49 & Counting

Second Post of the Day

Happy 49th Anniversary, Craig!

November 20, 1976, Kensington, Maryland.  Look at those babies!! 

Speaking of babies... These six people blessed our family when they were little and now as adults, it's incredible to have them in our lives. Good people, every one of them.

July, 2009 at Leslie and Rick's wedding.

November 20, 2020. Due to the pandemic, we couldn't go out, so Curt, Vanessa, and the kids cooked us a special dinner and delivered it to us!

November 20, 2022 (At Mountain Jacks restaurant - we are going there tonight!)

Fourth of July, 2019 at Jenny's home - ready for the bocce tournament!

Cheering on Craig's football team, September 2021.

Celebrating our 45th anniversary in Iowa with family, July, 2022.

Heading off to Indianapolis, July 4, 2025. (Look closely. The dogs are in the back seat.)

Spring, 2024.

With our our grands at the JC^2's wedding. Times like this make you wonder about a couple of things: where the time has gone is one of them!

The most recent photo taken of us together, October, 2025.

Happy 49th anniversary, Craig! I would marry you again in a heartbeat! Best decision of my life was to say "yes" when you asked. I love our life together. 

We have been blessed.

Celebrating Five Years of Haversacks

First Post of the Day

It was at the beginning of August, 2020 that I first opened Horsiemama's Haversacks & Mercantile. Earlier in the year I'd begun making pouches for friends and as show donations, and I soon realized that people wanted what I was making. Why not go into business?

Five years later, I am still sewing. I've made over 1,300 haversacks and, for the first time ever, I've had to close my order books for a few weeks so I could catch up with all the post-BreyerFest orders that were coming in. (I have a waiting list and will contact those on it when I get caught up. I'm getting close!)

So, Happy Anniversary to Horsiemama's Haversacks & Mercantile, and I am celebrating with a Give Away! The winner will be able to choose one from the haversacks below. The usual rules apply - enter by commenting on any blog post published between today August 19 and August 22. (Two blog posts in one day? Comment on both!) Commenting ends at midnight on Friday, August 22 at 11:59 PM Eastern Time. I'll spin to win Saturday or Sunday and post the results then.

Available to choose from are XLTs for those shelf eaters and then HTs (Hamilton Sized Traditionals)  that are a little roomier than a regular Traditional. Any models are to show scale of print and what will fit in that haversack and do not come with the haversack you choose.

Entries are open now! Good luck!

XLT, Cave Horses

XLT, Headless Horseman in Orange & Black (Medium Print)

XLT, Candy Corn Horn Unicorns

XLT, Headless Horseman in Green & Black (Small Print)

HT, Southwestern Flair 1

HT, Cave Horses

HT, Southwestern Flair 2

 

It's Been a While

Forty-eight years? It can't be!

We were just babies!

And how did we ever do this, especially during our one-income days when I stayed at home with the kids?

It's been fun to be married to my very best friend

and to have the wonderful kids, in-loves, and grands that are now part of our life together.

We may have been only 19 and 24

but we knew our love was strong and enduring and that we were meant to be.

Look where we are now!

Forty-eight years down and forever to go!

Happy Anniversary, Craig! I love you! 

Thanksgiving 2023: 47th Anniversary Celebration

Second Post of the Day

Happy 47th Anniversary to us!

My dad, Craig, me, my mom, sister Jenny, sister Leslie (ya'll know her already, LOL), and my brother Steve. November 20, 1976, Kensington, Maryland. 

We were married in this beautiful temple; if you've ever been driving the beltway in Washington, DC, no doubt you have seen it off to the side of the road. It was a beautiful place to get married.

Fast forward 47 years and how we have grown!

Our kids treated us to dinner at a very nice restaurant last night. Vanessa, Andrew, Mila, Titan, Ian, Cambria, Lukie, Jessica, and me.

Curt and Vanessa are back in town - they'd spent the past few days at Disney World, gotten in around 1:00 Monday afternoon, picked up Gus from where he was boarded, and then had come on over to join us. Those five cousins are very close and were so happy to be reunited! (And Nashie was especially happy to see Gus again.)

Craig, Curt, Frank, Lisa, and Vanessa.

Dinner was wonderful, the company even better. Thanks, kids, for treating us to dinner and taking time out of your busy lives to be with Dad and me as we celebrate our family's beginnings.

Dinner over, we trekked back to our home and watched some football and basketball, talked, laughed, and played games.

I'd forgotten to get Molly's special bed, a place where she feels safe, out from under the china buffet where we store it but that did not seem to matter - she found it and settled in!

In the midst of all of this, Craig and I got a text from Sarah along with this photo.

Oh no! Sarah and Todd both have Covid! And now they would be unable to join us for Thanksgiving. We are all so sad about this, but are making Zoom plans and that will help. 

Today we were going to go to Turkey Run State Park and do some hiking and have "Thanksgiving in the Woods," a tradition Jessica started where we eat s'mores over a campfire after hiking. Sadly, it's raining, so we will have to adjust our plans. (Microwave s'mores will do fine, at least for me!)

And, Cole, Emily, and their girls are arriving around lunch today! While they are staying at Curt and Vanessa's home, everyone will be here for most of the time, including dinner and after dinner plans. 

It's going to be a good day despite the challenges that have cropped up. Stay 'tooned!

Anniversary Blast from the Past

Yesterday Craig and I celebrated our 46th wedding anniversary. (Yeep! When did all those years pass?) Here's a very early blog post from my original blog, Teachinmama, that celebrated our anniversary.

See?? I Knew What I Was Doing!!

Thirty three years ago today, I married the guy dreams are made of.

I met Craig when I was 17, got engaged at 18, and married him at 19. Surely the adults in my life worried about how young I was for such a commitment. But when it's right, it's right, no matter how old you are.

Love you, honey, and have never, ever regretted saying "yes" when you asked! Here's to many, many more happy years together.

xoxoxo

Traveling

 I'm on the road and traveling.

We are visiting horses family and celebrating our 45th wedding anniversary. There is more to come.

Stay 'tooned!

A Decade Together - Part 3

Going through ten years of photos of my girl and selecting just a few to represent each year was harder than I'd imagined it would be. But finally, today I wrap it up. And what a decade it has been!

2020

Hanging together at the gate - one of our favorite things to do.

Little Feller packed a lot of life into the short two days he was here on earth with us.

Sultanna grieved the loss of her foal as did we all. 

Teacher Daughter Lisa and Abby on a warm summer day.

Hokey, Trouble, Abby, and Diablo with Pony Pals/Cowpokes Lukie, Ian, Mila, Kate, Julie, and Susie. Oh, and me, too! This photo became the official photo for Horsiemama's Haversacks & Mercantile.

Abby with my favorite wildflower, fleabane. 

Best friends cooling off in the old barn.

2021

I embroidered and sewed vintage western shirts for my mutton bustin' grands Cambria and Titan. And then, I surprised them with one I'd made for me! (Not a pic of Abby, but still...)

I joined them with our daughter, Mountain Mama Jessica, at a rodeo in Santaquin, Utah.

It may have been a cloudy day, but this picture of Abby still turned out well.

October brought my in-home pony party, Happy Trails, and we took time to head to the barn and visit the horses. From left: Jamie Rott, Pat Reed, Liz Cory, Kelsey Kramer, and Yvonne Rott.

It also brought Abby's favorite fall treat, apple spaghetti!

Cambria takes a spin around the indoor arena at Thanksgiving helped by her Aunt Lisa and dad, Andrew.

2022

 

Winter 2022 brought a lot of snow and cold weather. With a big storm bearing down on us, I ran out to the barn and snapped this photo. I knew it would be several days before I would see my girl again.

I was right - just 24 hours later we'd had over a foot of heavy snow and most roads were impassable.

A long cold, rainy spring followed all that snow and ice. Abby developed conjunctivitis in her right eye that ended up leaving a blind spot on the back side of it.

She got a new friend when Kelsey Kramer decided to move her mare Dolly out to Tim's. It's so fun to have a fellow hobbyist not only in town, but at the barn, too!

After ten years together, one of Abby's character traits has become something I treasure - she loves people and is very, very gentle with the Pony Pals and Cowpokes. That love of people is what made me decide that yes, I did want to have a horse again.

Happy ten years, sweet girl. I hope we get many more together.