Chloe's last adventure at Rockin' Horse Ranch

The catch-up news wouldn't be complete without mentioning a little about Chloe's last riding lesson in Canada.

She and Keira went on the last morning of school. Keira's mom and I decided it would be okay if the girls went to riding first thing in the morning and attended the last day of school after that, since Chloe really wanted one last lesson before moving.

Well, it was an adventure! Holly and Ben went with us. Chloe was allowed to ride Zippy, her favourite horse at the ranch, and was pretty thrilled about it. She and Keira just got the horses tied up in the indoor arena for tacking up when a couple of mares out back of there kept running by the open door and whinnying, getting Porky and Zippy all riled up.

Tina ended up doing the tacking up AND having to lunge both horses to tire them out a bit. Shortly after that, the lesson started in the outdoor arena.

At some point, some movement caught my eye- there were horses out loose! All of the kids got off their horses and stood while the rest of us spread out to herald the runaways in the right direction. Holly somehow stood on the outside of the gate and one of the horses kept running right up to her- finally she had a minute to get on the OTHER side of the fence, where I am sure she felt a little safer... lol

The horses were put away and the lesson resumed. I have to say, I am always amazed at how well my youngest, smallest daughter can handle so much horse! She may be tiny, but she is mighty, that girl!

Her love for horses is apparent and her confidence grows every time she rides. Hopefully we can find a stable here that she loves as much as Rockin' Horse Ranch.

Heidi's Grade 8 Grad

Since I only just started this blog a week or so ago, I haven't caught everyone up to speed on how Heidi made out at her graduation just before we moved.

What a girl!!! She had been chosen as the female valedictorian for the graduating class ahead of time, so that she and the boy who was chosen could plan their speech. Heidi says she has wanted to be valedictorian since third grade- so you can imagine how thrilled she was.

The only award she was really hoping for was the English award, as Heidi loves to read and write stories. The one I was hoping she would get was the all-around proficiency award, which she assured me she likely wasn't a candidate for, as there were many very smart kids in her class.

Well, in addition to the Valedictorian award, Heidi won the English award, the French award, the all-around Proficiency award, AND the Principal's award for leadership. The principal nearly cried when describing Heidi and her efforts and accomplishments.

You couldn't have found a more proud mom that night, I have to tell you! Heidi had her own cheering section there, with myself, Holly, Ben, and Chloe, plus Brenda and Jessica from Oshawa, and my sister Sandy, Nick, Ghassan and Maya from Ottawa. You can imagine the noise we made every time Heidi got called up to the stage... lol