Broken Hearts

In Loving Memory of
Meah
unknown- January 27th, 2009

Not so long ago, if you remember,
our family was given a wonderful gift pony.
Meah was instantly... and I do mean INSTANTLY...
adored by our sweet, tender daughter.

Immediate and Intimate friendship.
Every girl ought to experience that incredible bond with an equine
at least once in a lifetime.

Meah would stand for hours to be groomed
and have her mane braided.
Our Tender-heart practiced plaiting Meah's tail for days on end.
Sometimes they would just walk together.
Mostly, Tender-heart would hop on bare back and
wander the depths of adventure and imagination...
all shared with her most beloved pony friend.

Hair-tied-in-knots also loved Meah deeply.
Meah gave her confidence
and earned her trust.
Meah took care of my girls.
To me, Meah was priceless!!

A Terrible illness robbed sweet Meah's body.
We fought for her
but her body continued to fail.
The worst decision ever was necessary.

In the end, good-byes were spoken and shared
while tears fell.
All those who witnessed it were deeply affected
and none will ever question the bond
that was inscribed on the hearts of my girls.

My sweet Tender-heart is incredibly courageous.
I wanted to buffer the pain and offered to turn Meah over to our vet
in that final decision.
She chose to lead her best friend to the finish line.
More unspoken goodbyes hung in the air.
Quietly, and gently, she removed the halter she'd chosen so carefully
for her Meah-girl only a short 11 months ago.
She rubbed her muzzle and said goodbye.
It was the courage of love...

When I took this picture, my heart swelled because it perfectly
captured my daughter's heart.
And now, it rips my heart out.

And still.... I am ever so thankful that my tender girl
can say she's experienced
that unspeakable, heart-wrenching bond.
Her heart is broken but
she knows what it is to love deeply.

It's NOT My Fault!

That's my story and I'm sticking to it!!

Meet Mr. Banks!


He'll be climbing aboard our trailer tomorrow morning and coming home to be doted on & loved by our girls!

Settling in

What an awesome pony! She's all heart when it comes to the kids. And she's settling in wonderfully here. She very quickly learned the feed time chorus... nickering & calling to us right along with the others.

After spying Meah and Pholly grooming each other over the gate that divides one lot from the pasture, we decided it was time to integrate her into the herd. Pholly was exactly the individual I hoped would bond with Meah. Pholly keeps "GoofBall" pony in his place and I can count on her to keep order in the herd.


We discovered this week that Meah is in her element when outside for a leisure ride. She never batted an eyelash about being away from the herd or about exploring an area of our property new to her.

Happy pony... Happy kiddos... Happy Mom!!

Bugs!

Bugs! Aren't they interesting? Even more interesting is our response to them.

Yesterday we were driving into town when She-With-Once-Skinned-Knee and Hair-Tied-In-Knots discovered a bug present in the back seat with them.

Now I need to stray for a moment to tell you that our girls are not typical girls... at least, not always. Yes, they play dolls & dress-up, love clothes and girl things and are EMOTIONAL... but our girls also chase frogs in the mud, muck horse stalls, help load & unload hay, want to learn basic plumbing, help My-Good-Man-Charlie-Brown with mechanical repairs... etc. You're getting the idea...

So there's two of my girls in the backseat... who not more than 24 hours prior to this point had been wading thru slimy, swampy waters catching frogs... and there's this bug!

Being the devoted mother, I peeked in the rear view mirror to assess the danger said bug might present to my two precious girls. It was a little bigger than a firefly but with the same basic shape & style. It's legs were a bit spidery but not excessively so. It appeared harmless 'tho admittedly, I wouldn't want him ON me.

Since it's finally warm in this region of the world, we opened the windows. Maybe friend, Bug, would decide to depart using the nearest exit. She-With-Once-Skinned-Knee and Hair-Tied-In-Knots took up watch duty over the location and activities of Bug.

Suddenly... and I MEAN SUDDENLY... I hear a gasp- not a scream- and Hair-Tied-In-Knots appears to be in great distress. I mean... she looks like she's coming out of her booster seat and seat-belt. I also can't tell whether she's trying to scream, laugh or cry. That is followed by a shuddering plea for help... "THE.... BUG.....is... OOOOON MEEEEEEEE!!!"

Apparently I'm NOT the devoted mother I thought I was just moments prior because the inexplicable urge to laugh was overwhelming. And now Industrious-One and She-With-Once-Skinned-Knee are laughing. Meanwhile Hair-Tied-In-Knots is frozen in a frightened state and seems to be laughing and crying at the same time.

I know! I shouldn't have laughed. And maybe I should have pulled over. Now no one knows where Bug is. Hair-Tied-In-Knots is convinced that it's now under her. She-With-Once-Skinned-Knee is now cracking jokes about butts and bugs (I told you...not typical girls). Of course, the jokes now send Hair-Tied-In-Knots into fits of belly laughing.

We arrived at our destination intact. I apologized to my wee daughter for laughing at her predicament and gave her some extra hugs & kisses. She had recovered and was back to her usual jovial self.

Bug remained in the vehicle for several more hours. Presumably, he'd found a suitable hiding place. Hours later, while returning our video rentals, Bug flew out the window. Hair-Tied-In-Knots exclaimed, "Farewell Tom!" We didn't know his name was Tom. I guess we missed that moment of communication in our moment of laughter.

Bugs!

Shopping with the Girls

Girls! Three of them plus myself = FOUR!

I've been putting off a necessary clothes shopping trip for several weeks now. Today turned out to be the perfect day. Oh you can only imagine how quick my girls moved when I told them we were going on that shopping trip. It was one of the few times they were prepared to leave before I was!

So! Shopping with three young ladies! You might wonder what that is like. Imagine having 10 windows open on your computer and they are all beeping at you- waiting for you to respond. That's just a small taste! It's a bit of a whirlwind. More than once I was heard saying, "Wait! I can't think!" LOL

Honestly, it is fun to see another facet of their individual personalities come out. They are old enough to start making their own choices about what they would like to wear. It was fun to watch them pawing thru the clearance racks... finding great deals even! Yep! They even look at the tags to see what the price tag is. Not only that... a few times they decided on their own that the price wasn't good and put the item back.

We found some great deals and they all came home with some much needed new duds!

The best part of the day? Back home again, every girl tried on her new attire. She-With-Skinned-Knee had picked out a shirt for me off a clearance rack. It's a nice shirt and was only $2. I tried it on and Industrious-One says, "Oh Mom! That looks GREAT! You look like you're 15!"

Clothes for 3 girls- $... um... let's not talk about that
Shirt off clearance rack- $2
Having your soon-to-be teenage daughter declare you young and hip- PRICELESS!