{Swimming Saturday}

We got invited to a birthday party at the new hotel in Great Falls that has an indoor waterslide!

Since there is not much in the way of entertainment here, the kids were way excited! Can you believe it...an indoor waterslide! So after trying on every swimming suit I own, and having no luck, I made Noah come with me to help with the little ones since I was not getting in! This is Emma's most favoritest pose! She is such a girl! She is forever putting her hand on her hip and sticking out her hip. Don't ask me where she learned those moves! she was born with them.

Max preparing to go down the slide!

Noah was so excited to have his picture taken! He always pulls faces like that when I make him take a picture.

Finally I caught him! What nut! But what a great helper! So glad he was there.

Where were Sam and Ryan?

They opted to stay at home and take down some fencing and start getting our pen ready for pigs!

It's that time again. By the first part of April we will have more chicks, pigs and hopefully 2 cows. I should also be able to start milking the goats again!

Hunter Safety

Saturday we went to Giant Springs to pick up the boys from their Hunter Safety Field Day!

They were so excited for it, carrying a gun, building a fire, shoting a 20 gauge, and building a shelter.

The sight we saw upon our arrival was only one that would be seen in Montana. 125+ kids wearing hunter orange vests and carrying huge guns. Only in Montana! It was a sight. A mini militia. But they had fun!

Seeing the Sun!

Friday was one of those days that will go down in infamy. It was a doozer!

Needless to say that when the sun peeked her head up on Saturday morning, It was a much needed reminder that the sun will always come out tomorrow.

Noah and Sam had their field day for hunter's safety...{more about that later} and after we picked them up we went to the Holiday Inn to do some ancient art paintings.

The kids had a blast and we were able to see some really cool art.

When we got home, we all played outside for the rest of the day. Caleb got his BB gun out,

the girls jumped on the tramp

Ryan shot with the boys, and me...

I was able to clean out closets, pantries and the accumulation of junk that found itself into our garage this winter.

Something about cleaning out and sweeping up totally lifted my spirits.

There is hope, spring will come, and life will be better after a good day in the sun!

Thank you sunshine...it was much needed.

{As a side note, that evening it started to snow...I won't complain, I had a whole day of sun, but Emma, seeing it out the window exclaimed..."What he heck! It's snowing!" My sentiments exactly!

What the Heck!

32 Weeks...and counting!

Green Girl!

Sporting her green! for St. Patrick's day!

And no, I didn't cut her hair, just put it up in really tiny curlers for the night!

getting bigger!!! and Bigger and BIGGER!

Baby Bump!

Iam feeling really good! Baby Ark is definately head down, and I in the full swing of my gusto of energy that always propells me through the last trimester. Kids are getting so excited, Emma kisses my belly and tells me everyday "mom, I love your baby!" as she pats my tummy.

Mara is still convinced that it is a girl, even though Ryan and I are leaning toward a boy. Caleb is convinced that I am going to scream when I have the baby and it tends to be his biggest concern right now. He is full of questions. Max is so excited and Sam is positve that he saw on the ultrasound that it was a boy! (even though Elaine said it would be really hard to tell gender, even if we wanted to know since the baby was sideways t the time.) Sam saw the baby move the other night and was totally impressed! It did an alien thing where one side of my belly poked really far out and then spasmed to the other side. That is the first time he remembers seeing anything like that. His comment "What does that feel like inside!" Pretty cool buddy, pretty cool. Noah thinks the baby is a girl and says he is excited to see it.

We are just in a holding patten fora little while longer.

I can't believe how fast it has gone!

{Happy St.Patty's Day}

We spotted the leprechaun this morning! How about you? Hope your St. Patty's day is filled with laughter!

{" I am still mad!"}

I was busy fixing dinner the other night and helping Max read, and had "many irons in the fire" so to speak. Ryan was talking with Emma and something she wanted he didn't want her to have or do, I am not exactly sure the conversation between them...like I said I was doing a bunch of other things. When all of a sudden, Emma stormed off crying (fake, of course) ran to her room and slammed the door. In the back of my mind I thought I would go talk to her after I was finished with a few pressing things. Well, I forgot about her. I know mother of the year, but she wasn't making noise and I had dinner to get on and many things on my mind. Things quieted in the kitchen, dinner was baking and I was just cleaning up when all of a sudden I hear Emma's door open up. "I am still maaad!" she says punctuating every word in a sing-song voice. I just busted up laughing! What a nut!

Then at lunch the next day we had soup and I had added some asparagus to it. She got a bite of the asparagus and chewed with a disgusted look on her face. When I asked her what the matter was she said "I don't love that!" pointing to the asparagus. I Love her though!

"Thinkin' and wishin', Hopin' and prayin'

So the temperature decided to send us a heat wave and it actually got above 32 degrees today. Plus, I have to give it that, it is considerably much better than the negative degrees it has been, still... I find myself longing for warmth....warmth from the sun!

I have been thinking about the ups and downs. I am not normally a negative person, in fact I ususally don't have time to dwell on things I can't change or that cause me grief, it's not my thing, but I just have to say that I have been analyzing the ups and downs of living in Montana lately. The weather is definately a downer at the moment. I miss the tulips,daffodiles and anenomes that should pop up right now. I miss that I can't plant my peas, carrots, beets and lettuce right now, in fact, I still have to wait two months before I do. At the present my garden is still frozen solid and under snow. I miss spring walks about this time of year, I am stir crazy to get out and breathe warm fresh air. Not that there aren't good things like.....well I can't think of any at the moment, but that doesn't mean I won't try really hard to find them. You know focus on the positive... but that will have to be a diffrent day right now I am longing for this....

{this is for you hun!} Why don't I live here, right on top of this bluff! Right in that patch of sun. I would never go inside! I would stay outside digging in the dirt all year long, can't you just see a herd of goats a few cows and chickens grazing there? I can!

And every night I would stroll along the beach with my family. In the warmth. With no shoes.
and eat the coconuts and mangos, pineapples and avocados, crab and fish that just wildly grow all around. I am pretty sure I could just live off the land and that would be totally cool! After all civilization is way overrated, don't you think?
So here's to memories, cause that's all I get at the moment, but I will take them!

{Fin, Noggin', Dude!}

How cute is this? Caleb taught Emma this at breakfast this morning! She adores him, and he her! {FIN}

{NOGGIN"}

{DUDE}

So many people ask me how I can handle six kids and how I could possibly want to have another. Honestly, The things they teach each other amazes me. The love they have for each other makes them totally blessed. I feel sorry for the first ones I had who only had me and Ryan to love on them all day. Look at Emma. She is loved immensely by 5 siblings! as well as her parents! Who could be luckier? They all are so blessed to be able to have each other.
The highlight of my life is seeing them make each other laugh, and tease each other, and beat the tar out of each other and then laugh it off and build a fort together!
Life Is Bliss!
Why would I not want to add another to the mix?
Life is already insane...and I am pretty sure in English class I learned that there is no such word as {INSANER}

{29 Weeks}

Not really sure how time is flying by so fast! I can't believe that I am so close to having another baby. It seems surreal. I have laid out for the kids all the landmarks of what has to happen before the baby comes;...Christmas{gone}, Caleb's Birthday{long gone }, Emma's birthday {So long}, Valentine's Day {blink of an eye}, Mara's birthday {over} trip to Utah, Easter, grandma and grandpa coming home from their mission. As you can see the list is dwindling. Not much left before the big day! I am feeling great though, as long as I keep myself zoned, and drink my green drink to keep the leg cramps away. We are getting so excited. Emma who has insisted from the beginning that this is a boy baby coming brought me a headband the other day and told me it was for the baby to wear. When I told her that boy babies didn't wear headbands she was not so happy. Later when someone asked her what gender the baby was going to be she said "well, I changed my mind! It's a girl 'cause boys can't wear headbands."

Had the ultrasound and all looks great! The baby had big feet pressed up to my belly and they were perfect. It is laying sideways right now, but there is still plenty of time for it to get it's navigational bearings right. So we just wait, and try to keep warm since the cold spell is dragging on and keeping Great Falls in it's clutches. I long for warmth and being able to get out of my driveway without 4-wheel drive. -20 is just not right when March is just days away.

{Carousel in Helena}

For Mara's birthday she wanted to ride the carousel in Helena, so Saturday, we headed out even though it was snowing!"Look Mom, No hands!"

I think we have a daredevil on our hands!
It was so much fun!

Even Sam enjoyed riding his mountain goat! :)

Max, of course, had to pick the "knight horse"!

It had a sword on it, naturally.

Caleb picked the wolf!

Noah is always hiding from the camera, So naturally, I made him as embarrassed as possible, not only a picture of him, but one of his mother hugging him!

Love you NOAH!

Sam got me and Ryan!

After we ate homemade icecream at the little icecream parlor attached to the carousel.

It was so good! I had Hot Chocolate(with cayenne pepper) and prailenes and Cream

the best was "Nerdy Purple cow" that Noah and Caleb got.

Loved it!

After we went to Target so Mara could pick out a present with the money Grandma gave her for her birthday. She chose...a play ironing board, so she could iron her baby's clothes...she is all girl!