosed with the FLU! Leah woke up this morning complaining of a sore throat and headache and was running a low grade fever. Rachel has had gooey eyes for the last several days and woke up with a crusty nose this morning. I am pretty sure Leah has the flu, hopefully Rachel doesn't. Mike's doctor wrote a prescription for me to get Tamiflu and told him to contact the pediatrician and get the girls on it too. I have called the pedi and am waiting on her to call back. Hopefully the meds will keep those of us that are well, well, and it will get those that are sick well quicker.

On another note, Rachel started horseback riding this past weekend. There is a horse riding facility for the handicapped here in Melbourne. I found out earlier this year that Rachel is now old enough to take part. They put the kids on the horses and get them to do all kinds of activities that help strengthen their muscles. Rachel's first lesson was Saturday. She was on a smaller horse, but still looked so tiny up there. She had on a helmet that could have served as an umbrella for her......she was so cute. Most of the time, it is hard to tell if Rachel liked something, because she doesn't really show much emotion, but when they took her off the horse Saturday, Rachel said "No!" and reached to get back up. I guess all little girls love horses. Speaking of all little girls, Allison and Leah are thrilled that Rachel is going to the "horse place" too. They cannot ride the horses, but they are so excited just to get to see the horses and pet them. They cannot stop talking about the horses, and they claim to know all 15 horses by name already. I argue that point, but they tell me that they do.

We are finally starting to get into a routine for school. It seemed to take forever because the first week was literally washed out with the tropical storm, and then I took the girls out the following Friday and Tuesday to make the trip up to Alabama. Leah is breezing through. It is all so easy for her so far. Leah is the epitome of the middle child. She is just cruising along under the radar.

Allison is.......well, Allison. She is better about getting her homework done-if she remembered what it was and remembered to bring it home. She is supposed to be practicing math on a certain computer site. The first time she told me this, she did not know what the site name was. About a week later, I finally got her to get home with the site name, only to find out that she need a password. The teacher states the password should be in the student's assignment folder. Guess where Allison's assignment folder was? Yep, school. And dog gone it, it was Friday. Maybe she will get home with all the info today. She is required to do two book reports a month this year and has started reading several books, but has only completed one so far. Allison brings home what appears to be homework and states she does not know what it is for, but she is certain it is not homework. It is going to be a long year.

Rachel seems to be doing well in school. She has a new teacher this year that is all about routine. Each morning Rachel goes into the class, she has to unpack her backpack, putting her lunch box and folder away, and then she has to find her name on the board and circle it. The teacher tries to get the kids to trace their names on the board, but so far, most of the kids are only able to circle their names. The teacher really seems to be working to get the kids to interact with each other in the classroom and during play times. That is good, because Rachel is much happier to go off to a quiet place and play with the dolls. Last year I think the teacher let her do that a little too often. She and the teacher's aide thought Rachel was too cute and really let her get away with anything she wanted!

Below are a few pictures of Rachel riding Gypsie.