Another Brave Member of the Family...

Although I think it would take a lot to knock Carys Jo out of the "bravest person I know" category, Sawyer decided to try out for the leading role. Well, I suppose it was not something he tried to do...but you get the picture.

Wednesday, I arranged for Justin's mom to pick Sawyer up from school. I had a nail appointment and she did me a great favor. Sawyer's Pop was very excited to spend the afternoon with him and they did all sorts of "boy stuff" as Carys would call it. One of these things was to feed the horses. After Pop put the feed out for one of them, Sawyer decided to try and pet the horse {who was eating} on the nose. Well...the horse thought Sawyer was trying to get his food so he snapped at him. Caught in the crossfire was Sawyer's right hand.

A couple of painful shots, five stitches, lots of gauze, and some pain medicine later he is doing well. This was what his hand looked like when wrapped.

This was Sawyer's setup before I left for church last night. He was all comfy with his pj's, blanket, pillow for a prop, chicken noodle soup, and coke in an UA cup. He took the doctor very serious when he told him to keep it elevated. At first, he was holding it straight in the air! We finally convinced him that the doctor meant to prop it up, not hold it over his head.

He had a good night and so far a good day. He was a little disappointed when I told him he could not go to school because he wanted to tell the story to his friends...He will be fine, just keep him {and his fingers} in your prayers! P.S. pics are from my phone.

Hold on Tight...

...becuase I am about to tell show you way more than you ever wanted to know about labs and retriever training! I am hoping that you will love the pics so much that you will pay no mind to the content...

I would also like to preface this retriever training session by saying that all of these pics are un-touched, un-edited, raw images from our adventures. You can either congratulate me or beg for edits next time :)

 P.S. this is more about the pics than the "training" those parts, which contain some truth, are just to set the stage for my pictures:)

Retriever Training Part One

It is such a shame when you stumble upon a gorgeous setting for a picture and you have no people to photograph!

When working with your retriever, you should first find a picturesque locale. This location will help the dog practice swimming in deep, but still, water. Also, the dog will be able to practice jumping from a dock.

A properly trained retriever will swim to the bumper with ease.

He will grip the bumper in his mouth and proudly return to his Man {or Woman it just all depends}.

You should often try and include some "cover" for the dog to work through. You never know what things your dog will face when you are in your favorite hunting hole!

Obedience is one of the finer qualities of Labradors. It must be practiced every day.

Never, ever forget to stop and observed God's wondrous creation.

You and your retriever should be as one.

Retriever Training Part Two

I cannot stress the importance of a training in a beautiful location. You should always look to your left...

and then to your right to ensure that the spot is indeed appropriate!

"Hmmm..."

"Yes, I think this spot will do." But...

"...I better test out the water before Bill!"

Have I mentioned...

That Labs are...

the quintessential...

companions. Especially,

 for rambunctious children...

such

as

these. Anyway, I digress...

As mentioned in Part One, obedience is the key. If you do not think this is a well trained dog, just look at the pictures above. His kids were splashing and playing, but he was obeying his Man's command to SIT and STAY. That was hard for even me to obey!

Properly trained retrievers will remain at SIT when their bird bumper is shot thrown {even when their Man is barefooted.}

A properly placed bird bumper will ensure that the dog must...

run through shallow, but moving water...

exit the water on land, swim in deep and moving water...

and make the retrieve.

A retrieve is not really complete, however, unless...

The bird bumper makes it back to the Man!

And of course praise is always necessary.

So, there

you

have it.

A good retriever...

is always more than happy...

to, well...retrieve!

I also loved these shots of the native "wildlife" at this training location!

Where has the week gone...

It has been a little over a week since I have posted. It is not because there has been a lack of things to post about. It was a busy week. 

Sawyer had a class field trip to a pumpkin patch. We usually take the kids to Clanton to THE Pumpkin Patch but I hated not to let Sawyer go with his friends. Carys also has a Pumpkin Patch trip coming up later this month.

We also packed in some fun in the evenings. We have had a warm spell {Indian Summer I suppose} this week. Add that to the fact that we had Bill home and that makes for some fun afternoons in the yard...and in other places. We even took Bill to the Cahaba National Wildlife Refuge for a bit of training and he and the kids loved it. I have great pictures of all of this, but they will have to come later...

BCHS Homecoming was Friday. It was a beautiful day for the parade and we loved the fact that they were allowed to throw candy this year {the first time in many years}. The kids were so excited to see all the floats and beauty queens. We ended the night with a 49-0 win over the Green County Tigers. It was fun!

So, I leave you with some pictures from the Pumpkin Patch

Action Packed Saturday...

 I love days where I get to be with the whole family for the whole day!

 Today was one of those days...

 I was even able to catch some of the great moments on film...

 But then I uploaded some of the best shots sideways and it was too late at night to try and fix them...

 We went to CCA for Sawyer's Fall Festival...

 Sawyer got to pet a pony...

 And paid one dollar {of his own money} to ride a horse...

 And then we went to our very own Cottingham Pumpkin Patch...

 And I got some ever beautiful shots of my always beautiful daughter...

And then an evening of pizza and football left us ready for bed!

God has blessed us beyond compare! Thanks for wanting to share with us!