June/ July update

June went by rather quickly. Sophia competed in her final horse show of the spring season and did very well.  She was Grand Champion for the spring series in her division.  She is enjoying riding Ella.

Sophia and Steve were glad school was over and summer has started.  Sophia started swimming on the swim team again.  Practicing in cold water in early June was hard but soon enough things warmed up.  Sophia had a great swim season shaving over 20 seconds off her strokes from the time trials in June to the end of the season in July.

July 1, 2006 was our referral day.  It was the first day we saw a picture and got information about Sophia.  Every year we take a picture of her holding the referral photo.  I am amazed to see how big she is getting. We are so thankful she is part of our lives.

July had our share of losses.  Grandma Beadle turned 93 on July 1 and died on July 2. Nick and Aiden came down for a weekend and we celebrated Grandma's life. Thankfully she died peacefully and without suffering in her sleep. She was an amazing woman, she loved to read and enjoyed sitting and hearing stories about our lives. She will be missed.

On July 6th we lost Shadow. He had been struggling the past seven months but held on. He never seemed to be in pain. Always cuddled and was happy to get loving. His last day he was having trouble breathing and he seemed to be in distress. We did the thing that was best for him and put him down. It was very hard especially after giving him so much attention and nursing over the past months. He was Steve's cat. They adored each other. Life isn't the same without him. After losing him we slept in a bed without cats. I have had a cat in my bed for the past nineteen years. Mr. Twinkletoes does not sleep with us. Very strange waking up without a cat in our faces. Even though we kept Mr. Twinkletoes and Shadow separate during the day for the last couple of months Mr. Twinkletoes  looked for him and made his come play with me sound for a few days. Kaegogi sat at the top of the stairs where he and Shadow rubbed noses at night. Losing a friend is hard.

In July we took a trip to Connecticut to visit Linda and the girls. This was our first trip back to visit since my mother died last August. It was hard being in Connecticut without seeing my mother. I missed our late nights at her kitchen table eating ice cream, our shopping trips and dinners. I missed playing cards with her and Sophia. I missed seeing her smile and have her eyes light up when Sophia kissed her. Sophia and I drove by her house. Linda, me and the girls went to the cemetery. So very hard. Thankfully spending time with Linda, Stephanie and Hollie took away some of the pain. Danielle even came up so the cousins all hung out and played. It was nice to see them all together. We visited Aunt Philly for a little while. It was so nice to see her and she so so happy to see the girls.

May update

May was another fun filled month.

We take a picture every year in early May when the azalea bushes.

Sophia was in two horse shows.  One was the schooling series.  She took grand champion for her division.  She was also in the in-house show which is much more laid back. We were at the barn for ten hours for the in house show.  She had her first class, jumping at 9 AM and then entered the pairs class which was the next to last event of the day. She rode in the pairs class with her buddy, Emily.  They used the Thing 1 and Thing 2 costumes from Halloween.  They took third place, not bad for girls that did not even know what they class was about before they entered the ring.

Sophia has taken an interest in cake/cookie decorating.  She made a cake for her friend Katelyn's birthday and another one for Mother's Day.  She did a great job.

Sophia played her violin in the spring concert.  She asked her former riding instructor/coach, Ms. Angel to come.  Sophia was thrilled to have her in the audience.

Mr. Twinkletoes continues to entertain us.  He plays with the dogs and pesters Shadow.  Every now and then you find Shadow and Mr. Twinkletoes sleeping on the bed together.  Kaegogi loses a lot of fur in the spring.  We can't keep up with the brushing.

Sophia wanted to volunteer at an puppy adoption event at Petsmart.  We first were in charge of a puppy that kept escaping from his playpen.  He was adopted quickly.  Then Sophia took care of a little chihuahua mix who was two years old. She took such good care of him.  She really wanted to bring him home.  It was hard when someone took an interest in adopting him but in the end she was happy he was going to find a forever home.

Mother's Day was hard without my mother.  We went to see Steve's mother and grandmother.  It was nice to spend some time with Grandma Beadle.  She is almost 93 years old and we know that we won't have many more days with her.

April Update

April came and went very quickly.  We seemed to be always on the go but there isn't much out of the ordinary to report.

Sophia competed in the mini-stirrup division in the April Schooling Series show.  She rode Ella. She has been riding Ella for a few months and they look great together. Sophia is really developing a bond with her. Sophia took a 6th place, 2nd place and 1st place in the mini-stirrup division.  She won Grand Champion for that division.

Sophia and her friend, Ava, worked on their science project together.  They wanted to see if the commericals about Oxi-Clean were true.  They found out they weren't.  Their homemade laundry detergent made of borax and baking soda did better on some of the stains.

Sophia joined the group of Chinese children in multicultural night.  They did a dance this year.  They did an awesome job.

Sophia and I joined Steve at Market Fair this year.  We went up on Friday.  Sophia and I stayed in a hotel on Friday night because it was so cold.  I came back on Saturday night but Sophia was having so much fun she stayed with Steve and braved the cold night.  This was a high point for Steve.

March update

Boba is wondering where the time has gone.  As I am.  These months keep flying by.

We had had a lot of fun this month.  We have been watching Master Chef Junior and Sophia is really into cooking now.  She baked her first cake from scratch.  We went to my friend, an interpreter and a professional baker, for a personal lesson. Sophia had a blast and the cake was out of this world. Sophia made it for Aiden for his birthday.

Sophia also took a cookie decorating class at Joann Fabrics.  She had so much fun and wants to take more classes.  She is looking forward to making birthday cakes for her friends.

Sophia and I made pasta from scratch with a pasta maker our friend Sherry won at Basket Bingo.  It came out wonderful.  There is nothing quite like fresh pasta AND it wasn't difficult at all.

 Aiden and his girlfriend, Ginny, came down for spring break. It was nice to see Aiden.  We celebrated his birthday a few days early.  Can't believe he is 19 years old!  Ginny is super nice and they seem good for each other.  Sophia was thrilled to spend time with Aiden.  She looks up to him.

We had a couple of snow storms in one week.  Sophia was thrilled to stay home and play in the snow.  Who doesn't love a snow day!!

Sophia landed her first job.  She is going to sweep the aisle in the barn after her lessons on Saturday.  This is no easy task.  It is a long aisle but she is enjoying the work. She will earn pony bucks which she can save up and use for practice rides.

Sophia and Steve were on spring break.  She had many cool adventures.  Steve took her to Mt. Vernon and Chuck E Cheeses.  She did two days at horseback riding camp and then she spent time with her cousins when they visited for Easter.

Linda, Chuck and the girls visited for Easter.  It was great seeing them.  We went to Annapolis and DC.  We did the tourist things there.  We also just hung out at the house.  We had a GREAT dinner at Maggianos.  The girls managed to rock climb after a huge dinner.  Linda has only been down a few times.  I have always gone up to see her when I went to see my mother.  Now that our mother is gone we have vowed to visit each other twice a year and then spend some time around Christmas with George's family too.  It was great having her here but we both felt the absence of mom.

Sophia had Daisy Bear, our Girl Scout mascot, this month.  Daisy Bear takes turns going home with girls in the troop and then they fill a book with pictures and stories of Daisy Bear's adventures.

Shadow has been sick off and on this month but he is still our little cuddle bunny.  We are hoping he gets better soon.  Poor little guy.

Mr. Twinkletoes continues to grow.  He is the funniest cat.  He loves laying in clothes as they come out of the dryer.

And so Kaegogi doesn't feel left out.