My Favorite Things.....

Little girls in Pigtails!!!



Little boys who bring you
in a whole bunch of dandelions
because they think you deserve
them for being the best
mom that they have ever had
(funny, that you just happen to be the only
mom they have ever had!)













Sleeping babies who are angels when they are
asleep as well as when they are awake!







When one of your kids notices that one of the
others is sad, or sick, and they feel empathy
for them....

and try to kiss all their ills better. That is priceless,
and makes you feel like maybe they may turn out alright in the end.

Got Em!! Goats!!!

Mara with Nanny
Max with Mango!

Caleb trying to hold Molly!(Left) Happy Mothers Day to me!!!

So I guess we are finally the owners of four goats. A mom and her three kids. They are so adorable! I love them. I have wanted goats for so long! finally we have them. The littlest brown one Ryan named Mango. She is my favorite! She is a runt because the other two hog the milk from the mom, so she is half the size, but by far the cutest. The black one is Molly and the White one is Nanny. The mom was already named Bambi, so even though Ryan thinks it's a stupid name, we'll probably keep it. Besides, it's pretty cute how Mara says " 'mhere bambiiiii"

The kids were quite tramatized though, the old goat farmer who we bought them from, dehorned them when he got here and the little baby goats were crying and it sounded just like a human baby. I looked at Noah and he looked like he was about to cry. He and Caleb finally left, they couldn't stand it. I felt like leaving as well. It was errie how much it sounded like a human baby. They are fine now, and really I think that it was more tramatic that they were caught and not with their mom that they were crying, not so much that it hurt that bad.

Caleb is the goat wrestler! He gets in that pen and can catch the little ones! It's so funny. They are so fun, and they eat all our dandelions! a bonus for Ryan (since I tell him he can't spray them)

I can't wait until they are used to us and will let us play with them more. We just got them Saturday. In a matter of a week we have turned into quite the petting zoo, or as Ryan's mom says Old Mackoudas' Farm!

Mud Buds!

Saturday we were working in our yard all morning, and the boys must have gotten tired of me ordering them around because they disappeared and the next thing that I knew, I heard laughing and giggling and saw them all covered in mud and spraying each other. It's a good thing that they like each other since there is no one else to play with around here. I am glad there are four of them.

It was all fun and games until it was time to get cleaned off and then Ryan went out with the hose and squirted them all off. They didn't like that so much(actually they pretended not to like it, and screamed like little girls, but they really were having a great time, Ryan had the most fun) The water comes from a freezing cold well clear down in the earth. I came out after Ryan had already squirted off Noah and Max, and only caught him getting Caleb. I was laughing pretty hard, so the movie is kinda shakey. Good times!

Iwas looking out the window and saw a garbage can out by the sprinkler, and thought it was odd that Ryan didn't move the can before turning the water on. The sprinkler past the garbage can and all of a sudden I see the can lift up and legs peeking out from under it and walk around, then the sprinkler came around again and the legs disappeared again. It was really funny. Sam was under there trying to keep from getting wet.

Summer Lovin'!

It really isn't summer yet, but I am itching for it.
I think. I worked all day yesterday, and have a feeling that in order to get this place looking half-way decent, I am going to have to do that all summer long! As you can see even the grass needs lots of work. I have to say that putting in a yard at a new house is easier, because you don't have to tear down before you rebuild.

It was such a beautiful day here yesterday. In the morning it was slightly breezy, but warm and perfect for gardening. I was out all day, it was wonderful. The kids loved it too! Max and Mara wanted lunch outside, so we had a picnic. These pictures are my attempt at getting the dog and two kids to hold still for a picture. It was quite hillarious. Miya knocked over Mara and she was distraught. At this time she was also ready for a nap.

What a perfect moment! I had to speak in church on sunday and I talked about finding those perfect moments of motherhood and holding on to them for those times when you don't feel like you like being a mom or when your kids are stressing you out. This was definately one of those days. A day that I was truly and completely happy about being a mom of six.

Utah Trip!

April 25, 2008

Friday morning I left for Utah with Max and Mara and Emma. The older boys stayed home with Ryan to go to school. The younger kids were so good on the way down! The only struggle was having to stop for gas. The first time that I stopped was in Butte. What a fiasco. I got gas and took the kids to the bathroom, feed Emma and changed her from head to toe because she had pooped all over, got all the kids back into their car seats, and then Mara informed me that she had to go to the bathroom again. I had to undo everyone and go back into the store again, and put everyone back into their carseats again. Oh, how I wished I'd had a older kid with me! That stop took 45 minutes! The whole way down, Max was so excited to see his "best friend" Hayden! I was so glad that he got a chance to play with him. He is still talkimg about it. He has even named the knight that he jousts with "Doug"(that's Hayden's dad's name) When I went to pick him up, he told me that he was not foing back to Montana, he was staying to be Katie's boy. He told me he would obey Katie because she was nice. I was totally offended! I am nice. He said yeah, your nice, but your mean when I disobey! What a concept! Oh the minds of little boys!


Mara got to play with her cousin Hattie and we had a great time watching little girls play !

Emma got to meet her cousins! This is Camilla, the oldest grandchild on the Maughan's side, holding Emma, the newest grandchild my parents now have 19 grandchildren. 12 boys and 7 girls! Finally the girls are coming! We had such a great time!

Ryan, Sam, Noah and Caleb all came down on friday May 2, and I was so grateful to be able to drive home with someone. The drive is not bad at all when you have someone to talk too. We were so glad to go home and see family and friends, but we both decided that we love Montana and the space that there are not so many people. We love how beautiful the skies are and have decided that you all need to move up here, and then it would be perfect!

Rees' Ranch in Morgan

We had such a great time riding 4-wheelers at the ranch.Caleb and Max even had battery operated tractors and 4-wheelers to drive all by themselves. The girls all piled into the "John Deere" for a ride in the country. There is Sophie, Hallie and Mara. They had such a great time they rode the toys for hours until the batteries all died.

The pond at the ranch....what is it with boys and water? Sam and Curtis in the boat and Colin and Noah on the rock.

We spent all day saturday at the ranch. We saw the cows and chased some calves. We also got to see Miya's(our dog) mom and sister. The boys thought that was neat, and they got to shoot a "real" shot gun they loved it. We were so glad that we were invited and that it happened to be the weekend that we were down.

Black Eye Blues

Poor Mara got her first black eye!

Last Friday we went to gymnastics and Mara went down the slide, and a big kid didn't wait for her to get out of the way, and came down head first and cracked her nose with his skull. I heard her cry(really it was a scream of bloody murder) and went over, it didn't look that bad at first, but on the car ride home I looked in the rear view mirror, and saw a huge buldge on the side of her nose. I was so afraid that it was broken. She kept saying "Nose hurts bad mommy."

I felt so bad for her.Even when she woke up for her nap she said "Nose hurts bad!" The thing that was really funny is that at dinner last night, almost a week after the accident,when we were all saying what our "Highs" and "lows" were, she said "Nose hurt slide" for her low. she usually just says "High" when we ask her what her high is and nothing when we ask her low. I guess she is still thinking about it.

April 1, 2008Easter was so fun, the kids had great time coloring eggs. Saturday was really cold, and I didn't want to take Emma out in it forthe egg hunt, so Ryan stayed home with Emma, and Sam and Noah didn't want to go either, so I took Caleb and Max and Mara to the KOA for the egg hunt ( I know, only in Montana would there be and egg hunt at the local KOA) It was actually really fun and very well organized to a point.

The kids got to make a bag to put their eggs in and then run race with their age group (Mara was the winner in her age group-it was quite hilarious- She won a stuffed animal) Then they got to hunt for eggs.
 

There were tons of eggs, They split the group in half and led us around to the other side, but let the other group in first, so we didn't get very many eggs, in fact Caleb didn't get any, and Mara only got one. Max found four, but Caleb was so upset. He was the one most excited for the hunt. I felt so bad for him. There were all these kids with bags chuck full and all these other kids who found none. I told Caleb to remember how he felt and if he was ever the one with lots, to share.

We saw the easter bunny, and I wanted to take their picture so I made the kids go and stand by him, but they were a little timid. I did get the picture, but after Mara made me hold her and she was just squeezingme tight and wouldn't let go. When I asked her what the matter was she said 'Bunny eat me!' When Ryan saw the picture of the Easterbunny he said 'I'd be afraid that it would eat me too!'

Last week was Spring Break for all the kids, the whole week long, and we had so much fun. The highlight for the boys was going skiing one last time. Sam got sick the first run down, so they gave him goggles thinking it was the glare of the sun making him nauseated, but at the end of the third run he threw up. Sick!! He spent the rest of the time in the lodge waiting for everyone else to finish skiing.

My parents and Ryan's sister Jamie and her two girls came up on Thursday. We got to pick them up at the airport. Mara and Max had such a great time playing with Sophie and Hallie. I was so glad that they were here. It was so nice to have family around again'we miss them all so much. On Friday, Sam and Noah were of course elated to have Greyson and Addy and Coulsen come and play with them, and Max wouldn't leave Coulsen alone he was so glad to see him. Mara is still saying 'Where 'Chele' go? We are so sad that everyone had to go home. We got to meet Meredith's fiance Garret, and Max said 'mom he's going to be a fun uncle.' we are excited for them and their upcoming wedding. (It also means we will get to see family again soon.) Ryan's parents drove up on Saturday with his grandparentsand sister Tami and her family. It was so fun to have a house full!
 

We had so much fun visiting and letting the kids play and EATING!!!Ryan did such a great job on Emma's blessing. she looked beautiful, of course. After everyone left, Ryan and I were wondering how we ever left such great family. It's a good thing we get to see them often, there is just a sense of belonging that comes from being around family. Especially when you love that family so much. I think the greatest thing about us moving away is that we realize just how much we love our family. There is no way to take them for granted when the times you see them are so few and far between.
 

Yesterday I had my Newborn Ressusitation class. It was so cool. I learned so much. I love learning new things, and this totally satified my hunger to learn more (for a day or two) What a great new adventure this will be. Hope you all have a great spring and I hope warm weather comes soon. I can't wait to get outside and get a tan!!!!! 

Conference Weekend Surprise!

I had the best surprise Conference weekend when the Bouck's showed up. It was so good to have them. The kids instantly started playing together as if there had never been a seperation. We had such a good time. We went to Ryan Dam on Sunday for a picnic lunch, only to discover that it doesn't open until Mother's Day. We had quite a fine time eating our lunch on the dirt next to the trail that lead to the swinging bridge to Ryan Dam Island. The highlight of their stay was definitly getting to see the septic tank sucker-outer truck come and clean out all the poop that was in our septic tank. I don't think we will ever forget the smell, or the plumber crack that was sported by the guy that came.

We had a hot dog roast in our firepit Monday night. It was really fun. We were all standing around with our hotdogs in the fire, there was no wind at all(that is really unusual) then all of a sudden Lucy got blown over and Caleb's hat went flying up in the air and ashes spewed all over our hotdogs. It was so wierd. Ryan saw the twister come right through the middle of us, and then as suddenly as it started it was over, and there was no more wind. After eating out hotdogs(with Jalapenos on them--Yummy!) the kids roasted marshmellows and made s'mores. It was the perfect evening.

Lucy and Mara were instantly friends, and it was so cute to see them play with the dress-up shoes and dolls. Mara so needed to have a girl to play with, Lucy taught her how to play with the girl toys that she has. They were so adorable together. Mara still asks for Lucy. It is so nice to know that distance cannot stop friendship!

We are officially Montanans

I am so proud of Sam and Noah! They made it a full year without candy and desserts! They had a few struggles, and it was really hard at times, but they set a goal and accomplished it. The $100 incentive was often times all that kept them going, but they did it. They decided to buy airsoft guns with their money. I was totally against it for the longest time, but after much convincing, I finally conceded. They have had the greatest time with them. Last night they found a bunch of aluminum cans in the ditch behind our fence, and set them up for target practice. They had a ball! Ryan was out there with them, and he had as much fun as they did. The weather was perfect last night, and we stayed out until 8:oo. We were out walking in the fields and It felt like I was on vacation somewhere in the mountains. I loved it. It was so peaceful and the kids were playing so well. It was a moment of bliss. It was very needed after the stressful day that Ryan and I both had.