A Week In The Life of the DOTM, Madelon McCormick

Madi's Musings(A Journal), Day 1, January 16, 2017

I can't believe that my birthday is seriously in ONE week! I'm crazy excited! I've got a TON of plans - my birthday party is on Saturday. Jamie and Mia, from this guest post , and Sarah and Lucy who gave us a ton of great Christmas gifts, and Lily and Noelle are ALL coming! I'm so excited... they're coming for MY birthday! It's going to be the best birthday I've EVER had. Really! I'll tell you some more about my birthday after a bit about my day. I got my homework assignments for this Dolls N' All academy week. It's a LOT of work. I have to put together several reports and read a whole bunch of books and do several presentations on Friday. I'll tell you more about that on a day that's not so much fun! Tomorrow I'm hanging out with Light4theLord - we're going to the Toys R Us to see all the new AG TM stuff they have, and then we're going to the mall! I'm excited. Even though I don't have any birthday money to buy AG stuff yet... 

And then the next day I'm going to the orthodontist. Yipes. But then again, you only wanna know about today - right?

 

Well, today was GORGEOUS! It was all sunny and warm and springy. Even the birds thought it was April!

Elizabeth was so glad to be able to exercise Star after the cold snap. Star is boarded close by, but often times it's rainy or icy (note the past few ice and rain posts). Sometimes she just gets to trot him out every now and then. But today!

There's a trail around Light4theLord's house, and Elly took off on Star. Yup, she was in her happy place.

First though, she tacked him up and I watched from a bit of a distance.

She's always wonderful with animals, and her gentle way with Star proves that.

"Ready to ride, boy?" she asked softly, leaning into him.

He nuzzled her back on the shoulder, as if replying.

She looped the reins around her hand and mounted.

She looked so poised and perfect!

She clicked her tongue and nudged him with her leg and he trotted along down the path.

And off they went on the trail!

Julie, though she despises bugs and dirt, came outside to enjoy the pretty weather with the rest of the family.

 She just chilled with her MP3 and a drink. :)

 Yes, it was THAT warm. :D

 

Amy brought out her gift from Sarah, her art set and sketched and colored for a while.

I ambled over to her and asked, "Watcha doing?"

"Sketching," was her reply. I rolled my eyes. Of course she was! I meant, what was she sketching... but she was lost into her artist's world and so I moseyed over to Sam, snapping pictures as I went.

She had her journal and Melody book, so I didn't bother asking what she was doing. It was rather obvious.

Smart Sam, claiming the rock first!

Katie LOVED being outside and did every possible daring thing she could. Of course, doing aerial flips across a sawhorse is just normal for a gymnast. :D

"And here I prepare for my aerial cartwheel, double flip, triple step out layout!" She declared, then with a twinkle in her eye, she turned to me and said, "Nope, just kidding!"

She did do a few flips for me, but all my pictures turned out blurry. Oh well, I'm still getting used to it! I love my camera!

The sparkle in her eye...

There was a rock wall over beside the tool shed, and Katie found that as a perfect opportunity for breaking her leg. Not really, it just looked... like something she'd do.

She DID scale the wall pretty quickly.

"You *huff* may *puff* now *pant* applaude!" she told me, breathing hard between each word.

I laughed and headed back to the others. It was neat seeing my family just spending time together. At my old home... nevermind.

Katie followed me and demonstrated some slow-motion flips so I could get them on camera.

Oh, and a handstand that looked rather painful. She's used to it though.

Alright, switching over to a selfie from Josie's phone. I'm getting my own in just ONE week! Hurrah! Okay, so last week, I was all bundled up with a hat, scarf, vest, and boots... and today, TODAY I'm wearing a t-shirt...

And SHORTS! HOW CRAZY IS THAT??!?!!!

 Oh, and I forgot to mention that I'm wearing SANDALS! Seriously?!?!?!? It's like. wow. like, that's not supposed to be happening. I mean, it's April January!

Katie too, was wearing a t-shirt! And capris...

I love her spunky hair!

Josie, the oldest of our family, was merely strolling around, admiring the pretty weather and talking to each of the sisters here and there.

I walked over to her, (^ see, she's BAREFOOT!) and suddenly...

Meow, A little golden cat pranced up and clawed at her skirt playfully.

Josie whirled around and saw the kitten.

Meow, The cat jumped up onto her.

Sitting down, Josie let the cat crawl up into her lap. The golden feline immediately curled up and started purring.

"She likes you!" I told Josie.

"She's really sweet," Josie petted the soft fur. "I wonder who she belongs to?

"Hey, hold her up and pose for a picture! The readers of Dolls N' All will love it!" I instructed her, whipping out my camera.

"No, no, turn her this way a bit. Yeah, that's perfect!"

I snapped a picture quickly...

Ta-da! (Do say you like it please!)

"I'm gonna go find Elly. Have fun with the cat!" I told her, just as Katie walked up.

I held up my camera again, for surely Katie would love the cat.

"Oh, she's so cute!" Katie squealed, plopping down in front of Josie. "Here, little kitty!"

"Hey!" Josie teased playfully as I walked away. "My kitty! She came to me!"

I found Elizabeth and Star a little ways down the path.

"Can I pet him?" I asked shyly.

"Of course!" Elly assured me. I stroked his velvety blaze.

"Have you ever ridden a horse before?" Elly asked.

"Nope," I replied, still petting him.

Elly slid out of the saddle,

landing softly on the ground.

"Here, why don't you try?" She offered, holding out the reins.

I shyly stood there, nervous.

"Will he buck me?" as soon as I said that, I knew it sounded as ridiculous as I thought it would.. maybe more ridiculous.

"Of course not, Madi!" Elizabeth patted Star solidly on the withers. "You can make friends with him pretty quickly, see here.."

She dug a shiny red apple out of her pocket.

Extending the fruit to me, she motioned to Star. He whinnied, as if on cue.

I took the apple and held it out to the horse.

Star immediately reached over and snatched it from my hand.

He neighed, searching for more.

"No more!" Elly told him, and I laughed.

Elizabeth helped me mount the horse and I sat there awkwardly. "Now what?" I asked.

She told me how to hold the reins, just so, and I obeyed promptly.

"Alright, just nudge him in the sides gently."

"You're doing great!" Elly called.

It was pretty cool to be riding a horse. I liked it a lot! After a while, though, I dismounted and asked Elly to show me how she jumps on Star. She had a couple blue ribbons from several different shows.

She mounted Star, trotted him around a  bit and found a short little log she could easily jump over without straining him.

"I haven't practiced in a while," she admitted as she started.

Star broke into a trot, headed for the plank.

His powerful hindquarters tighten, launching him over the log with a foot to spare!

He landed perfectly and Elly trotted him back around in a circle towards me.

"That was AWESOME!" I told her. "Can you teach me to do that this summer?"

"Sure," she grinned, riding him off again. I went to find someone else to photograph.

Katie.. was climbing another tree.

Only this time, she was climbing the one above Julie!

"Get a picture!" she yelled to me. I scrambled up onto a nearby ladder and snapped a picture, and then hopped down.

She went pretty far up. Up. and up... and up..

Get the idea?

It was pretty funny seeing Julie's reaction.

"KATIE!" she yelled. "You're getting WOODCHIPS in my HAIR!" I giggled. Katie snickered.

"So?!" she yelled back.

"IT's DANGEROUS! For ME!" Julie shouted in return. "What if you fell on to ME?!"

"What if I fell period?!" Katie called.

I turned away, snapped a last picture of Sam..

And of Amy and Jules.

I hope you enjoyed this!

Love,

Madi