Trouble

Being 3 is rough. 

Benton had an especially rough night.

We had a lot of family in town and there was a lot of action going on 24/7.

Benton was wrestling with his older cousin on the bed and fell into the corner of a dresser, giving him a split open and black eye. 

Then he slammed his fingers in the door.

Later on that night I ran my girls home to get their PJ's on so the could have a sleepover at Grandmas. 

I left Garrett at Grandma's with the baby and Benton. 

Everyone was visiting in the front room while I ran home.

Benton came up to his dad and asked where Mommy went. 

Garrett said, "She went home."

Pretty soon he disappeared...meanwhile, I get a knock at the door.

I open the front door to find my crying, 3 year old!

It was 8:30pm and he had walked home...ALONE...in the DARK!

Two seconds later Garrett and Randall came sprinting into our yard....
Grandpa was searching his yard with a flashlight...
and

Travis (who was sick) went driving around in his van.

Everyone had divided and was searching for Benton.

I am glad to say he only went missing for a minute before the adults realized he was gone. 

He safely made it home...but so many things could have happened to him on his little walk home.

Needless to say, we had a nice LONG talk about NOT walking home alone...especially in the DARK!

great scott

We found the most beautiful, blue Great Dane on our doorstep one day.

We looked for the owner with no luck.

We took this dog in as our own.

She was magnificent with our kids.

She was loyal and protective.

She wouldn't let strangers into our yard.

The time came for her to be breed-ed with so we found another blue Great Dane to mate with.

She was one week away from having puppies...

then someone stole her!

We thought she'd gone away to have her puppies.

Weeks went by...no dog.

No puppies.

Two months later one of our friends heard that some Great Dane puppies were for sale.

She found out they were the same age as our puppies would have been, and they were all BLUE.

The mother was "conveniently" being held at a different location.

No one would let the mother be seen, even if a puppy was being sold.

I know that is our dog!

We fed her...loved her...someone else took her to profit from her puppies.

Garrett is convinced that she will be dumped again once the puppies are sold.

Not many people can afford to feed such a HUGE dog.

I am sure they waited for her to get pregnant...they watched her...they timed it perfectly.

Then they came and took their dog back.

That is one theory.

Most people are afraid to approach such an intimidating dog...unless they knew her.

We are heart broken...and they just want her for the $$.

We hope our dog comes back to us.

Spring Break

This week we had family in town for Spring Break. 

Every time we jumped in the car, my nieces and nephews would diligently buckle up. 

Even if we were just going around the corner from my house to my mother-in-law's house. 

It got to the point where I was transferring up to 10 kids at a time and we couldn't all buckle. 

Some of the kids were very concerned about this. 

My kids kept reassuring them that we would be okay. 

We never reached speeds past 30 miles an hour and all our destinations were less than half a mile away. 

I guess seat belts are a foreign concept for my little country kids.

Whenever I tell them to buckle up they assume we are going out of town. HA.

It is definitely SPRING around our house.

In Mexico, Spring Break is called Semana Santa and it lasts for two weeks. 

We have big plans to relax while Daddy is busy planting this year's crop.

The planting season always falls on Semana Santa so we've started some traditions of our own.

Just me and the kiddos.

Happy Spring Break.

Adalyn 20 weeks old

creative

Living in the middle of nowhere, you have to be creative.

I was using a bar stool for a nightstand and it just wasn't working out. 

I received this inspiration from watching the NATE show. 

I learned how to "re-purpose" items around the house/garage.

I have TONS of books so I stacked them next to my bed and topped it with this vintage breakfast tray I found in the attic. 

It is a perfect nightstand. 

This would also look great with a beautiful silver tray.

black and white

My mom is so good to us. Any time she sees a beautiful dress, she has to buy it...then make sure it has a matching one for each granddaughter. 

She has a great eye when it comes to fashion. Grandma Udall loves to make sure her grand-babies are dressed to the "9's." 

While growing up my mom made me and all my sisters match...every Sunday. 

There was NO escaping it. I hated it. I swore I would NEVER make my kids match. 

Then I became a mommy. 

I LOVE to see them all coordinating. 

I love joining in on the fun. 

I am now eating my hat.

Thank you Mom, I love it!

{extracurricular}

I am a ballet teacher...correction...I am THE ballet teacher. I have a small studio behind my house and I teach my girls, along with their friends.

Living in a small community, we have limited resources. We rely on each others' talents and volunteer efforts for our kids' extracurricular activities.

My good friend is a concert pianist, so she is our piano teacher,

another friend is a gymnast, so she is our cheer coach/tumbling instructor,

our husbands are the football and basketball coaches,

my neighbor is the tennis coach,

my mother-in-law is the "after school tutor",

our Aunt is the town seamstress. 

The list could go on and on...

We all contribute, in a small town, to develop the talents of our children and help them become well-rounded.

It is just a small part of the role we play living here!

secrets

Shhh...

I've been keeping this a secret for over a year now.

I think it is time to record this experience.

Last January my sister was getting married. She had rented and decorated a darling town home for her and her new husband. She graciously let me and my family stay in it before the wedding.

We were all very careful to put everything back that we touched and we tried not to mess anything up.

Until...

Sunday morning!

I was bathing kids and laying out church clothes...typical Sunday morning stuff...

I finally had all the kids clean and lined up for hair. Benton ran past me while I was styling hair and I noticed that he had a poopie diaper. I made a mental note that he needed to be changed soon.

Before I knew it Benton had taken off his diaper and was  SITTING in the middle of my sister's BRAND NEW bed...on top of her sparkling WHITE comforter!

I screamed...

There was poop all over her bed and we had to be at church in 30 minutes.

I panicked.

I threw Benton into the bath and ripped the comforter off the bed. I ran to her (upstairs) laundry room where she had a very compact washer and dryer and I thought I'd try my luck.

I jammed the California King sized comforter into the washing machine, poured in some soap and walked away.

Before long Tori came running upstairs yelling, "it raining down stairs!" 

I couldn't make sense of what she could possibly be thinking, so I went to check it out. 

Sure enough, there was water coming out of the light fixtures and dripping onto her NEW, wooden kitchen table and onto the floor!!

I ran back upstairs to find the washing machine OVERFLOWING!

I was dying!

I hurried and pulled the comforter out of the machine and hung it over her shower,

then I ran downstairs to mop up the water... hoping water rings wouldn't stain the ceiling.

Then we ran out the door, we were late for church.

On the way to the chapel we swore all of our children to secrecy. We couldn't let anyone find out what horrible house guests we had been.

The instant we sat down at church, Tori turned to Grandma and told her that it was raining in Aunt Rachel's kitchen. 

We were BUSTED!

I told my mom the whole story and we promised to keep this from Rachel. After church we all sat down to Sunday dinner when Mom got a phone call...

Rachel was on her way home...to HER home!

I still had her comforter strung out all over the bathroom and her bed was in shambles! Garrett and I dropped our forks and raced to her house to clean up before she arrived.

We made it in the nick of time! 

To this day, I don't know if she realizes how her new bedding was "broken in".

Well....SHE knows NOW!

Love you Rach!