Bob Bull Goes into Retirement

For all of you that have been following my husbands adventure with having a partnership in a race horse, I have some bad and good news.

I will start with the bad news first. Bob Bull will no longer be running on the track. He proved to Tom that he no longer wanted to be out there but gave it a shot. So Tom made the decision to put him into retirement for the rest of his life. Tom listens to his horses and lets them make the choice if they are going to run or not. Bob Bull has had a hard life and Tom gave him a chance out there on the track again but Bob wanted nothing to do with it. Tom says that he loved going out in the morning and running but when it came to race time he just didn't put his heart into it.

So now for the good news!!

This is a picture of Bob with one of his new owners!

Bob is currently living on a 40 acre farm in Wellington FL with a couple who really wanted to take him in. Tom told us Bob also has a girlfriend to hang out with!! How cool is that. Bob is now going to live out his life being happy and running but not for competition.

Also the best news of all.....Tom has had a "No Slaughter" Bill signed for Bob. This means that Bob will never have to see the inside of a slaughter house again. He made it out and will never go back. How lucky is this horse?! I think he is one of the luckiest animals out there. If it wasn't for Racefund.org finding him in the slaughter house and calling Tom, and for Tom taking him back in...and now knowing that he will die an old horse, happy and loved! He is one of the few that get a second chance at life, so please just remember all of those that aren't that lucky.

I hope to try to get some more pictures of Bob at his new home but no promises. We will still be in contact with Tom and hopefully when another partnership comes around we will be ready and be able to afford it. Even if another partnership doesn't come around we have made a good friend and I have had the honor of knowing someone who is a horse trainer and also a man who cares so much for his and all animals alike. You don't meet people like Tom everyday and I am glad that I have met him. He gave us a chance at one of my husbands dreams and I will always respect him for that! It was a great ride for Mark... and me too! It was a lot of fun and a time that we will never forget. I love you Tom! You are a nice, wonderful, warm hearted person and it has been an absolute pleasure to have gotten to know you! Thank you!!!

I am hoping to keep updated with other horses that Tom is running. You can always catch Toms horses at Calder race track in Miami FL. Just look for Mcschell Racing and Tom Schell!

Thanks for sharing in our adventure. It wasn't as long as we would have liked but it has turned out better then we ever thought it could.

Hello to all my blogging friends. I have been MIA for a few. I have had some personal things to take care of and it has not been fun for me. The weather here has not helped with motivation to do anything either. It has been raining or cloudy for the past 3 weeks and it has got me very down. My personal things have gotten better but I have one more hump to get over on Friday. I am sure everything will be fine but it doesn't make my mind any calmer. It has been really crazy around here with all the stuff going on and the boys graduating from school and all the money we have had to dish out this month for all of Marks end of the yr activities for school. It would be so nice if the school would give a heads up about mid year on what will be going on at the end of the year so you can financially plan for everything. I am also currently looking for a job to help with some added expenses that have come up. It hasn't been easy to find anything around here. I know it is rough all over but for some reason no store chains are hiring around here. I am keeping my fingers crossed that I will find something soon.

So one day this past week the sun came out for a few hours and Thomas and I sat on the deck enjoying the sunshine and listening to the birds sing and feed the babies in the birdhouses. It was so nice to see the sun and feel the warmth. The only good thing about the rain is my gardens are wonderful!! I decided to get my camera out and take a few pictures of some of the beautiful colors in some of my gardens. I hope you enjoy them.

I hope you all are doing good and that things are going well for all of you. I have missed you all and missed blogging. I am hoping that my time of stress is over and I can get back to life the way I know it. I have missed you all tremendously and it feels really nice to write again and be back into this!

I heart faces week 24 "Let's Hear It for the Boys"

I had such a hard time picking out a picture to use for this weeks challenge.

I have a million pictures of this blonde haired, blue eyed cutie and I picked this one because I thought it fit into the "Let's Hear it for the Boys" category just perfect. What is better then a boy playing in a mud puddle for this weeks challenge.

Thomas was just over 2 in this picture, he found a mud puddle and went crazy!!

Nothing wrong with a little bit of dirt right? This may be to the extreme but this is probably one of my favorite photos of him. He still has no problem finding dirt and getting dirty.

We Were at Belmont Park!

On Saturday, Mark and I took a ride down to the Belmont in NY to watch the races. We had been to tracks before but never been for a big stakes race like "The Belmont". Can I just say what a blast we had! I got wonderful pictures, met some wonderful people and had a great time just the 2 of us. I really didn't think I was going to like being there all day since we got there at 10 and the main race wasn't until 6:30 but time went by fast and we had great seats right on the rail. We were near the finish line and had a great view of everything. The people were mainly friendly,but there were plenty of rude people too, a lot were drunk and so funny to watch and the people that were so over dressed for the cheap seats...they must have thought they were at the Kentucky Derby but sitting in the cheap seats! That was interesting to see. It was a great time and it was wonderful to have some "adult time" just me and Mark. We came home tired and really sunburned but it was well worth it!

I am so proud of some of the pictures I got. I owe it all to my wonderful husband who got me the Canon Rebel XSI for Christmas. These pictures would not be possible without it. I have started a new Flickr page that has more photos on it if you would like to see more. I did this because I was so surprised when a man came over my shoulder when I was looking at some of the pictures I had taken (200+!!) and he saw some he liked and asked if I sell them and wanted to know if he can purchase a few. Can you say EXCITED!! So I hope I can figure this out and any and all advice on selling pictures would be greatly appreciated!! Please!!

This is "mine that bird" getting ready for the gate
This is Summer Bird taking the lead

Just a photo of one of the turf races

Busy, Busy and More Busy

It has been a very busy 2 weeks here. We have had all sorts of end of the school year activities going on, graduation, band competition, field trips, play dates and yard work! Emily sums it up in this first picture!

We had a great picnic with the preschool at our town beach. It was cold and windy that day but the kids had fun. Emily is the younger sister of Jamie who is in Thomas's class and the poor thing just couldn't keep up.

This is part of our beach overlooking Long Island Sound. As you can see we don't have much activity when it comes to waves. Long Island protects us and the only time it gets choppy and we have any types of waves is when a storm comes in. Not as nice as some beaches but it is nice since it is only 3 minutes from my house.

Thomas and some of his classmates and parents enjoying the beach

This is the graduating class! I can't believe my baby has graduated from his first year of preschool. I did ok since I know there is 1 more year of preschool before he is off to Kindergarten. Now talk to me in a few weeks when my oldest graduates from 8th grade...I don't think I will do well with that one.

This is Thomas and Jamie. They will be married some day(we joke all the time)! They absolutely love one another. Jamie asks Thomas to walk her to her car everyday after preschool and they walk hand in hand to her car. It is the cutest sight ever!!! I do have to say that Thomas is a gentleman and just does as he is told to do....LOL!

Thomas getting his diploma!

After Disney this is no fun at all for him...can you tell? Look at the look on his face. I can see him saying to himself "this is boring"

Thomas was big enough to drive the car on his own. He told Dad that he was a big boy and can do it all by himself. So Dad and I sat and watched as he "bumped" his way down the track. He looks like he has been driving for years the way he is sitting in the car with his hand like that on the wheel.

Mark had a band competition at Lake Compounce which is a amusement park here in CT. After they played a few songs we got to enjoy the park for the day. It was so cold and only finished raining shortly after they performed. It wasn't that fun. Last year it was about 85 and sunny and we all went home sunburned and the kids were able to use the water park...not this year! Sweatshirts never came off :(

I couldn't really get good pics of the band concert. The place that they performed in was big. They all did a great job and it was very enjoyable. Most of them have been playing since they were in 4th grade and I can't believe how much they have grown in the last 4 yrs.

Now that Thomas is done with school we just have to get through Marks last 2 or 3 weeks left and much more to do. We are also trying to get Mark into the "little explorers" program at our local firehouse. It is nice since we know the chief! Hopefully he can get in and it will keep him busy for the summer. If summer ever gets here!! We have had a few nice and really warm days then it drops back down again. Like today it is only supposed to be 60-65 degrees. Isn't it supposed to be warmer now!!

I hope you all are doing good and are having much better weather then we are.

I will also be posting on Bob Bull later today.

Take Care

I Heat Faces Photo Challenge Week 21

I know most of you have seen this darling face already but I have decided to enter Reese's wonderful smile into a photo challenge. If you haven't seen the I Heart Faces blog then you really need to stop by and take a look. Every week they have new challenges going on and I love looking at all the entries. So now I am taking the next step and entering!

If you missed the shirt that Reese won for the best smile and to learn a little more about him you can go here to read more on this wonderful part of our family.