A Lesson in Testosterone

Buddy, the horse, is going to get fixed. He has a little awkwardness in that area and has not yet been gelded. He's a quiet horse, on the verge of lazy, so we just haven't worried about this...until Tuesday. He saw a filly he liked in a neighboring pasture, ran through hot wire and jumped the barbed wire fence to get to her.

As we were making supper that night, with the kids in the living room, Dave told me that Buddy has an appointment with the vet to get snipped on Wednesday, which includes Buddy getting put to sleep.

A few minutes later, we sat down to dinner and Layla asked, "Why does Buddy have to be put to sleep to get his haircut?"

(This took me a few seconds to piece her thought process together)

"Oh! (getting it now), Buddy isn't going to get a haircut (snipped). He's going to the vet to have surgery and they need to put him to sleep so he doesn't feel it."

"What kind of surgery?" Layla asked.

"Welllll...you see, Layla," I continued, "boys produce a hormone called testosterone...a lot of it. It's something in their body that can make them a little crazy at times and can make them do some interesting things."

"Like jumping fences?" Layla interjected.

"Yes, exactly," I said. "So Buddy's going to have surgery to help his body stop making so much testosterone."

A minute passes.

"So, will Daddy and Cooper jump fences?"

"It's quite possible, Layla."

Layla Lately

Hearing Layla read, I mean really read, brings tears to my eyes. I don't know why...I didn't cry when she took her first step or learned to ride her bike without training wheels. But something about the independence reading brings really moves me. Her first book was "I Like Bugs". And it's true, she's always liked bugs. She recently went through a phase where she wanted to be a "bug artist"...a person who illustrates the bugs that you find in science books (I'm sure there's an official name for such an occupation).

Another thing Layla has always loved is swimming. She's never been fearful of the water and we go to the pool frequently in the summer so she's learned a lot on her own and with me. But, I decided it was finally time for swimming lessons so we started a few weeks ago. I was amazed at how, on week 3, she freestyled down the pool. As I watched her long body move through the water, I just couldn't believe how big she was.

She is starting to turn the corner a bit in the adjustment-to-kindergarten-process. I've noticed a big change the last few weeks, which is good because the emotions were exhausting me! She braved it through her first piano recital and thoroughly enjoyed her school and church concerts.

Then and Now

Their first Christmas as brother and sister and their 4th... ***sigh***




We've had a fun and busy week...3 Christmas parties and 3 performances that our kids were in. Just a few more days and the kids will be on Christmas break and Dave will be off work. Then, when all of our obligations are done, I feel like Christmas is really here!

Christmas Tree

When Layla was 2 we started a tradition on going to the tree farm the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend and picking out our tree. Decorating this year was a breeze! My mom was here and did the fireplace and the kids are old enough that they decorated the tree and I didn't have one single ornament to super glue back together when they were done. Yeehaw!