Sunday:  The girls weren't planning to spend the night at Gramma's, but when I called from Butte and told Gramma we wouldn't be back until after midnight, she said she'd wash their clothes and let them sleep in T-shirts.  She even curled their hair for church.  Cool lady.

(John and Crystal came to the CF...)

I brought Mari to the Hicks', where she spent the night because...

Monday: Mari went to MVCA for a day.  I thought it'd be good for her to see what a classroom is like...  The fourth / fifth grade teacher (Mrs. Brown) was gone on account of her mother's death, so the regular class had a visitor AND a substitute teacher AND P.E.  So much for experiencing a normal (boring) school day.

Made it to Polson a little early to pick her up, so we spent some time at the Lake:

Cried a little inside when I saw that they took out the merry-go-round.  Stinking liability suits:

Stopped at the Shop; Kendric spent the last half hour of the workday with Kirby.

today:  Pleased with myself for finally completing my long-intended plan for a wall calendar:

The idea is that people can sign it on their birthdate, so we'll also be able to keep track of upcoming birthdays.

Kendric got an early birthday card in the mail:

Kendric: "Look, Mom, it's got three special things: it has two flowers, it has leaves, and it's really tall.  We should plant it."

We've cooked hot dogs and marshmallows over the fire pit already this spring, but this was the first bona fide picnic dinner of the year.  Warm sunshine, cushy grass -- it was beautiful.  Ben stayed to eat with us and play Frisbee with the kids...

I declared that ALL the kids needed baths / showers tonight.

Not usually a fan of licensed character products, I did buy the boys a bottle of Cars bubble bath:

Very clever marketing, I must say.  Usually they just slap a cartoon-shaped head on the lid and call it good, but the "Radiator Springs" quart-of-oil package was ingenius.  I even laughed when I went to pour some in the tub, and it came out looking every bit like motor oil -- right color AND viscosity.  (Smelled good, though.) Ten points for ... somebody.

Stopped at the Shop; Kendric spent the last half hour of the workday with Kirby.  On the way home, they picked up a dog "to try out."  Rocky lives in town, doesn't like it that his dog is penned up, so asked Kirby if he'd be willing to take her.  Kirby made no promises, but he brought her home to see how she'd fit in...  Now, we all want a dog.  I think it's a good thing for a boy to have a dog, a companion, a responsibility, etc.  But Grandpa has dogs, not particularly good dogs, and I'm afraid they'd pack up.  Also, hounds are notorious runners; we'd most likely have to keep her chained up here -- what's the difference between being chained up in the mountain or penned up in town?  Kirby was mad at me, "All I could think as I brought it back was about the kid in Where the Red Fern Grows.  He worked for months to buy a pair of blue tick hounds, and one basically lands in our lap -- spayed, good with kids, well trained... and here I am, sending it back."  ...  Is it wrong for me to wish Grandpa's dogs would be eaten by a mountain lion?  Okay, I don't really wish it, but I wouldn't cry if it happened.  I guess I am as selfish and hard-hearted as the next person.

yesterday: I almost didn't pay attention to the alarm clock.  I knew I was too tired to wake to the radio, so I set it to buzzer.  Even then, when it was blaring away three feet from my ear, I dazedly wondered, "What's that sound?"  Great way to start a long day of driving, huh?

I made a quick trip to town to leave the girls with Gramma Betty, came back to find the boys filling the tanks / sorting the fish orders:

Logan and Wilson, on the way to Missoula:

Nicole met us near the Reserve Street exit so she could spend the day with Wilson.

Kendric was amused by the giant steer at Clearwater Junction:

Our first delivery was at the Rich Ranch / Double Arrow Outfitters.  Nice people, they invited us in for lunch.

We finished out the Woodworth Road back to Hwy 200:

Had to make an emergency potty stop at a roadside turnout:

The boys ran around again for a while at our second delivery in Lincoln.  Kendric perfected his rock skipping skills.

Flesher Pass to Helena:

(Notice the reflection on the second picture.  We were on a mission, so I had to take my pictures through the windows at high speeds.)

Stopped at Mom and Dad's in Helena...

The third delivery was for a guy who is a professional excavator / landscaper.  Needless to say, the place was quite snazzy.  Logan was sad to leave all the kids' play dump trucks, backhoes, etc.

We took the roundabout way to the last delivery.  Dad told us, "Do not take the road to Lewis and Clark Caverns."  Our instructions from Nick (the guy's son) were "Past Three Forks, Highway 287 to Highway 359."  Well, 287 is a secondary highway, sometimes in line with State Highway 2, sometimes not.  Three Forks is part of the not.  And there's a sign at the place where 287 leaves Highway 2: "Lewis and Clark Caverns to the right, Three Forks to the left."  We stayed on 287, went through Three Forks and a quaint little town called Willow Creek:

When the pavement ended, we figured something was not right.  (You'd think they would have mentioned a gravel road...)  Eventually we figured it out that we'd seen an early "to Lewis and Clark Caverns" sign, and that when Nick said "past" Three Forks, he meant bypass.  (Funny thing:  Kirby and I are road trip people.  Road atlases are a common, familiar thing to us.  Yet, go figure, this is the time we we'd leave the maps at home.  *rolls eyes*)

Back in Three Forks, while Kirby brought the boys to use the toilet:

Finally found the place:

Such a fun day of visiting and laughing with Kirby, I didn't even feel tired -- until he asked me to take over driving.  I made it from Deer Lodge to Missoula -- barely.  Stopped to get Wilson from Angie's house, and Kirby drove the rest of the way home -- but since he was awake and we were having a conversation, I didn't sleep.  (Silly.)

yesterday:  Mari and Bri hauled out their winter gear for one last snow day:

Kendric helped me make bread...  We were just putting two rounds of sourdough in the oven when Matt and Toby (a ranch employee / family friend) came up to shoot clay pigeons with Kirby.  We all sat around the table, eating fresh bread with soft butter and Mom's strawberry jam, drinking hot cocoa, exchanging hunting / branding / horse stories.  Matt is so much like his dad, yet so much like his mom -- hard to imagine fitting so much of two people into one.

today: Haircut day.  Kendric has a military cut, thanks to the bandage job.  Logan looks good...  I remembered too late that Wilson's hair was long not because I was neglectful, but because I prefer it cut long.  Oops.  He looks a bit ... rowdy.

Bri specifically requested a haircut by the same girl who permed it back in November, "We're almost kind of related."  (Her father-in-law is my dad's cousin.  Yeah, it's a stretch.)  Katie and Justin were hanging around, waiting to have a baby -- today was her due date, but no progress, so she agreed to cut Bri's hair.  Kind of special: Bri was the last person to get a Katie haircut before they had kids.  Whoo-hoo!  Cool.

Stopped on the way home to show Logan the miniature ponies and llamas...

Pictures by Mari:

Bye-bye snow:

Bri helped Ben catch fish for a delivery tomorrow.  Lots of driving ahead...

April showers turned to snow this morning.  I looked out the window after breakfast and thought, "That rain is falling kind of slow."  I didn't think it would stick, but after lunch, the snow had turned to fluffy, white flakes.  By the time Kirby got home, the ground was white.

Saturday: Kirby did some repairs on his truck (replaced the tie rod end and idler arm)...  Kirby tilled the garden...  I finished cleaning a row of the strawberry beds.  It hit me that the reason I hadn't finished the job before is 'cause I tend to go all-or-nothing.  I'll never have the time to complete all the garden at once, so I made it to the end of one row.  THAT's what they mean when they say "set small, realistic goals."  (I used to think it meant lowering your standards, but I finally get it that it means attaining high goals in small bites.  I'm slow, but I can be taught.)

Myra spent most of the afternoon "birdwatching."  She got out the wildlife book and sat at the bottom of the yard watching the tree branches and bushes.

Neighbor lady offered to watch the kids for the evening so Kirby and I could go out. Chinese take-out at the bottom of Kerr Dam...  We used the handy dandy little flow chart to figure that, at the current water levels, rafting to Buffalo Bridge would take approximately 2 hours:

Kathy said that the kids were all very good.  "The girls did everything.  Almost like I didn't need to be here."

Sunday: Don at Les Schwab told Kirby that they'd be doing their annual sportscar racing thing at the Jore Corp. parking lot, so we stopped by for a short while on the way home from church:

Nicole came to visit for the afternoon:

She highlighted my hair, too...

After Nicole left, Danielle and kids came up.  I sure like Danielle.  Bummer (for me) that she's moving.

Monday:  Myra has bangs now.  When I noticed short hairs, I clenched my teeth, closed my eyes and walked away ("In your anger, do not sin").  Later, she explained, "When I went to get the water bottle and comb, I saw the scissors, and I was tempted."  ...  At first I thought I might blend it, angled toward the long hair in the back.  I changed my mind, though, and I'm going to leave it.  It's not too terribly short, and actually makes for nice side-swept bangs...

today: Deep cleaned the laundry room, craft supplies, winter storage, game cupboards...

Kendric's bandages came off yesterday (with or without help, I'm not sure), and he appears to be healing nicely.  Yay!

I have an attitude problem.  There, I've admitted it, out loud.  Now I'm asking for advice on how to handle an unpleasant situation:

My dad has several horses.  They're fairly easy to care for, just need to make sure they have water available, feed 'em in the winter, count 'em from time to time to make sure none have escaped...  My dad is a nice guy, lets people ride them, use them for mountain trips, etc.  Whatever.  They're his horses.  But the little girls we know (ages 11-15?) have already started calling, asking "Can we come up and ride the horses?"  Last summer they were here on several occasions, inviting THEIR friends to come up and ride the nice horses.

Here's the deal.  I know that I'm not the most efficient, wonderful, capable mother / housekeeper / wife / person in the world.  I also know that I am trying to be careful about the extra things that I take on, so as not to invite unnecessary stress, so I can concentrate on dealing with my shortcomings in the day-to-day stuff.  When I become overwhelmed, my husband and my children bear the brunt of that stress.  So, yeah, I'm trying to balance laundry, dishes, school, housekeeping, giving at least some attention to my kids, and these little girls expect me to drop everything so they can take advantage of my dad's generosity?  Not fair to my kids.  Am I just a grumpy, angry person?

The attitude part that concerns me is that Katrina asked about riding the horses sometime.  "Yeah!" I was all excited about it, "Come on over, whenever!"  Is it because I like Katrina, and I'm not particularly fond of the other girls that I am not growly when she asked?  Is it because she was tentative, no pressure, "I don't want to impose, but maybe do you think it's possible? sometime?" and the other girls just expect that I'll do it?

Danielle and her kids came over last night.  We stayed up til like midnight.  Then Kirby was so tired this morning, when his alarm went off, he thought it was the weekend, so he turned it off... and was an hour and a half late for work.  Myra cut her hair when I sent her to get comb, water bottle and hair elastics.  *scream!*  Is God going to let her do this 'til I finally handle it right?  I know God doesn't tempt anyone to sin, but dang, kid, every time her hair is starting to look nice, whack!  I want to throw myself through the window.  ...I wrote all the things that needed to be done today onto post it notes, stuck them up on a board, and said, for each job you do, I'll pay you five cents.  Mari and Bri made over $1 each.  Myra got 10 cents, and even that was pushing it.  She laid on the floor and threw a fit and said she was starving and she needed to eat lunch, and why was I letting Mari and Bri have lunch and she had to work first?!  Um, the food was there, all she had to do was finish her job.  Mari and Bri worked first too...  blah blah blah.  Very mentally exhausing day.  Then Wilson got out of his crib after his nap, and then got out of the basement door.  Good thing I heard him crying when he closed the door behind himself...  The boys had like three baths each today... Kendric's head is healing nicely.  The butterfly bandage came off (or was pulled off... either way...)  I'm making everyone go to bed early tonight.  Oh, wait, too late.

*face in hands, shakes head* Oh, boy.