April Fools!

This has got to be my favorite holiday! I love to tease and be teased. Sam shares in this joy with me, and we spend weeks planning just how we will "get" people. I keep hoping that one year Ryan will join in the fun and make an attempt to fool me, but so far no luck. Caleb joined the scheming this year and we stratigicly placed a rubber snake by the gear shifter in Ryan's car. Since he has a great dislike for snakes, and it is dark when he gets in his car we really thought it would get him. He said it startled him for just a second, but didn't freak him out.

I keep thinking that one year my kids will wise up and be cautious about everything I do on April Fools Day, but so far I still get them. I replaced the cream filling in their Twinkies with shaving cream this year...I NEVER buy Twinkies...don't you think they might think that it was a little odd that I magically bought them on April Fool's Day!!! Sam ate his on the bus and took one bite and knew. Caleb ate the whole thing and told me it was disgusting...well yeah! Noah ate some of his then asked his friend if the cream tasted funny. After his friend licked a bit of the cream he informed Noah that in fact it was not cream, but shaving cream.

I know, I know, I am twisted, but I laughed all day just waiting for them to get home.

I made treats for friends and put them on a plate and double-stick taped the saran wrap all the way around so it was really hard to open, and I sliced the bottom of the garbage bag so that when Ryan took it out it spilled all over. I told him when he got home from scouts to take the big garbage out to the canister, and remained downstairs laughing at myself. I had been sweeping the laundry room, and he came down for the broom. When I asked him what he needed it for he nonchalantly replied "There was a hole in the garbage bag, when I took it out it spilled." I couldn't help not laughing. His reply..."did you do that?" DUHHH! One year I hope he will "GET IT!" I can only hope.

An Old Fashioned Sunday!

Sunday we had a horrible storm come through that blew ice all around and knocked out our power. With no heat, water, or electricity, we started a fire downstairs and stayed there huddled around the fire. It was the most enjoyable Sunday I have had in a long time. We played Rummikub and Farkel. My two most favorite games, and read and played. It was so fun to have nothing else to do, and no where else in the house you could go. The kids and Ryan had to stay right there in the family room. The only draw back was no flushing toilets, no water to wash sticky hands, no electricity to cook a meal, no bread that was thawed out and no way to quickly unthaw it. Put who needs those things right... We did eventually get get a little bored obviously since the boys felt a need to run outside in their underwear... I honestly don't know where they come from, it's not like I have done any streaking in my lifetime...:) Mara felt a need to be like them (is that a shocker...no!) and proceede to take off her shirt. I did draw the line there. I made her keep on her undershirt I think she was wondering what was so cool about it since she was freezing and the rocks and ice hurt her feet...DUHHH! Check out Noah mid-air!
They came back inside and we scrounged up a few hotdogs and buns and a package of marshmellows and had ourselves a regular indoor weeinie roast.

There were only four hotdog buns and five hotdogs left, so we felt a little like the "loaves and fishes" story. Somehow we all ate and snacked on apples.

I decided all Sundays should be like that. My kids trapped in the same room with me for five hours, forced to play games and make each other laugh.

Date with Max

We happened to have three births in a 24 hour period, and I was quite busy at the birth center. On Saturday I had to go 1 1/2 hours away for a postpartum check. It happened to be the day that this family I had to see was doing their cattle branding. I invited Max to go with me! He was thrilled. He got up the first time I asked him to and got all ready without one complaint... that is not common for him in case you didn't know, he often sleeps until 9:00 am. He got all decked out in his "cowboy Max" costume complete with rope and hat and never complained once about the long drive. We rode up with "cowboy Steve" though, so they had much to discuss about cattle and horses and ropes. He got the see the ranchers get those small little cattle and brand them, vaccinate them and de-horn them while "cowboy Steve's" wife and I checked on the new human mom and baby. On the way home we stopped in Fort Benton and saw the "ol shep" statute and got candy at the pharmacy that was on the River front street. Fort Benton used to be the last stop for the railroad and the steamboat. It is really a cute town. There is a book "Cold Train Coming" that takes place here. Essentially a dog's owner dies, but the dog still waited at the train station for him to come back. There is a statue of the dog there, and people always put flowers on it. I really want to read the more kiddie versions of the book to my kids and take them there this summer. Max was so cute and we had such a good time just him and me together. Caleb has been nagging about when it's his turn again. I just took him to get flip-flops at Old Navy, I love spending time with them one on one, and it is quite obvious that they like the extra "special" time as well.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Everyone was actually wearing green , so we had to pose! We had a great St. Patrick's day! Noah set a trap for a leprechan and you know they are sneaky and see through every trap. I tried to warn Noah not to do it, but he insisted that the gold pieces he put in his treasure chest would lure any leprechan and the latch would fall on him and catch him for sure. Well, It didn't work, it just infuriated the leprechan and he trashed our living room. The great thing was that a lot of his gold fell out of his pockets in the process of messing up our house. The kids had a great time collecting all the quarters he left behind. We had our traditional green eggs for breakfast and fried cabbage and potatoes for dinner with green pistachio pudding. But this year we didn't have the corned beef.

Ryan is a bit of a party pooper and when the boys questioned why he wasn't wearing green, his reply...I am not Irish. I am Greek. Noah's comment: "I am European (your a peein) very funny ha ha! We hope you had a great St. Patrick's Day!

You live and learn!

I sent the boys out to the barn after school, to let the goats out to graze.They all came out and I noticed that our little chocolate one (Mocha), who is not supposed to have babies until April sometime, looked like she might have her babies sooner. I noticed that her legs were wet and wondered what she had gotten into. When Ryan got home I told him to get prepared to stay up all night again cause we would most likely have baby goats that night. I had a stake meeting to go to so I left and didn't get home until 9:30 pm. I noticed a light on in the barn and figured I'd missed out on the whole afair. I quickly changed and got out there only to find out that she'd had her babies (two black, one boy, one girl) sometime in the afternoon before the boys let the goats out to graze. What kind of midwife am I??? It never occured to me that the wetness on her legs could have been because she already delivered. Then the drama came, because she had been seperated and because she is teen goat mom, she wasn't letting them nurse. We had to have serious talks. Can you just see me trying to convince a goat to let her babies eat? Yeah! I had quite the chuckle at myself. But the heart to heart worked, and Mocha finally bonded with her babes and is a great little mama! That brings our baby count up to 5 and our goat total up to 13. Yeah whoever thought rabbits multiplied greatly, must not have had goats! We have one more who should have her babies anytime and she looks like a miserable huge mom. I must say I love the goats, and baby goats are so great, the kids have a hay day with them. Even little Emma!

Blustery March Days!

My mom bought Sam and Noah kites and the weather was perfect for flying them! They struggled and learned that too much wind is just as bad as not enough wind. They finally got them going though and had a great time chasing after them.

Did you ever think...?

Just wondering if you ever though you'd see Ryan checking the elasticator

(or detesticulator) on a baby goat?

I think it's so funny, but then my sense of humor is slightly warped.

Emma goes to the Capital

On Friday there was a bill being introduced to the senate regarding the licensing of Birth Centers in Montana. If it passes, then insurance companies will pay for their clients to deliver at a birth centers. I had to prepare a three minute testimony and deliver it to the senate committee. Wow! I had to take Emma with me to soften the senate. I think it worked! Half way through my speach I realized that no one was paying attention to me, just Emma. They were oohing and aahhing. Elaine had to take Emma so they would listen to what I needed to say. We haven't heard if they voted or not, there were so many people there in support, I hope it will.

Gratitude...

It is really late, and I have been up all night doing homework, so I hope this makes sense in the morning. We were watching "Amazing Race" as a family and the challange took place in Switzerland up on a very beautiful mountain that looked unreal it was so beautiful. The challange was the contestants had to ride a gondola up to the top of a mountain and parasail off. If you didn't want to jump off, or didn't want to wait for favorable wind conditions, you could run down the mountain instead. At the beginning of the challenge, one team member was chosen to jump and one had to go to the bottom of the mountain and wait. I know you are wondering what this has to do with gratitude, just stick with me. There was one older gentelman who wanted to do the parasailing, he had hurt himself in a previous challange, and couldn't run down the mountain. So many other teams got tired of waiting for the wind to allow them to jump that one by one they all started running down the mountain (it was a one hour jog). The older man was getting so frustrated because the wind wouldn't change, and everyone was getting ahead of him. He then said: "I can't ask God to help me with this insignificant thing, all I can do is just be grateful that I am here in this place, and be grateful for the opportunity that I have had to see this beautiful mountain." And right then (through the magic of television) the wind changed and he could jump. He was the only one who got to parasail because all the others ran down. I was just greatly struck that GRATITUDE CHANGES THINGS. Often times I think things should go a certain way, but when I am just grateful for the experience, even if it turns out diffrent from what I was planning, gratitude makes it all okay.

A 3 a.m biRth of tRipLEtS!

Last Sunday we got four more goats. One boy and three females all of which happen to be pregnant. I know, what will we do with all those goats??? I really don't know! Goats anyone?

On Mara's birthday, Ryan noticed that the one goat was going to have her babies soon, so he got her in the barn and sure enough, that morning three babies were born. Oh my goodness are they cute. Sam and Noah were up with us, we had started an alternating check every hour, first Sam and I went out and then Ryan and Noah went. At 3:00 am when Sam and I went she had delivered one already. Sam went to get Ryan and Noah, and they got there in time to see the other two born. It was so fun. We dried them all off and got a heat lamp for them. They are so cute, and the mom is a trooper.