horseback riding

Did I tell you we started horseback riding?
We've been trying to find something Joseph could really love (and that I could use as leverage if necessary), and Ben had the bright idea to try horseback riding. Joseph loves animals, and I knew right away he would love it. So we found a woman who gives private riding lessons not too far from here (helps to live 10 minutes away from big horse ranches), got the boys cowboy boots, and they've been going for about 3 weeks now. They really do like it. They ride a big brown horse named Jackson, and the three boys split the hour and all get a chance to help groom him, saddle him up, ride him, and feed him carrots. :-)
The ranch is a fun place with chickens and turkeys and peacocks wandering around, sheep and cats and rabbits and of course lots of horses. I love seeing Joseph's smile when he's up there on the horse. The teacher is really quiet and not terribly engaging with the boys, but the price is right and she's close, and so for now it's working.
Last weekend we went to South Padre Island for a couple of days, and then drove out to Brownsville for the wedding reception of one of Ben's employees. I took a bunch of pictures which I will post after I get them processed. It was fun, although South Padre probably isn't worth the 6 hour drive since we can get to Port Aransas in about 3.5-4 hours and that's just as nice (imho). It was a little cold and it rained all day Saturday, but it was still a nice getaway. The boys love staying in hotels, and love long drives (really! They get to listen to their audio books uninterrupted), and they had a very good time.
Today is back to real life and school lessons. School is going well. We still have some cooperation *issues* with Joseph, but he's coming along. Today I was really proud of him for turning his attitude around. He started the morning being unwilling to cooperate with anything (wouldn't even get dressed). I pleaded with him to not do this, to not have a big fight with me, to just decide to have a happy day and get his work done so we could all be happy together and have time to play, and, even though it took a good 20 minutes of talking him through it, he really did turn his attitude around. Last Monday he did NOT have a good day and he and I had a big fight and I had to basically force him to sit on my lap for about 4 hours until he decided to get his act together. I really REALLY hate those kinds of power struggles, and mostly try my best to defuse them, but sometimes he really has to know that I am still in charge, even if he can run away from me. He has to know I still have the final word. I am pretty reasonable and I'm willing to negotiate on a lot of things, but only if he is reasonable in return. Last Monday was not a good day and I was so afraid today would end up the same way. Happily, it did not.
Wow, parenting is hard.