social media - life stream - homage to lowercase letters
Functional Resume:
Production - Performed at or above goal consistently for 5+ years (FindLaw, 2006-2013). Migrated 300+ credit union websites from a legacy system to a new system (Cavion Plus, 2006).
Training - Trained 6 new hires, including top performers, contractors, and offsite employees (FindLaw, 2008-2012). Wrote/maintained training documentation (FindLaw 2008-2012).
Mentoring - Served as primary point person for three contractors and three full time employees.
Projects - Reduced entire team's Dynamic Content task duration in half by streamlining product maintenance process (FindLaw, 2009).
Cross-Functional Work - Worked with Content, Design, and SEO teams to create new processes for subscription services team (FindLaw, 2008). Handle frequent development-related inquiries from project managers, designers, and other team members.
Education - Bachelor of Chemical Engineering, University of Minnesota (Minneapolis, MN 2000)
Technical Skills:
Proficient in - HTML/XHTML, Windows/MacOS/iOS, Photoshop, ASP/PHP, Section 508/Accessibility Standards, Excel/Outlook, WordPress,
Competent in - XML/XSLT, JSP/Javascript/jQuery, MySQL/Access, PowerPoint, Unix/Linux
Volunteering:
Therapeutic Horseback Riding Instruction for people living with disabilities (We Can Ride, 2004-2013)
Created and maintained charitable organization website (We Can Ride, 2006-2013)
PATH Intl Registered Instructor for therapeutic horseback riding
-hand coded 500+ custom web sites and provided maintenance for custom web sites
-created processes for maintaining dynamic content products reducing time by 50%
-participated in creation of processes for client second year services such as content, design, and SEM requirements
-created and maintained web presence for non-profit organization including social media
-migrated 300+ Credit Union websites from FrontPage templates to Velocity templates
-inspected and corrected HTML and ASP code
-created Visual Basic programs to automate manual process for clients
-customized user interfaces for the web using product APIs
-maintained hardware
-completed installations of numerous document management and records management products
-compiled user manuals for customized document management systems
-designed web application layout and graphics
-worked with small group on application conversion (ASP to JSP)
-worked with small group on java web applications using enterprise java beans
-converted Access database/Client Server application to PowerBuilder/Web application
-managed General Mills' Document Management System migration into SAP
Well we did it! Made it down the road, about a mile, and back, in one piece! Cody and Booker (he's Booker now, though I still like Booger better) went like champs. Cody still doesn't keep up but he's calm and steady. Even when traffic passes he looks but doesn't spin around and run for home. So I call that success. The next couple weeks my plan is to just let him go as slow as he wants as long as he's calm. Sure it's nice to ride up next to someone but Cody is going to "retire" in style ;) Of course then we'll have to see about riding out at the farm, that'll be whole other chapter.
This is probably the most annoying spring ever. Last year we had our vet appointments done and were riding down the road already. This year we are still under snow with the forecast calling for more. On top of that, or under it, the frost went out so it's also muddy. So so muddy.
I ran out to see if I could scrape some mud off of Axel's legs and see what was going on under there. I got a little mud off by scrubbing with snow but I couldn't get it all. I'm pretty sure there's some scabs under there. I've just been spraying the CHG on top of the mud, hoping it'll at least help a little.
I chased him around in the arena with the whip and once again, darn horse is nearly sound. Walk, trot, canter, seriously. If he keeps this up we're going to do some ground work and get the last two years of retirement out of his system and maybe, just maybe, go for a ride or two. I don't think some light riding is going to matter much in the grand scheme of arthritis. I just want him feeling good enough that if he feels too good I'm comfortable kicking his butt.
I also ended up meeting one of the new boarders that works nights, so I might have a lunch time riding partner again.
Okay the mud is in full swing. Up over my ankles and totally disgusting. The horses kind of looked at me like, "help me please." Heh. I was going to just go out and try out my new grooming tool in the paddock but the other horse was trying to help so that wasn't going to work. A horse was in the arena for some reason. I suppose I could have put her in a stall but that just seemed like more work than I wanted. So I took the boys out and tied them to the rail by the other barn. Not really out of the mud but that's next to impossible at this point.
I did end up spraying both Cody and Axel's feet since it was so horrible out there. Though I just sprayed right over the mud. Heh. I couldn't quite see if Axel's scabs were worse or better or otherwise but they didn't *seem* any worse so I suppose that's a good sign.
No pictures, cuz the mud. So much mud. Anyway, horses are dangerous, I tell ya. I can hardly use my right arm since my last visit to the barn. I put Cody in the arena so he could roll and then I scraped a pile of hair off him before tacking him up. I decided to grab my dressage whip since Cody has lacked a little inspiration lately. And here's where things got dangerous. I stood Cody at the mounting block, reins in my left hand, whip in my right. I transferred the whip to just a few fingers and then used the remaining fingers on my right hand to grab the mounting block and move it closer. The mounting block is homemade, two by sixes, pretty heavy, and apparently the remaining free fingers on my right hand are not strong enough to move the block and I pulled a muscle in my forearm. Ug. So yeah, I'm a wimp.
Free lunged Cody first to get him moving, left lead canter just about every time he was asked. Rode for about a half hour. Not a spectacular ride. I think I need to step back and work with him on just responding when asked. We're stuck in a catch 22. He's reluctant, I nag, he tries everything but what I really want, I nag more, he's more reluctant. Rinse, repeat. So we might have gotten a left lead canter, it was hard to tell. When I got off I lunged him to the left and got the correct lead so that was our stopping point.
I keep thinking, "I can't wait til we get a new horse to work with and Cody can retire" but I really do need to keep him in shape so I can ride him while Daniel rides Haji. But it'll be a whole new set of issues to tackle once we move him to a new location so I guess for now I just keep him in shape and keep working on his confidence and anxiety. Looking forward to a few rides down the road when the new horse arrives, I just hope he rides out with a new horse as well as he did with his BFF Steele.
Spent a little time getting Axel cleaned up. Scraped a small horse's worth of hair off him (still waiting for my furminator to arrive). I clipped up his back legs and dyed them blue. Heh okay not really. We decided to go a little cheaper this year and got some dairy cattle teat dip. Same ingredients as the hibi-clens I was using but a lot cheaper. Might be a little lower concentration but hopefully it'll still do the trick. This stuff is dyed blue so you can see where you've sprayed so now Axel has blue socks on his back feet.
Yeah so Spring seems to be taking it's good ole' time. But the shedding has begun, and in full force. Farrier visit this past week, Cody is doing well. Still not a lot of growth and I don't think he even had to trim, just rasped. Shoes will go on next visit in May - hopefully the mud is gone by then.
Axel is still swollen, actually more swollen than before. My theory is that the swelling went down as the horses were learning how to use the hay net. Now that they have it figured out - commence pigging out, and thus the swelling is back. Boo. I plan to get a hay net for the boys when I move them but now do I need to consider the slow feed net? It's significantly more expensive than the regular net. It's kind of an expensive experiment.
I had to try out my "new" saddle. I couldn't wait any longer. I had ridden in the saddle before but you never know, maybe it wasn't as awesome as I had originally thought. Lo! It's still awesome! Cody is happy that there's snow in the paddock so he can walk instead of skating. He was, however, wondering where my little plan ran off too (I had planned to ride bareback in a halter for the winter to help keep me off his face and help me establish some more subtle cues). But I couldn't help it, he's been sound for over a month now so it was time to jump on quick.
So I mentioned retirement in my last post. So potentially the person taking care of Haji right now might be selling his place or moving or whatever in the Spring. Which means Haji needs to either move in with Cody and Axel at the boarding barn or move out to Canby. If he moves to Canby he'd be alone so obviously we'd need another horse out there. But moving just Cody or just Axel seems unfair to Cody and Axel so maybe they'd both move to Canby with Haji. Which means no horses nearby for me :(
Enter the gal who's been riding Cody for a while. She'd like to own a horse one of these days but taking the financial plunge is always a big decision plus the thought of having a horse 30 minutes away is a little less than ideal. So we formulated a little plan (much to our husband's dismay). Send Cody and Axel and Haji out to Canby and buy a new horse that I then lease from her. Sort of a reverse of her leasing Cody from me.
I'm thinking I can keep my budget about the same, I'll have to buy feed for the boys at the farm and then pay half the board on the new horse. I think that should turn out to be about the same (not counting grass hay from the inlaws). I think Cody and Axel's old owner would maybe lend a hand and grain them since they will be right down the block. And since we visit the farm usually 2 weekends a month (at least), I'll still be seeing them about as often. Plus Daniel can start riding Haji and I can still ride Cody. And even take him out to the cows and do a little cow work. While I won't be able to rush out there in an emergency I think there's enough family and friends that would be willing to lend a hand if necessary Of course now I need to find a farrier out there.
So we're on the hunt for a new horse. This could be interesting. Oh and fencing, there needs to be a bit of fencing done at the farm place before all of this can come to fruition. I think there might be a bit of overlap with my horses and the "new" horse so maybe we'll get to ride together a few times even.
So we think it all started mid-late summer. Cody is always kind of tender footed that's why we put hoof boots on him when we ride anywhere that isn't the arena. But it started to get to the point where he couldn't even walk from the pasture to the barn without looking like he was going to fall over in pain. A few other horses were having some foot issues around the same time so we chalked it up to the weather and the ground hardness. So we put some shoes on him and he got a little better. But he was never quite right after that. We pulled the shoes at the beginning of November and he remained not quite right. We gave him some time off and evaluated him again. He was hard to figure out. He'd go from lame, to sore, to lazy all in a few minutes and we couldn't ever really tell which leg was bothering him. It was kind of vague and hard to pinpoint. So he had a little more time off. I was out there last week and he was worse than before so I called the vet and put some boots on him.
Cody's been "nqr" (not quite right) for a while now. I was hoping he'd be better after a few weeks off but I was just out to check on him and boo he's not better, in fact he might be worse. So I bit the bullet and called the vet and left a message. I'm hoping he can diagnose without xrays cuz that's wicked crazy expensive (and a different vet has to do it cuz my vet doesn't have an xray machine). Though if it's what I think it is it might only take 1 picture per hoof so that wouldn't be too bad. Merry Christmas Cody!
So anyway it was tough pulling him away from the hay feeder and he would hardly move, kind of parked out rocked back on his heels. It seemed like it was both fronts bothering him. His right front is stocked up but even after cleaning out his hooves and getting him in the arena footing he was favoring both feet. (still willing to roll of course)
His front hooves are warm compared to the backs. Not hot and I can't feel a pulse but they are definitely different than the back ones. So I'm thinking he's foundering or has laminitis or something like that. Last time this happened was the first time I had him shod and he was fixed right away but we had just shoes on him this fall and he still wasn't quite right so it might take some meds for inflammation and maybe special shoeing (usually they put pads on and the shoes on backwards sometimes) and maybe some diet changes.
So we'll see what the vet says. Hopefully he calls back soon and can come out this week still.
I put on his old hoof boots on with the old pastern wraps and I found a scissors and cut down the gel pads and put those in the boots as well. He was walking better with the boots on but still a little gun shy I think.
Though there's not too much to catch up on. The last couple weeks that Cody had shoes on he was off on his front right. He got better but still was the slightest "not quite right." Shoes got pulled and he's still a tiny bit off. N has ridden bareback in the arena and I rode last week for a few minutes. It's really hard to tell if he's lazy, foot sore, or lame. It's so subtle and it's not every step. So here's hoping whatever it is gets better soon.
In light of the baby's impending arrival Jeff has been remodeling the basement. Eventually the computers will go down there and the old office will turn into the baby's room (by eventually I hope to mean sooner than later).
Here's a slide show of the basement so far including photos from before Jeff had even moved in. Unfortunately I think it plays newest to oldest so it's sort of a reverse timeline.
Well if you haven't heard through the grapevine or any of the other usual outlets, Jeff and I are expecting a baby in June! You can check out all the gory details on the baby's blog at http://www.ineedanap.net
I'm very tired of these posts. Massey got onto the highway a couple months ago and got hit by a car. It's very depressing. A farm is no place for puppies I guess.
I'll leave you with a photo of one of the new farm kittens who may or may not still be around, kittens tend to not last long either, mostly they wander off and we never really know what happened to them. I bet they find some fabulous other farm, maybe a dairy farm. :>
So here it is, your Ferguson Farm Menagerie update:
Puppy - Massey Ferguson - crazy as ever, knows "sit", sort of knows "lay down", does not know "no", trying to learn "play dead", loves to ride in the car/on the 4 wheeler/on the lawn mower/in tractors
So blogger is making some changes and I won't be able to FTP any more. I'm not sure what this means for this blog, it'll probably just get a new URL and I'll just link to that but if something goes haywire you'll know why.
No, not that kind! A puppy! Last Monday I stumbled on an ad on Craigslist for some Blue Heeler cross puppies. Jeff went out and picked up the last available puppy that night. Of all the puppies in the litter we ended up with the only black one. The rest were all blue merle. The mother is a blue heeler that is apparently a great herding dog and the dad could be one of two dogs, the neighbor jack russel terrier or the neighbor black lab. I think our puppy has webbed toes, but I'm not certain. And she's got some pretty decent sized paws so I'm putting my money on the black lab. Rumor has it, the black lab is out of Raven from KARE11. So in the end she has some good breeding (even if she is a lab).
In lieu of a holiday letter, here's a blog post! Yay!
Hopefully to stay for a little while at least! He's got some posts up on his blog with some photos from the Hot Rod Power Tour.
So Jeff and Andy went up north on Thursday to start their thru-hike of the Superior Hiking Trail. Something like 250 miles total. They stayed in a hotel on Thursday night and set off at the beginning of the trail on Friday morning. Sounds like they hiked 12 miles and it was a tiring one. I got a call around 7pm last night saying it was raining but they got their tents up before it started. They were worn out and calling it a night. This morning's update was "it was so cold last night. I was okay but Andy almost froze to death. There was ice on the tents in the morning. We hiked on to Gooseberry Falls this morning and hitched a ride with a couple of campers to the car. Then we drove to Duluth so Andy could get a better sleeping bag. It's supposed to be worse tonight." So they are thawing out in a hotel tonight and picking the trail back up in the morning. Around 10 this morning when I checked the weather page it said 36F in Two Harbors. Brrrrr.
Jeff made the mistake of getting me a Flip Mino HD camera for my birthday. It's a little video camera that takes HD videos. No tapes or memory cards, the camera just plugs right into the computer via USB and makes it a lot easier to get videos online.
Had I this camera a long time ago you'd be seeing videos of the silo getting knocked down or one of my dressage lessons on Axel. But those were taken on a video camera with a tape and the videos remain to this day on those tapes.
Mostly there is going to be a plethora of videos of my horses posted to my horse blog. So you might be spared the majority of the poor framing and bad editing that I'll do. But never fear, you'll get to view some select footage here as well.
To start things off, here is the very first video I ever took on the new camera. It's a riveting story about a guy watching television.
It's been a long week. I am officially an NSM widow. In February every year Thomson has a big sales meeting and for several weeks before the meeting Jeff is up to his eyeballs in work. So much that he didn't even come home on Wednesday night, just worked straight through from 4am Wednesday until 4pm Thursday. Then of course he'll be out in Phoenix for the actual sales meeting to take photos or whatever it is they have him doing.
But I've been busy as well. My counterpart at work quit last week so now all the work is falling on me, on top of that the backlash from a slow December means that January is the opposite. Now we're down to only one day left in the month and I'm behind my quota by 9 websites. So both Jeff and I are going to be in the office late tonight.
Tomorrow we'll take a break from our cubicle jail cells and transport the horses from their current barn to the new barn 2 miles from our house. Having the horses closer will be so nice. But I'm guessing that as soon as the horses are settled in it'll be back to work. Luckily Sunday is a new month so my goals will start all over again.
We haven't been home much since there's been so much going on with our families, so the kitchen is in the same state that it was at Thanksgiving, functional but not quite finished. Maybe when things slow down again we'll get back to all the projects at the house. As long as the freezer has ice cream in it, I think we'll be fine.
Bear with me now, just trying out a feature that might make it easier for us to post entries. I promise one of these days to update with something truly interesting. Or just a little recap of the holidays. And I was going to post our holiday letter wasn't I? Wow so much to do, I must have really been slacking over the holidays. Sorry folks!
So I accidentally must have set up auto-renew on this domain though I was planning on letting it lapse. So I guess I might as well use it, at least once, right? Maybe I'll think of something else to do with it eventually. Today I'm going to use it to complain. My work computer is being a bitch. Plain and simple. The other day it crashed twice. I left it running last night with some items open that I didn't want to have to re-open this morning. Well this morning the whole darn thing was locked up and I had to force a reboot. Now my big monitor won't work. I've rebooted twice and unplugged and replugged the monitor - no go. So somehow I'm expected to work on a tiny little 15" second monitor while I stare a nice blank 22" monitor next to it. Is it Monday?
So I go to Ikea last week, during the day, on a weekday. I can hardly park or get around the aisles inside the store. Why? Because every stay at home mom and each of their 14 children has decided to go to Ikea. Are they shopping? Of course not. They've set up camp in all the various sections of the store, moms sitting around chatting while kids run aimlessly and unsupervised throughout the store. Meanwhile I can't find a damned thing because I'm being run over constantly by children and their careless parents. I casually make a comment on facebook about this issue and clearly offend some mom. She says sometimes they *need* to be in Ikea and at least the Ikea employees aren't kid haters. I'd like to clarify here by saying I don't hate kids. I hate parents. It's a f*cking store. Are you looking to purchase something? Great. Are you looking for a cheap way to not have to entertain your kids for an afternoon? You know, there's these things called parks. They're free! And the day I was in Ikea it was gorgeous out. You don't *need* to be in Ikea. I am not paying for items your kid has already sucked, sat, spat, or peed on. WTF you parents should be ashamed of yourselves.
So apparently the newest method in pushy sales tactics = "smarmy sales person with accent" + "I need to ask you a question?"
Does anyone really want to buy lotion from a smarmy sales guy at a kiosk in the mall?
Someone needs to explain to me the difference between smoking tobacco and drinking alcohol. Both have regulations as far as age, both are mood altering substances, both are legal. Then why can a place of work prohibit the use of alcohol on it's premises but not the use of tobacco? Why is my place of work eliminating healthy options like free fruit and milk but spending money on rebuilding smoking shelters so the poor smokers don't freeze in the middle of winter while they're out killing themselves?
I would like a daily/weekly email or blog that gives me algebra or calculus problems. It would then provide the solution and perhaps a nice practical application of that problem. I want to remember my 6 quarters of calculus.
I might start reading my Quantum Chemistry book again. Maybe it'll make more sense now that I haven't though about chemistry in many many years.
My list of Television shows that I wouldn't feel bad about their cancellation is growing. Of course I won't stop watching them while they're on but I'd really like it if someone would make the decision to get these off the air, they're getting so bad:
If I were to make some signs to post around my place of work they would read:
I love my Wii Fit. I do not love that I have to select each exercise, do the 30 second activity, and then go through more menus to pick the next exercise. There doesn't appear to be a way that I can set up a "routine" and just do, say, all the yoga poses in succession. Why is this? And when I do a search on the web for this issue, I'm not finding anyone else complaining about this. I can't be the only one that thinks this is annoying? Isn't there anyone out there that has a hack for the Wii Fit? Isn't Nintendo coming up with an update/upgrade for the Wii Fit to make this possible? Common' people! Get with the program!
Today's list of Pet Peeves:
-Buzzed haircuts with bangs/fringe
-Not being able to figure out how to integrate this blog into my Life Stream
Opposite of Pet Peeve:
-When my fake budget and my check book and my account statement reconcile
Adding to the list of Pet Peeves today:
-People who can't walk without wheezing who also smoke
-Wasting company money on frivolous things like large scale posters when people are getting laid off right and left
-People who expect their dishes to get bussed even after seeing the dishes sit in the lounge day after day
I guess one way to get a person to update their blog is for blogger to send them a nice little email that says "oh by the way we think your blog is spam." I equate that to "what you have to say is of no importance, be gone you heathen." So to you Blogger - I am not spam. We just haven't gotten around to telling the riveting tales of our trip to Maine and our encounters with crustaceans. Nor have we had time to regale you with anecdotes on Betty Crocker. To be perfectly honest I can't even recall why we thought this blog was going to be the blog of blogs. We may have had some nice Maine alcohol by that point. Never fear, I shall rally the troops and we shall begin our quest. Just as soon as blogger unblocks this blog so I can actually post.
(The irony of it all was that I found a blog yesterday that was pulling in posts from other people's blogs - one of mine included - and just smattering them with ads. So as a good citizen I reported the blog as spam. So what happens, this blog gets locked instead. How is that fair‽)
Welcome oh curious ones, to the "blog" of a "lifetime." Soon you will find wonders to your heart's content. We will explore such topics as the thunder hole, interbang (‽), crustaceans, wikipedia as a legitimate source, erroneous quotations, and many other fascinating "life" topics that will amuse and amaze you. Come one come all and read the elegant prose of the famous writers that brought you "it's a warm delicious, single-serve dessert that's ready in minutes straight from your microwave!" and "bang'er!"
You might have noticed that We Can Ride is now on Facebook and Twitter! If you haven't noticed, you can see the updates listed on the right side of the We Can Ride homepage (http://www.wecanride.org). Facebook and Twitter are household names lately and if you aren't familiar yet, now's a great time to find out all about Social Networking!
In plain English: Facebook and Twitter allows We Can Ride to reach out to more people all over the world and keep them informed on what's going on with our organization easily and seamlessly!
So what does this mean for you? Simply put, if you want up to the minute notifications of what's going on with We Can Ride, you can sign up for Twitter or Facebook AND get those updates sent directly to your Cell Phone (via text message). Don't worry though, if you don't want to sign up or don't have a cell phone plan that includes text messaging, we won't be posting VITAL information to just these outlets. Class cancellations and things of that sort will still go out via our normal methods (phone calls and emails). These Social Networking sites will just give you a little faster heads up and maybe a little bit of exciting trivia that you might not know about WCR (did you know today is Dreamer's birthday)! WCR will frequently posts last minute requests like "we need substitute sidewalkers!" to Facebook and Twitter. If you get these updates on your phone you'll be able to help out no matter where you happen to be at the time!
Okay sign me up: First thing's first, all updates that go to Facebook also go to Twitter so feel free to sign up for one or the other, or try them both and decide which you like! You can sign up for a Twitter account here: http://twitter.com/ and Facebook is located here: http://www.facebook.com
If you sign up for Twitter you can get We Can Ride updates via SMS by texting "follow wecanride" to your local code (40404 in the US, regular texting rates apply).
If you sign up for Facebook you can follow We Can Ride by going here: http://www.facebook.com/wecanride and if you want to get Facebook updates on your phone there are instructions listed on the Facebook Mobile page.
And that's about all there is to it! We look forward to having you participate!
We have moved our blog to the blogspot domain because blogger is no longer supporting the previous method we were utilizing. We hope this is a smooth transition but if you run into any issues feel free to contact the webmaster: webmaster at wecanride.org
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Hannah, from my Thursday evening class, wrote this essay for school starring Zip and we thought it would be wonderful for everyone to be able to read it.
Zip
By Hannah
For the past few years and now this year, We Can Ride has held an annual Tack Sale Fundraiser. All of the tack in the sale has been donated by supporters of We Can Ride and all the proceeds from the sale go to support We Can Ride's Equine Assisted Therapies.
I've been to a few of the tack sales around Minnesota and I have to say, the We Can Ride Tack Sale may be small but it's packed with great stuff! The best part about the sale is that the items are not consigned, we set our own prices and the total price goes to our program! I almost always come up with an excuse to buy new tack for my horses. If you don't have horses our tack sale has horse themed apparel as well. Maybe you'd like a nice cowboy or cowgirl hat or a belt to wear to your next equine function!
Tell all your friends about our sale, print off a flier and put it up at your barn, and show up on Saturday morning at 9am! Check out our tack sale page for all the information: http://www.wecanride.org/tacksale.php
Saturday We Can Ride hosted the 2009 MN State NARHA Conference at the U of MN Leatherdale Equine Center. While it was a small conference this year, it was packed with great information. Attendants began the afternoon with a private tour of the University's Equine Center which showed off the facility's top of the line equipment, much of which is limited to very few locations in the nation.
Following the tour, We Can Ride Instructor/Therapist, Tina Phelps, presented the group some thoughts on Risk Assessment for both in the barn/arena and for life in general.
We ended the afternoon with a presentation by Therapists Doug Merz and Kathy Simcox on the Practical Application of Hippotherapy on the Neurologically Impaired. This final presentation included a practical demonstration in the arena with horses and riders.
Overall the conference was a success and provided instructors with some continuing education hours as well as a look at the new equine center. Now that the winter is coming to a close (can you believe that) it's nice to get back in gear and start thinking about equine assisted activities again. We hope to have a State Conference in the future so keep an eye out for news on the next one!
A Glamorous Night, A Good Cause! Come taste gourmet appetizers, mouthwatering entrees and desserts prepared by over 40 Minnesota chefs. Take a stroll around the silent auction tables and bid on meal certificates, creative baskets, artwork, and jewelry (to name a few!). Sit with friends, and meet new ones at a 5-course meal prepared just for you! Hang on to your hats—a live auction featuring fine wines, a Kentucky Horse Park vacation, and dining experiences hosted by executive Chef John T. Riley himself will take your breath away. And the best part: all proceeds support We Can Ride! Get more information at http://www.wecanride.org/chefs.php and reserve your tickets today!
Got the Holiday Spirit? Instead of battling mall parking lots, enduring wrapping-paper-cuts, and paying annoying shipping and handling fees, give a donation to We Can Ride at www.wecanride.org! Every dollar given helps support individuals and families living with disabilities by pairing them with well trained therapeutic riding and driving horses and a team of instructors, volunteers, and staff. You can give in honor or in memory of a loved one, or sponsor one of our many therapy horses pictured on our horse page. You will receive a thank-you letter acknowledging your gift, and your name and your loved one's name will appear in one of our quarterly editions of the Joy Riding newsletter!
I'm reposting this article I found on DonateMyHorse.com about what makes a good therapy horse by Katie Guernsey:
Therapeutic riding is for people of all ages with various disabilities, and it has become very popular. For horses, however, the invitation is much more restricted. There are specialized expectations of a horse used in therapeutic riding. If there were a Therapy Horse Admissions Test ("THAT") analogous to the SAT or GRE, competitive scores for THAT would start at 700.
Foremost, a therapy horse needs to be safe, predictable, and sound. He has to be intelligent, well-conditioned, unflappable, sensitive, patient, hard-working, balanced, and versatile. He must also be tolerant of unpredictable noises and positional changes made by riders, and responsive to his handler's instructions. These qualifications insure safety for the rider, and provide an environment that allows the rider to enjoy and benefit from his or her experiences with horses.
The benefits to the rider are much more extensive than most people know. In addition to learning riding skills, the rider develops physical strength, flexibility, and coordination. Exercises specific to the person's disabilities are employed to improve motor skills and improve balance and body awareness. Communication and expressive language skills also develop. All of these benefits enhance self-esteem.
Just as the horse improves quality of life for the rider, quality of life is equally as important for the horse. Daniel Feeney, DVM, the regular veterinarian for several therapeutic riding centers in Connecticut and Florida, recommends "ample turnout, a regulated workload, consistent exercise by able-bodied riders, and high-quality nutrition and veterinary care" as some of the ways to keep therapy horses healthy and happy.
What kind of horse can meet the many needs of the therapeutic riding population? Too often people think that any older, mild-mannered, semi-sound horse of any size fits the bill. On the contrary, the ideal therapy horse is between the ages of eight and 12, around 15 hands high, and highly athletic. A stable's therapeutic riding herd should include horses of different breeds and conformations to offer a wide variety of movement types.
The reality of finding suitable horses is that most therapeutic riding farms have to compromise to some extent. They accept horses that come closest to meeting the criteria, then use specialized training programs to work on areas of weakness. Many of these organizations are non-profit, and significant portions of funds raised go to supporting the costs of riders. Luckily,
therapeutic riding centers across the country get phone calls on a regular basis from horse owners looking to give or lease their horses. Each center has its own methods of evaluating a prospective therapy horse.
Evaluating a Potential Therapy Horse
At High Hopes Therapeutic Riding in Old Lyme, Conn., the first step taken to evaluate a potential therapy horse is to obtain a background and medical history on the animal. The staff reviews a video of the horse showing the walk, trot, and canter with a rider. They might visit the horse on site, and/or bring the horse in for a trial period.
As former barn manager, Kristin Elliott-Leas of High Hopes explains, "While many of our horses are donated, we also fundraise to allow for purchasing horses to meet certain needs."
For example, several years ago High Hopes bought a 16.1-hand, 17-year-old Canadian Thoroughbred gelding named Doc. He was selected for independent walk-trot-canter riders as well as for hippotherapy, which uses the movement of the horse to treat specific physical, sensory, and speech and language disabilities. According to Carolyn Jagielski, physical therapist and therapeutic riding instructor, "Doc is very good at long-lining, which gives the rider better movement and the horse handler better control of that movement. By tracking-up, Doc produces more rotation in the rider's pelvis, which is a key element in achieving relaxation in abnormally tight muscles. He is narrow, and therefore good for riders who have cerebral palsy or multiple sclerosis and experience spasticity (severe muscle tightness) in their legs. When we first got him he could jump well, and that was good for our independent riders."
Greco: A Good Therapy Horse
Greco is a 16.1-hand, 21-year-old Oldenburg gelding whose owner donated him to High Hopes for use in the therapy program. Prior to going to High Hopes, Greco was a Grand Prix dressage horse that--according to his owner Karen Horn--"was ready for a change of pace." She could not bear to retire him with her other horses at her farm because she wanted him to be able to continue to interact with people, "because he thrives on being admired."
She was right. Greco fit perfectly into the program. Instead of doing piaffes and turns on the forehand with his riders as he did in dressage, he does beautifully controlled transitions and gives balanced, forward movement with plenty of impulsion to challenge his rider's balance.
When Things Don't Work Out
Have you ever started a new job or hobby, thinking that it was just what you wanted to do, only to find yourself dissatisfied with it down the line? This is just what happened to Kansas, a 15-hand, 20-year-old Thoroughbred cross, who after passing all therapy horse admissions tests with flying colors and working in High Hopes' program successfully for 11Ž2 years, became unhappy in his role.
It was an easy decision to bring Kansas onboard, recalls Elliott-Leas. Staff and volunteers found him to be a perfect mount for therapeutic riding and were particularly impressed with his demeanor and charm. Given his background as a polo horse, he was accustomed to frequent weight shifts by his riders, and he was comfortable with various movements going on around him. Needless to say, he was readily accepted into the program.
Kansas spent an entire year seeming to enjoy his life and work at High Hopes. He shared a four-acre pasture and run-in shed with two other horses and worked in the program five days a week. He was willing and friendly, and he consistently impressed people with his abilities to work effectively with riders of all ages, with different disabilities and riding levels.
In his second year at High Hopes, the staff, volunteers, and riders began noticing changes in his behavior. Elliott-Leas recalls that "he seemed uncomfortable having sidewalkers due to their close proximity to him, was less tolerant of abrupt movements by his riders, and was easily agitated during grooming."
Based on these changes, he was given several weeks off, but it did not appear to help. Over the next six months, he was injured in his pasture and developed a hematoma on his back, which called for more time off. His workload was re-structured so that he participated only with riders needing little or no assistance from volunteers. Unfortunately, none of these attempts worked to bring back the "old" Kansas.
The initial step in the procedure for discharging horses from High Hopes is to contact the former owner to give him/her the option of taking the horse back, finding an alternative home, or allowing High Hopes to search for a new home, says Elliott-Leas. Kansas' previous owner elected to have High Hopes find Kansas a new home. According to his current owner, Kansas seems to be back to his old self.
The Impact on Therapy Horses
There is no dispute that therapy horses work very hard. They must stand quietly, always be attentive to the needs of their riders and the directions of their handlers, and wait patiently while riders mount and dismount. They are subjected to all levels of rider ability, and must develop skills particular to therapy horses (i.e., tolerance of wheelchairs, ramps, leg braces, and unusual rider noises). Due to this uniquely taxing workload, it is reasonable to expect that therapy horses experience a significant amount of stress.
To find out if this is in fact the case, Marie Suthers-McCabe, DVM, an associate professor of human-companion animal interaction at the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, and Lynn Albano, DVM, a 2004 graduate of the vet school, designed and conducted a research study. They worked with 32 horses in four different types of equine-assisted programs. They tested blood cortisol levels twice a day--pre- and post-therapy sessions--as an indicator of stress level. In addition, the horses were videotaped during therapy sessions to evaluate behavior.
Suthers-McCabe says their results "indicate that 82% of these therapy horses are not experiencing elevations in blood cortisol levels, suggesting that equine-assisted therapy is not stressful for most horses.
"Two of the five horses with elevated levels were easily explained," she says. "One was new to the program and experiencing stressful herd dynamics, and another had a rider balancing on her mouth."
Also of note was that "in one horse, a comparison was made between changes in cortisol levels working with (mounted) physically disabled clients and the same horse working with (unmounted) mental health clients. This horse showed the lowest post-therapy cortisol level after working in a therapeutic riding program and the highest after working in an un-mounted equine-facilitated psychotherapy session."
Suthers-McCabe gave this possible explanation of the results: "We may have skewed our population because of the type of horses used. These horses have sound minds and were selected for that trait."
Based on these findings, she hopes to do further research "to determine correlations that will help people select the best horses for the work, and in turn modify the work to best suit the horses."
Take-Home Message
The high expectations set for therapy horses are directly related to the high demands of the work that is expected of them. Therapeutic riding is a sport unmatched in its uniqueness and effectiveness in providing inspiration, self-confidence, and opportunities to improve physical health and cognitive and psychological well being. If you think your horse might be suited to these tasks, you can contact a local therapeutic riding center and discuss a donation or leasing. To find a therapeutic riding center, contact the North American Riding for the Handicapped Association (www.narha.org) for information on more than 700 programs nationwide.
printed in The Horse March 2006 Article #6641
I recently received the following letter from a previous WCR rider:
We Can Ride is a nice, friendly place. At We Can Ride has very gentle horses. The instructors at We Can Ride are nice to. I have a friend named Patti she is one of the instructors that teaches in We Can Ride. If you have disabilities sign up for We Can Ride class. We Can Ride helps a lot of people with disabilities everyone has sidewalkers and leaders when you are riding one of the We Can Ride horses. Love Ashley.
One of the great things about being part of an organization like We Can Ride and NARHA is the opportunities for education and personal growth. This past weekend a few of We Can Ride's Instructors and I went up to Fargo, North Dakota for the Region 6 Conference. The Regional Conferences offer centers in each region a chance to gather for learning opportunities as well as vote on important topics in the region, discuss standards and wording, and brain storm with other centers.
Friday evening, after arriving in Fargo and checking into our hotel room, we gathered together for the beginning of the conference. Michael Richardson www.brokenrranch.com started off the night with an enlightening keynote that covered his abilities as a paraplegic in the horse industry and how having a solid relationship with yourself can take you further in this world than anything else. We followed up his keynote with pizza and beverages and a lot of discussion around the pool in the hotel and the opportunity to bid on several silent auction items.
Bright and early Saturday morning while the state representatives met, we filled up on breakfast and awaited our first session. I attended a talk on Cereberal Palsy and Developmental Adapted Physical Education (DAPE). The biggest idea I took away from this session were some great examples on how to educate our volunteers on what a rider with CP and similar abilities would experience in our program. If you're volunteering on Thursday evenings in Minnetonka you might get hands on experience with my "enlightenment!" I followed up that presentation with one regarding Physical Disabilities presented by an Occupational Therapist. After a great lunch and a meeting to discuss Region 6 matters we zoomed over to the NDSU Sheppard Arena for the barn demonstrations.
We were fortunate enough to have Michael Richardson lead a demonstration on his techniques for working with horses. He worked with two therapy horses from the hosting program. All from his chair in the round pen he exhibited how to work with a "sassy" horse at liberty and get her to the confidence level that would allow her to explore a "scary" tarp on the ground. He also worked with a "pushy" horse on leading and staying the proper distance from the leader. The horse demos were followed be a talk on Equine Chiropractics and Accupuncture led by a Certified Equine Chiropractor as well as a talk on tack fit and how the two things go hand in hand. When these sessions were complete we were free to explore Fargo and find some dinner. We ended up at the Lone Star for some really great steak and a fun waiter that we may have recruited as a therapeutic riding volunteer!
Sunday morning it was back up early as can be for the State Meetings. This is the chance for each state to discuss business, make decisions, and vote on leadership. I guess I was in the "right" place at the right time as it appears I'm now the Minnesota State Vice President for NARHA. We followed up our state meeting with attending the Standards Meeting. This was a place to discuss the NARHA standards and assist with wording so that they are easy to understand and make sense. Finally we attended the Instructor Forum for some lively discussion on various aspects of instructing therapeutic horseback riding. We were limited in time but I'm sure all of the instructors could have talked all day about their centers and ask questions of other instructors on games and classes and any number of topics.
So now we're back in Minnesota and I know the four of us that attended the conference are ready to start a new season of riding with We Can Ride. We're filled with new ideas and reenergized. The Region Conference is a great place to start off a new session and anyone can attend, volunteers, administration, board members, care givers, not just instructors. So maybe next year give it some thought, check out the topics, and put it on your calendar.
It always seems like such a long time between your last therapeutic riding session of the year and your first riding lesson of the next year. Never fear! We Can Ride is right around the corner along with spring and warmer temperatures. Just think, this time next week it'll be an hour later in the day!
So while you're patiently waiting for the new session to start here's a few things you can do to get ready:
Clients:
1. Get out that helmet - dust it off, make sure it's a certified helmet, and make sure it still fits! Now is a good time to practice wearing your helmet and make sure all the buckles and clasps are in proper working order. If you've never participated in WCR before, practicing with your helmet is a good way to get in the mood!
2. Start stretching - don't forget that sometimes after your first ride you might be a little sore. Do some simple stretching: reach to the sky! touch your toes!
3. Brush up on your horse parts - do you remember where all the important horse parts are? Where is the horse's head/poll? How about the horse's withers? I bet you remember where the horse's tail is!
4. Remember your cues - do you recall how to ask your horse to "walk on?" How about asking your horse to "whoa?" Don't forget to brush up on your right and left so you can tell your horse which direction to go.
Volunteers:
1. Start stretching - stretching is always a great thing for both riders and volunteers. Have you been sitting at a desk all winter? Take some stretching breaks to get ready for spring!
2. Get strong - don't forget you might have to hold your arms up to steady a rider for a good portion of a class, so start working those biceps so you don't tire as quickly. Now is also a great time to get out for some regular walking to prepare for walking in a riding lesson.
3. Make a list - are there some things about therapeutic riding you'd like to learn more about? Make a list and ask your instructor when the session starts.
4. Dust off those boots - don't forget that the barn isn't neccessarily the cleanest place, get out those old barn boots so you don't have to tip-toe through the horse "apples!"
5. Get some WCR swag - if you want to help support We Can Ride and wear some groovy red and black, check out the WCR Wearables for some fun items!
6. Don't miss the first night - make sure you don't miss the first night during the week of March 24 (call the office to find out if your location is holding this class), you'll have the opportunity to brush up on your skills, ask questions, get a tour, and get to know your fellow volunteers.
I hope these tips will help get you ready for spring. I know all of the We Can Ride staff is looking forward to seeing everyone in a few weeks and ready to start another awesome session of therapeutic riding and driving!
The high temp expected today is five degrees above zero... days like today one would need a good pair of coveralls and mittens, hat, boot and boot warmers, and long underwear to brave the outside!
So here's a thanks to those of you taking care of our We Can Ride horses, no matter what the weather. Thanks for looking after everybody during the cold, and every, season. And don't you just love that the horses just do what they do living in this stuff?!
So it's after the holidays, and it's been a month to put everything away, and get settled... is anyone else starting to get the itch to get back to the barn? I am starting to look forward to getting back to seeing everyone, hugs for horses, high-fives for riders. Especially after watching last week's Extreme Home Makeover where they revamped a home and barn for a woman running a therapeutic horseback riding program... watching the warm sunshine and horses and riders and volunteers, I remember why I love it, and miss it.
But hey! If you haven't heard already, there are some great classes going on through WCR in their office and the barn. You can find that information on this very website! I took a bunch of the classes last year- and they were really great. And if you attend any classes in the barn- good place to warm up your hand quickly is right under the mane of any willing horse....
This poem is dedicated to everyone at We Can Ride. By Michaela Powers.
Hope, something to look forward to
Overcoming, differences, challenges, physically and mentally
Responsibility, learning to take care of horses
Success, sense of accomplishment
Exercises, physical therapy
Break, just be a kid
Attitude, I can do anything
Completion, completing the task
Keep trying
Respect; treat others how you would want to be treated
Independent, freedom from disability
Discipline, determination
Inspirational, have a hero
Never say I can't
Graceful, gentle
After however many years it's been (almost a full 9, I figure) I can't believe how rewarding it still feels to volunteer for WCR. I'm about to finish my first session teaching my own class. Sure I taught last session, but this time, I was like REALLY in charge. It hadn't even occurred to me until a volunteer brought it up to me last night. We had just finished class 7 of 8, and after he said it out loud I laughed at first, and then felt like I needed to be pinched. A whole session on my own.
I'd almost even forgotten that his was my first. Nine years of class every Monday and I guess I've gotten pretty comfortable in the class setting. And even though every week it seems hard to come up with something to do- I always do come up with something. I see similar things in the volunteers. Getting to know their clients and each week getting more comfortable with certain things. Then on the other side they are trying new things with the stuff they aren't comfortable with.
I had a brand new volunteer leading in class last night. It was a slow and hot night and thought it would be a good night to practice. And she did great! And the end she almost let her horse out with her halter still on, thankfully I was right there and we caught her time. But I just had to laugh. I remember when I first started and let a horse out with the halter on, but then it was dark out. And we (the instructor, my mom and I) went marching out with flashlights into the HUGE pasture and retrieved the halter. I didn't do it ever again!
I get so excited for new volunteers, getting to feel that exhilaration that the first few sessions / year / years can bring. But then, what am I saying? It still feels that way after 9 years. I love going to class. I get excited about getting to see everyone each week. I like getting to work with the clients and volunteers. I LOVE seeing volunteers getting excited about what they are doing.
We Can Ride is good therapy for ME. I can't believe the session is almost over. I guess it's true what the saying says, "Time flies when you're having fun". I am having loads of fun.
Introducing the new therapy department. A way to expand services and knowledge through the help of our very special therapists! First up- a little bit of fundraising. We've got these awesome rakes for sale for just $5. They are really cool in that they are shaped more like a hockey stick than your traditional rake. What an awesome way to get some yardwork done by playing some leaf hockey... and even better benefiting WCR. Contact the office if you are interested. 952.934.0057
Busy Busy!
We just completed our annual tack sale (below are some photos of all the awesome stuff there was!) and in May we had a special event hosted by the Onion called Brewing for a cause.
Watch out because coming up is the annual golf tournament, ride-a-thon, and a trail ride fundraiser. See our News and Calendar pages for details on these events.
Same with mine! And I really thought I was gonna ride out the storm, too. I mean, I used the premium straw with the extra tight thatching. But like, one puff and it was totally blown away, man.
Anyway, let’s go hang out at cousin Louie’s. Bet his place is still standing.
“Piglets” by Flickr user Brett Marlow.
I don’t even know what it is you’re doing/just did that is sufficient, but that adorbz look on your face convinces me that it was indeed as sufficient as sufficient can be.
More and more places have decided they don’t want to have children as customers. This applies to restaurants, airlines, stores, movie theaters. Many parents are outraged. They blame intolerant childless people. They blame society as whole who they say no longer value children. They don’t understand how other people would not find their child as precious as they do.
But you know what? I don’t find other people’s misbehaving children endearing at all. I am not childless. As a mother of seven children I fully support these type of bans.
Here is a newsflash, if people parented their kids there would be no reason for places to ban kids completely.
*****
We have seen a lot of movies this summer. Probably more than we have in the past two years combined. (It’s been a long, hot summer in Austin.)
A few weeks ago we were watching the previews, you have to get there in time to watch the previews, all of them, according to my children, when a family came in and sat right across the aisle from us. Two parents and two kids, one about 5 years old and the other about 12- 15 months old. I thought it was odd that they chose to bring a 12-15 month old to the movie theater, since in my parenting experience not one of my children could sit through a movie at that age. But they must know their kid, right? They must know that their kid will sit through a long movie in a darkened theater. Otherwise they wouldn’t have brought her, right?
Yeah.
The movie had not even started when the kid began screeching to get out of the confines of her mother’s lap. Her mother put her down where she proceeded to run up and down the aisle, while both parents sat in their seats and ignored her. Surely once the movie begins they won’t allow this, I thought.
Except that once the movie began it was even worse, because the little girl now wanted one of her parents to walk up and down the aisle with her. And so her parents took turns walking her up and down the aisle, only stopping to try and make her sit down. Where she would scream. They did this for the entire movie.
I wanted to stop them and ask if they were enjoying themselves. I can’t imagine that they were. I wanted to ask them why they didn’t take the girl out of the theater when they realized she wasn’t going to watch the movie.
These people are the reason so many places have enacted policies barring kids from their establishments.
I think we may start attending movies at the Alamo Draft House. They forbid children under six from attending movies at all. They also enforce very strict no talking, no cellphone use/no texting during movies. Have you seen this video? It’s a phone call they received by a woman complaining about how she was thrown out of their theater for texting. It is hysterical and definitely not for watching at work or around your children.
I am going to go out on a limb here where everyone will probably hate me, but if your kid can’t behave appropriately for the place you are bringing him, then you shouldn’t be bringing him. If you know your child can’t be quiet and sit in a chair at a fancy restaurant, then don’t bring him. I don’t care if it is your grandmother’s 90th birthday. Go some place that is child friendly, but remember just because it might be loud and have a children’s menu, and cups with lids, you still have to parent. No one thinks your child standing on her chair and singing is cute. No one thinks your child running around and dancing between tables is adorable. And no one thinks that your child yelling and screaming is enjoyable.
We were at a restaurant recently where the waitstaff kept commenting how well behaved my children were being. It surprised me because at 6, 8, and 10 years old I thought they were just acting normal. After the fourth or fifth time I finally asked what my kids were doing that was out of the ordinary. Oh boy, I got an earful. They were not stories of babies crying, or even toddlers screaming. They were not stories about parents having to apologetically leave the restaurant and take their food to go. They were all stories about kids running wild while the parents did nothing.
So really, the bans are not about keeping children out. They are about keeping out parents who refuse to parent. And how can anyone be against that?
Apparently fingers on glass are the hippopotamus equivalent of laser pointers for cats? I’m pretty okay with this analogy, actually.
Source: Hauke Steinberg
(…is also the tiniest hoofer, schnozzle and ear flaps coincidentally.)
You absolutely must click to see the other shot of this piglet by whisker snaps photo.
Going through old folders, I found this picture.
Even though I posted it somewhere, sometime
on the Daily Coyote
I’m cross-posting it here.
{she’s not mine}
THE CUTENESS.
It mustn’t be ignored.
A horse owner in England got a two-for-one deal when her prize mare gave birth to a pair of fillies. Although the babies look alike, they might not be truly identical twins, says an expert. Nevertheless, the thirsty girls keep Mom twice as busy.
More photos, full story at Horse & Hound.
Frolic frolic frolic oh man running around in the mud is just so much fun I love being a baby elephant and getting to just play outside all day and WOOPS!!
… hmm… mama’s probably not gonna be too pleased about how dirty I just managed to get by face-planting into that puddle… anyone know which way it is to the watering hole? If I want two desserts tonight at dinner, I need to clean myself up, and FAST!
Via The Animal Blog
Wut? It’s not lyke I’m gonna get CAT HAIR in your food or sumthing.
aifinkso u needz bettur shampu.
Faeborit Coment: “No cat hare in my fud? Wut wood ai do? Ai sew yoozed to habbing cat harez in my fud.” – saaski
Squee lovers, platypus week has sadly drawn to a close… but I feel so bad about it, I’m sending you off with not one, but TWO more platypus! Wrapping up this wonderful week with a double dose of platyperfection seems like a fair compromise, right?
Via Twinkie Wizard
Squee lovers, I need your help! What I do know is that this platypus is TOTALLY SQUEE. What I don’t know is whether it’s real or fake… What are your thoughts?
View This Poll
This little piggy went to pageant, and this little piggy came home… with more than perfect scores across the board, and a handful of trophies and ribbons to boot.
Via The Daily Piggy
Squee lovers, the winner of this week’s Squee Spree are perfect and prosh platypus babies!
Itty bitty platypus, why you lookin’ so shy? We’re all friends here, and I promise you have nothing to be afraid of!
Source: NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service
Shared by egf
Seriously.
Banjos: They’re not just for those dudes in Deliverance and hipsters anymore. A video of a crew of brothers from New Jersey tearing it up on the banjo, fiddle and guitar has recently been popping up all over the web.
The Sleepy Man Banjo Boys‘ cover of “Flint Hill Special” is sure to make you look back at your own grade school band days with utter and complete shame. Anyone else get an “F” in recorder? Nope, just me.
More About: banjo, music, video, viral-video-of-day, youtube
For more Video coverage:
H is for Hippopotamus (or Hippo, if you’re on friendly terms).
Photos from british.chris, carmenprivitera, andreas lem, Dave Schreier, Markus*, Luigi FDV and djmark1972.
More Hippopotamus photos can be found in our tag search.
Stampler was designed by Phil Jones in partnership with the company suckuk. It looks and works like a normal stapler but has an added attachment that prints a smiling face design at the same time.
Daniel has discovered the Red Nova. He calls it the “red no-bot”. He also thinks the nanny’s dad’s red VW is a “red no-bot”.
I had a little chat this weekend with Daniel regarding some farm implements. All while standing on the ladder to “Joseph’s tractor” (it’s actually grandpa’s tractor but he doesn’t believe me).
I frequently get texts from the nanny reporting on the silly things Daniel says or does. Today is no exception.
“The boys have a plan, Gibson is going to get a motorcycle and Daniel is going to ride on the backseat of it. They agreed to share it.”
“I guess I’m the motorcycle but Daniel won’t sit in the back.”
“Gibson wanted to pull the wagon to the park. A car was on the street and Daniel said, ‘Watch out for the car, Best!’ Gibson said, ‘Okay I will.’ A bit later Gibson asked, ‘Are you alright back there, Daniel?’ Daniel replied, ‘It’s a little cold back here.”
“They are super funny today.”
Daniel says “Climb this, me super tall.”
Daniel says “Eating the cream, it yummy Julie.”
I might have to add to this post if I get more updates for the day ;)
Daniel wanted the nanny to climb up the jungle gym and help him, she said “what do you say when you want something?”
Daniel’s response, “Cookie.”
The nanny explained that we say “please” when we want something.
Daniel responded, “No, big cookie.”
While sitting at the top of the slide at the playground, “I slide down slippery slide and SHOCK you!” Complete with emphatic pointed finger.
Took Daniel riding last week. After we removed the saddle he asked to ride more. Jeff told him the saddle was off, he couldn’t ride on it. He asked to “ride on the hair.” Guess that’s a new way to call bareback riding.
Daniel fell down while playing outside. The nanny told him to get up to which he responded, “No, call my mommy.”
The nanny gave Daniel a sandwich for lunch when she returned to the table a few minutes later she asked him where his sandwich was. He said, “In mouth. Want another sandwich.”
“Great mussin.” (muffin)
“Dinosaur has big butt.”
I’m having a difficult time not buying every darn toy I see that I think Daniel would enjoy. It’s not that I can’t afford all these toys but where in the world would we put them? Things would quickly get a little overwhelming. And am I spoiling the boy by getting all these toys? I can’t quite figure out how to manage it all. I don’t recall feeling spoiled or feeling like I was missing out on things. My husband’s family didn’t have oodles of money so he probably had even less toys but I don’t think he felt particularly left out of the loop as it were. And it’s really not the kid that is demanding new toys, it’s me. I see things and I want to see the kid’s face when he plays with it, etc.
A person could start donating items when new items come in but since this is the first kid I’m stuck on the “what about the future kids?” so I’ve been saving everything.
I do have a box of “outgrown” toys that I’ve been keeping to try and cull down the mess. And I have a box of new toys that I haven’t given the kid yet. If I really feel the urge to buy something many times I’ll put it in my special toy box and save it for an upcoming holiday or special occasion or one of those days where you just really need new entertainment.
So how does everyone else handle the overwhelming urge to BUY BUY BUY!
Even when the old lady at the bar calls Daniel a girl. The curls will stay as long as I can help it. Though I might have to give in and get his bangs cut so he can see. Hockey hair here we come.
I should post more. But it’s 6:30 in the morning and I’m pacifying the kid with the iPad so I can lay here in bed just a few more minutes. He’s getting pissed because the nag-ware keeps popping up an “upgrade” screen he can’t figure out how to get rid of. Luckily I turned off in-app purchases. I’m doing my best to not have to purchase “wheels on the bus” but I might be losing that battle.
Okay we’re not officially potty training, or maybe we are, who knows. Daniel has shown some interest in the bathroom lately. He’s very excited if someone goes in there to “potty” (which he says and signs). His daycare buddy is on the tail end of potty training so he’s had some exposure there. I’ve set him on the toilet a few times after bath time (but it’s difficult since the seat is way too big) and he likes to take some “paper,” wipe himself and throw it in the toilet, and the most exciting part, flushing and washing his hands after.
So we picked up a new toilet seat that has the kid sized seat built in. After several trips to the shop to get tools I finally got the thing installed. Really it shouldn’t have taken this many tools to put in one toilet seat.
So the toilet seat is in and I showed it to Daniel. He’s pretty impressed since now he can sit on the toilet and reach the toilet paper without falling in the toilet. We’ll just ignore the part where after he got off the toilet and I put the kid seat up he tried to climb into the toilet with his footie PJs on. So yeah.
Tuesday we stayed home since the nanny wasn’t feeling well and it was a snow day for just about everyone anyways. After naptime Daniel looked down and said “diaper?” I asked him if he had to use the potty. He just about broke his neck jumping off the bed and running to the bathroom. I took off his diaper and put him on the seat and asked him if he had to pee. A few seconds later and about the same time I turned away for some reason he peed. Not in the toilet but over the toilet seat, past me, and onto the floor. Whoops. This might be why dads usually do the potty training for boys, right?
Black tie fund raiser tomorrow and I needed a derby hat. So I made this riding fascinator. Ostrich feather, headband, foam can cozy, flower, feathers, and the obligatory bird.
I’m moving my stuff from the guest room closet to our bedroom closet. We’ve only been married, what, 5 years? Hubby doesn’t really use the closet so I decided it’d be nice to have my clothes actually in my bedroom. This closet is slightly larger than the guest room so I’m leaving what little clothes hubby has in there and using the rest of the space. In the process I’m trying to use the space as efficient as possible. It’s a reach-in closet with a single swing out door so most of the space is difficult to access. I bought a canvas shoe organizer to hang on the wall for dressy shoes I don’t use that often, they don’t need to be quite as easy to get at so this seemed like a cheap solution. I just nailed it to the wall. (my hangers are backwards so I can do the ole, if it’s not used in X amount of time donate it-trick) (and yes I’m squished in the closet to take this photo, the bedroom is to the right that’s the door frame in the photo) (eventually I’ll sort the clothing by type and color - no worries)
This is exactly how I’d answer these questions. Seriously? What was the process to get ready? Um shower, get dressed. What were they looking for? 3 hour ritual sacrifice followed by 2 more hours of silent meditation in a nail bed, then put on the dress.
I’m taking Mixed Martial Arts classes so I can learn how to change Parker’s diapers.
Yup.
I decided to get a little creative and make a couple shakers for Daniel. I used a tomato sauce can and a velveeta box. I put the small beans in the can and the large beans in the box and then wrapped them both in fancy duct tape. Easy-peasy. As soon as Daniel figures out these aren’t wrapped presents, we’ll be shaking!
I’ve been looking for some sensory toys for the boy. He likes input and I’m hoping by fulfilling that need he’ll be a little less whiney. He’s got the bouncy horse for bouncing, one of those tubes for crawling through, and some swing set rings hung in the basement for swinging. I just picked up a Sit and Spin. I’m excited to see how he likes that. I also picked up a few bags of beans to make some rattly bottles/cans/boxes for him to shake.
Any other good sensory toy ideas?