One of the benefits of living in a small town is that everybody knows us.  Now, there are days that that lack of anonymity seems like a downfall, but for the most part I think it’s a good thing!

They definitely know us at the local vet clinic; our kids have been regulars there from birth.  Which means that, even at their tender ages, the Blake kids have already gotten in on lots of behind-closed-doors veterinary medicine action.  Thank you to the crew at Treasure Vet for that!  Sometimes I wonder if one of our kids — or maybe our nephew or niece — might grow up to be a vet.  Hmmm… and which one might it be?

This week, on a dreary and drizzly April afternoon, the kids and I “had to” take a break from school work and run a horse to the vet for Beau.  Oz, the pictured sorrel gelding, has been feeling a little under the weather this spring, so among other trouble-shooting solutions we opted for, we asked Dr. Jessica to float his teeth.  The kids were fascinated with the process!

One of the benefits of homeschooling, of course, is all the real life our kiddos get to experience at our sides.  I’ve done a lot of forcing our first-grader and kindergartner to finish worksheets this school year through the curriculum I selected for them (force might be too hard a word, as they are both willing students, but if I’m not careful the busywork gets to be way too much for their little minds and bodies), and I can now attest first-hand that children (ours anyway) engage infinitely deeper and are infinitely more curious about the subject at hand and about life in general after a hands-on, eye-full experience like watching a vet at work.

Sometimes I have to remind myself why we’re doing what we’re doing.  When I snapped this picture it was proof to me:  This.  This is why we’re doing what we’re doing.

Some other fun pics I got this week:

The sky is considering a brighter shade of blue every day, and look — the green grass is starting.  Yay for spring!

These two curly-topped littles of ours… oh, oh, oh.  The have a lot of fun together, they push and shove and bite on another, they squawk… and then they hug and it starts all over again.

Happy Sunday, everyone!

© Tami Blake