Shopping

Well the shoe hunt today went a lot longer than expected. The alotted two hour time slot drug into a 4-5 hour endeavor. We were with Hemi's great-grandma and she had a return in there and also a lunch break. Let me tell you we had a miserable experience there. They even brought Hemi the wrong meal and jipped her on an egg. She was adorable though, after dropping two pieces off the fork, she started spotting herself with her other hand. Finally i think she was terrified of losing one still and abandoned the fork to shovel the rest of the food in. She cleaned her plate completely.
To make things more interesting every place measured her foot and came up with a different size that she needed. I wanted to pull my hair out.
Jeremy is returning from his training tomorrow somewhere around noon. He wants to go on a date. Movies, dinner , ice cream, the works so Hemi is staying with Grandma and Grandpa. We'll see what happens tomorrow. I hear it is going to rain cats and dogs . Hope everyone is well, Sorry i don't have any photos to load today. I'm being lazy.
Brandi

Cowgirl Up!

Hello again! Hemi is sporting one of her dad's snazzy outfit picks. Very nice. She is also wearing the scarf my sister made for her for Christmas. Cold weather is almost on it's way out. Heck, if this week was any indication, it was gorgeous out! Jeremy was in a much colder region while we enjoyed the nice weather. It's kinda funny but I'll be happy when he gets home and leaves that weather far away from us...my fingers are crossed.
Here, Hemi is showing off her London Fog coat from Grandma. It has kept her super snug all season. Well, onto the main show.

Here is Amble. One of Hemi's main charges. She enjoys feeding him horsey treats, like he needs it. Amble's feet are bigger than our heads but Hemi thinks he is her pet. Of course she is highly supervised here because she is completely trusting

A little bit of size comparison in this photo. He is a Belgian / Thoroughbred sport cross and will be 5 this summer. (Almost done growing) He's over 6ft at the shoulder. Jeremy can't see over the top of him. Here he is relaxed, he will put that head into the air if he wants and i can't reach it to catch him if he is having a go with me! Boys will be boys.

And then the big finish....

Ta- Dah!

Hemi is so wonderfully equine inclined at this age. Her balance is excellent.

Hemi likes to kiss his neck for pretend. She hugs the horses just like the dogs. I wish Amble was more photogenic. It looks like he's been photoshopped in. It's difficult to get good pictures because he wants to be right on top of you. He is just a big baby. I hoped to get a pic of her hugging his face but it was not to be.

Enjoy the sunshine everybody! I'm finishing the garden tomorrow.

Brandi & Hemi

Cherry's beauty days

What can I say, Thank God Cherry is such a good sport. Sometimes I catch Hemi out in the yard sitting on Cherry and bouncing like she is a horse, yes, we politely tell Hemi this is not allowed and Cherry is very proactive and moves frequently when we are outside. She is our old girl and we love her so much!

Hemi loves her very much too. They play dress up all the time with anything she can find. I think she puts handkerchiefs on their backs or blankets because that is what we do with horses. It's adorable to watch her mind work

Say Cheese!

Tykes & Trikes

Here it is, the coveted new tricycle. Not bad for $12 huh? That's right, can you believe it. I'm telling you those consignment sales are gold mines. Grandpa aired up the tires and shined up the crome. She rolled it right out of the garage. It even has a wood Schwinn nameplate on the back.

She can technically reach the pedals but isn't ready for that step just yet. That won't keep her stationary though, she loves steering herself around whether she's motering herself Flintstone sytle forward or backwards. Hemi even makes the moter sounds.

Here she is with her other favorite toy, a green garden cart. She loads it with stuffed animals and pushes them around the house or yard(it'll be for gardening this spring). Lately we don't leave home without it. She loads it and off we go to Grandma and Grandpa's house to show and tell.

And fiinally, Tomato is feeling a little left out in the love department. Hemi fixes it. They are totally related with those strawberry blonde locks. He is the one that listens to Hemi all the time. She leads him everywhere and he loves it. I caught Laundry (our dark mahogany dog) wandering into Hemi's room today while I was putting her down for a nap. She had snuck in from the garage and was tiptoeing so carefully. It was really cute and Hemi was happy to see her before I escorted her back out. You can see Laundry at www.octoberskies.webs.com under Mahogany Moon.

Hemi has officially had a growth spurt. Another shoe size (5) and into 18 mo old pants. She is suddenly sporting high waters wherever we go this week. Time to go shopping.

Brandi

Just for this minute

*Just for this morning, I am going to step over the laundry, and pick you up and take you to the park to play.

*Just for this morning, I will leave the dishes in the sink, and let you teach me how to put that puzzle of yours together.

*Just for this afternoon, I will unplug the telephone and keep the computer off, and sit with you in the backyard and blow bubbles.

*Just for this afternoon, I will not yell once, not even a tiny grumble when you scream and whine for the ice cream truck and I will buy you one if he comes by.

*Just for this afternoon, I won't worry about what you are going to be when you grow up, or second guess every decision I have made where you are concerned.

*Just for this afternoon, I will let you help me bake cookies, and I won't stand over you trying to fix them.

*Just for this afternoon, I will take us to McDonald's and buy us both a Happy Meal so you can have both toys.

*Just for this evening, I will hold you in my arms and tell you a story about how you were born and how much I love you.

*Just for this evening, I will let you splash in the tub and not get angry.

*Just for this evening, I will let you stay up late while we sit on the porch and count all the stars.

*Just for this evening, I will snuggle beside you for hours, and miss my favorite TV shows.

*Just for this evening when I run my finger through your hair as you pray, I will simply be grateful that God has given me the greatest gift ever given

*I will think about the mothers And fathers who are searching for their missing children, the mothers and fathers who are visiting their children's graves instead of their bedrooms, and mothers and fathers who are in hospital rooms watching their children suffer senselessly, and screaming inside that they can't handle it anymore.

*And when I kiss you good night I will hold you a little tighter, a little longer. It is then, that I will thank God for you, and ask Him for nothing, except one more day............

Union Love and Daddy kisses

Old man Union has been spending alot of time inside with the daddy gone. Hemi is very attached to all the dogs here and has different relationships with all of them. She loves Union but sometimes gets frustrated with his size. She has quite a bit of trouble climbing around or over him if he happens to be lying in her way or blocking something she wants. She is very demanding of his every move and follows him obsessively. We use the dogs to occupy her frequently. Our old female is her dress up doll. She decorates her with anything she can find. Its adorable.

Since Jeremy left, the weather has been fantastic. It is incredible outside every day. Hemi's current fascination is his army sunglasses. They won't stay on her head without assistance but that doesn't stop her from playing with them. It is so cute. She knows they belong to Jeremy and I think this is her way of missing him. Or impersonating him, what do you think?

Perhaps this year she will actually keep sunglasses on when we go outside. I think I will be surprised if these glasses don't end up broken. They seem to be fairly durable. It's a miracle she likes hats so much. Another blessing i'm sure.

Brandi

busy weekend

Hemi is a little sneak. Today when we got home I had a bag from Wendy's for my lunch. I set the bag on the kitchen counter and left Hemi to her business with the puppies while i went outside to tend to the adult dogs.When i returned, i noticed the bag was missing immediately and found Hemi sitting on the couch with the contents around her and her mouth full. Nevermind that I had already made her mac and cheese and wheat bread which she inhaled for her lunch already. She was quite proud of herself to say the least.
Here she is at the Warm Up Parade in Brookside posing for a McDonalds commercial with her snacks. She thought my mom's burger was delicious and likes to be occupied with french fries. She had exhausted all my healthy snacks so I got them for her in the hopes to keep her happy (which turned out not to be a problem) during the parade which was our second for the day. She was even up for shopping after this one. Her stamina is incredible considering when she is home for a nap she sleeps for hours.

At the Snake Parade and festival in North Kansas City before the Brookside parade, Hemi showed off her savvy equestrian skills. This company bit off more than they could chew offering the free rides to a mob of kids. Hemi wanted to ride the elephant carnival ride but the line wrapped around the ride 3 times! No way was that going to happen. Below she was enjoying the parade with her festive hat.

I see you!

Enjoying pretzels at the barn.

Just chilling while the horses are being fed.

Ready for the long trip to Nebraska to deliver this puppy. They are the best of friends already.
He is going to miss her so much. They were inseperable.

Don't forget the puppy! Or great grandma who decided to tag along and enjoy some scenery.

Time to hit the road!

Hemi is very involved in the puppy business. She assists in every aspect of the job and is very authoritive with the dogs (and horses). The majority listen to her, the others try to stay out of her way. She is so thorough with the feeding, grooming and sorting it is pretty amusing. Her vocabulary with them is hilarious but you have to hand it to her, she really gets their names down and can pick up a new routine in one day. She hates when all the puppies are gone but is excited when there are new little ones. This week she helped deliver a pup to Nebraska and one to Columbia back to back on a Fri then Sat. She is very resilent.

She is also very very very happy. Which is the biggest blessing. Here she is with Daddy at bedtime. She was sick Sun and Mon with fever and aching muscles because of her immunizations she received about a week ago. She didn't rash up like they said she would though and after the two horribly whiny, clingy days, she is back to normal running amuck around the house. She misses her dad i believe. She even had an entire conversation with him over the phone the other day. She let us know that she had enough of him because the next time i tried it a couple days later, she politely turned the speaker phone off. It was hysterical.

We had some great luck at the consignment sales this month, Hemi scored a wicked awesome Schwinn tricycle. Can't wait to get some of those pictures! We also had a blast at the car show. Hemi is so entertaining. She picked out some cars sitting and trying them out like she was big stuff and thought the truck simulators were hilarious. She loves to laugh out loud.

We'll be in touch

Brandi & Hemi