I still miss Michael.

Katie, future Country Star-watch out Taylor Swift

Unfortunately, she only sings Spanish now.

Kanye's an Idiot

This video is much better than Beyonce's Single Ladies. I like Beyonce and her song is catchy, but the video itself is just her dancing in a bathing suit. It's not really thought out and has no story line.

One more reason to dislike Kanye

"The soul is the same in all living creatures, although the body of each is different - Hippocrates

Katie in pile of leaves
Drinking water. Mary doesn't let him put his mouth on the fountain. Afraid of germs. LOL

Katie just about put her whole hand in his mouth. She's fearless

Climbing the stairs. Heather picked her up on her way up hill and she said, "thank you, mama". I think it was a trek for her!

Brushing the baby cow The dog

Before we had carrots to feed them, we only had french fries. Horses don't like french fries.

David was king of the world on this haystack

Making wishes
Regardless of how they fight, they love each other

******

We took the kids to the Gentle Barn today, in Santa Clarita. They require a $5 donation per person. The Gentle Barn works with abused animals and abused children, bringing them together to teach compassion and love.

They had horses, donkeys, chickens, roosters, peacocks, cows, goats, llamas, sheep, and pigs.

The kids had a really good time feeding the animals. For $1 you can get a pretty decent size bag of carrots in a denim bag tote (the denim tote has to be returned) decorated in fabric paint. The kids had a blast feeding the animals the carrots. Katie held the carrot right in her hand and put it in the horse's mouth with absolutely no fear. David, on the other hand, had to warm up to it and was pretty cautious. He kept dropping the carrots on the ground, until he finally got used to it.

Poor David wasn't fast enough with carrots and one goat, who got tired of waiting, ran up behind him, butted him in the head with his horns, dropping David to his knees and leaving him scared and shaken. Desiree, Mary, and Heather all missed this and I had to tell them what happened. David was clinging to Desiree's leg and she and Mary were just talking away, oblivious to what had happened. A little later, he was brushing the cows and went over to one, who apparently doesn't like to be brushed, and the cow flung his tail at David and smacked him.

Besides that, the animals were pretty tame and the kids really got a long time to touch and play with them. They even had a couple dogs running around. Katie loves dogs.

About the barn (From their website):

I am the voice of the voiceless
Through me the dumb shall speak
Till the deaf world's ear
Be made to hear
The wrongs of the worldless weak.

And I am my brother's keeper
And I shall fight his fight
And speak the word
For beast and bird
Till the world shall set things right.

-Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919)

The 100 farm animals that reside at The Gentle Barn have all been rescued from severe abuse. They have been rehabilitated with deep tissue massage therapy, chiropractic care, acupuncture, western medicine, herbs, nutritional supplements, top quality feed, and countless hours in the arms of our staff. They have regained their trust in humankind by realizing that they are now loved, and their abuse is over. Because of their ongoing physical and psychological needs, they can't be adopted and are given sanctuary with us for the rest of their lives.
We are home to horses, donkeys, cows, pigs, sheep, goats, turkeys, chickens, llamas, dogs, and cats. We believe that everyone deserves a chance at life, regardless if they are blind, crippled, deformed, sick, wounded, or just old. At The Gentle Barn, the animals leave when they are done, not when someone is done with them!

Because we are home to the abused animals that no one else would take in, their treatment and rehabilitation is extremely expensive. But it is worth it to see them smile again, to hear them purr, to watch their eyes light up, to feel them cuddle in your lap, and to see them play with new life and new hope.

Once rehabilitated, the animals become ambassadors, teaching children about the magic and grace of these precious beings.

We appreciate your donation, which will be used for our animals' feed and vet care.

Trying on Costumes

The kids were trying on costumes tonight. They were so cute. Katie was the Chesire cat

she was meowing
She was also Tigger
and she did what Tigger's do best

David was Sully from Monsters Inc.

and Katie was Barney

She loved looking at herself in the mirror

Most of the costumes were Katie's size so David didn't get to try on too many. He tried on a Pokemon but the hat was made wrong and it wouldn't go on.

The kids are cute. I enjoy them so much.

Rylan's 4th Birthday - Pirates

Today I took the kids to Rylan's 4th birthday party. It was a Transformer's theme. They had a large waterslide.

Katie got into the pool at first, but then got out soon. She's not much of a water person.
David had fun on the waterslide and went up and down again and again

whhhhhhhhhhhhheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

The whole Pirate garb

They fought with swords

Katie was so cute in the pirate hat

Katie wore this hat for a lot of the day

David had fun with this pirate stuff

David said Heather was the evil villian and they plotted to get her with water guns. She ran off.

Rylan and David

Someone was inside, but I don't know who

Then David got inside

Katie on her 4th piece of watermelon

David, playing Pirates

Katie, still in the pirate hat

Coming down the slide

David, jumping on a big ball

David, just coming down the waterslide

Katie had fun playing with Bandit, even though he was behind the gate

She was riding bikes with the big kids

David, doing down the driveway