Jackson was riding Bella bareback in the front yard so I had to go out and take some photos. He asked me how long I had been standing there and I said about a minute... he followed with, "so you didn't see me fall off then". What? ha! That explains why he was standing next to Bella a bit before I came out. I DID notice; it just didn't occur to me what I was noticing. :D Jackson (and Bella) were feeling pretty feisty on this day - just having fun riding around. I love this and it serves as a great reminder of how far Jackson has come. He was pretty unsure about Bella when he starting working with horses seriously just over a year ago. She was 9 years old and not broke to ride at that point. (a grave mistake on our part, but we have our excuses!) :D Anyway, he went from being unsure to fully training her to the point where she is one of the best horses we have. (Jackson coming off her in the front yard this day notwithstanding) :D ha! Pretty neat to watch.
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| galloping bareback |
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| she is a pretty thing |
And while Jackson has always had the big ideas for little brother to do, it has so often been 'little' brother (not so little when they stand side by side) who is thinking of his brother. Looking out for him in ways big and small. Here is another example that made me smile and laugh a few weeks ago.
Embarrassingly, I have noted previously on this blog that we can be rather obtuse when it comes to our surroundings. We just don't pay attention to things and time can pass by (weeks, months, YEARS) without us giving a second thought to some things. Case in point - the dolphin stickers that float around the upper walls of our hallway bathroom. We put those up when we first built the house and that was the 'boys bathroom' decorated with a cute dolphin theme. Obviously, the dolphin shower curtain, soap dispenser, and decorative bowl are long since taken down and put away. However, we never really noticed the dolphins on the walls - through all these years I just didn't notice or care. Until one day someone asked about them... and I was like 'Wow! I guess we should do something about those??" ha! That very week we replaced the light fixture in that bathroom and everything was much brighter and Maverick noticed the dolphins for the very first time! He was in awe - and so now you know those dolphins aren't going anywhere. But I digress... :D
This is all leading to the fact that many years after these posters were proudly hung on the boys bedroom door, we finally got around to taking them down. (hanging my head in shame) However, in taking them down I had to laugh as I remembered a story about them. You see, this poster (The Hobbit) was on top of another poster... so this is what you would see on their door.
I guess I'm sharing all this to say how much I love those 'boys'. I love who they were, who they are, and who they are becoming. They are also a lot of fun to be around! They have big hearts, loud laughs, and a love for one another that gives me comfort that they will always have each other, in spite of their great differences. That certainly makes this Mama's heart happy.
