Here's some more pictures!
Lauren

Okay....not quite, but we're getting there!! Just yesterday Dad contacted a Christian publishing company and made the deal. So now I've got a lot of work to do! My first step is lining up an illustrator....and after that, the ball should really start rolling!!! So keep checking back here for updates!
Lauren

Here are some new pictures of the day we spent at the Sandusky Airport and Levi, Lydia and Dad going for a plane ride, and some pictures of Ranger, the goats and Levi's bunnies!
Lauren

I finally got around to putting up an excerpt from book three: The Stranger & the Lost Mine.
Click Here to see the excerpt. You have to scroll down the page to see it.
Lauren

Baby Bannie's chicks did hatch. 8 little balls of fluff!! I was moving them from one cage to the other this morning and one little rascal slipped through the wire of the cage and disappeared!! I tried to catch it but it dashed away and hid behind a bunch of stuff where I couldn't get to it. It stopped peeping so I couldn't track it by the sound. After looking for awhile I put the small cage with Baby Bannie and the other 7 chicks on the ground and went back to the house...hoping that if I wasn't there the chick would come out to the others. I went back about 10 minutes and sure enough, it was right there by the cage! I caught it and put it with the others.
I was riding Smoke on the road the other night and kept thinking that her gait felt off. I got off twice and checked her feet out but didn't see anything. Then Seth rode up on his bike and told me that her  back foot was bleeding. It looked like her front shoe had come back and cut it. She was limping pretty bad by that time so I walked her most of the way home. Some neighbors of ours drove by, then turned around and asked if we wanted them to go get their trailer and take her home. We were almost home by that time so I didn't take them up on that.
Her foot was better today so I took her on a ride but we were just two miles out when she started limping again so we came back home. Now, Lydia's pestering me to take her out on Lena...maybe tonight when it cools down we'll go.
I've just started riding Smoke on the road by myself....I clocked myself and at a slow canter we did a mile in five minutes and we walked half a mile in four minutes. Smoke is a good horse for long distances because she's so fast but she has a lot of endurance too.
We're almost ready to get the publishing ball rolling. I'm working on doing last revisions on the first book and I've got three people on my list for illustrations. We've got several publishers that we're considering...I don't have a date yet, but I'm hoping by next spring to really have things going.
I'm on page 48 in The Stranger & the Lost Mine and I'm working on a short story for The Heritage Collection. Its called The Story Of Eli and Rebekah. I've got 17 pages done in it...not sure exactly how long it will be but seeing as its a short story...probably no more than 50 pages.
We just finished picturing this upcoming auction...now we've got a little bit of a breather. Friday Dad and Mom might be going to look at a new van and after that...possible on to Indiana to look at a new 30 foot trailer for hauling auction product.
Its been hot and humid here...we had about two cooler days then it was back to rain and heat!
I'll be posting some sneak peeks of the third book soon...watch for that!
Lauren

It's been crazy around here as we finished the Lennon farm auction and got the Sandusky auction ready. We're almost done picturing it.
I've ridden Smoke on the road twice in the last 3 days. We went six miles each time and galloped or cantered most of the time. The roads we went on were really hilly and both me and Smoke had tons of fun. She is responding so much better now that I'm not using a bit on her. I figured out that she doesn't fight me as much as if I lean forward in the saddle when we're going fast. We've had lots of people looking at us...and a couple of dogs chased us. When that happened, I gave her her head and dug in my heels. Wow! She sure is speedy! We left those dogs in the dust! She had fun and so did I! After I got back tonight, I took Lydia out on Lena...she had lots of fun.
Six baby chicks hatched. Mom had to help one hatch and I helped one. The other four hatched on their own. Jewel has one chick and Baby Bannie's chicks are due to hatch soon.
Mom and Dad are going to pick up tomorrow at the Lennon Estate but we children will be home. Hopefully we'll get some farm work done.
Today was the first sorta cool day in awhile, but its going to get hot again next week.
My grandma's sister, B. Coleman, read and helped edit my first book. She wrote me a review which I posted on the Reviews page.
 Okay, its late and I'm tired!
I'll post pictures of the chicks soon.
Lauren

2 more chicks hatched yesterday. It was this mother hens first time setting so its nice she had some success. She had fifteen eggs under her, and only the three were fertilized. Her name is Jewel and her half sister, Baby Bannie, is also setting. She has a ways to go yet though. Baby Bannie was furious when she could hear chicks under Jewel and didn't have any herself. She tried to steal them, but we locked her in the cage where she had made her nest until she calmed down. One of Jewel's chicks got eaten by naughty Ranger today. He got locked in the house for awhile.
Our friend is going on vacation this week so she brought us her two goats to milk for her, Little Anne and Jubi. So for now we have three milking, those two plus Belle and Libby, in milk but nursing her daughter, Shiloh and Rueben, the buck we are borrowing. 
 A couple days ago I rode Maggie bareback and cantered her for the first time bareback....a little bumpy, but it was fun!
Today Lydia and I went on a ride. I rode Mag and Lydia rode Lena of course. We did ALOT of trotting and cantering. We saw some little girls playing behind a house...when they saw us they ran out and waved. We waved, then rode on past...one of the girls ran after us down the road. I turned around and went to talk to her. She asked if we'd stop by on our way back. I told her we would so on the way back, we stopped and visited some more. The one girl really wanted to ride, so I let them ride Lena with me leading her. Then they asked us to take the horses across the road to their house so their parents could see. They had fun.
Levi and Lydia picked beans today, then I washed, blanched and froze them...I didn't get a whole lot, but it's enough and the plants aren't done producing. We're getting quite a few tomatoes and cucumbers and the beets are almost ready to pick and pickle. Dad loves pickled beets.
Okay, all that riding made me tired! Time to hit the sack!
Lauren

Mmmm...the berries were really good! They were small but sweet and we got ten pounds. I think about 4 pounds have already very mysteriously disappeared!!!
We didn't get the cleaning done yesterday, but as we're not going to our friends house, we'll hopefully get it done today.
I did get to take a ride yesterday...Smoke was very happy to go out. Lydia rode Lena and came with me, while Levi rode Maggie and went off by himself. We met up about halfway through the ride and Levi came home with us. We were almost home when Smoke started acting up. Levi and Lydia had ridden on ahead and Smoke wanted to run to catch up....I didn't want to run so I held her in. She started getting dancy, so I backed her up...then she started rearing so I got off and lunged her right there on the trail. She straightened up pretty quick, then I got back on and continued on home. Her big problem is that she doesn't like to stop. So sometime this week I'm planning on taking her to the field and doing the half halt to slow her down...then maybe we'll get somewhere. I ride her 99 % of the time with a rope halter now...she absolutely hates the bit....she is much more responsive with the halter. I have a bitless bridle on the way...it attaches to your regular bridle and give you more control than just a halter, plus you can have your reins attached. Right now I'm riding her with the bridle over the halter, just in case I need it.
Lydia rode poor Lena three times yesterday and did quite a bit of trotting and cantering. I put two milk crates out in the Big Area (that's what we call the grassy area behind the house) where she was riding and she practiced doing figure eights around them. She did really well and Lena figured out the pattern quickly!
We had one chick hatch yesterday and there's more on the way!
Levi's two bunnies have their eyes  open and are hopping around the nesting box.
I'm on page 47 in the third book. The plot is thickening! I'm on Chapter 6: The Storm.
Well, the animals are waiting for their breakfast!
Lauren

I had just barely woken up this morning when Levi came tearing into the house yelling "The horses are out!" Great. Neither Mom nor Dad were home...I was hoping it wasn't all the horses. Thankfully, it was just Bannie and Charlie...so I threw a rope around Ban's neck and handed him to Levi...then tried to catch Charlie. He promptly decided he hadn't have enough fun and took off. I chased him around the yard for a few minutes...still couldn't catch him, so I told Levi to lead Bannie down to the barn, hoping Charlie would follow. He did, thankfully, followed him right into the pasture. Okay, they're caught, then I had to walk the fence to see where they got out. I found it shortly...Bannie had bent one of the panels down in the back that was serving as a gate...the funny thing is, Bannie did the exact same thing last year. Early one morning, a guy came knocking on the door asking if we had horses. Turns out he and several friends were on they're way home from work and saw two horses loose in a field. They stopped and put their belts around their necks while the one guy went to try to find the owners. He described the horses and we knew they were ours so we headed down. It was Bannie and Mitzie, the halflinger we sold last fall. When we got them home, we found where Bannie had bent the panel down.  I guess we didn't fix it well enough the first time!! This was the first time Bannie had been back in that pasture since last fall. He has a good memory!
Today we're going to pick blueberries this morning, then do some cleaning later today. Tomorrow we might be going to a friends house to do some riding.
I'm hoping to get a ride in later too!
Lauren

Can you tell what kind of summer we've been having?? Did you say a fun one!!?? Right!!
The boys have been working feverishly on their go carts...now they have two running and they've constructed a race track. Seth was riding his mini bike on the track on Monday and had a spill. He scraped up his knee and arm, but was otherwise fine. He was back at right away! Dad has been joining the fun too.
The kids are crazy about swimming...the boys learned how to swim last summer, Lydia still uses a life jacket. The boys have been swimming with a monster bass...Seth almost netted him once, but he managed to get away. I think the dogs enjoy the fun as much as the kids! If you holler, "Ready, set, go!" Shep will jump in!
Lydia has been riding Lena all over the place. She has progressed to trotting and a little cantering now.
Yesterday our employee, Jeanette, came over and went riding with us. She rode Maggie and she and Lydia had fun loping. I rode Smoke. She had thrown a shoe so we had a farrier out that Jeanette had recommended. He is going to put special shoes on Smoke once we start competing that will help her performance.
I uploaded a whole bunch of new pictures to the Photo Gallery page. Click Here to see them.
Levi and Lydia are picking beans, and I'm going to fold laundry now!
Lauren

I recently updated the About Me page. There is lots of new content to look at! The Home page has been updated slightly as well.
Yesterday Me, Mom and Lydia went on a ride. I rode Maggie since Mom said she'd acted up the last time she rode her, Mom rode Bannie and Lydia rode Lena of course.
I had loped Maggie on ahead and all the sudden I heard Lydia, who had just started to trot Lena, yelling that Lena was cantering! She cantered for about 30 feet before she got Lena stopped. She was excited and scared at the same time! The rest of the ride was uneventful...Mag was a dream!
Today, me and Lydia rode together, me on Mag again...because Smoke lost one shoe...ugh! and Lydia on Lena. Lydia is really sore as she did lots of trotting and a teensy weensy bit of cantering again! After we got back, I took Maggie out by herself, she did very well, then I round penned Charlie...he is getting so much better at it. I finally got him to walk and to stop on command. I think he enjoyed it as much as I did.
This morning when I went out to do chores, I looked all over and couldn't find Bannie...finally I found him...under the apple tree eating green apples!! He looked so cute, I was sooo disappointed I didn't have a camera. He is such a little kid in his mind! You just can't help loving him when he looks at you with his big chocolate eyes!
I'm going to try to get some pictures of Lydia and Lena posted soon.
The boys have been having fun with go carts...a race track and everything! I'll get some pictures up of that too.
Right now Mom and I are heading to Caro for a few doctor appointments....I'm hoping to get some more horsing around done this evening!
Lauren