Fun and games

I am having so much fun with my mom! We play the most interesting games and the best part is, I get treats and pets and hugs when I get them right!

You know, I used to be kind of cranky all the time. My mom would ask me to do things and I didn't want to, or I thought they were stupid, or I just didn't get it and it made me mad. So I'd get cranky, and try to bite her, and I'd swish my tail, and be bad and stuff. She didn't always ask me to do that stuff - sometimes we did really fun stuff. But lots of times I was confused and sometimes I have to admit I just wasn't paying any attention.

But now I'm always paying attention because I never know what my mom is going to ask me to do and if I don't pay attention, she waves that Bag Thing at me and it makes me pay attention! She hardly ever has to do that though because I've discovered how much fun it can be to do what she wants me to do.

I told you before about our Cone Game. That's the game where I have to stop right at the Cone and my mom gives me a treat. We've been playing that game a lot and it's gotten more fun because one day, Mom brought in a second Cone! She put it across the Round Pen from the first Cone and let me sniff it then she got me started free lunging. She let me run and trot and stuff first and then she asked me to walk. Once I was walking, she asked me to stop at the first Cone and I did so she told me I was a Good Girl and gave me a cookie. Then she had me walk again.

I got more and more excited as I approached the second Cone because I just knew she was going to ask me to stop. I kept looking at it and then looking at her waiting for her to say the word "whoa" and sure enough, she did. So I stopped right next to it and poked it with my nose then I looked at her to see if she noticed. She did of course, and she came and petted me and gave me a cookie and scratched my withers and told me that I'm the Smartest Pony in the World. I liked that.

Now we're playing with three Cones. It's fun. My mom makes it tricky because she doesn't always ask me to stop. Sometimes she wants me to keep walking and stop at the next Cone, or walk past all of them and then stop on the next time around. I have to pay close attention to her and I have to remember to walk on the outside of the Cones and not cut inside of them. It's such a fun game! I always look forward to playing it.

We also take lots of walks and I'm lots better about behaving on them now because Mom carries her Bag Thing on the stick and reminds me if I start getting foolish. It's kind of more fun to walk nicely because she's not always pulling on my lead and getting mad at me and I can see things better. Plus we walk longer because she's in a good mood and not all tired out by my Shenanigans as she calls them.

So I'm having a lot of fun. I love to learn new games.

Guest Blogger: Sparky!

Hello there, this is Sparky, Bella’s brother doing another guest blog. It has been a while since I did one and a lot of stuff has happened in my life, so Bella thought I should share it with her readers. The main thing that has happened is that I am not a Pasture Horse anymore. At first that made me kind of sad, I missed my friends and being able to run around free in the field. My Mom said that I was going to live in a stall now because the pasture gets muddy, cold, and dangerous in the winter and she doesn’t want me to get hurt or sick. I love my Mom and I always want to be a Goodboy and do what she wants because she knows what is best, but this time it was really hard!

It didn’t take too long for me to get used to my new life though, and once I did I realized it is pretty nice! Now I live in a cozy stall with good sturdy walls that keep out the wind and rain. My Mom makes sure it is clean and has nice comfy shavings in it, although I do my part by keeping my bed very neat. I poop in one neat little pile and I don’t walk through it at all, mostly I pee outside but if I pee inside it is just in one spot so it is easy for her to clean up. Inside my stall I have a yummy salt lick, an automatic water bucket in my favorite color: blue, and a hangy treat holder that has a carrot flavored treat in it. I don’t really like the carrot flavor as much as the apple flavor but I don’t think Mom knew that. The walls of my stall are all wood and are solid all the way up, but the front part has a gate on it made out of metal pipes. Over it is an open space so I can hang my head out and the guys can toss me my hay. I get my OWN hay piles for breakfast and for dinner! I like that part. I also really like the outside part of my stall.

When I lived in Minnesota I had a stall but it was just a big square box with one door and if that door was closed I couldn’t get out. It was okay because I only lived in there at night to eat my hay and sleep, but now I have a big doorway right across from the gate that leads to a big paddock! I can go out there any time I want to and no one has to let me out or anything. I spend a lot of time out there dozing in the sun, playing or sniffing noses with my neighbors, and just watching things. I am a lucky horse because my paddock is bigger and nicer than some of them. I am also lucky because I am surrounded by friends. Bella only has two friends at her stall but I have lots. Plus there are mares and geldings which is nice because that is what I am used to.

My two next-to-me neighbors are both mares. One is not very nice to me, her name is Sadie. She bites at me and kicks, and if my Mom is giving me a snack she rudely bangs her hoof on the wall or fence. I don’t like that stuff so I pin my ears at her and try to tell her not to do it, but mares don’t always listen or make sense. On the other side is Polly, she is a pony but not so small that she is scary. Although she can be scary when she wants to be! I respect Polly because she is fair, she likes to sniff noses and chat like a normal horse but when a horse does something she doesn’t like she is firm! I don’t like to make Polly mad so I’m careful not to bug her when she is irritated. I can see a mare named Lily from my paddock but we are not nose-neighbors. I know her from when Bella lived in her first stall. My good friend Cisco’s paddock is right up behind mine so we play a lot together. He is a chestnut quarter horse, the same age as me, we have a lot in common so we get along well. Next to Cisco is Classy. She is a very pretty Tennessee Walker mare. I like her a lot. We don’t play but lots of times she will stand in the corner of her paddock near mine and we will sleep with our noses near each other. I haven’t liked a mare this much since Treasure *nicker*

Another thing that makes my new stall good is that my best friend Dooley lives in a stall right nearby! We can smell each other and call to each other and if I am in front of my stall tied up, I can see his stall! My Mom and Grammy were taking care of Dooley for a while because his mom was hurt and couldn’t do the things she normally did. Dooley wasn’t worried though because he knows my Mom and Grammy and his mom came to visit him, she just couldn’t clean or groom and ride him and stuff. Our Moms are friends too so we ride together a lot and we get to turn out together almost every time! I love to turn out with Dooley, he is my best, most favorite friend! First we both roll right away, we really like to roll. Then we like to run around and pretend that we’re wild Arabs! I always get to be the stallion because I was the Herd Boss. We like to play biteface too, Dooley is fun to play with because he is quick and really good at it like me, sometimes we even rear up and strike at each other but our Moms know we’re just playing, we never really hit each other.

Another important thing in my life is that I am learning to be a Trail Horse. This means that I carry my Mom outside of the arenas, not on the farm, out in the woods and I don’t get scared. It is really hard because there are a lot of strange, scary things out there and it is my job to make sure my Mom is safe. I get nervous sometimes when I don’t think I can protect us from something but my Mom tells me not to run. Like one time we saw some people on Bicycles on the trail, that was really scary. A lady at my old barn used to ride a Bicycle and that wasn’t scary, but I think that is because it was moving slow and I knew her and it was right there at the barn so it seemed safer. The ones on the trail were fast and they were ridden by strangers! At first I was scared and tried to run, but Mom was calm and firm and made me turn around. The people on the Bicycles stopped and talked to me so that they were less scary but I still didn’t like it. Still I have to admit that the next Bicycles we saw were a little easier to take, maybe someday I will just ignore them like Dooley does. Another time we had to cross a Bridge! A Bridge is flat pieces of wood, like the walls of a stall, laid down over nothing!! They are just kind of floating there all hollow. The one we crossed smelled a little like water, but there wasn’t any; Dooley said that sometimes there is water running under them! I don’t like water at all, I’m a desert horse, and I didn’t like that bridge either! My Mom asked me to step onto it and I started to but then stopped, I wanted to be a Goodboy, but I was scared. So Dooley went first to show me that it was okay and I followed him when my Mom asked me to. Once we were over it I felt pretty excited, like I was invincible, I even broke into a little trot!

Being a Trail Horse is kind of scary sometimes but when I’m not scared I really like it! It is fun to see new places and smell new smells. I like exploring with my friends and my Mom. Sometimes we get to run and that is really fun! Mom says I am also going to learn to be a Jumping Horse. I already knew that because I kind of am a Jumping Horse already. Mom used to set up small jumps for me and lunge me over them, I loved it! As soon as I am facing the jump I prick my ears up and speed up a little because I am excited! A couple of times Mom let me go over little jumps while she was on my back! I liked that a lot, it was like we were flying together and she was so proud of me! Once last week when me and Dooley were turned out in the Jumping arena I decided to go over a jump on my own just because I wanted to! Mom and Grammy said that I had really good “form” which meant that I went right over the middle of the jump and tucked my feet up nicely. Mom wants to get a trainer to work with us on jumping because she says I have natural talent and enjoy it and she wants to make sure we do everything right. My Mom is really smart and she is very careful because she wants us to both be safe, that makes me feel so good.

At night times Mom or Grammy come and make me my dinner. I love my dinner, it is warm and has alfalfa, pelleted horse food, and bran in it. Usually it has carrots too. I nicker when I see Mom get my blue dish or the kettle that warms up my water. Sometimes Mom brings me my favorite snack: Ritz crackers! They are so yummy! They are crispy and salty and I would rather have one of those than any other snack in the world! After dinner I munch hay with my friends and enjoy the cool night air. Once it gets too cold I just go in my warm stall and curl up safe and cozy. Sometimes I miss sleeping with the guys in the field but I have a really nice life! I am one lucky boy! Thanks for reading my guest blog!

~Sparky

Fun new game

My mom and I have been playing a new game. I really like it because it's fun and it involves treats. Plus I like learning new games.

We started a few days ago. As usual, Mom came and put on my halter and brought me to the Round Pen. Then she brought in something new. It's kind of hard to describe. It has a flat base that it stands on and then on top of that is a round upright thing. The round part is fatter on the bottom than it is on the top. It's made out of some sort of funny material that is stiff but flexible when you nibble on it. It smells a little bit like the tires on my mom's car. She called it a Cone.

She put the Cone down in a spot that was about as far away from the Round Pen fence as I am long. I went over and sniffed it. It didn't seem like anything special or scary so I didn't mind having it there. My mom is always doing odd things when we play. She usually has a reason for it.

Then she started free lunging me. I was ready to run a bit because I hadn't been out the day before. She let me canter around for a while then turned me and I cantered the other way. It was like any other day that we've had recently with her in the middle with her stick with the Bag Thing on it and me running around the Round Pen. The only difference was that Cone. It wasn't in the way though - I just ran between it and the fence and there was plenty of room.

After a while, my mom started asking me to change direction. That's normal too - we do that all the time. It's gotten kind of fun. I try to keep an eye on her so I can tell when she's going to ask me to do it. I can tell just by the way she moves and even how she looks at me. When her eyes flick from my hindquarters to my head, I know she's getting ready to ask me to reverse. Sometimes I do it too soon though - I have to wait until she actually asks me or she makes the Bad Girl noise and quickly turns me back again. She says I'm not supposed to Anticipate.

We had a good workout. I dropped down to a trot and we worked that way for a while and finally she asked me to walk. I figured we were all done but instead of asking me to come to her and petting me, she got my halter and began leading me around the edge of the Round Pen. It was kind of odd but sometimes she walks me to cool off though she usually does it without my halter on. I just follow her. But she's the boss so I walked along with her. We walked around the whole thing and then she asked me to whoa.

I did of course, and she petted me and called me a Good Girl, then she asked me to walk on again. We did that a few times, walking around and then stopping and eventually I realized that we were stopping at the same place every time which was right where that Cone was. I didn't really think anything of it but then she turned me around and we walked and stopped the other way. Sure enough, every time she asked me to stop, we were right next to that Cone. And every time, she told me I was a Good Girl.

After a while, she took my halter off and asked me to walk around the circle loose like I was free lunging. I did it. Then she began asking me to whoa like that. I wasn't sure what she wanted at first. I know how to whoa but it usually takes me a little while to do it. I kind of walk along for a little bit and then finally stop. Now though, she wanted me to stop as soon as she told me to. She stood closer me as I walked and when she told me to whoa, she pointed her stick at me with the bag very quiet. At first, I thought she wanted me to reverse but it wasn't the same movement and posture so then I just stopped and she got very happy with me, petting me a lot and telling me how good I was. So I knew she wanted me to stop.

She still kept sending me around though and then she'd ask me to stop. Finally one time, I stopped and she came right over to me and petted me and petted me and called me Good Girl and gave me a cookie! That was nice. So the next time she told me to whoa, I did it and looked at her hoping to get another one and I did. That's when I noticed I was right next to the Cone again.

I started thinking that maybe that Cone had something to do with all this so the next time I stopped, I stopped right next to it and put my nose down to sniff it. Well, you would have thought I'd done something amazing. Mom hugged me and praised me and gave me a cookie again and petted me all over. She also reached down and touched the cone, then petted me so I knew right then that I was right. She wanted me to stop next to that Cone.

Well, we've been doing that game for a couple of days now and I'm getting better and better at it. It takes me a couple of tries to remember that I have to stop at the cone but once I do it, I remember and I do it every time. Mom says I'm the smartest horse she ever knew.

I also got new shoes the other day. It was a good thing too because just the night before, I had one fall off in my stall. I'd noticed it was loose - my mom did too - and I knew I'd probably lose it. And wouldn't you know it, the very next day, the Shoe Man showed up! I don't know how he does it but he always seems to know when it's time for me to get new shoes. It's pretty amazing.

I was proud to show off my good manners to him and my mom was too. She told him all about how we'd been working and he said that I was just perfect when he worked on my front feet. I didn't fidget or swish my tail or try to bite or pull my feet away or anything. I was a little fidgety with my back feet - I was getting tired of standing there and I knew my dinner hay was waiting. But he still said that I was much better than I had been and he gave me a piece of apple. That was really nice. I love my Shoe Man.

Today after our work, my mom let me graze on the hill for a long time. She's been doing that a lot lately and I've gotten to be really good about it. I used to pull really hard to go that way, and I'd rush to trot up onto the grass and dive my head in. I don't know why. I was so eager to get to it that I couldn't seem to behave. But now I'm a Good Girl. I stop when my mom tells me to and if she leads me toward the grass, I just walk nicely. I don't try to pull away or run onto it either. I just walk up the hill and put my head down to eat when she says it's okay. And I leave when she tells me to, also. That's not easy but she always lets me have lots of grass and she takes me out there pretty often so I know I'm going to get more another time.

It's funny. Since we've been doing all this work, I've gotten so that I trust my mom a lot more. I always did trust her but I also sometimes felt that she didn't know what she was doing, or that I knew better than her. Now I don't. I feel like she's in charge and that's okay because she doesn't make me do anything scary or awful or anything. She takes care of me. So that's nice.

The picture is me while the Shoe Man was playing with my feet. It used to be that my mom had to hold me the whole time but now she just ties me and stands near my head. I guess that means I'm getting to be a Big Girl now.

In my stall

You'd think from reading my blog that I spend a lot of time playing with my mom, or going on walks or rides, or having turnouts. But actually I spend most of my time in my stall. I do get out for several hours every day but my stall is my home. Lots of times I write about what I do when I'm out because it's always different. The stuff I do in my stall is kind of a routine but it's one I like. So today I thought I'd talk about it.

First I ought to describe my stall. It has two parts - the stall itself and the paddock part. The stall is my inside part. It's a nice size, big enough for me to move around comfortably, and to lie down if I want to and even roll. It has a built-in bucket thing in one corner and there's an opening there that I can stick my head out and the guys can throw my hay in. Lots of times it lands in that bucket thing. I usually use my nose to poke it out onto the floor because I prefer to eat with my head down. But there's always little bits left in the bucket and I eat those up too.

I have a salt lick in that bucket thing too, so when I eat my hay or any snacks that go in there, I often lick the bits off the salt block. That tastes pretty good so sometimes I just keep licking at it. My mom says salt is good for me. It makes me thirsty though so I usually have to get a drink after a while. That's okay though because I have a water bucket in another corner. It's a neat water bucket because it never runs out of water. When I take a drink, it gets lower in the bucket but as soon as it does, more water comes into it! I don't know how that works but I like it, though I wish I had a water trough like the pasture horses do. I love to play in the water and my bucket just isn't big enough for that.

In another corner is my duds closet. It's just a flat wall but when my mom opens it, you can see it's really a door and behind it are all my duds like my saddle and bridle and my brush box and all my pretty saddle pads and polo wraps and blankets. I love my duds closet. Whenever my mom opens it, I like to poke my nose in and look at all my things and she lets me. Sometimes I try to pull things out and she tells me I can't do that but it's just because she doesn't want me to ruin them.

There's only one corner left and it doesn't have anything big in it but it does have something special and that's my keys. I love keys. My mom carries her keys on her pants hooked onto a little loop and I love to reach out and play with them. I take them in my mouth and they jingle and feel funny against my tongue. So one day my mom brought me some keys of my own to play with! They're bigger than hers, and they're made out of different stuff - kind of like my water bucket actually - but they're on a ring like hers and she hung them from the bars of my stall so I can play with them whenever I want to. That was nice of her. She thinks of things like that.

I also have my ball toy. That's a round ball that hangs from the ceiling of my stall near the bars that separate my stall from Cocoa's. My old stall just had plain walls but this one has big barred windows on both sides so I can sniff noses and see my neighbors. I like that lots better. Anyway, my ball toy hangs there. I don't really play with it but I do like having it there. It's mine and seeing it makes me feel at home. Sometimes I like to just walk past it and brush against it. It makes it swing gently and that makes me happy because that means I'm in my own stall with my own things and I can play with them whenever I want to. That's nice.

My stall door is the kind that slides open and shut. It has bars on it too - in fact, there are bars across the whole front of my stall except for the window part. I like that. It makes me feel safe inside my stall because other horses can't just poke their heads in whenever they want to but I can still see outside. Outside is an aisle with a roof over it and that's where I eat my hay snack when my mom is cleaning my stall. It's nice because even if it's raining, I'm nice and cozy under that roof. Some of the barns don't have an aisle like that so we're lucky.

My paddock is the outside part of my stall. It's about the same size but instead of walls it has a fence made out of metal pipe stuff. That's nice because me and my neighbors can put our heads over it and visit each other. Cocoa and I like to groom each other over the fence. My paddock is nice because lots of times it's sunny out there and I can stand in the warm sunshine and doze with my neighbors. That's one of my favorite things to do.

Another thing I like to do is watch the horses that are working in the Flat Arena. The Flat Arena is right behind our barn. There's a bush growing outside my paddock, and a little short hill with grass and rocks on it, and then the Flat Arena is right there. We can see it really well, all but a little bit that's blocked by the bush. I like the bush though because it's kind of shady sometimes and it smells good.

Lots of times I see horse I know working in the Flat Arena. I like that. Since Cocoa hasn't been here as long as me, and hasn't been around the other barns like I have, I often tell her who they are. I feel sorry for Cocoa sometimes. She doesn't get to go out like I do so she doesn't have any Adventures. I tell her about mine sometimes and she likes to hear about them. And sometimes I explain to her what the horses are doing in the Flat Arena because she's just a broodmare and doesn't know anything about riding like I do.

Sometimes exciting things happen. One time Spencer got loose and ran all over the hill across from my stall. That was pretty exciting and I wished I could do that. Other times I see big groups of riders and horses going past and I wonder where they're going and whether they can run as fast as me. And sometimes I see people with dogs or little people. I like little people. One of them was petting me today and he gave me a piece of hay to eat. I liked that and I took it very gently so I didn't bite him.

One of the best things is when people I don't know come and look at me and they usually give me some grass or hay or something. They usually tell me how pretty I am and they pet me and don't make me do anything. And I also love it when my mom cleans out my stall and puts fresh shavings in it. I love to roll in my new shavings! They smell so good and it feels so nice!

But the very best thing of all is when my food comes. Every morning the guys bring my breakfast hay and every afternoon they bring my dinner hay. And when my mom comes, she usually gives me more hay and my bucket dinner. She always puts carrots in my bucket dinner and I find them with my nose and poke them out of my dish so I can eat them first. I love my dinner.

All in all, I'm a very lucky horse. I have a nice home that I love and I'm cozy in with all my special things around me. And on the door there's a board thing that has my name on it so everyone knows it's mine.

Breakthroughs

I'm probably the Worst Blogger Ever. The thing is, I have to depend on my mom's help to write this and she's had a run of bad luck. She kept getting sick. She still came and took care of me and worked me, but she was awfully tired and run down. First she had a bad cold, and then she got something she called Diver Tickly Itis or something like that. She said it was like a bad tummy ache. Well, I've had bad tummy aches. Us horses call it Colic and it's no fun at all so I understand her not feeling like helping me blog.

After that, she was okay for a couple of days and then she got something called Pneumonia! So I've tried not to bug her with lots of extra things but now she's feeling lots better so we thought we'd get caught up again.

We've been doing lots of work with that Bag Thing. Mom brings me to the Round Pen just about every day and works me with it. I've gotten pretty used to it now and I'm not scared like I was at first but I still don't like it when it rattles at me so I try really hard to do what my mom wants me to. It is like a game, and since I like playing games that makes it sort of fun. I have to watch really closely to make sure I don't miss any cues and as soon as I see her begin to switch hands with the stick, I start to change direction. I've gotten really good at it.

At first, when we were done, Mom would put the stick down on the ground and move away from it. Then I'd walk up to her and nuzzle her and she'd pet me and tell me I was a Good Girl. I was afraid to come to her while she still had the stick and the Bag Thing. But after awhile when I got more used to it and less afraid, she'd just ask me to whoa and then she'd hold the stick upright with the bag kind of wrapped around it in her hand. That way it wouldn't rattle.

The first time she did that, I was kind of hesitant but I approached her and poked my nose way out for a pet. I didn't quite dare get too close. She pet me and talked quietly to me and then leaned the stick just a little bit closer to me. I knew she was doing it so I could sniff it if I wanted and so I very carefully put my nose out and sniffed lightly. Just the little bit of breath from my nose made it rattle just a little bit and I jumped back but Mom held it very still so I came back and sniffed again. It just smelled like a bag but I was very careful of it. I didn't want it to rattle at me again.

Since then, we've kind of gotten into a routine. First she takes me to the Round Pen. I try to behave when we walk there but it's pretty exciting and I'm usually frisky so I tend to twirl a bit. I'm not rearing anymore though. I've Learned. Rearing is not Manners. I'm also striking a lot less because that's not Manners too. Sometimes I still do it on accident but I'm not aiming at my mom - I'm just pawing at the air.

Anyway, once we get into the Round Pen, she works me hard with the Bag Thing. Then we go for a walk. I'm always better about walking after we have our workout. I'm tired out for one thing, and also I'm remembering better because I just got reminded that I have to be a Good Girl. Sometimes if I'm really good on our walk, Mom will take me onto the grass so I can graze. I have to behave though. If I try to rush or trot onto it, or if I go before she says to, she takes me right back to the road and has me start over. It's hard.

But today, we did something different. Once we finished our workout in the Round Pen, Mom began walking around it carrying the stick upright. I followed her because I knew we were done and I wanted her to know I was paying attention. I could tell that she liked that. Then I got kind of close and began nudging her back. As soon as I did that, she rattled the Bag Thing a little bit. I stopped quickly and she quietly folded her hand back over it so it didn't rattle anymore and told me to come on. So I walked with her again.

Well, every time I pushed her, or nibbled at her pant leg, or did anything except walk nicely, she rattled that bag. Just a little bit but it let me know that I wasn't supposed to be doing whatever it was I was doing. So I stopped doing those things and just walked. Sometimes she stopped and when she did, I did too. Then she'd quietly say, "good" and when she began walking again, I walked too. She even had me back up and I did that.

Once I'd gotten the idea, she got my halter and we did some more walking in the Round Pen with my halter on. She just held onto my lead very loosely and carried the stick and I walked along just as I'd been doing before. I knew what she wanted, you see. Finally, she walked to the gate and opened it up. Normally when we go out the gate, I'm in kind of a rush and I try to hurry out. This time though, I knew she had that Bag Thing and I'd better walk nicely like I'd been doing in the Round Pen. She kept the lead just as loose as it had been and we walked out of there.

I kept my eye on that Bag Thing and just walked. I walked right onto the road and kept beside my mom nicely. One time she stopped and I stopped too. She was happy with me for that. She walked me up and down the road and then around behind the tack boxes to the wash rack where she rinsed all the sweat and mud off me. Then she brought me back to the road and led me toward the grass.

I was happy about going on the grass but I knew I had to be good so I waited until she said I could step onto it and put my head down before I did it. She was so happy with me. She didn't have to tug on my lead or hold me tightly or anything. I was being extra good. I messed up just once. When she decided it was time to go back to my stall, I didn't want to leave and I pretended I didn't know she was asking me to pick up my head. She just reached that Bag Thing forward and shook it slightly by my face and I jumped out of my skin! My head came right up and I jumped backward but as soon as my head was up, she'd made the Bag Thing disappear into her hand again. I snorted but stopped and she talked quietly to me and asked me to walk and I did, nicely. We went to my stall and she gave me my hay while she cleaned.

It was an interesting day and Mom called it a Breakthrough because I'd walked so nicely on a loose lead. I feel like I'm Learning a lot and it makes me want to behave. I've kind of remembered that my mom really does know what she's doing and it's okay if she's telling me what to do. I'd sort of forgotten that. I get kind of bullheaded sometimes.

I don't have a new picture to put on this blog entry because we've been so busy working so I'll just use an older one. It's still cute. It's from the day I ate Sparky's cooler.