My two boys...

I was browsing through photos today, going down memory lane a bit, and saw this one...It was taken the same day as the one used in my header...I happen to love this photo....These two have known each other since my son was 6 weeks old, that is when they were first introduced to each other.  We always practice very high safety standards around the horses, but I love the interaction they have.  It is just lovely to watch.

The Home School Discussion con't

You know I received a lovely comment on my last post and it made me think.....

I agree completely with what the person had to say as I do look forward to the day that I go to all the functions that a school has to offer, plays etc, sports days, etc and I am one of the mums in the crowd cheering my son on.....

My sister's kids go to a very small school in the middle of nowhere, Australia.  They love their school, and everyone is really involved and hands on, as it is a country school.  My sister loves the school too, as the kids are all happy, she is involved, knows everyone and it has that great community spirit.

As the commenter said, maybe a smaller school is what I am looking for too.  I am no different than any other mummy out there who just wants her little ones to be happy, make friends and be a well rounded, well adjusted kid.

So thank you for your comment....it was appreciated.

To Home School or Not To Home School

We are seriously talking about home schooling our son.  He is only young right now, but I have read and talk to so many people about how upset they are with the current schooling system.  


People think I am nuts when I mention it, more because I find a lot of the mums want to have some down time to themselves, which is fair enough, and/or they are concerned about the social aspects....but I can tell you that I have no friends from high school, I now live on the other side of the world, and high school and school are not my favorite memories from growing up - actually they are from things I did outside school, like Pony Club, Music, etc.


So the question is, if you can home school, and give your child/children outside interests with other kids that they can make friends with.....what other benefits are they getting at school?  My son is already in swimming classes, music classes and attends The Little Gym.  So he is already interacting and making friends.....which have nothing to do with whatever school he may or may not attend......

Connected

Sometimes when you move to a new place it is really hard to make new friends. It is hard to meet people, everyone is busy and it is also hard to meet women with similar interests. I love reading womens blogs, a few in particular, as they give me a feeling of being connected to other women who are similar to myself and I have to say I am thrilled I joined the world of Mary Kay. If nothing else this has given me some badly needed girl time, with all types of different women, but who all have a similar interest, working for Mary Kay. it is nice to meet a bunch of women who are all about women and their success and happiness, share a laugh and have a chat.

People scoff at Mary Kay for some reason, but so far my experience has been nothing but pleasant...I am not sure why people scoff at it (now that is a great old word that is never used anymore, except maybe by my mother).....but they do. Silly really. It is like people who say New Jersy is a horrible place to live, clearly they have never been to where I live!! It is gorgeous! Actually reminds me of where I grew up in Sydney...we lived an hour outside Syndey and on 5 acres and it was and still is beautiful....ahhhh I am going to make myself homesick!

I suppose I find the women who write their blogs inspiring and I find the lady who is my Director at Mary Kay inspiring and I thatbis something I really enjoy.

I love to cook.....

I really do, I love love love it, I love making a delicious dinner to sit down to at night with my family, I love for my son to get into this routine.....I cook probably 15 meals a week - no joke, including breakfast for my son and I (we like a hot brekky) and dinner at night and on the weekends I often do a lovely wickedly naughty lunch....something that makes you just want to curl up on the sofa and relish in all that yumminess that you just ate.....and ignore the mess in the kitchen....

The problem is.......INSPIRATION sometimes run short - I mean I quite literally run out of ideas....I like doing new things, and get tired of looking through cookbooks etc.....so, and I am not ashamed of this, I have become quite a fan of ThePioneerwoman.com.

If you have not heard of her or read her blog, you should.  She is quite amazing - one very busy, very savvy, living life on the land, woman.....raising 4 kids, running a business that she started, that is now very successful, she is quite the inspiration.

Anyway, she has a cooking blog attached to her site and I love it and it helps me make delicious dinners every night that we can look forward to......

I mean anything that has wine, cream and butter in the recipe is bound for greatness, never mind those slowly braised meats.....mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Happy Tuesday....

Every Tuesday morning  I take my son to swimming lessons....he loves it - he has gained so much confidence in the water.  It always amazes me how much kids try, they try and try and try.  When they are babies they desperately try to sit up and roll over....when they are a bit older they desperately try to pull themselves up onto their feet, when they finally walk, the trying and the tenacity just keeps flowing, trying to walk, trying to run, trying to climb, trying to talk.....they practice, practice, practice.

Every week, my little boy tries so hard to swim.  Kicking those legs and moving those arms and learning how to breath and not choke!!!  Learning to put his head under the water.....even though it is so hard and so "yukky" sometimes when he gets a nose full of water, he still tries.

A lesson for us adults eh?  Why do we give up on things so easily?

I have often wondered since becoming a mummy, who is teaching whom exactly???  Am I teaching him?  Or is he giving me life lessons every single day??

A long time....

I used to be so good about chatting on my blog, and then life just got so damn busy.  We moved from Jersey City to Woolwich Township, NJ.  We bought a house, we had to decorate and furnish the house, (which we are still in the process of doing) and we had to relocate our entire lives.

We had to move my beloved horse from my wonderful trainer, who had taken us to an entirely new level in the dressage world. She had also opened doors to training with wonderful top trainers at clinics where Tee, my horse, had excelled.  So moving him was hard, but we found a lovely small facility only 15 minutes from where I now live, which is ideal, as now I get to ride at least 5 times a week - poor Tee....he does need a couple of days off!!!     I have also now found a new trainer, who comes to my area 3 times a week, as he travels a LONG way, and I train with him now every week, picking up where my last trainer and I left off.

My son is loving his new home, he adores the space, is now every week he is in swimming lessons, goes to Little Gym and goes to Music School.  I try and keep him busy and give him lots of different activities considering the fact that he is not in any kind of daycare.  As well as all that, he is at the barn with me 5 days a week, I have a fab babysitter that comes with me, and she runs around with him and I ride Tee.

Life is now more busy than I ever imagined.   I truly try to keep my son in a schedule that he knows, as it sincerely seems to keep him happy knowing what he is doing each day.  I have to create a weekly chart for him, and put it on the wall, so that each day he sees what he is doing.  Another thing to do.   I also have to get his "school" room ready in the house, as I want to be able to work with him each day for 30 mins doing all sorts of stuff.  He already gets homework from his music school each week, which seems to make him very happy, as he thinks he is very grown up doing all this school work!!!  Wish I had had that attitude!!!

Being a mom is my number one priority.  I absolutely want to be the best mom to my son that I could ever be.  It is of huge importance to me. I love how close I am to my son.  I love that we are together and he is my little buddy.  I love to see how he grows and changes every day.

Riding comes a very close second.  It is my true passion.  It is not that I want to travel the globe competing (which cannot happen due to my life as a wife and mom), but I just want to ride beautifully.  I want to be one of those riders that people look at and watch because they are one with their horse.  If I could I would ride 10 hours a day.  No joke.  I just don't think my horse would like it much!!!

I also have a huge thing for Thoroughbreds.  I love them.  It is what I own and when I buy another, I will buy another Thoroughbred.  And I will train him, and I will ignore the critics, and he or she will excel, just like Tee has.  I ignored all my critics with him, and went to a fab trainer, and we have never looked back.  Once my son goes to school, and I have more time, I am really going to concentrate on getting the Thoroughbreds back into the sport horse world, that does NOT include racing.  They are natural born athletes, and for some reason, receive a bad rap.  Silly really.  Just nonsense.

So anyway, it is Sunday afternoon, I have just made my family a fab lunch, courtesy of The PioneerWoman, yes I am a fan of hers, as she has terrific recipes that I use and love,  I need all the inspiration I can get when I have to cook 6 days a week!!!

Cheers