Back In the Saddle Again

Blue skies and bearable weather (actually beautiful weather)

means it is that time of year again.

Time for Kean's Hippotherapy sessions.

 We even have Clark joining us...

to not only lead the horse but more importantly,

help keep Kean in the saddle.

You should have heard our boy giggle non stop

when we started trotting.

Not sure he was laughing with glee at going bumpity bump

or laughing at Clark and I trying to keep up.

 Holland has some big news-- finally, finally (she's been 

excited about this day forever), she got braces.

 Her mouth is a little sore but so far, so good.

 We also had Kean's second session with  the Neuro Psychologist

at St. Luke's.  If you remember (from my past rants), the state

is requiring Kean have a lengthy IQ test to make sure he

is still eligible for therapy services (read still has Down syndrome).

 Dr. Deidrick is one of the good guys.  She thinks this testing

is as ridiculous as I do-- but has slogged through getting 

Kean to cooperate (with lots of breaks).

 And she thinks she has enough for him to pass (or fail)

depending on how you look at it.

Yes, he will qualify for services again.

 And finally, after spending the day at the hospital, I got  to

spend the evening with Miss Reese.

Our church held a Luau for the girls around Reese's age.

 The party featured a yummy dinner, hula lessons,

 a hula performance for the mom's,

 games, the limbo and lots of fun with friends.

It was the perfect way to unwind and relax after such a long day.

Knock 'em Dead

It was toasty warm today in Idaho.

Lucky for us it was about two degrees cooler in the riding arena

versus the outdoor arena for horse therapy today.

We were a little worried in that lately, Kean just wants to

"trot, trot, trot".

With the temps near 100, we weren't 'chomping at the bit'

to run our tails off.

(apologies for all the horse references)

We completely scored in that there were about 8 tall poles

that Kean had the best time reaching out and

knocking over.

 He'd slam them to the ground and then break out in giggles.

Good for him and good for us.

A Death in the Family

We are so very, very sad here today.

Do you remember Kean's first horse love, Reba?

 She was the five year old mare he started horse therapy lessons

on about two years ago.

 It took him a little bit of time to warm up to her.

But for Reba-- it was instant.

 She was young, wild and wiggly until Kean got on her back

and then she was as gentle and calm as if she knew she 

was carrying the most precious of loads.

(And she was).

 Kean would pull her hair, poke her nose and give her

big bear hug, head locks.

(Reese was much gentler).

But she'd take it all and not even flinch.

Kean hasn't been riding her lately-- he's been on Romeo

because Reba was pregnant with her first.

She went into labor last week and we hoped she would have

her baby while we were there at lessons on Wednesday.

She looked so good.

We got word today from Candice that neither Reba, nor the baby

survived birth.

How very, very sad.

Steal, Shove and Bail

What a day.

Kean and I walked the girls down to the bus.

He couldn't wait for that big yellow contraption to come pick the girls up--

so off Kean went walking up Grandpa Bodily's long driveway

where he waited patiently for me to get to the house.

 He's so funny.

Once inside, it was a bee-line for the refrigerator, where he

had to take his jacket and

those pesky shoes off before he could decide what to eat.

Keep in mind, he'd already had a full plate of bacon, eggs and juice

before we left our house!

 He started this new thing where he stole Grandpa Bodily's toast,

took a bite, then went over and force fed Grandma Bodily.

 It was so much fun, he decided to give Grandpa Bodily

a bite of what was originally his toast anyway.

 You've never seen the kid so proud of himself.

 I thought with his good mood, he'd be a rock star in Speech Therapy.

Um, nope.  Try a total pill.

He was 96 percent uncooperative.

Sigh.

But we did get a pretty good run out of him for

horse therapy today.

 Meet Team Kean:

Candice is the horse therapist and Clark is helping

with everything from getting the horse ready to taking Kean

around the arena and for walks around the ranch.

 We all have to be on our tip toes-- Kean is into this suddenly bailing

off the horse and thinks it is quite funny.

Ha, ha, yeah right.

I'm getting to practice using those cat like reflexes.

Luckily, I have these two to help try to keep him upright!

Trust me, we have our work cut out for us.

p.s. heavy Chemo tomorrow.  I can't believe a month has passed

since the last round.  Feels like about two weeks.

Guess that's good that it is going so fast!!

Reunited And It Feels So Good...

Look at who is back in the saddle again!

Finally, we are through the drudgery of winter

and able to have horse therapy again.

 My friend's son came and helped us out today...

 and Kean was so very happy.

I secretly think he believes he is riding Maximus from Tangled.

After all, Maximus and Romeo are both white, neigh and snort a lot.

 I have to admit I love it too--

out in the sunshine, running alongside Kean and the horse.

Fun with exercise thrown in.

Bonus.

Have I told you how my little adrenalin junkie

squeals with delight and giggles while we all try to 

keep up with the trotting horse?

Men Are From Mars...

The weather was decent enough that guess who sneaked

in a horse therapy ride?

 We had sure missed dear old Romeo.

And this time Grandma Kay (Byron's mom) got to come along

and watch Kean show off his mad horse riding skills.

He's actually pretty good on the horse-- he's confident, has great

balance and really loves to trot.

Our little daredevil.

 The girls and I went down to our church congregation's

Christmas dinner and pageant this evening.

The place was decorated to resemble old Bethlehem

and it was truly stunning.

Holland ran the curtains for the play and Greer was in 

the children's choir.

I had to chuckle as we left.

I was shocked at how many of the men asked me where Byron

was... or why Byron wasn't with us.

Guess they've not noticed that in the past two years

only one of us is able to come to church or activities at a time--

one of us always has to stay home with Kean.

p.s.  Not a single woman asked me where he was.  They just told

me to tell him hello. Hmmmmm.