Gift from the Horse

Sunday was Jacob's 10th birthday. He is our 3rd child, and of all of our children he is probably the most like his Dad. Jacob had invited 2 friends over to spend the night and share his special day with him. I was awoken several times in the night with the laughter of 3 boys just down the hall. During the day, I enjoyed watching them head of to the woods with our older son. I think the kids had a great day. I called them in for lunch, and I noticed that each boy was running to wash his hands. I knew something was up so I asked what they had been doing. We found great bombs! (This was said with much excitement...you know the kind that is way over the top). I braced myself and asked what they were using for bombs...horse poop... it makes great bombs. Lovely...I am sure your mothers' will be just as thrilled as I am. As if all of this wasn't enough, my English Mastiff 10month old HOUSE puppy came inside this evening. I was wondering who had horse manure on their shoes. As the dog came closer to me, I knew who had horse manure on HER shoes. Oh my does she ever stink! She doesn't have any visible signs of manure on her just the lovely stinch from playing in the horse field. I don't have any dry shampoo for her, and I most certainly can't bathe her 130 pound body. I was thinking that maybe I could rub a little vanilla behind her ears...or I may feed her some refreshing candy canes to help with her breath.

As all of this was taking place this afternoon, a friend came by with a gift for us. This was a great gift that was a great surprise. (I promise you this is all true). She brought us 2 truck loads of you guessed it...horse manure. She was cleaning out her horse stalls, and decided it would be a nice thing to just bring it to our house instead of us having to shovel it from her field this spring. I was thrilled because this will result in less shoveling for us down the road. (We use composted horse manure in our raised beds). Who could believe that one day could be so loaded with this much horse manure? Such is the life on a small farm!

House updates: I spent much time on my knees today with a toothbrush doing an acid wash on our new tile. This was due to the fact that as we were applying the grout, I did not clean it as good as I should have. So I spent the morning wearing protective gloves with the doors standing wide open scrubbing the tile. Then I had to do a baking soda wash to stop the acid solution. (I was doing this while the boys were throwing horse manure bombs in the horse pasture)!I now am ready to bleach my grout and seal it. My boys are working hard in the new family room/bedroom. They are spackeling all of the dents, holes, and minor damage in the dry wall. They will sand it, and then it will be ready for paint. (Mother's Note to other Mother's: DO NOT BUY AIR SOFT GUNS AND ALLOW CHILDREN TO SHOOT THEM IN THE HOUSE. It makes a mess out of dry wall)! I guess since they were the ones to shoot the guns it is only fitting that they are the ones to fix the walls.

Well, I am off to finish a few dishes and settle down for a quiet evening. I will be heading to bed earlier this evening due to the lack of sleep last night! My children are begging me to watch another Christmas movie with them tonight. I may indulge them with this request, but I would rather be counting sugar plums in my sleep!

grace and peace,
julie