I am truly grateful for a couple of girls who seem to love watching after Vivian at football games/practices. The above picture is Viv and Rachel. Rachel is awesome, as is Kasi. Are these girls helping with Viv because she's cute and funny? Perhaps. It could also be that both these girls crushing on Max, and what better way to win his heart than to get "in" with his baby sister? No matter the reason, there are some pretty awesome girls for Max to be surrounded by. This is quite the relief for me, since I will be screening and choosing the suitable girlfriends for him soon. As I'm sure my mother can attest to, teens ALWAYS listen to their parents regarding who is best for them to date. (Ok, Mom, you can quit laughing hysterically at that comment. Breathe. )

Highland Football year 5. I am bound and determined to keep a positive spin on this season. Last year ended with drama. This year began with drama. We'll put all of that aside and focus on these teams. Jay's team (JV), has over 30 players and 13 parents offered to help/coach. Max's team (Varsity), has 18 players and the coach resorted to begging for parent volunteers. Eric offered his services as an assistant coach for Max's team. So, basically, my whole family is involved in Colt football in one way or another. (We'll get to Al, later).

Max is not a huge fan of the QB position. He'd rather be a receiver or running back. However, last year he was put in this position and it's a lot like a bad rash....once it's there, it's hard to get rid of. Oh wait, that wasn't the positive spin I was just talking about, was it? Ok, I'll try again....being quarterback is like those pretty, yellow flowers in your yard, no matter how hard you try to get rid of them, they just keep multiplying and returning. I know that wasn't much better, but I did say "pretty, yellow, flowers", so it counts. He doesn't like being quarterback, but he's good at it, so he'll get this position until he really effs it up, or, someone comes along who's better.

Eric is having a great time coaching. He takes it seriously, but realized these boys are out to learn the game and have fun, too. Two of our key players are on the injury list due to sprained ankles and broken arms. With all that, these boys came out last Sunday and played an awesome game. The other team has gone 4 seasons having had no one score on them. No kidding. They had 40 guys, we had 18. The final score was only 12-0. Not bad. There was no shame in the way they played and given that one of their players weighed in at 245, we were ecstatic we didn't have anyone else to add to the injured list!!

Here's Al cheering for her brother. She enjoys cheering for games, but is not such a fan of going to practice. Lucky for her, they will go down to only one practice a week. This will allow some more time to start volleyball at the end of the month. Al can also entertain Viv with cheer after cheer when the maniac is getting restless in the truck!

Jaybird. This kid has heart. He has been playing football for 4 years, now. Every year, he says he won't go out next time. Each year, he changes his mind. He is fast and knows the game. He doesn't have that "killer" instinct to want to rip the opponent's head off, so he's not as aggressive as some of his teammates. However, I wouldn't want it any other way. He's a sweetie, and I'm happy to keep it that way. I tell him to imagine the other team as Max at his most annoying or Ally at her whiniest. It helps.

Eric didn't want any photographic evidence of his apple eating/stealing.

If anyone did their share of eating/stealing, it was this one. I couldn't keep up with finishing off all the apples she took one bite out of. I'm not sure I could really pass it off as taste-testing, either.

We just couldn't wait until October...........
LOVE the apple orchard! We normally go in October, but this year we are going to get two visits in. Viv is slightly obsessed with picking apples off the tree, so we thought we would introduce her to a lot of apple trees. Besides, by the time we got there last year, much of the apple crop had already peaked.



Peek A Boo!



Leave it to Viv to find the small, rotten apple and attempt to eat it.

This girl was in heaven with All. Those. Apples.

Noooo, not a form of torture, he asked to do this. Of course, when he started the journey there were a total of, maybe, 5 apples in the bags.

Mutt training.....week 2

The pooches are doing really well. They have their moments when they forget where they are supposed to sit and stay, but for the most part, they are eager to please and are doing what we ask of them.

Boo, aka; the runner, is really responding to the off-leash walks. Today, I took them to the barn and Boo stayed with me the entire time. Normally, he'd have been gone within the first 30 seconds. I see the joys of this already. Sometime soon, we will be playing and enjoying the dogs' company anytime we go outside. This is good.

All the great outcomes of the training isn't without it's challenges. They need exercise, and while I wholeheartedly agree, time and upcoming Ohio winters are not on our side. Once Max starts school, he will be getting on the bus or I will be driving him to school anytime between 6:50 and 7: 20 am. Then, Jay and Al will need to be heading out to the bus between 7:50, or we'll be piling into the suburban around 8:30. All this while getting breakfasts, running after the maniac, dressing, organizing lunches, homework, etc. I get up at 6:00 to start my day and although I will gladly take the dogs for a run with me, come winter this chick will NOT be running in 20 degree weather. Do I bundle up Viv so that I can walk the dogs in freezing temperatures? No. I'm contemplating training the dogs to run on the treadmill, but I'm not sure that's the best plan, either. As much of a challenge exercising the dogs is, and will be, especially with a toddler who cannot be left alone for even a minute, I'm sure this is one of those things that will work itself out. My "planner brain" has a hard time not stressing about how I will figure this out, however. I am grateful that this is all taking place at a time when the kids are home to help out in these early stages. They have been a huge help, as usual!

And so it continues.............(Mutt training week 1)

Like I need MORE responsibility in my day. That being said, I know that the dog training will pay off. I really do. The whole family is excited for the days when the dogs are very well behaved and we can do so much more with them. However, I struggle to get through a day with just the kids and horses, so the added time and energy for dog training can be almost overwhelming.

Tuesday night, we got them home and I immediately started to work with them. Recognizing the bugs and working through them is half the battle. That night, all I wanted to do was go to bed. My day was sooooo crazy that I realized I hadn't even had time to eat or....well, use the "ladies" room all day. I wanted so bad for the day to be over. Jay is still having problems falling asleep and that is a whole other issue for another day. But, I didn't lay down in bed until 1:00 am. Then, Gracie starts barking. She's in her kennel and with the new environment, she was letting us know she wasn't happy. She barked every 30 seconds - 1 minute for a good half hour-45 minutes. I eventually fell asleep, only to be woken at 5:30 am by...............................you guessed it, Gracie. I thought, maybe, she needed to pee, so I got up and let the dogs out. I was up, so I took them on a run. That afternoon, I tried to do a little one-on-one work with the dogs, so I left Gracie in the kennel and started throwing the ball to Boo, outside. He was doing fine, until he caught sight/smell of some critter in the bean field. He took off. I started to shock him via his collar and kept turning up the heat. I'm calling, "Come!" and he's ignoring me. Soon, Ally comes out of the house and tells me that Gracie is yelping in her kennel. I had the collar turned to the WRONG DOG!!!!!!!! I immediately yelled for Max to go get Gracie out of her kennel. (He was closer, and I just wanted her OUT, so I could apologize!) I was weak in the knees. Max brought Gracie outside and I melted on her. I kept saying how sorry I was and that I was sooooo stupid. She politely agreed, but seemed to accept my love and apology. It was then, that I burst into tears. How on earth can I manage these dogs, the kids, the horses and the house every day, all by myself??!?!?! Things will continue to change around here once the kids go back to school and those left behind start to figure out how the routine works. I don't mind getting up at 6:00 am to start my day, as long as the bumps and bruises are kept to a minimum. I'm sure it will all get easier. We learn new things every day. I learned today, that Gracie cannot handle a 2 mile rollerblading/jog. She has been gimping around all afternoon. Why is it that Gracie is the sole beneficiary to all my mistakes?? It's because she is loving and merciful. She's my "grace from God", hence the name. She was given to this family to serve a purpose and she has far exceeded her mission. This whole experience reminds me of an email I got a while back. It was from a vet who had made a house call to a home where the dog was to be euthanized. I am paraphrasing in my interpretation, but it went something like this; The vet asked the young boy of the family if he understood what was happening today. The boy responded by saying that he knew that dogs were sent to earth to learn unconditional love, just like humans. But because dogs learn it so much faster, it means that they die sooner. The email is so much more poetic, but the message is so profound. Dogs know the kind of love that many humans never get. They are so happy to see you each and every day, no matter if you ignored them the day before or pissed them off 2 weeks before. They don't hold grudges and their whole purpose is to please you. This is why we are spending the money and time on our precious partners. They deserve it.
I'll keep y'all posted.

How about a summer recap? Too bad, here it goes.

We had two wonderful vacations to places that were both islands. No Bahamas or Caymans, but islands nonetheless. We did a little camping, which brought out the realization that I am not the camping kind of gal. Maybe one day we will want to pack up a small house worth's of stuff to go sit by the water, somewhere, only for me to still have to cook and clean and run after a baby. But for now, we'll stick to traveling for our getaways.

Max has a decision to make about baseball. This summer was fun because he was playing a sport, but he also missed out on quite a bit, having to attend a game, tournament, etc. He loves baseball, but doesn't LOVE baseball so much that he's willing to give up 75% of his summer for it. We'll see what happens, but he may decide the local rec ball is a better fit.

We didn't get in on any cowboy mounted shooting this summer due to above commitments. Each weekend there was a shoot, there was also a planned vacation or baseball tournament. Maybe next summer, we'll have a better schedule.

We spent a lot of time outdoors, as you can tell by Vivian's tan lines. The girl loves to pick apples off the tree, ride in the EZ-Go and run around the yard. We'll see if the snow is as much of a draw for her. What will I do with this girl all winter???

We got Boo and Gracie back from the trainer yesterday. They were there for 19 days! Why so long? They are old dogs and the trainer was attempting new tricks. The trainer has worked with Cesar Milan and Cesar's right hand..lady. He was offered a job with Cesar, but opted to stay in Ohio. He's extremely good at what he does and if anyone could get through to my two mutts, it's him. We felt we were really doing them an injustice by having to cable them when they were outside. We couldn't take them anywhere, they'd jump on people who came to the door....blah, blah.....good dogs with bad behavior. Now, we can take them outside, to the barn, for walks, all without leashes. Inside, they have their own "place" where they sit and stay so that there's no funny business going on while I'm bathing the baby or doing laundry. We have some bugs to work out, but we are confident that this will provide them with a better quality of life.

Now that school is getting closer, I am seriously considering going back to work and putting Viv in daycare part-time. We'll see how she and I do on our own without her favorite toys, Max, Jay and Ally. When the older kids were babies/toddlers, I stayed at home with them, and there was nowhere I'd rather have been.....most days. Now, I am less patient, more mournful of a life I looked forward to leading, and no longer in "mommy-only mode". Viv will be fine. She needs to be around kids her own age. Aside from one other person, I know of nobody that has a toddler. My friends, here, are either working full-time or have kids who are at least school age. So, once the Ohio Board of Nursing grants me a license and I find a daycare that I am comfortable with, things around the Schreiber home may become vastly different. I am growing more sure of this decision, but once the day arrives for me to drop my baby off at the house of a stranger, you can call me, puddle, I'm sure. This new venture may not work for our family, but we'll never know until we try. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. For now. Unless I change my mind. ;)