Happy Easter!

A little early, BUT tomorrow is a wonderful day!  What a blessing Jesus is!
I spent about 1/2 an hour reading Tristan's Bible that his Sunday school teacher Ms. Vicki gave him last night before bed.  His choice!!  He loves to hear the stories.  And tomorrow we will go to Community Bible Church and hear Pastor Jim's amazing sermon.  Yes, I already know it will be amazing!! haha.  Then we will head to my cousin's house and spend the day with the family.  Looking forward to a relaxing day with family and wonderful food.
Will spent a huge chunk of the day working in the barn.  Yes, he does a LOT of that.  If you would have seen this barn when we bought our home, you wouldn't think it was the same barn!!  It was a disaster...  I am very proud of all the hard work he has put into it.  We now have two functioning stalls and two more on the way.  (I say functioning mostly cause Will is never done.  He is a little bit of a perfectionist!!)  It is going to be so nice to have four stalls soon!!  
Once the kids were down for their naps, I ran out and joined Will in the barn.  We groomed Shadow up, took some new pictures and video.  She is a wonderful filly.  We are thrilled with how she is growing and her willingness to learn.  We have only ever had her in a stock trailer before, which was never a problem for loading her.  Since we had her out and working, we thought we would load her in our 2 horse straight load.  She wasn't real keen on it at first, but we didn't give up.  Patience is a virtue with horses!!  She loaded and we rewarded with some hay in the trailer.  She was calm as could be.  We backed her out, Will walked her around some and then brought her back to the trailer.  This time, she walked right in.  Shadow is so smart!  Just look at this pretty girl!

Amarah's Dark Shadow

Jenni giving Shadow a little affection.

We are anxious to see Bella again!  I need to get ahold of Brock and Britney to see about visiting her soon.  I can't believe she has been gone almost a month now.  Time sure has flown by!
Well, I am going to bed.  It has been a busy weekend!

Taxes

Finally, taxes are done.  What a huge relief to be able to say that.  I have been working long hours at night trying to make sure I had everything done and done correctly.  This is not an easy feat to accomplish when you work full time, you spouse works full time, trying to "repurpose" (my new favorite word) our dairy barn, spend time with our kids before we blink and they are teenagers, and MAYBE spend an evening together relaxing.  Oh wait...  That last part, does that ever really happen?!?  Nahh!  But it is so worth it.  Here we are, enjoying living in the country, we both have wonderful jobs with people we care about, we are so blessed with our family who have been nothing but supportive of us, we have a wonderful church family, two amazing kids, two sweet dogs, a cat and our beautiful horses!  Is the relief of the taxes being done going to my head?  Maybe just a little.  

Will brought home a very large truck bed full of square bales tonight.  We were really hoping not to have to buy more hay, but the weather is no helping at all.  So, more hay it is.  Hopefully this load will be the last until fall??  

I have been carefully watching our mare Airiah for signs that she is getting close to having this foal.  The poor thing looks miserable.  She is just enormous.  Friday I had checked her bag, but as I expected, it hadn't changed at all.  Yesterday afternoon, the bag has started to fill.  So, it will again be ring around the horsey, moving everyone around to get settled for the arrival of our new Raven baby.  Tristan asked me tonight what we are going to name the new foal.  I had a list of potential names, but Will wasn't real keen on any of them.  So, back to the drawing board.  If you have any suggestions, I would love to hear them.  

My thoughts keep going back to Bella.   I must confess, I can hardly wait to bring her home.  We are going to be hiring babysitters once in a while now so we can get out and ride!!  Fingers crossed this is going to be a great summer!

Jayden is crying, refusing to go to sleep, so I have to sign off.

Snow?!?

Rachel (www.momentscapturedbyrachel.com) posted the pictures she took of my baby girl Jayden.  I am struggling to pick which ones to get.  I have several that I know without a doubt, but then there are so many that I like, I am just not sure.  Rachel really caught the true Jayden; the sweet side, the tom boy side and the complete onry side.  Needless to say, no matter which ones we get, they are going to be awesome.  Thank you Rachel!!  I promise to try to make up my mind mind in the next day or two.

Wednesday night we had AWANA.  They were very talkative.  We had some lively discussions   But it was a good night.  We have one more night to teach this coming Wednesday, then a week off and then carnival night will wrap up this year.  This was our first year teaching AWANA.  It has been an honor being a part (even if it is a small part) of these kids lives.  Kids are such a blessing, we just pray that we can help them and be the best example we can possibly be.  

We had the pleasure of our beautiful 9 year old niece Taylor spend Friday night with us.  What a great way to start our weekend!  Tristan, Taylor and I drove down to B&B's Saturday morning to see Bella being trained.  HOLY SMOKES, that girl is amazing.  They pulled her out of the paddock, saddled her up, and Brock climbed on.  No lunging.  She was very impressive.  Mind you, she has only been there for two weeks and three days as of today.  Brock is so impressed with the Raven babies and how easily they train.  They are just smart.  Brock was using a bitless training bridle on Bella.  He had her spinning in circles.  I think Brock was half joking, but he asked if I wanted to ride her.  Like I am going to turn that opportunity down!!  So, I tried to climb on, but me being a whole whopping 5'2" (with boots on...), I still needed the mounting block.  Brock said she has never seen one before, but she needs to learn. So, I grabbed the mounting block, stepped up and I was on!  She didn't even flinch.  I was SOOO excited (seriously, having waited for her birth, then caring for her for the past 3 years. It is like having a kid that is completely potty trained ( I would say graduating from high school, but I haven't had the experience yet, so potty trained is one of our biggest accomplishments. haha)).  I walked her for a bit, then moved to a fast walk, then a trot.  She shied sideways in her trot coming next to the wires for the practice cutting cow, but I pulled her to a stop, recollected and then we took off again.  I felt pretty darn comfortable riding her.  In fact, so comfortable, I think she is going to be a keeper.  She has the Raven smarts, the beautiful think long mane and tail, thick feather on the backs of her legs, the sweetest face, not to mention her personality.  She loves people.  But she also has the get up a go from her dam's side.  She is going to be so much fun.
We have been dreaming the last year or so of having her and Palmer trained to drive as a pair.  Their strides are so in tune being full siblings, they would make a stunning pair.  We are also going to see about having Airiah trained to drive.  She looks 100% Friesians, is a very tall, well built mare.

While we were at B&B, I had them add Shadow to their list for ground work training.  We need to get her started with some basics.  Like her dam, she is going to be a huge mare!

I was really hoping to get out and ride today, but that is not going to happen.  It is pretty cold and the snow has been coming down all morning.  Didn't I see that we had the first day of spring last week? I am SO ready for warm weather.

Well, off to get some house work done.  I thoroughly cleaned this house all day Friday, but it looks like a tornado went through here, ate a bunch of food and left a huge mess in my kitchen, not to mention a ton of dirt dishes.  How does that happen?!  UGH.

Jayden and the rocking horse

Saturday we took Jayden to Rachel (www.momentscapturedbyrachel.com) for her 2 year pictures.  Rachel is AMAZING.  Will has known her family for a long time.  We had her take our wedding pictures and all of Tristan and Jayden's pictures.  We were changing a prop and she spotted this really cute rocking chair Rachel had.  For the rest of the shot, that is ALL she wanted.  I didn't know if we were going to be able to leave the rocking horse without a complete meltdown or not!  She did fine though.  But I think that was only cause she got busy saying goodbye to Rachel's next clients that she forgot about the rocking horse.  I think we have another horse lover on our hands!  Rachel did an amazing job as usual.  I am not sure how we are EVER going to pick.  Two of the pics are my favs already and I have only been able to look at them once.
Yesterday Tristan and Jayden spent the day with Nana and Papa while Will and I went with Brock and Britney to a tack auction up north in Genoa.  Holy cow, that was a drive!  And then to sit on these REALLY hard chairs for hours. It was a really long day, but well worth it.  We purchased a very nice saddle pad, yearling halter, leather cleaner/protectant and something else that escapes me right now.  (Sorry I am still trying to wake up.)
We are hoping to go see Bella in training this week.  Brock said she is doing very well, attributing some of it to the Friesian breed, but mostly to her being a Raven baby.  She has only been there a week and a half and Brock has already ridden her several times.  She is going to be phenomenal.  I can't wait to ride her.  We are still trying to decide which stallion of Ms. Judy's to use when we breed her.  Evan or Killian....  Tough choice.  So, I need to get ahold of Britney today to see about going down there this week to see Bella in action.
Anyway, time to finish getting ready for work and get my babies up and ready to go to day care.
Hope we don't get the snow they were calling for!

Videos

If you haven't seen our videos of Palmer and Bella, you have to check them out!!  We need to get some new videos as they both have grown a lot since.  But make sure you watch the very end of Palmer's video.  It is awesome!!
I also wanted to thank Steven Marchal for showing us Star this weekend.  We will be in touch.

What a day!

We had such good intentions…  We knew that it was daylight savings, but I thought, my phone will automatically adjust and my alarm will still go off at the right time.  Not sure what happened, but my alarm never went off.   Sunday school starts at 9:30, it’s a 12 minute drive from home to church.    Not the best way to start our morning, but we raced and got there… late.  Our class read about King Xerxes and Queen Esther today.  We are using the teen version of The Story.  It is amazing!  I highly recommend it for anyone trying to teach a junior high age group.  Our students love it.  Our church family had a great surprise for our youth leaders who are expecting their first baby in just a couple more weeks.  Pastor’s wife unveiled a huge stack of diapers and wipes.  Our awesome youth leaders were speechless with surprise.  It was a great moment! 

Once home, we had leftovers for lunch.  I attempted to get the kids down for their naps, attempted being the key word.  Jayden decided to get out of bed, run to the door, throw it open and start yelling whatever came to mind.   At some point during all the chaos, Will left for the Easter Cantata practice.  After several failed attempts of getting Jayden down, Tristan gave up on his nap and came downstairs.  I put him on the couch with a movie playing quietly.  He laid there with his blanket though the entire movie.  I lost count of the number of times I went upstairs, but eventually Jayden fell asleep for two hours. 

Once peace was restored, I was able to work on book keeping for the farm and organize some more of the paper work I need to process.  I kept the laundry going and Tristan helped me make a venison meatloaf.  I still have a bunch more bookkeeping to get done, hopefully tonight.  But the majority has been accomplished, just a few more hours and I hope to have the farm books ready for taxes.  Let me tell you, this last year has been overwhelming.  Between bucket feeding Shadow, then Shadow’s broken knee issues, two small children, Sunday school, AWANA, help with horse chores, work full time, and one big kid (I mean husband), cleaning, laundry, cooking and trying to learn Quickbooks… I am wore out!  But hopefully at some point, it will slow down.  At least that is what I tell myself.   

Isabella's Song goes to school

What a phenominal day yesterday was!  We were all very excited.  My Mom was taking Tristan and our friend's daughter that is at the same day care on a field trip.  They are "boy friend and girlfriend."  We joke with our friends that they are going to get married when they grow up cause we all get along so well, we thought that would be perfect!!  But anyway...  So the field trip.  My Mom said Tristan and his girlfriend were holding hands while they should have been walking single file and they got in "trouble".  I just have this visual in my head, and it cracks me up.  Then after the field trip, Tristan and Jayden were going to spend the night at Nana & Papa's. Yep!!  A night without kids.  This is a very rare treat for Will and I.  So...  What did we do?!  We got the horse trailer out and a couple of horses,  Palmer first.  I lunged him a little.  He was feeling a little frisky!  Then brought him up to the trailer.  He needed a little encouragement, but he went in great.  Then Ms. Isabella's Song (a.k.a. Bella).  She will be three the end of this month and bless her heart has only been on a trailer once when we moved the horses from my Aunt and Uncle's, who were kind enough to allow us to keep the horses at their place until we found a home where we could have them there.  So, Bella, being a true Raven offspring stepped up, put her front feet in, checked out the trailer a minute.  Nuzzled her brother, and then walked right in.  Honestly, I just can't say enough about how amazing the Friesian horse is, and then throw in the Raven blood line.  Well, you just CAN'T go wrong with these horses. 
We got to Brock & Britney's place, unloaded and took them in the arena.  Bella was nervous, but was a very good girl, she didn't bauk, she didn't protest, she was asked, he waited a beat, and she did what she was asked to do.  Brock took her in the riding area, led her up to one of the monster balls the horses play with.  She wasn't real interested.  Brock walked her around a bit and then put her in a stall.  She hesitated, but then again, she went right in. 
You see, Palmer is usually pretty hard to get into a lope when we are riding inside.  He just doesn't want to do it, he is pretty laid back, and would rather be lazy.  But once he gets going, he has a "wild" lope and then usually just stops dead in his tracks.  Will had been giving me grief about it that I can't get him going.  So, I figured it was high time he rode him to see the challenges I have been dealing with.  My beloved husband is just kinda one of those naturally good at just about everything.  So, he rides pretty well, of course...  Well, Palmer showed him.  Brock gave Will pointers and finally Will was getting him into the lope.  Meanwhile I was riding Brock and Britney's horse, Thunder.  He and Palmer could pass for twins.  They look so much alike.  I love to ride him.  I saw Will having success on Palmer, so I wanted to see what he would do if I was riding him.  He of course gave me a little more trouble, but I got him into the lope multiple times.  The start of his lope is really rough going, but once he gets going, wow...  Palmer was sweating up a storm by this point, so I walked him around.  Without my leading, he walked up to one of those monster balls I mentioned earlier and started pushing it around.  He was cracking me up.  He just had this great workout and he still wanted to play! 
Anyway, it was a great night!  We really enjoyed it. 
A HUGE thank you to Brock and Britney again for everything!!

Amazing weekend

I know, I know.  Sounds cheesie,  but yes it really was a great weekend.  Will and I took Tristan and Jayden to Springfield for the Illinois Horse Fair.  We wondered around a little, found HorseMeister, Inc and their beautiful stallions Valiant and Evan, and several of their mares.  They also had their vaulting team there.  We hung out with them for a while.  They were super busy, so we moved on to see what else was there.  None of us had ever had the chance to go to the Horse Fair before.  We walked through the for sale barns.  Saw one pretty grey we all liked and then a pure bred Friesian mare that Will and I loved.  She was spectacular.  Needless to say, we didn't have the trailer with us.  Probably a REALLY good thing!  haha.

We made our way to the coliseum to watch Ms. Judy's horses perform (video).  Oh... Words escape me.  Tristan and Jayden were pretty much DONE with the parade of horses at this point, but the organizers knew what they were doing, they saved the best for last.  Both my two legged kids sat and watched the "Evil Queen of Maquon" rode out pulling the Lady of the Lake.  It was beautiful.  I think the kids would have watched a much longer performance.  I know I would have!  

We walked over to the barn Ms. Judy was in and congratulated them on a beautiful showing.  

The sale barn was calling to me, so we walked through again.  I think next year we will be taking our foals we have for sale.  What a great opportunity to meet people and show the beauty of the Friesian breed.  

Amazingly, in such a huge crowd, we ran into our trainers, Brock and Britney.  It is always good to get a chance to chat with them.  We are looking at taking Bella to them on Thursday to start her under saddle.  I can hardly wait.  She is going to be a knock out!  

This morning we had a fantastic group for Sunday school.  They are so much fun to work with.  We are so blessed.  Church service today blew me away.  We had the "electric service".  I haven't ever had the chance to go when they had this service, so I was excited to begin with.  They band and the singers gave it their all.  My Mom had my niece Taylor there too.  So, my kids were loving it.  Tristan was singing to the songs, Taylor was clapping and dancing with Jayden on her hip.  And Jayden was loving every minute of her Taylor time!  It was a fantastic service!!  Thank you to those that made it happen today. 

To top it off, I got outside this afternoon and spent two hours with my four legged babies.  We got a little video of them all playing in the pasture (or should I say mud pit???).  Hoping to get it cleaned up and posted here in the next couple days.  So, check back on our website please!  I took a couple pictures of them, but they are so dirty.  I will post them anyway, just so you can see updates on them.

I will try to get them loaded soon.