White (after) Christmas!

Well it is two days after Christmas and we are loaded with snow! But lets back track, Christmas Eve was spent at Grandma & Grandpa Coopers. (My kids get Christmas three times! And Emily gets an extra dose with Birthday presents!) It was a nice evening and the kids behaved, but also hid in the living room with their new toys most of the night. Then Christmas morning Tyler woke up about 7 (Curt got up at 6 to feed the horses so he could see the kids when they first woke up) and Emily was right behind him. They are not yet to the point of waking at 4am for presents! After getting through all the presents they emptied their stockings. I put a bag of coal (really chocolate candy) in each of their stockings and Emily found it first.

Emily: "Look, I got my own bag of rocks!" me: "No, that is coal!" Emily dropping the bag, "What!!"

I thought they could use a little reminder that they weren't exactly off the naughty list!!!


So next Cindy and I were getting everything ready for the MacMillan side of Christmas (Curt was doing the barn, thank you Curt). We had planned on putting out appetisers at 12 (when people were supposed to start coming) and then lunch at 1pm. But everyone came late and didn't get here until 1pm, but oh well, there was plenty of food! So we also did round number three of Christmas presents for my kids, yikes we are getting over loaded! Then after lunch, Birthday for Emily.

She was so excited for her party! She chose an "iCarly" cake.

Notice the girl on the right.

So now Emily started round number 4 of gifts!! But I have to say all in all, they behaved very well both Christmas Eve and Christmas day, considering the toy overload!

Now to the snow storm! The day after Christmas they were saying the snow would start, but not until the afternoon. So after getting the horses out and the barn done (Curt had to work), Cindy and the kids and I, ran out to Walmart. I wanted to get snow boots for Curt and I because neither of us had any. I was grateful the snow wasn't coming just yet so we could go out and get them! Oh and Emily got her first ride in a booster seat! No more 5 point harness/baby seat for her!
By the time we got home the snow was just barely started so Cindy thought she'd make a run for it to get home before it got bad. Curt was also on the way home. But the weather got bad very quickly. Cindy saw a number of accidents on the way home but thankfully made it home safely. Curt also said the ride was bad, but made it home safe. And then the snow really was coming down all night. It has stopped now but it is about a foot of snow maybe more but very cold and windy. Poor Mulch was snowed in her house! I had to clear the snow away from her door so she could get out! But then when she could get out she panicked about the snow and ran up under a bush by the garage! She did this last year too, I don't know why she gets so scared. Last year she ran up in the woods after a big snow and didn't come back until nightfall. At least the sun is coming out maybe it will warm up?

Christmas in the City

We ventured into New York city yesterday to see the big Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center. We went on this particular day because Curt was not working and neither of the kids had school. It happened to also be an extremely COLD day!!! But we didn't spend too much time outside. We drove to my sisters house (we could never find our way around the city without her!) in Garfield, NJ then walked a couple blocks to the train station, We took the train to Hoboken and stopped by Carlo's Bake Shop (aka The Cake Boss) for a little pastry treat. Then to the Path train into the city and from there the subway. Once we got off the subway we were able to stay underground and walk to the Rockefeller Concourse and then venture outside to see the tree.
I tried to get a good picture of the kids in front of the tree but they were in no mood to have their picture taken.

My second try

My sister didn't fare much better

Curt really wanted a family picture and that didn't work much either

In the end I setled for just the tree


All in all it was fun, we also went to the Lego store, the M&M store and finally Toys R us and there we took a ride on the indoor Ferris wheel. Then is was back to the subway and trains and then a quick stop at my sister's house to see her tree and use the restroom. We were tired (well Curt and I were anyway, the kids, not so much!) and we stopped for a quick dinner on the way home. It was a long day but it was fun and the kids did pretty well, Tyler only got a little cranky and Emily was very good and she also kept her underwear dry all day. So that was good! :)

Christmas is coming...

and I am not ready yet! I am almost done shopping. Maybe one more outing?? I have all my cookies to make still, I have yet to do Christmas card (and I am seriously thinking about skipping them this year) I have about half my wrapping done (I ran out of tape, but now I have more I've run out of steam!)
Th kids are excited, but not behaving as if Santa is watching however!! Emily said to me that she might be on the good list and the naughty list. Then she asked Curt how to get off the naughty list!!
We made a gingerbread house this year. I just bought a kit that had everything included, you just have to mix up the frosting, and even though it came with a bunch of candy we also added left over halloween & holiday parade candy that no one was eating. It was alittle harder to do then I thought even with it all being premade! First the squeeze bag they gave me for the icing had several pin holes in it so it was squirting out everywhere. (Thankfully I have better, reusable bags with metal tips.) Then because we were doing it in the kitchen (with the wood stove going full blast) the icing wasn't getting hardened and things kept drooping. Eventually we got it going well and looking good. Tyler and I did most of it, Emily lost interest and wanted to sample the candy instead. Tyler just wanted to eat the icing!

By the way the wood stove is awsome! Our house had never been warmer! It is t-shirt weather in the kitchen and it really does help keep the whole house warm! I don't think we could have used it much sooner, however, the kids are at the right age where they understand and repect the heat. Tyler however accidently forgot and touched it twice but has since learned his lesson.

Sylvester enjoying the fire when the kids are in bed!

A quick little story...

Today while driving around Emily says to me, "Why do they call cat feet paws?" I say, "Well, any animal with feet like that are called paws." She then goes, "It's weird, it's like 'pause' your game or something."

Holiday Parade

Today I took the kids to the Holiday Parade in Newton, NJ. It's not the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade but it was nice and the kids had fun. Next year we know to bring a bag with us to collect the candy! We got so much candy it was falling out of our pockets! And to think we had almost finished all our Halloween candy!

My Favorite soup ever!

I got this recipe in the news paper sometime last year and I have made it several times. I've improvised it with left over (homemade) Mac & Cheese and also with leftover mashed potatoes.

Vermont Cheddar Bisque


1 1/2 Cups peeled potatoes cut into cubes
2 Cups Chicken broth
1/4 Cup butter (the original recipe says unsalted, but I never have that)
1 Cup finely chopped onions (or in my case, generous amount of onion powder instead!)
3 TBSP all purpose flour
1 1/2 Cups Milk
2 tsp Mustard (original recipe say Dijon, but again I never have that so use what you got!)
1 1/2 Cups shredded EXTRA SHARP Cheddar cheese


1. Combine potatoes and broth in a large stockpot. Cover and bring to a simmer. Cook until potatoes are tender about 8 minutes. Remove from heat.

2. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add onions and cook, stirring until translucent, 6 or 8 minutes. (for onion power, I just add it to the melted butter) Add flour and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Stir into Potato mixture. Cook over medium heat, stirring until thickened.

3. Add Milk and cook, stirring, about 8 minutes. Do not boil. Remove from heat and stir in mustard and about half the cheese. Stir until melted and then add remaining cheese and season with salt and pepper to taste.

So good!

Oops!

I guess I forgot to tell Emily she might see another girl with the same costume! She went to school today for her class Halloween party. Curt took her and said she was proud as a peacock going in twirling around. But as Curt was leaving he saw another girl coming in with the same costume! So he went back to see how she would react. She spotted the other girl immediately and he said her mouth hung open in shock! The other girl went up to Emily and Em was still just starting and looking down at her own costume. I guess she thought a costume off the rack at Wal-Mart was going to be a one of a kind!

I was wondering how she was going to be when I picked her up, but she was fine. Of course the first thing she said to me was "look, she has the same costume!" The other girl had a cowboy hat but no boots and Emily had the boots but no hat so that made it a little different. They also decided they were twins!

Many faces of Emily

WEG!!

World Equestrian Games. I know I haven't updated in a while, but between getting settled in a schedule with two kids in two different schools and getting ready for my trip to Kentucky (WEG), I've been a little busy.

So, my Mom and I left early Tuesday morning and it was dark and raining. No sooner had we started driving an the light came on for low tire pressure! So we had to make a quick stop for air. Then we off again, until our GPS told us to turn around and start heading home! We didn't listen to it for too long and then we never trusted it after that and we kept our printed directions front and center. We were hoping for a scenic drive but no such luck. The rain stayed with us most of the trip and we also had fog in some areas and even hit some traffic. We got to stop at our favorite fast food spot for lunch, Chic-Fil-A! Thanks to their website which lets you plan your trip and tells you where there are Chic-Fil-A's along the way. The drive was pretty long and we got to Kentucky about sun set and our hotel by dark.


We were up early the next day to go to the Kentucky Horse Park for the WEG. We weren't exactly sure what to expect, but it was huge and amazing!


First we had to park in a huge field and take a shuttle to the actual show grounds, which wasn't terrible except the field was huge and apparently we would have done better coming in later because getting there early we were farther away from the shuttle! And walking was what we had to do all day! The Kentucky Horse Park is huge and there was a lot to see and do. I knew there would be a big vendor area but there was also vendors spread though out the park and there were several permanent buildings to see as well. John Deere was a big sponsor so I had to take some pictures for Tyler.


One thing I didn't realise was the number of demonstrations there would be and they had at least5 different areas set up to do this and almost all of them going all day long! We had tickets for the Team Show Jumping Final which was supposed to be at night but while checking Facebook on my phone on the drive up I saw a notice that an afternoon session was going to be added and our tickets were good for both. If I didn't check Facebook we would have never known. We heard people in the evening saying they wish they had known about the afternoon session. The top teams and would be going at the end of the evening and the US team was in third but the scores for the top teams were all close, so we were really looking forward to that!


While we were walking around we ended up near the stables which were off limits but then I saw a warm up ring and thought I saw a USA blanket so we went over (I'm still not sure if it was a restricted area or not) and I got to see my friend Lee and his wife Erica, who
was riding the super star horse, Sapphire.

She does all the flat work for McLain. It was my first time seeing Sapphire in person, I have followed her career but with on-line coverage. I was happy to see my friends because I really didn't think I would get a chance to see them.



We spent some time watching some of the amazing demonstrations had a little food and then it was time for the night class. I was so hoping the US team would do win it, I thought they had a strong team but it just wasn't their night! Everyone but Laura Kraut(0)had a bad night! Lauren Hough had 12, Mario had a good round going then disaster, horse nearly falling, him nearly coming off and a score of 13 faults, and then McLain came last and I thought for sure he'd go clear. Sapphire is sooo consistently clear that it felt like a given she'd do it again. But she had two down!!! The US finished 10th, too bad! Unfortunately the team scores carry over toward the individual finals and that really put McLain down the bottom of the list (He did recover however and put in two brilliant rounds and move from 26th to 7th but it wasn't enough to get into the final four) So then we had a late night had to follow the crowd back to the shuttle and wait in a long line to get on a bus back to the huge field. We were tired from all the walking but we got an early start again the next day, but our plan was to watch a little of the Para-Dressage (for the disabled) and finish up some shopping, watch a little more demonstrations and then leave early. We saw the most amazing guy (we never got his name but I've since found out that his name is Guy McLean). He's an Australian cowboy and he did amazing things with his horses. He would ride one and have three others loose with him!


He also would get on one of the loose ones with no tack at all and ride amazing. He was very inspiring and made me want to find out more about how he trained his horses, Spencer look out!!


After lunch we decided to go for a drive to see some of the horse farms (we couldn't to a tour because they were booked up) and we just drove around for a while and also stumbled upon the Old Friends Farm but it had a walking tour and we were all walked out by this point! Then we had plans to visit my friend Carrie (from my college days) and her husband Bo (a Race horse vet) for dinner and they are not far from Churchill Downs. So we took a detour and went to see the famous track and the Kentucky Derby Museum as well. I was surprise to see a beautiful statue of Barbaro out front (and his ashes are entombed there as well).


There was even a memorial for Eight Belles (I didn't get a picture of that one). Oh and in the museum they had a little section for the Farriers Hall of Fame and also for Veterinarians and there were a few names I knew!



We finished up our trip with the visit with my friend and we got to see her lovely farm and house and had a great dinner. (I tried the Kentucky "Hot Brown" and m Mom had "real" Kentucky fried chicken!) Carrie is always a great time and I wish we lived closer together, she hasn't changed a bit!!

Mom and I were both tired, stiff and sore from all the walking but we got an early start and headed back east. We were sad to leave because it was a great time and so much more we could have seen and done but I could only leave the family and animals for so long!
P.S. I heard my old boss and his wife were there and I never ran into them, thank goodness!!

P.S.S.

If the WEG ever comes back to the Kentucky Horse Park, I will be there! And I will encourage everyone I know to go as well!!!

Like Emily's outfit?

She was playing horsey, her pony tail was her mane and she tucked her night gown/dress (it's really a dress but she likes to wear it as a nightgown)into her shiny underwear and also a furry cat tail from halloween as her horse tail. She didn't want me to get a picture, hence her running away from the camera!

Sorry...

I've been a little busy! It's been an adjustment getting use to the new school schedules. Tyler: Full days, Monday, Wednesday and Fridays. Emily: mornings Wednesday and Thursday. Then add on I am helping out Wednesday and Friday mornings as "before school monitor" at Tyler's school which means we get to school early (8:25) and stay until all 6 buses arrive (about 8:45) and this helps me earn "tuition reduction credits" I can earn up to $300. off. I also helped out for 5 hours at the school's fall festival this past Saturday. And Tyler's class already had a field trip to apple picking and Emily's class has one at the end of the month too! I have two calenders posted with all the stuff I need to remember! Oh and I have to pack lunch for Tyler or send him with a snack and lunch money. Which doesn't sound like a big deal until it's 8:10 and you need to leave the house and realise you haven't made it yet! Tyler hasn't had any real homework yet but I'm sure that is coming! So for my "free" time when both kids are in school? Well if I'm lucky I get about 20 minutes! Because by the time I get both kids to school, if Curt is not home I have horses to do too! It is quiet with Tyler at school all day, and just Emily home. She will play very quietly by herself, but she is usually playing with Tyler's farm set up and of course he can tell when he gets home! So the fighting usually starts soon after!

Emily's First Day!

Emily had a very easy first day. She is so familiar with her school since Tyler just spent the last two years there! She was excited and went right in, but she looked a little lost about what to do when she first went in. She just kind of stood inside the class room with her backpack. I don't think she knew where to put it! Curt picked her up and he said she was all hot from playing out in the playground. And she was happy to show me all the stuff she made when she got back home. Tomorrow will be a bit of a test since she has school and Tyler doesn't!
Today was the first time the were both in school at the same time! Boy was it QUIET!!! And even when it is just Tyler in school it is still peaceful, but when they were both home it was almost instant fighting!! Lately they have been like oil and water and clashing constantly. Tyler was a little upset when I picked him up because he thought Curt was going to pick him up (and then he found out Curt DID pick up Emily so that didn't help!) So they were both fighting for a while this afternoon into evening. They finally settled down when Curt left for work and I turned off the TV and made them do some practice writing letters (and numbers for Tyler). Then I let them do "night check" (looking in on the horses, giving them a slice of hay and shutting barn doors) with me, which always gives them a chance to run around one last time. So they finally settled down and stopped fighting!!

Last day of Summer!

Is it really? I'm not sure but that's what everyone says! Today we went to Grandma (& Grandpa) MacMillan's for a BBQ, swimming (very cold) and pony rides! The kids had a great time playing with their cousins and my Aunt's foster kids. They took a little while to warm up to each other but then they were all together playing hide & seek, racing, riding the golf cart and swimming. Emily and Kirsten rode the pony (Poncho) by themselves and did very well!

Of course Emily was riding in a dress!

See ya next year Summer!

Tyler's first full day of school.

Today was Tyler's first full day of "big school"! He was very excited and he was eager to get going.

His teacher said he had a good day only...he got frustrated with his backpack because it is too small. Kindergartners are not allowed to have backpack with wheels (I don't know why) and the school supply list I got said a small book bag. So that is what I got, but now we'll have to get a bigger one. Otherwise he came home with lots to say about his new school and he is looking forward to going back so that is good!

Emily got to see her school too today. She starts next week, so I'll put her first day up then. Until then, here is a shot of her and Bob.

Emily...

saw a young girl (teen) at the library today and she goes to me, "Is that girl wearing a bridle?" Me, "No." Emily, "But I see her white straps?!" Me, "You mean 'Bra'!"

Tyler's meet the teacher day!

Tyler had his first taste of Kindergarten today. He just had little over an hour with his class and teacher, they had a story and did a small project and then explored their new room. His teacher is really great with the kids and the class is 10 boys and 2 girls!! Big change from pre-school where his first year the girls far out numbered the boys! Last year it was more even and now it is in his favor! He is the tallest but another boy is not far behind. He doesn't stand out as too tall or anything. He never seems to mind anyway, he is used to playing with kids smaller then him. It was a nice surprise to find out that I know two of the mom's from MOPS! And they both have older kids in the school and already know the ins and outs of the school, so I have some one I can go to for questions. Tyler was really great at school sitting quiet and listening and talking when called on. He's definately come a long way from his first year in pre-school. Now for Friday when he has his first FULL day and I have to send him with LUNCH!!!! Also Emily goes to see her class on Friday and "meet" her teachers, even though she already is familar with the teachers and the class from Tyler going there. But she is really looking forward to it being "her" school! And I am looking forward to some peace and quiet for a change!!!! :)

Two short tales.

TYLER
This morning, we at the top of the stair ready to go down when Tyler said, "I think Dad got us donuts, I can smell them". (Curt had been on an airport run and didn't get home until 3:30.) I wasn't so sure. But Tyler was right! But what is funny, Tyler has the smallest nose and it is always stuffed up do to colds or allergies, so I can't believe he smelled them!!

EMILY
The kids have been enjoying the hot tub and playing in the foam when the high jets are going. But today Emily got a face full of foam and got upset. We told her it was no big deal, it's not soap. But her response, "I don't want it all over my pretty face!"

Okay an update...

I know it's been a while, I've just been feeling lazy!
We got a hot tub at the fair and we've been enjoying that. The kids think it is a pool, Tyler tries to swim in it! The best thing about it is that in chilly weather you can still use it. Right now we aren't making it too hot so the kids can still enjoy it.

Another thing the kids love doing lately is playing with their "farms". There are a few squabbles over who gets what horses but they enjoy setting them up and turning out their horses and feeding them.

Tyler's farm


Emily's farm

Busy few days and fun filled...

but now I am soooooo tired!!!! So lets start with Wednesday. Cindy and I took the kids to the Land of Make Beleive in Hope NJ (about an hour away). It was great!!! It is a small amusement/water park. They are really geared toward younger kids. We spent a lot of time in the water park side of things. They have a huge wading pool (the water is only about a foot deep) and it is full of small slides for the kids with padded landings. We started there and Tyler went down a bunch of slides, and Emily tried two. But both went a little to fast for her and she nearly went under both times so she wasn't looking to do anymore! Then we went in the "lazy river" which is a big river like pool that you just float around on a tube in. We all like that, Cindy and Tyler went in a double tube and Emily would ride on my lap or Cindy's. Later Tyler even went in a single tube. It was very slow moving but nice. Then we went to look at all the water slides and Tyler did want to go on them. So I stayed with Em and Cindy took Tyler, she came back a little while later and said that when they first got to the top Tyler changed his mind and didn't want to do it!! But with some prodding she got him to go and then he LOVED it!!! He went down three different slides over and over again! Sometimes with Cindy and sometimes with me. At one point when Tyler came back and we decided to take a break in the lazy river, Emily kept hugging him because she missed him!! She had spent her time with either me or Cindy just sitting it the wading pool. They also had a big fort with water pouring off it all over that the kids could climb and spray or dump water on each other. Oh, and it had a huge bucket on top that would dump on everyone. After lunch we went on some of the amusement rides (you just pay to get in and do all the rides and water slides as much as you want). Tyler did several differnt rides and Emily tried a few but really just wanted to do the merry-go-round over and over. So that was Wednesday!

Thursday we set aside for a Sussex County Fair tradition, the pre-fair Elephant swim. Every year on the day before the fair, Beulah, the Elephant from the petting zoo, Elephant/Camel rides, gets to take a dip in the pond at the fair entrance. She took a while to get in but then she was splashing, dunking and even started swimming toward the middle of the pond!

Friday, Cindy and I took the kids to the opening day of the Sussex County Fair! We got the kids wrist bands so they could go on all the rides they wanted. Tyler got his money's worth! He even went on the roller coasters by himself!


Emily went on a few rides, some she liked (the merry-go-round, surprise, surprise) some she didn't (the swings). But they were troopers, we were at the fair from about 11am until after 5pm! It was a long dayand a lot of walking. We went all over the fairgrounds and even did the ferris wheel.

So now I think we need to do nothing for a few days!

Day at the Beach.

So yesterday we went to the beach (Point Pleasant), and by we I mean the kids, myself and my sister Cindy. Curt had to work. People might have thought us crazy given the weather report for the day, but if you looked closely at the weather radar it showed that down south they weren't going to get rain! And it was right! We had mostly cloudy weather but it was nice to not have to bake in the sun! And we had no traffic going down (and coming back really), we got a great parking spot right next to the beach and bathhouse. The sun did peek out a couple times while we were on the beach. And the water was not too cold, but the waves were a little rough. There was that once in a while big one. The kids both had a great time digging in the sand and Tyler loved getting splashed by the waves, Emily, not so much.







The great thing about Point Pleasant, there was also a boardwalk with rides, games, food and even an aquarium. By the time we decided to leave the beach and head to the boardwalk, the sky completely cleared and the sun was shining! But that made it alittle hot on the boardwalk! Tyler decided that he like roller coasters and went on it three times!


Emily went on the Merry-go-round twice,


we all rode the train and another spinning ride and the a couple other kid rides. They had a great time and talked about it all the way back to Cindy's house. Until we hit the monsoon! There was a huge storm moving in as we were nearly to Cindy's house and even Tornado warnings! The wind and rain was crazy but we were so close to her house we kept going. Once there we waited it out, but it actually passed quickly. Then after a quick bath for the kids and shower for me, we left for home. They both stayed awake for about half they way home and then Emily passed out and stayed out. Tyler woke briefly but went right to bed when we got home. Needless to say they were tired!