Rising Star...

When I was in High School (Grade School and Junior High) I was a basketball fanatic! Still am for the most part. I now have a neice that plays for a traveling team and I got to watch her play this past saturday...another happy time to add to an already wonderful day. Had a great time and for 11, she is amazing! Good Luck my Sweetheart!

Missing it...

Saturday was a funfilled day for myself and my girls. We woke up, not with the normal routine of chaos and crying and fighting me to get ready for school but with joy and happiness...We were going to the "Big City" and it was going to be wonderful...or was it. The girls and I were going to attend High School Musical The Ice Tour! Yeah! I don't know who was more excited, me or the girls??? I felt like a young child again. I hadn't seen live ice skating since I was a little girl...I will never forget it either...Disney Stars on Ice! Incredible. For a while I thought I was going to be a professional ice skater...That all changed when the pond froze over the next winter and my sister and I had to shovel over one foot of snow from our path way. Not too much fun. My sister made the best of it...I sat and cried. Anyway, our morning was great...no screaming children. That was until we got into the "Big City" and my five year old decided to do tricks with her juice bottle...juice everywhere, and then a "quick" trip to Target for new pants, panties, socks and shoes. We were going to be late for the show...Oh no! That's when my eight year old started in...she seriously thought she was going to miss it....We could see the arena, but she just knew we were going to be late (all eight year olds tend to know these things). We weren't late, we had five minutes to spare. I had a blast! I was just like a little child...I love HSM music and love to sing it. I was "Jammin'". The girls didn't think I was very cool...my eight year old even informed me after the show.."I am never sitting by you again...you sing too much and embarass me!" Seriously, I was just having fun! Made me miss a small piece of my child hood. Thank-you High School Musical The Ice Tour...what a wonderful morning!

Wolf Tracks...go away!

One year ago today, my phone rang just a little past 9 in the morning. It was my neighbor..."A big black wolf just killed 5 of our sheep and it is crossing the road in front of your house." Scared the crap out of me. I remember standing at my front window, my bulging belly (I was pregnant) touching the glass, my nosed pressed against the window, waiting....waiting for this big black wolf to attack. It has been one year since the wolves hit ranchers in the Two Dot area...and they are back...again. Exactly one year later. This time with a vengeance.

Last week, I was talking to my mother on the phone, looking out this same window as I did one year ago and I see it...a grey/white looking animal. My first thought was that it was the neighbors sheep dogs as they have been spending quite a lot of time at my camp lately. Upon further inspection, I notice that this animal just does not look "small" enough to be a sheep dog. It really was huge....even sitting at my fence 1/4 mile away. I took out my binoculars but really could not get a good enough look. So while describing this scene to my mother, she basically talked me out of this creature being a wolf. Three days later, Val, aka "The Wolf Lady" calls me on the phone...again at around 9 in the morning. Twelve sheep have been killed (confirmed wolf killings) and many others are injured (again confirmed wolf injuries). She wants to come talk to me and my husband about our "rights".

I really have not a thing against the wolves, but after killing almost 20 of my neighbors sheep, I am having terrible thoughts. Now, I should not be feeling bad for my neighbor, but I just cannot help my self. I do feel bad. This is somewhat out of hand. Between our two families, we have 8 children, 7 that are alive and well. Our children are outside constantly, either playing or doing chores. Are we to keep our kids locked up for fear that they might get "eaten" by the "big bad wolf"?

So, on Tuesday the "The Wolf Lady" stops by. She wants to trap these creatures to collar them...then we will have tracking information on them...She says this will be very beneficial to everyone here in Two Dot. Beneficial? Who's going to benefit? What happens if I miss her phone call that the wolves are in my area? My honest feelings are they don't belong here...at ALL! I know, I know, this is their natural habitat. Once upon a time, downtown "big city" was their natural habitat, too. I sure don't see these creatures being "planted" there. Anyway, this was just a rant. Go ahead and flame me...I am just a mother trying to protect her children...and the animals who pay my bills. Now go away Big Bad Wolves!

Green Eggs & Ham...

Or maybe just blue Gluten-Free pancakes...yum!

Sweet, sweet baby...

The McClenahan family has been on my mind for the last month since I learned of Cora , their beautiful 11-month-old daughter, who was diagnosed with cancer just a few very short weeks ago and passed away on Sunday, February 8th. Their story has brought back a flooding of memories of my own struggles with losing a precious child. Shelby Lynn was born to us on July 26, 2004 and passed away after being run over on October 22, 2005...she was just a few days shy of 15 months old. I think of her every second of every day and have come to finally see the good times we had before she died. As I sit here crying, typing and thinking, I cannot help but feel the pain for the McClenahan family as they enter into their new life. It has been a long journey this new life of mine, one I never want to experience again, but we, myself and my family are "making" it. Shelby was a precious child, a baby full of life and wonderment. She was a true princess in every sence of the word but also was a "tomgirl". She loved her horses and cows and loved to be outside. I have very dear and fond memories of my little "Hoodles" and my love for her grows more and more every day. I still feel the heartache of losing a child but I know that she is safe and watching over us...She is my Guardian Angel. I miss my baby Shelby every second of everyday. I wonder what she would look like now, what she would be saying and doing. Her death has changed my life forever but I know that someday I will get to see her again. I am grateful that I had 15 of the most beautiful months of my life with her. Seeing her die was the worst day of my life but one of the best will be getting to hold her again. Love sometimes hurts.

Shelby Lynn~July4, 2005

Lauren, Shelby, Tristen ~ May 2005

Throwing Stones

I have a 10 month old little girl who does not want to sleep through the night. She will sometimes get up every hour to hour and a half and for a 34 year old (young...haha) woman, this is hard on the old body. Sooooo, lately I have been extremely tired and kind of grumpy. Fast forward to this evening... I am exhausted and just a little grumpy, ok, a lot grumpy. My husband has just come in from feeding the cows and in my girls eyes, my husband can do no wrong, he is the light of my girls lives...he rocks. So, my oldest who is eight and who is more like me than I like to admit, is visiting with her daddy about her day at school. I am in the kitchen and am evesdropping on their conversation while (un)happily cooking supper and hear her say, "Dad, you rock!" I am thinking "OK, he does rock". So listening a little more I then hear her say, "And my mom throws rocks". Guess I will be moving the baby to her own room so I can get more sleep.......

Wordless Wednesday

Simply irresistable!

Although I truely am not fond of the creatures that pay my bills, I do love to photograph them. I simply cannot resist their cute little squished red races, their playful little tails or their love for their mothers...baby calves are irresistably cute!

Even my dog thinks so too!

Valentine's Day---Gotta Love It!

Ok, so it is a well-known fact that I am not at all a fan of Valentine's Day and think it is highly overrated. I don't think that "love" should be saved for just one day a year, I believe that everyday should be Valentine's Day. My case in point is this...I am constantly thinking of my girls and husband every day of the year and am constantly showing them my love by doing special "things" for them all year long but to keep up with the Jones' I had to let loose of some serious cash. So for the celebration of this wonderful occasion, I spend my "valentine's fortune" at Walmart on some, what I thought were a full box of chocolates and get this...

Six chocolates! SIX! I seriously thought I was seeing things...I really could not believe it...six! Ok, so I was not the only one in the family that was disappointed as between 4 of us, we had to split 12 chocolates and for a mother who loves candy, this was pure restraint! However, because of my deep love for my girls and my wanting to "show" my love of the season, I only resigned to eating two...but then proceeded to eat an entire bag of caramels that were supposed to be used for a school project. So much for Weight Watchers. I guess I will be heading back to the grocery store on Monday for more caramels. One thing is for sure, I had three happy little girls yesterday...must have been the Hannah Montana necklaces they got.

Gotta love Valentine's Day!

Big Bucks

Sometimes living in the country has its distinct benefits. Today, the girls and I were on an "avenger"...adventure for those of you who don't speak little kid... and while driving up the county road, we were admiring the fog socked mountains and the big flakes of snow when all of the sudden two fairly big bucks crossed in front of our Durango. It took me a minute to find my camera but did manage to get these...

Beautiful Montana Moon

Just want to share some photos of the moon we had hanging over the Crazy Mountains yesterday morning...

Welcome to my blog! I am a stay-at-home-mom of 4 girls...yes, all girls...ages 8 yrs, 5 yrs, forever 15 months and almost 10 months. We live on a ranch in Central Montana near the Crazy Mountains on my Husband's family ranch that is about 115 years old. My girls are the 5th generation to be raised here. I grew up on a farm in North Central Montana, so even after being married for almost 10 years, the ranching life is somewhat foreign. I have 16 cats, 1 dog, 3 horses and my husband has all the cows. Even after all this time on the ranch and "living" with the cows, my fondness for them has not grown.

We are a Gluten Free family as I am gluten intolerant as well as my 5 year old daughter. At first this diet was somewhat difficult as a "farmers" diet consists of wheat and beef! We have since found ways to overcome this difficulty in our diet and are now thriving!

On October 22, 2005 we lost our 15 month old daughter in a very tragic accident that happened at a neighboring ranch. This has been the most traumatic time of my life and every day has been difficult but we are making it...

I am hoping that this blog will help with my recovery after the loss of my daughter as well as share our happiest times with my beautiful family and maybe include trials and tribulations of growing up on a farm and now living on a ranch!