30b(edford)

Josephine had a delightful time with her grandparents, of course, while Sean and I went camping for my 30th birthday. I came home to find these photos on my mom's camera: The box "clubhouse":

I like the "matter-of-fact" look on her face below. It makes total sense to pair a pink tutu with monkey pajamas. Of course.
This expression slays me. She looks exactly like Sean here:

Her monster side favors me, though, I think: Looking innocent before pulling tupperware out of the cupboard:
Aunt Darla demonstrating the fine art of ... well... I'm not sure what, exactly...
And finally, some scariness:

Me turning 3 (candles don't lie) while the Rangers lose to the Yankees on the television behind me. :-( Yesterday's game made up for it, though!

From TODAY! How very timely of me!

Saddest news first: It turns out that the Poor Clare Franciscan Nuns have sold the monastery and are selling off their miniature horses. There are only three nuns right now, and they can't keep up with it all. I found this heartbreaking because I truly delighted in thinking about a monastery of nuns taking care of miniature horses, but ultimately, I am happy for their decision. No one wants to live a hectic life, and clearly they are called to completely the opposite, so they must do what they need to in order to stay focused on their main objective.

Apart from that news, (and the SWARMS of Girl Scouts present-- nothing against them-- I was one for 13 years-- but gosh, between my own toddler, miniature horses, and all those girl scouts, you had to really watch where you were stepping!)-- all that aside, I'd say we enjoyed the day trip. We got some barbeque in Giddings on our way out, which made for a good picnic, and the weather was pleasant.
As it turned out, while Josephine really enjoyed collecting litter and large pecan shells from all over the grounds, she didn't care much for the horses and seemed rather horrified at the idea of petting one. I took her on a little cart ride, and she was ready to bail within the first ten paces. I told her it was like "taking a walk in the stroller," held her a little more securely, and she tolerated the rest quietly. On the other hand, this marked a significant milestone for me. I haven't ridden a horse since I fell off one and broke my hip over four years ago. Today, I was transported by an equine once again!
Sean says that even if I'd been sitting on the little thing, it wouldn't have counted as riding a horse, but I don't see much point in splitting hairs.



Using some birthday money and an advance on a Christmas gift from Sean (love those!), I scored a very pretty nativity set that one of the sisters had handcast and painted. It was a great purchase-- something I measure by how much more I love it once I have it home with me than when I saw it in the shop. I've been keeping my eyes open for a meaningful one for a while now. I'll have to get a picture of it when I set it out this December.
Also awesome is that the nun threw in a few photographs with my package, which I've scanned below:


Now. How awesome are THOSE??? Tell me you aren't also a little sad that these sisters are having to move on past this season of their lives!
Of course, what's a post without a couple pictures of Josephine herself? We presently lack any cowgirlish clothes for her, but as one of the nice people at the autumnfest pointed out, she DOES have a horse on her shirt...

oh. and...

I meant to add a video from the gardening, but forgot. So here it is:

I'll also mention that I retroactively added a couple posts. A post from an evening in September can be found here. Also, there's a post about our weekend in Teague at the end of September, here.

I've had to throw all this on here tonight so I don't fall too far behind and start treating my blog like the plague again. You see, we're about to endure major adorableness this Saturday at the Autumnfest out in Brenham, which is run by Poor Clare Franciscan nuns who live in a monastery and raise miniature horses. And with this kind of weather, that's going to be nothing short of an awesome day trip. Then comes a camping trip in Arkansas. So I'll be out of pocket again, loading up more memory cards, but at least I've given fair warning this time. :-)

they're here.

I've been dragging my feet when it comes to admitting it... but they're here. Sean's striped overalls officially fit her-- the smaller ones don't even come close anymore.
She's SUCH a kid now.
I love her to death.
But I miss my baby.
Speaking of growing up, she turned 18 months on Saturday.








Of course, the minute Dad looks away, the shovel turns into a spoon...
And you would REALLY think I'd have taken enough pictures, but I was clearly distracted well after I'd gone back inside to work...
TELL me she doesn't look like a five year old playing in the backyard! Maybe it's the fact I'm about to turn 30, but I swear my life is flashing before my eyes!

Ramsey Park

LOVING the beautiful weather!