The poor horses!!! You know how animals have instincts and can predict weather, danger, etc.? Our horses are freaked out! Is it a storm? They are startling and running and refuse to go in the barn! Maybe it's some horse.... disaster.... fore-telling?? Something is scaring the BEJESUS out of them. Could the barn be haunted? Possibly. However, we think we know what it is......................................





Are you ready?





It might just scare you too - are you sure you're ready for this???












AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! It's a scary, 2 foot high, 30 pound.....pygme goat!!!!!

A guy who does the cowboy mounted shooting told Eric that he cured his horse of cribbing (sucking in air while chewing on wood) by getting him a little "buddy goat". Some friends of ours have goats and let us borrow this adorable little goat, Holly, to see if it worked with Cody. Eric brought her home last weekend and the horses are terrified of her. She is the size of Boo, but for some reason Dixie and George, especially, will not go near her. Cody has been pretty indifferent, but not interested enough to stop cribbing. Eric had to actually physically bring the horses into the barn and tie them up to keep them from bolting out. Each time the goat moved, George acted like he was sensing an attack from a mountain lion! She's a tiny, little goat and completely sweet on top of it all. It's hysterical! Why do WE get all the psychotic animals?!

I mentioned that we decorated pillow cases during Allys sleep-over. There was an extra, so Jay got to work.

And this is on a pillowcase!

I have been told again and again how talented my kids' artwork is. The art teacher has submitted Max's name for talented and gifted identification through the school. I know it sounds like bragging, but it's more like......where the hell did this come from? My mom is an artist, so maybe it skips a generation?? AND, it's not just one of them. All of them are very talented. They didn't inherit any genes for clean and tidy, but they got the art thing covered.

*Oh, and by the way, Jay didn't get out a book or picture to copy from. This is original and from his head - which is basically all Star Wars all the time, but still.

As Schreiber tradition, we usually go out to eat on the kids' birthdays and since they choose the restaurant, it's usually Red Robin. Why? Because they get a free sundae, of course.




Al got to wear a nice little crown all day at school, and the whole lunchroom sings "Happy Birthday". I brought in treats at the end of the day, which were horse cupcakes.................................................................

What a friggin' nightmare!! The sleep-over cupcakes were a breeze, so I got a little over-confident. First of all, the cupcakes call for white circus peanuts. I didn't even know white circus peanuts existed. Well, they do, but are really not easy to find. I finally found some in a mixed bag of white, yellow, orange and pink. I had to buy three bags to make sure I'd have enough. What I like about my new cupcake book is that it doesn't require you to go out and purchase a lot of items you may not use very often, if ever, again. Even though I do have cake decorating supplies, I don't always have the icing bags on hand. No problem according to the book. You can use sandwich bags. Excellent - much cheaper- than actual decorating bags. Have any of you heard the phrase, "Cheaper is not always better." ? Or, how about, "You get what you pay for."? I start out this process of decorating the horses and my bags spring leaks. Each and every bag. My usual remedy for something like this is to duct tape it. Not even duct tape can fix this. By the time I get the horse necks into place (which often times split the cupcake into two pieces down the middle), decorated with what utensils I had on hand..ummm...my fingers, sprinkled the jimmies and attempted to make ears, I was elbow deep in chocolate frosting. I'm not exaggerating, because I still had it on my elbow when I delivered these treats to school. I ended up saying "Eff the tails", because I was sooooo done with them by this point and I doubt the first thing that will pop into a first graders mind is, "Hey, dude, where is the freaking tail on this horse?" These will not be attempted again, but there are many, many more that will be. I haven't been completely deterred from cupcake making!!!

UPDATE:

One of our projects in Brazil was the screening-in of this shelter house. Well, the missionaries there sent our team this picture showing how it's being used.......holding 18 hammocks!! :) Seeing this picture makes me want to go back pretty badly. I'm just glad our screens have held up so well - it'd be pretty embarrassing to learn another team had to repair our shoddy workmanship!! :0

I'm an aunt again!!!!!!!!!!!!! My brother and SIL have been waiting for what seems like an eternity for their adoption referral to come and it came this week! They will be getting a little boy from Korea and will keep his Korean name, which is Kyu (basically "Q" in English). How awesome is this? Well, I'll tell you. It's freaking outstanding, is what it is. My brother called me as they were on their way to Indy to pick up the paperwork. Of course there was screaming, tears and jumping up and down. The kids knew immediately what it was and were asking, "Is it Chris and Crissy's baby?" Yes, indeedy.

As excited as I was that day I go the news, it wasn't until the next day when I happened to be at the mall (I'm there maybe every 3 months or so) and walked into a couple kids clothing stores. I'm standing in The Childrens Place as I realize I now know my nephew. That's when it truly hit me and, of course, it had to be in a public place!! The tears came and I figured I'd just hide myself until it passed, but an employee saw me and asked if I was ok. I replied yes, and proceeded to find the exit. Small price to pay, I say.


Do you NOT just want to pinch his cheeks?!?!

The girls all dressed up and sang some song that has the lyrics "Don't make me snap my fingers in the Z formation....." Really?!?!

What was supposed to be a "let's all lay down and get settled" - type of activity, somehow didn't go quite that way.

Ahhhhhh.....
quiet at last.

I've learned many new things this weekend. The most profound of which, is the fact that I SUCK at being a "girl mom". Bring on the snakes, lizards, dirt and boy stink, but please don't make me do another sleep-over!!! I thought this might be fun. I remember having fun at sleep-overs!

Reasons this won't be a regular occurrence at the Schreiber house:

1. Ally actually prefers to play by herself or with Jay, since they have worked out a very scientific formula regarding time spent playing Star Wars action figures and horses.

2. There has not yet been anything invented to prevent the transfer of Cheetos-orange onto porous surfaces.

3. Apparently, we do not possess an adequate supply of high-heeled, sparkly and gaudy shoes. This is a big no-no in the world of 7 year old dress-up.

4. It is ethically wrong to drug children for the sole purpose of getting them to shut up.

5. I loathe girl drama!! I can't take the bickering, gossiping and crying. I assume it only gets worse, the older they get and I just don't think I should be the one in charge of this.

All in all, it went well. I think the girls had fun and some very valuable lessons were learned. Now, I get to clean up the mess and God-willing, I will be in bed by 7:30 (you think I'm kidding)

So once the girls got here, they took off into Al's room and all you could hear was pounding and giggling and screaming. Max and Jay spent the most the night in the basement.

I had the privilege of having my nails done by Gracie, and she chose neon green and white. Pretty!!!!!!?

Max emerged from the basement exclaiming, "What is that smell?"

Decorating pillowcases.