Coming to Indiana - Opening the Quiet Book

Second Post of the Day

Thursday evening the JCs^2 opened their quiet book.

After all that work, it was a delight to watch them and see how excited they were about it.

I especially enjoyed JC's reactions - he'd had his own quiet book as a child and so he recognized pages and tweaks to other pages as soon as he saw them. That made me really happy.

He understood the connection to the Wiggles guitar that he had had as a child and the "Play your guitar with Murray" Kangaroo page immediately.

After he'd gone through the book once, he went through it again, this time more slowly and commenting on the pages and what he remembered of them.

Trinity took a look, too. I've told her that I would make one for her as well, and asked her to give me some ideas about what pages she'd like to see or if there is a theme she wants for hers.

Yes, you read that right. I committed to making quiet book #23. I also committed to making quiet book #24 for Lisa. My goal on Trin's is to finish it for Christmas, but we shall see, what with The Feast of the Hunters' Moon approaching and all.

In the meantime, though, I am going to bask in the joy of having finished quiet book #22.

A REAL Halloween Treat!

First Post of the Day

Yesterday I wrote, Our family received a very sweet treat. For Craig and me, you could say it was great, even grand! 

The words "great" and "grand" were a hint as to what that treat was.

Elsie Mae, our first great grandchild, was born Halloween morning in Idaho!

The resemblance to her daddy is strong.

Really strong. I'll have to get out some of JC's baby pictures to show that resemblance.

Jayci is doing well and the family is now home and settling in to parenthood.

Grandmama Sarah (who will be known as "Gimme," as in "Gimme that baby!" I kid you not. LOL) has gone up to Idaho for a few days and is helping the family out. Todd will go as soon as he can.

Aunt Trinity came up with Sarah's name. For years we have called Sarah "baby whisperer" with good reason. If there is a baby in the vicinity, she will eventually be found holding it. A young, tired mom needs a break? Sarah steps in. And so on. Gimme fits her perfectly.

Trinity also dubbed her dad "Gimpy" because he's been having some knee problems, but he found his own name - "Grandpapa." (He says he'd like the r to be rolled when it's pronounced - I think he was kidding but I am not totally sure! Hah!) 

Welcome to the clan, sweet Elsie Mae! 

JCs^3??

Yesterday I posted this teaser at the end of that day's blog post.

I've got some GREAT news to share with you all tomorrow. You might even say it's GRAND. This MOTHER sure thinks it is! 

Stay 'tooned!

Yes, indeed, I am becoming a great grandmother this fall!

 The JCs^2 are expecting! 

We don't know the gender yet, but we are all over the moon at the news. 

Congratulations, JC and Jayci! 

Another post is coming today - with the April Give Away! Stay 'tooned!

JC & Jayci's Wedding: Part 1

For the first time since 2018, our entire family was together in one spot. That's a lot of Isenbargers - 27 of us! And it was wonderful.

Lisa, Craig, and I drove out together - a 24+ hour drive that we split into two days. We took my car (behind us) which had no problems getting us there. (It was the drive home that became dicey.)

Our main gathering place was a Vrbo with room enough for us all to play games, watch the Olympics, and chat.

There was a huge (and shady, thankfully) back yard with lots of room for the kids to play and enjoy themselves. (Cambria, Kate, Julie, Susie, and Titan.)

Me, Cory, Kyle, Melissa, Addie, Whitney, and Craig.

Abby is Cory's "twin horse" - I got the call that she'd been born as I was hauling Abby from Indiana Horse Rescue to Tim's place. Notice her cute horsey tee shirt.

The "twins" together in 2018. I love the happiness on both their faces.

We call Julie, Cambria, Whitney, and Ian "the Quads" since they were all born within thirteen weeks of each other. (Interesting that the oldest is the shortest and the tallest the youngest!)

The original photo from July, 2014. Cambria, Julie, Whitney, and Ian.

When they were babies, we took a picture of them like this and recreated it since we were all together.

For the life of me, I cannot find that picture but I'll keep trying.

The Vrbo was a great gathering place, but there was no way it could hold all 27 of us. Todd reserved a block of rooms for us in an Embassy Suites hotel.

The view from our room, looking across the valley. It was hazy due to fires burning in California.

The wedding day was excessively hot and it caused problems for us right from the beginning.

Combine that heat with the smokey haze and the much thinner air due to being so high up in the Rockies, and it was no surprise that we had problems.

The wedding (performed by Craig - what an honor!) was indoors and in the morning.

But when the bridal couple came outdoors, we were already wilting from the heat.

The new Mr. and Mrs. Coleman. Don't they look happy?

Walking to the site chosen for family photos. Lisa kept the bride in the shade while Whitney and Cambria walk with them.

The heat was awful and getting 50+ people organized was time consuming and tedious. Those not in the current picture would immediately head to the shade.

Some of us got a little silly. I nearly tipped myself over backwards clowning around like this. Lesson learned. 

People began wilting from the heat almost immediately and finally we decided to head on over to the air conditioned reception venue and finish there.

It was a good idea, but already the heat was taking its toll. 

Stay 'tooned.

Briefly

 We are back from JC and Jayci's wedding. It was lovely.

It was also fraught with car problems, excessive heat, and illness.

More on the wedding is coming - right now I am catching up on sleep, doing laundry, grocery shopping, and more.

And apologies for the issues with the blog posts while I was gone. I'd written and scheduled one to drop every day except for yesterday but I know at least one did not post when I'd expected it to.  I will be posting daily starting now. Depending on how much I get done as I unpack,  you may even get another one later today.

Stay 'tooned!

Foal Haversacks & a Smile

To make sure my sewing isn't one-sided and only 18th century garments, I have begun cutting out several haversacks on Saturdays and then working on them a little bit at a time with the goal of finishing them by the following Friday. I have been surprised at how many I've been able to get finished since I began that practice - I've nearly doubled what I'd already had on hand! Needless to say, I feel better prepared for the Great Lakes Congress show that is two weeks after The Feast.

I'm also trying to go through my remnants of horsey fabrics and sorting out pieces that are still big enough for a haversack. They are not large enough for Traditional haversacks, but I have been able to get a lot of Classics, Curios, and Stablemates done. I've even got some that are made for Traditional sized foals like this one.

I originally bought this chicken fabric to make donations for Danielle Feldman's chicken themed show.

The fabric proved wildly popular and I've bought more of it several times. (It can be found at JoAnn's if you're interested.)

Not only will haversacks of this size fit many Breyer foals,

but they will fit smaller Classics, too. It's actually quite a versatile size.

I also wanted to share something with you that makes me smile, a photo of my second oldest grandson, JC. He has his first serious girlfriend and sent me this photo of the two of them.

Her name? Jaycie. Can you believe that? JC and Jaycie! What are the chances that he would find a girl with the same first name, albeit spelled differently? He's pretty smitten and I hear she is, too. 

I'm still smiling.

Priorities - A Quick Run to the Barn

Horseyreader arrived at 6:00 PM last night; by 8:00 we were at the barn at her request!

 That's my girl!

JC, while not the horse aficionado that his sister and grandma are, still enjoys handing out carrots and pats.

 Trin's more like me - up close, arm around the horse's neck, talking to the animal...

Abby looks small in this picture. I think it is because both kids are tall - they've passed me up height-wise!

Because it was muddy and there were lots of flying bugs around, only Abby came up to see us when called. (Probably also because I only give treats to Abby and Diablo - the boys get pushy over handouts.)

Trinity sure has her priorities in place - just got in from a two day drive from Colorado? No biggie. Let's go see Abby!

An Almost Escape

Sunday when Lisa got home from visiting the horses, she commented that Persuasion had been separated into a paddock by herself. "That's odd," she said. "Why would Tim put her there by herself?

I responded that perhaps Dolly and Tanna were coming home soon and would be keeping her company and then didn't think anything about it.

Until yesterday when I realized just what was happening.

JC, Trinity, and I were out checking the herd in the afternoon. Suddenly, Persuasion ducked under a rope used to temporarily fence the horses out of an area Tim was letting grow. While I was surprised that she did that, I really wasn't worried until I realized that there was just a rope separating that field from another, and that the gate to the other field was being used to keep the horses out of another part of the pasture.

Which meant that, should she duck under that other part of the temporary fencing, Persuasion would be loose. And if the other horses joined her, we could have a bunch of horses to round up and catch.

Thinking fast, I ran into the barn, grabbed a longe whip and a lead rope, and dashed back to the pasture. I had Trinity take some treats down to the pasture the horses were supposed to be in with directions to call the herd, and then stationed JC with the longe whip at the spot where, if the horses ducked under the rope, we'd have escapees. His task was to wave the whip and shoo the horses away from that section of fence should they go that direction.

Normally the horses are quite willingly follow the food. And naturally, this would be the day when they did not. They stayed with me, despite Trinity's best efforts to entice them.

I hustled back to JC and grabbed the whip, then snapped it in the air behind the horses. That got them moving down the lane, and when they realized Trinity had sugar cubes, they were happy to hang with her.

Giving the longe whip back to JC (in case Persuasion, who was still in the verboten pasture, went his way instead of toward her herdmates) I stepped under the temporary fencing and approached her. She is a sweetie, and turned and walked to me as soon as she realized I was nearby, so putting the rope around her neck and leading her to safety was no problem.

Clucking and shooing, I got the horses back into the pasture where they belonged.

Except for Abby.

 Remember how she follows me around? And hangs out with me? She saw no reason to move on with everyone else.  I snapped the whip - not even an ear twitch. I waved my arms and told her to go on. Nothing.

I even pushed on her shoulder to make her move; she took two steps and looked at me patiently if a bit puzzled - I have never pushed her away from me before.

Finally, I got some sugar from Trin, showed it to Abby, and then walked out into the pasture where I wanted her to go. True to form, she ambled right after me, and after getting a pat and a scritch, finally wandered off to join her friends.
Quickly I pulled two gates together, fastened them into one, and the horses were secured.

I called Tim and let him know what had happened and how I had handled the problem, and he said he would be out in an hour and thanked me for taking care of the problem.

I sure am glad I had JC and Trinity with me - I am not sure how I would have taken care of things otherwise!

JC's Bronco

Okay, so I know JC lives in Colorado now, and the Denver Broncos are his local team....

Still, it makes me proud when he draws me a horse! Even if it IS the Denver Broncos' mascot!

Holiday Horseplay

On Christmas Eve, Lisa took JC and Trinity out to play with the ponies. As she said, "You can't come visit Grammy and NOT go see the horses!" Agreed!

 Diablo is lovely to look at and beautifully sweet as well. She patiently awaits her sugar cube from JC.

 Trinity also offers Diablo sugar. Abby looks a little jealous that her BFF is getting all the treats!

The smile on Trin's face reminds me of the joy I felt around horses when I was her age - and still do. She's rattling that horse cookie sack and has gotten Abby's attention.

 Such a great photo of JC and Abby (finally getting her treat!)

This picture makes me laugh. Abby is stretching her neck out to Trinity for a horse cookie while keeping an eye on JC and the goodies he might be offering!

Horse-sitting Leslie's Herd

Since I am horse-sitting Leslie's herd while Groompa Camp is going on, I took the kids up to Brookston today when I went to check the horses.

Relaxing in the dirt seemed to be the order of the day!

 Beau enjoys a good roll in the warm June sun.

 TCPOTE (the cutest pony on the earth) also was reclining - in the manure pile! Oh well, I guess it was a soft place to lie down!

 Skippy and Trinity get acquainted.

Everyone got some sugar cubes and a good scritch before we headed back home.