4-H and Scouting...They are taking over my life!!!

So...I am really not an "outside girl" in the sense of horses and cows and dirt and horse poop and slopping through the mud! But my life has really become such! How did this happen??? I guess it all started with becoming a mother ~ and what does a mother do? Well, she lives her life to please others, right? Right! Okay, well at least to do her best to please her flock of little ones (and in my case, all of my big ones as they are towering over me more and more each day!)

So our girls all love horses! I guess that is where my life started to change...we now own horse property and have horses. With horses comes smelly horse poop and hay and tack and all the stuff I really do not know a thing about!

My days are filled with watching kids ride in the arena, seeing muddy boots lining my front porch, driving our daughter to competitions, holding my nose around all the stinky horses and smiling when I'm sure they are about to die right before my eyes as in horror I witness our daughter flying through the air with the horse plunging into the fence!!! She gets up from the whole episode and says to me, "Mom, I'm just fine, he didn't really try to throw me, I just fell off!" Ha! I may not know horses, but I'm pretty sure I can tell the difference between flying and falling... I'm really not sure I'm cut out for this whole horse world, but I'm the mom, so I'll just buck up or maybe I should say "cowboy up" and smile my best smile!

Just last Saturday, another competition...Horse Bowl ~ best way I can think of to describe it is Horse Trivia ~ ya gotta know all there is to know about anything and everything relating to a horse...she did fantastic!!! Her team took 1st and she took 2nd overall as an individual!!! Whoo Hoo!!

(side note: one very interesting thing I've learned, I absolutely will never understand this, but I have come to know for a fact that "horse people" actually think horse poop smells good!...Crazy, I will never get it, but it is so true, I am the minority when I hold my nose in complete disgust as they leave their humongous smelly droppings everywhere!) Weird, huh!?

And then with all my boys comes "Scouting world!"
This one is a little easier on my heart (I don't have to worry quite so much as I do with the horses!) For 5 years, I was the Webelos leader...(cub scouting term for those who don't have a clue what I am talking about!) What an experience that was! Love all those boys~ now all the young ones I worked with are out on crazy campouts in the snow! Who on earth would want to venture out in the snow for two days camping??? Seems like the most insane plan ever ~ but the boys all love it!

Here's a picture of my 3 oldest "boys" after their fun on Klondike playing in the snow!

Just before Klondike, our two younger boys received advancements in scouting...the oldest of the two earned his Webelos, Arrow of Light and the Super W Badge! He worked so hard to earn all of this ~ what a happy night for him. The younger of the two, earned his Wolf badge and is moving up to be a Bear. Hooray for them...scouting really is such a fabulous experience for our boys and I am grateful for the time they spend learning skills that will help them in life.

My boys are the super cute ones :)

The little guy posting the red and white flag (troop flag) and the one in the center, hands in pocket are mine! Hard to see 'em, but they are cutie pies! The bridge you can see behind with the arrow of light atop is what our oldest here crossed over to move up to Boy Scouts from Cub Scouts. Happy day for him!

:o) Well, now I think I'll play some barbies with my little girls and take a little break from the bigger things in life! Have a great night!!!