It's Friday! This week has been a whirlwind.

Esther left on Tuesday night. She spent the night at Amanda's and then the two of them drove. Her flight was to leave at 7am yesterday. She took too long getting ready in the morning and missed her flight. It cost her 50 bucks and 3 hours to get a new one. What a nut!

Tuesday is our busiest days of the week right now. Kobe and I go to a Ready, Set, Learn program at the elementary school. It is a pre-literacy program and I enjoy the one-on-one time with him. After lunch, Barb has a childrens' crafts program at O 'n E. What a great program! They do many different crafts and artsy things. It is well organized and absolutely free. Barb is one of the most community-minded and generous people I know. This week, they were sewing buttons, sketching with chalk, and making a swirly ribbon thing to use in the Fall Fair parade. Soccer started this Tuesday, right after crafts. The children had a great time last year, so I thought we'd give it a go again. Kobe especially likes it and is very coordinated. He was showing me how he could use his foot to make the ball 'jump' when he kicked it.

Wednesday brought our first 'scrub baseball' day. This winter Dylan asked me if I would organize a baseball time for children. I thought about helping with the childrens' ball league, but things seem to be so political and nit-picky. In talking to other parents, I found that they were feeling the same way. There are also children who didn't start in the childrens' ball league when they were little, so felt as if they don't know how to play well enough to start now. They didn't want to feel stupid or be made fun of. The solution? I started a 'scrub' day where children (of all ages) and their parents can play together. We are casual enough to not be competitive, but serious enough to learn some baseball rules. We pull out the T for the smallest children and there are no strikeouts for anybody. This children had a blast on Wednesday and one little girl said, "I really like this. It's better than the league because it feels like a family thing." Amen.

Yesterday was soccer again.

During this whole week, we did a small amount of school in the morning - usually Bible - and some playtime/outside time together. When Zane went for his nap in the afternoon, we finished off school and got ready for our outings. I still have a scheduling struggle, but that is for writing about on another day.

Yesterday was Dylan's first day working with horses at Tom's house. He has talked about horses here and there and gets excited about the colts - who doesn't think they're too sweet? - when we drive by. We were at Bud and Irene's the other day and Irene mentioned that maybe Dylan would like to work with horses with her. It planted a seed in my mind.

As I was pondering, I thought...Tom. Of course! In the past, I have been careful about my children's exposure to Tom. Mostly it's the bad language and the drinking that I haven't liked. This is no secret to Tom and he has often offered to take Dylan for short periods, only to receive a flat-out 'No way!' from me.

Something about him and the horses clicked in my mind, though. Dylan is growing into this superb little boy. He knows right from wrong. He knows how I feel about Tom. He is wise beyond his years. Tom knows how I feel, as well, and because of that, I expect that this time with Dylan will be cherished and respected. They both keep telling me how excited they are.

Dylan started at 7:30 am yesterday. They work for about an hour and a half. He's back there today - right now, in fact. He will mostly go Monday, Wednesday and Friday. When Dylan came back from there yesterday, he was pumped! He worked with Blue and did some leading with a halter. He told me excitedly that he left slack in the rope and Blue still just did whatever he wanted. He rode Blue and Tom had him not hold on and close his eyes. This is going to be a real growing experience for Dylan.

I have thought about pursuing guitar or piano lessons or, or, or. Nothing really seemed to fit. I'm glad that Irene planted the seed. The lessons that Dylan will learn with Tom will be top-notch, are usually incredibly expensive and quite hard to come by. I'm thankful to have such a great opportunity and an uncle that is most excited about it too!