I thought that when you get your braces off it would be the end of orthodontics appointments.  How wrong I was....I had to go pick up my third retainer today!   Anywho.... I'm doing this Shakespeare class with the homeschool group.   We're working on doing a Midsummer's Night Dream.  This winter we'll be putting on the play, but right now we're just reading through the book and doing different things each week.  As much as I hate acting, I'm loving it!   My favorite character is Titania, queen of the faeries.  I like her just because she's a faerie, not the character she plays.

I decided to go without meat for a whole month.  The day I pronounce my decision, Mom makes a turkey dinner.  : / This is going to be hard.  : )  My Aunt Ginny was over visiting yesterday along with other family.  She gave me a cute, yellow, smiley face mug.  I had a delicious cup of pumpkin spice coffee this afternoon in it.  One can't help but be cheered by this mug!

Moi riding Alfie.  I don't usually ride him, but I love cantering him, because it's like a slow motion canter.

Sarah picking Gorge's hoofs and grazing him.

This is the main barn where people board their horses.  Last Tuesday we gave baths to a couple of horses!  We got soaked, but it was all part of the fun.
My mom's co-worker gave us a black velvet riding helmet, crop, dressage whip, black britches, and cute horse socks. : ) We were very excited to receive them.

Ha-ha that's drôle!  French for funny. : )

~ Lyddie

Celebraces Time!

My dad and I filled these balloons with helium and I had to tie the knots in them.  Yes, my fingers were very sore afterwards.  

We had so much candy!  But hey, it was a braces off party!  We made up Sarah's playhouse to look like a sweet shoppe.

It looked really cool when it got darker outside because we put colorful lights on it.

Cute cupcakes eh?  I was so sugared-out that I didn't have one till the day after the party.

We played spoons out in the screened in canopy room outside.  Instead of using spoons for the game spoons, we used candy pieces.

Caleb, grilling our dinner.  He did a great job too.  Everything was superb.  Thanks, Caleb!

I had music playing during the party.  I made a mix of music, here's a couple of songs I  played.

Concerning Hobbits, ( song from LOTR.)
Star Wars theme song
Amazing Grace by Susan Boyle
Leaning on the Everlasting Arms
Rescue Aid Society song from the cartoon movie The Rescuers.
 A bunch of songs from Annie Get Your Gun.  And a Shirley Temple song, Animal Crackers in my Soup.  Quite a mix, huh?!

I planned a lot of fun games, and we went down to the field in my neighborhood to play two of them,  Ultimate Frisbee and Chicken Run.  Chicken Run's real game name is called steal the bacon, but since we  use a rubber chicken so we call it "chicken run".  And seriously, who uses real bacon to play that game anyway?  And if we did use bacon, I'd probably just eat it before I got it to my teammates!

One game we invented ourselves was played using my dental elastics (that I no longer have to wear...YA!).
It was a relay game, and the first team to stretch the elastics to spell the word "smile" won.  Oh, did I mention that the players had to ride stick horses back and forth, just to make it more silly.

We also played a version of "hot-potato" using chattering teeth & the music was Cantina from Star Wars.  We all decorated yellow t-shirts, most had a smiley theme.

I sent my guests home with party favors which consisted of toothbrushes, floss & toothpaste, so that their parents wouldn't be mad at us for feeding them so much candy.  : )   

Okay enough about the party.  Because I haven't blogged for a very long time I do have some events to talk about but that would take me a long time of typing and I don't have that time right now.  So I'll just end with this. My brother Caleb was baptized last Sunday at Craigville Beach!  It was a wonderful time and I was very happy for him.  Okay I'll be sure to blog again soon, I won't let it get to be a whole month  before I blog next time! ; )

~ Lydia Catherine
I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me. Galatians 2:20