Octobery 2019

What a LAME title....but here on out for a while I will just do a photo-news drop with no common theme besides them happening in the same month. ha!

But check out how CUTE my elementary school kids school pics are. Everly's smile is 100% one of my favorite school pics EVER!

Everly also had to do a poster describing things about her and things she likes. She picked all the pictures and even drew a picture of our family. (I love how she put "My Savior" as one of the things she likes.)

On October 5th Kellyn turned 7. I actually didn't ASK what she wanted for a piñata because I saw a few Pringles cans on our counter two weeks before and the idea was formed. Kellyn loves all things ballet. She was so thrilled.

Kellyn and her friends, post-swimming, pre-piñata smacking.

As mentioned before Kellyn loves ballet. She's never taken ballet and has begged and begged. Ima gonna be honest here.....she kept begging while I had young twins. Or during crazy busy times when we were always running everywhere anyway. Well I decided to bite a temporal bullet and buy a 3 month groupon for her and she's in heaven. Her little naturally arched back is so cute.

It now turns into an expensive groupon when you have to buy all the supplies. Thankfully Wynn keeps sneaking into Kellyn's room and getting more of our money's worth in it dressing up. (Have I mentioned she's the sneaky twin?)

There is always a lot of work to do around here but every once and a while I stop, breathe and take in this little patch of paradise we have. I love the pond when it's "steamy"

One aspect of being a kid in this family is that it includes the job of testing if the electric fence is working hahaha. Brooks asked the older boys and it turned into them conning the younger ones to do it. Here they are asking Royce to touch it.

Brooks and I were watching this out the kitchen window. One kid would touch it and then all the OTHERS would lose it laughing. Finally it was Bronson's turn and he didn't jump back in shock. How in the WORLD did the electric fence short right before he touched it....but it did! haha Well played Bronson!

I love looking outside and seeing the kids playing together. I like it even more when there are random farm animals mixed in.

Aleeya turned 12 and wanted a swim party. 

She also wanted to play Pin the Tail on the Goat. She made the poster all by herself. I love how well she can plan a party and do all the details.

Brooks never likes a fuss over his birthday. BUT Everly made him a birthday card and he made her feel so special connecting it to his tie for part of the day so everyone could see what a "wonderful card" she made for him. (Look how proud/pleased she is!)

Pause! Time for another dreamy farm picture! Twins and goats running through the pasture.

Brooks has taken on the project of making us a giant table that will fit us all and a few more. It's been a beast but I'm loving what I'm seeing. He started having to assemble it IN the dining room since it would never fit through a door.

Assembled and stained.

While I won't go into the saga and the multiple issues we had with our epoxy attempt, it is FINISHED (besides the painters tape around the sides)

Halloween Trunk or Treats are my kids' favorites. The twins dressed up as Rapunzel BEFORE her haircut and after her haircut (it worked for Iley's shorter hair anyway). They were hilarious with the frying pans asking "Who are you and how did you find me?"

I went as Mother Gothel.

These two wanted to be cheetahs. It worked because they needed new clothing anyway so cheetah clothes it was. Everly's cheetah face makes me laugh since her "fierce" translated into constipated.

Still nailing the "constipated" look

Year after year Royce is a ninja

Iris as Hermione Granger. She looks so much like her AND she talks as fast and as much as her. It's a perfect type-casting if you ask me.

Aleeya as Messi

Between the Trunk or Treat and Halloween night the kids got waaaaaaaaay too much candy. 

So Brooks set a challenge to the kids to give all their candy to him and if they don't eat any candy or pop for 6 months he will give them $50. For a whole year he will give them $150 each. Obviously the plan wasn't ran by me BUT he DID have a good point that it's still less than what we would pay in cavities, right? The only kids to take him up on it were Emerson, Aleeya and Iris.

Speaking of dressing up there was a cowboy dress-up day at the middle school. While Aleeya looks adorable I have ZERO idea what Emerson is trying to pull off with his slicked hair, hoodie and boots.

But confidence is all that matters anyway, right?

Red Barn Mission Farm

August 2019

While it is TRUE our 12 acres has fish, frogs, night critters and snakes......

we ALSO have a barn and a few pastures that came with the property. One pasture behind our house Brooks kept saying he needed a tractor or something to keep it low. A friend came over to discuss farm-stuff and told him the cost of a tractor. It probably stunned Brooks for a few seconds because the friend then said, "Orrrrrrr you could get some goats to keep it low"

*LIGHTBULB*

An idea was started and the excitement spread to the girls.

I actually went along with the idea after I heard the tractor price and Brooks' plan. The plan was to get the boys to put up an electric fence (bonus- get them doing "real" farm work), buy three goats and eventually breed them and sell their "kids". THIS way they keep the pasture low and also make a little money and HELLO.....baby goats are the best.

So apparently we are NOW goat-owners. Who'da thought?!?!

This is Aleeya's goat, Pepper (female)

Iris' buck, Barnaby

And the other female was to be Royce's named "Ginger"

I say "was" because when Royce found out he'd have to let them out every morning and put them back in the barn at night and make sure they had food/water, etc. He decided to give his goat to Aleeya apparently.

Here is our first day with the goats. Welcome Home kids!

They really are quite social and sometimes come out. I looked outside and saw a football game being played with goats dispersed throughout the game. The scene cracked me up.

But BEFORE goats became a thing for us I had been on the HUNT for some mini goldendoodles. The kids and I have always wanted a dog. However, Brooks and I have allergies, they are a TON of work AND Brooks still didn't see a good "purpose" in having them. Brooks and I then came up with the idea (after learning how much goldendoodles go for) to BREED them. We talked about it with the kids. We told them if YOU all did most of the work with the dogs (and stuff around the farm), then we would use the money from the sold puppies to pay for their church missions. If they didn't, then they would end up paying for half of their missions. The kids saw this as a win-win since they wanted the dogs anyway AND they didn't need to pay for missions. 

The name of our puppy/goat selling farm came pretty easy....

Red Barn Mission Farm

I was on the hunt for two females and one male that would each be assigned to our three oldest boys. It's actually super hard to find one of these puppies sold with breeding rights, but I found a little blonde girl eventually. She was going to be Emerson's dog. I took Emerson with me to pick which of the two blonde girls we wanted.

When we walked in this little one actually winked at us. Emerson knew she was the one.

We still had to wait 2 more weeks to pick her up though.

At the same time Brooks was in Utah. 

With no forethought I just decided to look on the classifieds out there and see if another mini goldendoodle was ready right then. Knowing what I know now, that was a really silly thought since available ones are hard to find.

I think Heavenly Father was watching out for us, because I found the most PERFECT looking male to be the stud of the breeding program....and since they were PAST ready to go home the owner even gave us a discount!!!! Funny how Brooks wasn't planning on flying home with a puppy but it just worked out.

Oh and I love this picture of my mom and Brooks when he took her out to lunch.

I can NOT even SAY how excited I was to get my hands on little Tux.

He's absolutely perfect.

..... just like Kellyn's splits. HA!

Tux is Camden's dog and boy did they (and DO they) have a connection.

FINALLY the day came a week or so after to go pick up Emerson's dog he named "Sandy" (after the fact that we were going to pick her up on our way home from the beach.....but there was a hurricane so our beach home cancelled on us)

If there EVER was a cosmic connection between puppy and owner it was right here. 

Sandy is just so fluffy and snuggly!

And there you have it, the start of our Red Barn Mission Farm.

School is going great!

Fall 2019

You know the kind of awards that they hand out to every student so it kind of defeats the purpose of any award or certificate? WELL, let me tell YOU, I got the MOST honorable and parent-brag worthy certificate come home with Everly after the first week of school. CHECK out this bad boy out!

Really?!?! How is this even a thing?!😂

Either way, Everly was BEYOND proud to show me....so I acted appropriately excited, took a picture and threw it in the trash before Brooks could see it and give his anti-everyone's-a-winner-and-meaningless-certificates speech.

While all the kids are at school I get to hang out with THESE two! 😍

and to be honest, I quite enjoy it. Having two the same age means they are always have a playmate their exact level and with interests the same I usually have to seek THEM out to have them around. On the flipside of that, they can be QUITE sneaky together, so too much time without them around should put me in a state of alert.

But THIS town actually has a playground at Sonic. Let me repeat that, the PLACE I get my "Mommy's jugo" (Mom's juice).....as the twins call it, HAS A PLAY GROUND!!!!!!

It's also by all the grocery stores so a perfect bribe post-errands for me. Don't judge.

When I post pictures of the twins with clothes on just KNOW that I took the picture BECAUSE THEY HAVE clothes ON!!! One benefit of living out on a "farm" is that I live-and-let-live a little more with wardrobe choices and enjoy the laundry-break. For example here is Wynn coming into to show me a frog she caught with no shirt BUT did NOT forget a necklace.

Here are the twins "seeing who is más big". Spoiler alert, it's always Wynn by a tad since poor Iley's body uses her growth energy to go towards fighting her eczema I'm sure. #bellybuttonprofiles

This school year Emerson joined the Cross Country Team at the high school (7th and 8th graders run with them).

He's super serious about it with his headband too

I get comments from other parents on how Emerson will just smile and wave to the "fans" as he runs past. He ESPECIALLY shows the pearly whites when girls are calling his name. 

Heaven, Help. Me!