Catching Up

2008-07-14T10:46:00.000-07:00

SWEET SIXTEEN !!

Lindsey, Mark's niece will turn 16 on the 19th. We had a family party on Sunday to celebrate. After church we went to Harding and had lunch, cake and presents. It was good to be together.

Pretty in Pink: Claire (8), Lindsey(16), Anna Kate(6) and Mia(1)

Lindsey is the oldest with a 7 1/2 year gap between her and Blake and Claire. So we will have to wait a while until the next 16th. Then it will be double! OUCH!!

A picture with the boys too: Blake, Claire, Lindsey, Anna Kate, Jackson and Mia

Pa & Grammy with the birthday girl.

2008-07-14T08:14:00.000-07:00

Texas... Summer 2008 continued...

Okay sorry for the long first post. The next day we left with my parents and Cody, Larisa, Sydnie and Clay for a weekend in Dallas. We went to Six Flags and to the Ft. Worth Stockyards and Rodeo. It was alot of fun and the kids loved it. Here are the pictures of the week-end.

Nana and the grandkids at the entrance to Six Flags

Blake and Claire in the bumper cars

All five: Claire, Clay, Anna Kate, Sydnie & Blake (the one on the end is not ours) going up, up and away. This one was alot of fun for them. It's like the child's version of the Superman ride.

Sydnie and Anna Kate on Sydnie's first roller coaster. (and the chose the first car!)

There they go.

Cody and Clay in the last car. Look at little Clay's hands up in the air. I AM A BIG BOY, DAD!! (Clay is only 3)

Claire cooling off & taking a break

Claire and Daffy Duck

Anna Kate, Sydnie and Clay with Porky Pig

Grandaddy and Clay riding the Batwing.

Grandaddy and Clay at the rodeo. Clay is Grandaddy's boy

Grandaddy & Nana with the grandkids at the stockyards

This was an awesome spray park just down the road from Mom and Dad's neighborhood. It also has a regular park with it. How much fun!! We need one of these in Searcy.

After a fun weekend in Dallas, a day at the spray park and catching up with my grandparents and some aunts and uncles we came home. The return trip was less dramatic and uneventful thank goodness.

2008-07-14T06:51:00.000-07:00

Texas... Summer 2008

Okay, so I had good intentions about updating the blog... but life happens and summers are so busy!! We had a very eventful trip to my parents house in Tyler this year. Mark could not go so it was just me and the kids. No big deal, I've been traveling by myself with the kids since Blake and Claire were about 8 months old (and that was from Memphis) anyway.... We left Searcy after lunch and were doing great, we stopped in Texarkana and got a snack and then about an hour later Claire starts this whimper... it only means one thing "I'm about to be sick!" So I pull over in an old parking lot and she throws up. Okay, get her cleaned up with the last big of a napkin and water that I have and on we go. 20 minutes later here she goes again... this time on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere. Okay, no napkins, no water "Blake take the pillow case of off her pillow", get her cleaned up and here we go. We stop in the next small town to go to bathroom and wash her face get a bottle of water so we can proceed. Only 45 minutes until we are at my mom's house. I'm feeling pretty good at this point, we come into the Tyler city limits, I'm can see light at the end of the tunnel and the whimper starts again. I pull over this time but there is no room for me to get out and go around on the other side of the car. The brush is too high. So being the good brother he his, Blake holds her hair as she stands on the running board and takes care of business. All better... I put the Suburban in gear and we go no where. Wait a minute, what is going on... I step on the gas and my wheels are turning and we are going no where. We are stuck! I'm so close, it's been a LONG... afternoon and we are stuck in mud???? I call my mom and ask her to call my brother, a DPS (state police) officer to come get me or my uncle (manages a body shop). Of course neither one of them answer the phone. Eventually with the help of 3 strangers and 20 minutes of the pushing we finally get out. Thank you , thank you , thank you... Now let's get to Nana's. It's 5 o'clock traffic time we are traveling around the loop in Tyler at a snail's pace but I'm only 10 minutes from Mom's house when, oh no... crash... yes we rear ended a van. Could this trip get any worse? It was a chain reaction with me being the last car. Myself and the car I hit were the only ones that stopped and pulled over and luckily there was no damage to her van. Thank you , Lord!! I don't think I could have taken much more. She didn't want to call the cops, said good-bye and we finally made it to Mom's. The rest of the trip in the next post.

2008-06-11T08:35:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Summer!!

Our summer got off with a bang. School was out only two days before we headed to Branson with Mark's parents and sister's family. We spent an entire week shopping, swimming, eating and of course going to Silver Dollar City. My kids have never been to another amusement park so they are perfectly content with the rides at SDC and loved every minute of it. We were blessed enough to get season passes this year so they are already wanting to know when we are going back. With gas prices who knows??? We returned from Branson late on Saturday and bright and early Monday morning Blake and Claire went to Harding's Baseball and Basketball camps. (last week) So everyday last week Anna Kate and I dropped Blake and Claire off at Harding around 8:30, ran errands and picked them up by 12:00. We would come home exhausted, eat lunch and crash until Blake's baseball games at night. It was a crazy week. So this week we are chillin'!! We've stayed in pj's until noon 2 out of 3 days, had friends come over yesterday for a play date and are basically relaxing. I'm trying to catch up on blogging, scrapbooking and organizing my house. Since we moved in last summer right before I had surgery alot of things were never put in the right spot. So my mission this summer is to work on the house. Here are a few pictures from the month of May and the beginning of our summer. Now that I'm at home I'm hoping to post more often and keep in touch.

Blake before his first baseball gameClaire, Mia and Anna Kate at Mia's 1st birthday party

Anna Kate at her kindergarten end of school program

Blake, Anna Kate and Claire at the program. Blake had a ballgame before the program.

Claire, Anna Kate and Blake at the entrance of Silver Dollar City

Anna Kate, Jackson, Blake Mark & Claire waiting to go in to SDC

Mark and Claire: one of my favorite pictures!!

Mia ready to roll

Anna Kate and Jackson- AK is a mother hen when Jackson is around

Anna Kate and Claire on the flooded mine

Claire and Blake in a friendly game of checkers out the ice cream parlor at SDC

The last day of basketball and baseball camps.

2008-04-12T14:41:00.000-07:00

WE ARE STILL HERE!!

Easter 2008

Playing in the Snow at Grammy's

Sorry for the long lapse in blogging. This has been a very hard winter and beginning of spring for me. Not for anyone else in the house but for the MOM. I have been sick since Christmas. I had a severe case of pink eye that last 10 days and turned into a sinus infection and ear infection, then a stomach virus, the flu, sinus stuff and then shingles. All the while trying to work, keep up with the kids and the house. I've been trying to chill out on things I can do nothing about and learn to live with whatever gets done. I'll try to fill you in on the 4-5 months.

Mark: Mark began working in Little Rock at Altell in December. He really likes the company and the people he works with but no so fond of the drive everyday. He is also selling insurance and loves helping people in this way.

Cristy: Besides being sick forEVER, I've been teaching school (ready for that to be over) and am looking for new opportunites for next fall. I have a couple of possiblities but am spending time praying that God leads me where he wants me. Other than work, I had a great spring EBay and consignment season. The best ever. If you know me very well you know how much I love when this time rolls around each spring and fall. I love making money on my kids clothes and being able to clothe them the way I like for much less. This year I made $1,000 between consigning and Ebay. I love it!! I will admit it is getting more expensive to buy their clothes since they are getting into bigger sizes.

Blake: Mark picked the kids up from school one day and Blake's teacher said he was having trouble seeing the board. I took him to the eye doctor, he put the letters up and asked him if he could see line 2 or 3, Blake hesitated for a while and then the Dr. asked if he could see the first letter, Blake exclaimed an E!! The poor boy has been blind. He is near-sighted and has an astigmatism (Anna Kate is far sighted with an astigmatism). Once we got his glasses, he just kept going on and on about how clear everything was and how he could read the signs on stores, poor baby. He is still doing great in school. He and Claire both LOVE to read. He is also playing baseball for the first time this spring. They have had 2 practices and games should start in a couple of weeks. He's excited and so are we. He has never shown any interest in sports so we are interested to see how he likes it.

Uncle Time and Blake four-wheelin' in the snow

Claire: Loving to read is an understatement for this child. Punishment for her is grounding her from her books. She loves the Beverly Cleary books, the Box Car Children, American Girl books, mysteries, just about anything. She also played basketball this winter and was really pretty good. She had never played before but picked it up pretty easily. In the last game she scored 12-14 points (1/2 of the team's total) and was really good on defense. We always felt sorry for the girl who she guarded because she stuck to them like glue and stayed in their face. She loves school and has a best little girl friend named Mezthely. They are so cute together. Mezthely is teaching Claire Spanish and they try to expand their English vocabulary with big words like famished and devour, etc... It so funny. Their teacher loves it. I hope they can stay good friends. Mezthely's mom does not speak English well and at times makes our communication kind of hard. But it is getting better and they are such sweet friends.

Scarlett Leckie, Claire, and Maggie Collins

(Maggie's mom Beth Howard Collins and I were good friends in college and she was even a bridesmaid in our wedding. How fun for our girls to play B-ball together)

Claire and Mezthely

While I was typing this blog I looked outside and was this: Claire sitting under her favorite tree drawing. I love living in the country and her love of the outdoors. She has always wanted to be outside exploring or just sitting under a tree.

Anna Kate: DRAMA QUEEN!!! Would anyone have guessed??? She doesn't stop talking unless she is asleep and everything is in extremes. She wears me out but is absolutely hysterical. Lots of tears can be shed in a day over such things as her wardrobe, her hair, not wanting to wear her glasses because she's not as cute... real important things. She is beginning to have a hard time being the one left behind. Blake and Claire are still really close and like to do 8 year old things and sometimes that doesn't include little sis. Up till this year, they all pretty much did the same stuff but we've seen a bigger divide this year. She is so ready to read. She gets Claire's books and pretends to read. Which drives Claire crazy. "Mom you know she's really NOT reading that!" Anna Kate rebuffs "Yes I am, you just can hear me, its all in my mind!" I'm sure it is. That is my goal this summer is to have her reading well. She's doing great on her sight words and can read simple sentences, just not what Blake and Clarie are reading. It's so hard being the baby. I keep telling her one day she'll be glad she's the youngest.. but for now it's no fun.

This shows you a little of her crazy personality. She and Blake are more alike than any other combination of the three. And boy do they fight. But they are also the funniest, the talkers and the dramatic. Claire's too self concious to be too crazy.

Hunting egss on Easter. She is really sweet and tenderhearted and still has to climb in my lap every night before bedtime and cuddle. Can't imagine life without her.

Consider yourself caught up for now. I'm sure with the end of school and baseball starting up there will be more activities and hopefully more time for mom to blog. Until then..... Have a great day from the Farley's!!

2008-01-18T15:10:00.000-08:00

This week we have had many laughs at Anna Kate's expense. I just had to share. Anyone who knows her well knows she asks tons of questions. Well, this week she experienced her first funeral home experience. Actually, she's been a couple of times before, but she was under two both times so she doesn't remember. Anyway, one of Mark's uncles died on Sunday morning. We only went to visitation on Tuesday night, not to the funeral. So here it goes.

We got to the funeral home and all the little ones were hanging in a foyer with couches reading books and playing except Anna Kate. She kept looking into the chapel where most of the family was sitting around talking. She came up to me several times and told me she wanted to go in there and look around. I told her I would go with her in a minute. ( I was the bouncer for the little kids at the moment). So a few minutes later she couldn't wait any longer, I passed my duties off to the next aunt and proceeded to take her to the front. There was a small group of people I did not know standing in front of the casket so I asked Anna Kate if she would like to look at all the pretty flowers. "Sure," she said reluctantly. As I pointed out all the flowers she kept looking over her shoulder to the casket. Soon as the group left, I took a deep breath and took her to look. The conversation went something like this:

Me: "See he looks like he is sleeping. Has a soft blanket and pillow to lay on, but remember he's really not in there he's in heaven"
AK: "Yea," looking very intently. "Why are his hands like that?"
Me: "That's just where they laid them."
AK: "I don't like it when people die. It makes me sad"
Me: "I know but that is how God made us. . . to die and then we get to see Him. Isn't that cool?"
AK: "Yea, but I like him," (She's never even met him)
AK: "Why did they cut his legs off?" (Caskets are opened only from the waist up)
Me: "Oh, they didn't, his legs are under there."
AK: "So they only cut his feet off?"
Me: "No, no, his legs and feet are in there."
AK: As she looks under the casket, "This box isn't big enough for all of him."
Me: "Yes, it is, I promise."
Mark's aunt walked up about that time and was touching him. You know what's coming.
AK: "Why is she touching him?
Me: "Because she loves him"
AK: "Can I touch him?"
Me: "Not right now, let's go see what Dad's doing"

We walked away, I didn't want to offend the aunt and have a six year old touching her husband.
For the next twenty minutes she kept wanting to go back up. I told before we left that she could take one more look. We answered questions about how old he was (64), how old I was etc., and I kept reminding her my grandparents are much older than that and no one knows when they will die, but she shouldn't worry about it. He was very sick, and now he's not and feels much better.

That night when we put her to bed she still couldn't understand the leg thing. She just didn't think his legs were in that box. We assured her they were and showed her with the blanket how he was laying, etc.

Then last night she asked:

AK: Did daddy's uncle die in the morning?
Me: Yes.
AK: Before he went to church on Sunday?
Me: Yes.
AK: Do you faint when you die?
Me: If you standing up, I guess you fall down, but he was laying in bed.
AK: So he got up and got ready to go to church, then went back to bed?
Me: No, I'm sure he was in bed in his pajamas.
AK: Then how did he get his Sunday clothes on????

Of course, he was in his Sunday clothes in the casket, so he must've died getting dressed for church. That one about put me over the edge. I laughed so hard.

Mark's mom says we're in alot of trouble because AK will never leave a stone unturned. You've just got to love her.

2007-12-28T11:28:00.001-08:00

A Texas Christmas

We left Sunday to go to my parents' house in Tyler for Christmas. During the day on Christmas Eve, Blake and Claire helped Nana get the sugar cookie dough ready for later that night when cousins were all there.

Claire, Blake, Clay (3), Anna Kate, Sydnie (4 1/2) All ready to open presents.

Anna Kate really wanted a denim jacket. Nana found one with a little extra bling and of couse it was pink.

Be careful what you do in the Farley house these days, we have a resident spy, Blake got lots of Spy Gear this year.

A new purse

At the top of Anna Kate's Christmas list was a flannel nightgown, so Claire benefitted from this too. We can't get Anna Kate out of her gown. She lives in it everyday.

Lip gloss, fingernail polish, and new purses. What more could 2 girls want??

Now time to finish those sugar cookies for Santa.

Waiting for them to cool is so hard.

All ready for Santa.

The next morning....did Santa come??

Ho!Ho!Ho!

Blake got lots of KNex and Claire asked for lots of arts and crafts supplies. Santa delivered.

So there it is. Our Christmas. Hope you had a good one too and I promise to blog more than once every 3 months in the future. I added other posts today below about birthdays and more. Enjoy.

2007-12-28T11:06:00.000-08:00

All I Want for Christmas....

Anna Kate pulled her two topped teeth herself. She pulled one two weeks before Christmas and the second on the last day of school before break. She was so excited!! She immediatley began singing "All I want for Christmas". She is definetly the entertainer of the family. Here are a few more pictures we took one morning before church:Imagine.. you just came in from the mailbox, you've opened an envelope and awww, it's the Farley family's Christmas card, here it is. MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!The TwinsSistersBlakeClaire

2007-12-28T10:43:00.000-08:00

Anna Kate turns 6 + Farley Family Christmas!!

This year we had a very hard time finding a time to celebrate Anna Kate's birthday. We had already decided not to have a big party, we were just trying to get 2 friends together but could never get their schedules to come together. So... we decided to just have her birthday cake at the Farley Family Christmas. It was crazy and chaotic but she had a what she considered a birthday and got more presents than anyone else since she got Christmas plus birthday. I'm not sure I'll ever do that way again, but it worked this year.This is on AK's actual birthday. Our birthday tradition: the only time you get donuts with sprinkles is on your birthday and only the birthday child gets the sprinkled donut. We put candles in it and sing happy birthday first thing in the morning. Notice she dressed herself for school all in PINK (necklace, headband, shirt and even pink candles). Can you guess what her favorite color is???

Grammy made this cake for her birthday. She loved it!!Jackson is having fun eating dinner with his cousins.

Uncle Scott and Aunt Ashley won the prize for one of the coolest presents, a Cardinals jersey.

Sierra and Anna Kate with their new baby dolls.

Claire has never wanted a baby doll but this year that is all she talked about it. And not just any baby doll, she wanted one that did not make any noise or anything else and we had to have twins, of course. Grammy came through on that one.

Babies, babies everyone... This is our real life baby doll, Mia

2007-12-28T09:20:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving 2007 with Family and Friends

We hosted Thanksgiving for Mark's family at our house this year. We 21 people over including our friends Chris and Cathy Elrod and their two boys. We had all the traditional Thanksgiving food and the excitement for the day was when the heating element in my oven decided to burn into two pieces and began sparking and catching things on fire while I was taking the ham out of the oven. Very interesting. After turning the breaker off, we ran the rolls down to Grammy's house to finish cooking and all had a great time. (Luckily everything else was done). The kids had a great time playing outside and most stayed around until afte the Cowboy game was over and everyone had grazed one last time among the leftovers.

Anna Kate, Blake and Jackson

Jackson and Grant

Baby Mia all ready for bed after a long day of playing.

2007-12-28T08:42:00.000-08:00

Blake and Claire's Birthday!!

Sorry it has been so long since I've checked in. From the middle of October until now life has been crazy. During the fall, Mark was traveling a lot and school was very hectic for me. Hopefully now we will get back into a normal routine and next semester will go much smoother. I will add several new posts today to catch you up to the happenings in the Farley children's lives.

A couple of weeks before Blake and Claire's birthday Nana and Grandaddy came and took everyone to Build-A-Bear for their birthday. Since Anna Kate's birthday is between Thanksgiving and Christmas she got her birthday early. So all three chose an animal .

Blake chose a cheetah, dressed him in a Cardinals uniform and named him Clark.

Claire chose a rabbit and named her Hopper.

Anna Kate chose a bear all dressed in pink and named Meredith.
Grandaddy, Nana, Claire, Anna Kate and Blake before church.

Blake fell asleep on the porch swing while Grandaddy and Dad put the basketball goal together.

Claire has been begging for a basketball goal and to play basketball this winter. So for their birthday they got a basketball goal and Claire will be playing Upward basketball beginning in January. When I took her to be evaluated for the team, she made 7 shots from the center of the lane in 30 seconds and 8 shots from both wing positions in 30 seconds...all net!! It was amazing. She's never played before but loves it. Maybe she can pay for her college with her new found talent.

Sticking with the sports theme, my friend Cathy and I made a baseball and basketball cake for the twins. During October leading up to their birthday, Mark and I had several conversations about how faithful God has been in bringing Blake and Clarie to where they are today. Who would have thought 8 years ago as we were looking at two 2 pound babies that they would be in the top of their class academically and rather tall for their age. God is so good!! We are amazed daily at these two miracle babies.

2007-10-08T16:40:00.000-07:00

Here are a few random pictures from the past month. We've been busy with school and just life in general.

All dressed up and ready to go to church

FRIDAY...SCHOOL T-SHIRT DAY!!!

Our first hayride of the season. This one was with Grammy and Pa's church this past Saturday night. It was hot and the mosquitoes were everywhere but the kids still had alot of fun. They started at Judsonia Church of Christ and went to a member's farm. The hayride last about 30 minutes and followed by a hot dog roast and entertainment. Of course the kids rode on the trailer pulled by Pa's tractor. (There were 6 trailers each pulled by a tractor...it was crazy)

This next week we have a hayride at our church (FYI for those interested we've moved to Highway). Thankfully it's supposed to cool off and hopefully be more like hayride weather. Pictures will follow as soon as that one is over. Now on the the really big news in the Farley household..........

Two weeks ago we found out that Anna Kate can not see. I was working with her on her homework and I thought she was having trouble seeing. I went to talk to her teacher the next day and they had just had there vision screening at school. So off to the school nurse and lo and behold she failed it BIG TIME!! So I made an appointment with the optometerist and two appointments later we now know she is far sighted with an astigmatism and a lazy eye (not cosmetically but the rods in her right eye have not developed and are not being used) Hopefully after wearing the glasses that eye will start working and strengthen. They called this afternoon and her glasses came in.... HERE SHE IS.....

How cute is she??? So intellectual. We'll see what the reactions are tomorrow at school. She's a little nervous, but of course we think she's adorable.

2007-09-08T11:40:00.000-07:00

Labor Day Week-end!!

On Friday after school the kids and I took off for Tyler to visit my family for the week-end. My brother's family met us there for a week-end of cousin fun. On Saturday we went to the zoo and Sunday we celebrated my mother's birthday. We arrived Friday night at 11pm to the sound of squeals as we walked through the door. Cody & Larisa had not told Sydnie and Clay that we were coming. They were so excited. Sydnie and Anna Kate are the big buddies. They are at a very cute age and play well together. Sydnie is 4 and Anna Kate is 5 1/2. Here they are on the way to the zoo holding hands in the car and then again walking into the zoo holding hands. How cute.

Here are all five of them looking at the Rhino who was taking a nap in the shade.

Then we took a break for sno cones, a great way to cool down on a warm afternoon.

After the sno cones we went into the bird house where there were all these birds flying wild around you heads and then landing on the trees. You could get a stick that had bird seed on it and attempt to feed the birds. This was the higlight for the kids.

Sydnie did not want to leave the birds. So Anna Kate tried to coax her into coming along to see the next thing. It's doesn't look like it is working. At one point I think she was going to run away.

Here they are getting all cleaned up after petting the goats in the children's area.

The next day was Nana's birthday and here she is with the five grandkids and her cake.

Notice she we had five grandkids born within 4 years. WOW!! We are all done. So this is it.

Monday on the way home we had a blow out on the interstate in the middle of nowhere. I had no clue where I was nor what to do. That is when the little OnStar button came in handy. I pushed my OnStar and they new exactly where I was, sent out a tow service to change the tire added 30 minutes free to my hands-free phone in the Surburban and called to check on things a couple of different times while waited. Three hours later we were back on the road. They were not speedy but hey, they got the job done and for no charge!! I think I may renew my subscription come November. Here were a couple of pictures of the kids while we waited. We had to amuse ourselves somehow.

Needless to say we were exhausted when we rolled in around 9:30 pm. I expected to be back by 5pm. We survived the week and are enjoying a relaxing week-end at home. Hope you are too.

2007-08-21T18:50:00.000-07:00

First Day of School.

Yesterday, was the first day of school for everyone. Blake and Claire started 2nd grade and Anna Kate went to Kindergarten. She was so excited. She didn't even want Mark to walk her in. Of course he did with video camera and the digital camera. I am teaching full time this year so I didn't get to go with them but Mark did a great job of getting every moment documented.

This is Anna Kate's teacher Mrs. Doan. This picture was taken at Open House. I think we are going to have a great year with Mrs. Doan. I forgot my camera when the 2nd grade had Open House but a friend took pictures for me. I just don't have them yet.

Kindergarten!! Can you believe it???? I can only because she is soooo ready but I can't believe my baby is in school. We have started a whole new phase of life. Everyone in school!! WOW!

Blake in Mrs. Jones's class.

Claire in Mrs. Yingling's class.

Everyone had a great first day. Anna Kate bought her lunch, took a nap and Mrs. Doan had to wake her up after rest time. She made a few new friends and actually is in class with 3 boys from church and 1 girl from pre-school. She loves it.

Blake and Claire were exhausted when they got home. Blake went and got in his bed and went to sleep at 4pm and Claire fell asleep on the couch. It'll take a while for everyone to get adjusted.

2007-08-21T18:29:00.000-07:00

End of Summer!!

Summer has come quickly to an end. Here are a few photos of the events that occurred the last few weeks before school.

We had a mother/daughter pajama party at church. We all wore our pajamas, ate pizza, had devo, made bracelets and painted fingernails. The girls had a lot of fun and Claire was in a helpful big sister mood.

Claire painting Anna Kate's finger nails.

Then Anna Kate made her first trip to the dentist. She had a permanent tooth that came in behind her baby tooth. Her baby tooth wasn't really even loose. So we went to go see our good friend Dr. Todd to have it pulled. All morning she was so excited and couldn't wait. She had a change of mind once we got there.

I didn't think we were ever going to get her still enough or calm enough. She fought us for about 15 minutes. Todd said he has never seen a child get that upset and someone get the calmed down enough to actually get the job done. I wasn't leaving without the tooth pulled. We made every promise in the book. Finally she let us put the gas on her and then Todd got to work. The minute he pulled it she started grinning. Since it appears that we are going to be going down this road again I'm glad she now realizes it's not all that bad.

We've kept our niece and nephew several days this summer while Paula (mark's sister) worked. Anna Kate loved baby Mia around. She really is a very cute and sweet baby.

Finally Blake and Claire were in a musical at church last week. It was a dinner theater put on by the Children's Ministry. It was called the Good News Cruise and Claire's teacher from last year came to watch. The play was really pretty cute. None of the pictures turned out really great but here is one of Blake, Claire and Mrs. Rains.

2007-07-16T16:02:00.001-07:00

Castleman time!!

Last Tuesday one of Anna Kate's best friends Katie Castleman whose mom happens to be one of my best friends (Teresa) came for a visit. They also brought along younger brother Micah. They stayed for 6 night and just left this morning. Everyone had a great time, mainly playing outside and playing dress up. If you kept up with my blog from the beginning you'll remember seeing Katie on one of the first entries as Anna Kate's first sleep over. The girls have been tight since they were two years old. They moved to South Carolina 3 years ago but we have managed to get them together at least once a year since. The moms are hoping this will be a relationship that will last for a lifetime. If it doesn't it won't be for lack of trying. The first night they got here the girls decided they would pretend they were sisters the whole week. They did a great job sleeping in Anna Kate's bed, whispering late into the night and sharing lots of secrets. Teresa and only wished we could hear what they were saying.

Here they are last year ages 4 1/2.
Here they are this week 5 1/2. Katie still has those fingers when she's tired.

Blake and Claire escaping from the younger ones.

Bestest of friends!!!

Baby brother Micah age 1 1/2 and a very, very, very busy little man.

This week we saw lots of animals in the Farley yard. One morning we looked out and watched two deer for about 30 minutes. They got really close and the kids loved watching them. The next we looked out a saw a wild turkey and then Saturday we found a turtle. They kids loved playing with the turtle.
Nose to Nose... Come out and play Mr. Turtle.

My nature lover Claire of course has to pick up every animal she can get her hands on. She wanted to keep it but we finally convinced her to put the poor turtle out of its misery and let go near the trees. I'm sure that turtle ran the race of his life.

Ready for church.
Sunday night we had the Wyatt's come over and grilled burgers and dogs for Todd's birthday. This is Katie, Lainey and Anna Kate. Lainey and Landon are our 3 year old twin friends.
The kids lined up on the porch eating their ice cream cake.

Happy Birthday Mr. Todd!!

Landon riding his tricycle.

Mr. Todd and Micah

Parting is such sweet sorrow!!! They truly are great friends and love being together and hating saying good-bye. We were very blessed with cool weather, lots of sunny days and plenty of dress up clothes to go around. We can't wait until September when they come back for a long weekend. Thanks Teresa for all the great food and cleaning my house. We love the Castlemans!

2007-07-16T15:35:00.000-07:00

Fourth of July Pics

The fourth of July was my first real outing with friends since surgery. We ate lunch at Mark's parents with the Scott, Ashley, Damien and Megan and Chris, Paula, Jackson and Mia. After coming home for a nap we went to the Traughbers for dinner with the rest of our group that meets on Sunday nights. We did the last year so it maybe becoming a tradition. The kids had a great time playing until we went to Harding for the fireworks.

Here are the two newest Farley cousins. Mia (left) and Megan(right) are 10 days apart. Anna Kate is so excited about TWO babies to play with at Grammy's house.

The kids loved playing at Tod and Jan's house and kept themselves pretty occupied waiting on fireworks.

Here is Anna Kate and Conner a year later. They are still the best of friends. We'll see what happens this fall when the go to kindergarten at seperate schools.

Ms. Jan always has the coolest stuff. Both years she brought the glow stick necklaces and bracelets for all the kids to have while watching the fireworks. Our small group isn't that small we have 15 kids between us all and one on the way.

Here are Blake and Claire watching the fireworks. We are still amazed how good of friends they are. They love being together and love being twins. They usually team up when we're in a group. I hope they always stay as close as they are now.

Here is the wild and crazy bunch. We had one couple of out of town and a few running around but this is as close as it gets with 15 kids 7 years old and younger.

2007-07-16T15:13:00.000-07:00

Summertime!!

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. I had surgery the second week of June and am just now coming back into the land of the living. I still have a couple more weeks of the official recovery time but am feeling better. I thought I would post some random pictures taken at the beginning of the summer and catch everyone up.

Blake is getting lessons in mowing the yard. Now that we have 2 acre yard we more than eager for him to be big enough to help. It still maybe a couple of years away but he loves riding with dad.

Claire and new cousin Mia. Claire has never been our "baby" child but she does love Mia and pays her alot more attention than I would have every thought.

Claire loves to skate. She and Blake went to a birthday party at the skating rink right before my surgery. Claire roller skates at home but Blake never had. Mark took them but the pictures of Blake on skates were all blurry. When I'm completely healed we'll all have to take off for an afternoon at the skating rink.

This Karsen "the birthday girl" whose party was at the skating rink. Blake, Claire and Karsen were in the same kindergarten class when we moved back to Searcy and are the best of friends.

The White County Library had a Star Wars day and Mark took the kids to see what it was all about. Most of it was pretty hokey they said but the storm trooper was cool.

Meet the newest Farley...Lucy. After my surgery I was laying on the couch and saw this cat out in our front yard. Everytime I would go out she would run between my feet and be so sweet. We decided a cat would be a pretty good pet to have to help keep mice, snakes and other critters away since we live out in the country. The kids love her. We laughed and said we would have gotten a cat a long time ago if we knew it would occupy Anna Kate as much as it has. We don't think she's quite a year old and is very sweet with the kids. This morning she had a bird for breakfast which was quite an education for my kids. Cats are such low maintenance...my kind of pet.

2007-05-30T19:00:00.000-07:00

Claire and her Prince!!

Tonight we were sitting in the living room visiting with Mark's sister Paula and her husband Chris when Blake and Anna Kate came busting through the door saying Claire had caught a frog. Ironically, Claire was wearing her Cinderella dress running outside trying to catch frogs. Very typical. She is all girl but loves bugs, animals of all kinds and being outside. Very much an adventurer. I felt so sorry for the frog. After about 30 minutes of torture (for the frog I'm sure) she finally let it go. I put her to bed with her beaming and can't wait till tomorrow to go find more. I asked her if she tried to kiss it and to see if it turned into a prince, especially since she was wearing her princess dress. She said "Mom, that only happens in cartoons!" Silly me.

Here's a picture of Baby Mia, Paula and Chris's newest addition.

2007-05-29T07:52:00.000-07:00

Silver Dollar City!!

This past weekend we went to Branson and Silver Dollar City with Mark's parents. We left on Saturday morning, got their by lunch, ate and then shopped till we dropped on Saturday. Sunday morning we went to church, ate lunch and then headed to Silver Dollar City for the rest of the day. This was the kids first time at an amusement park and they had a blast. On Sunday we rode rides while Pa stood in line for a coveted seat at a Ricky Skaggs concert for later that night. The concert was awesome. This was also the kids first ever concert. They loved it. The bottom fell out of the sky while we were sitting waiting for the concert but it cleared up and saw a great show. The kids have already asked if we can go see Ricky again next year.

We went back the next day for more fun and rides. Claire is our theme park junkie. She loved the roller coasters and couldn't get enough. Blake was a little unsure about the roller coasters but loved everything else. Silver Dollar City is a great family friendly park and their were so many things the kids could do. Here a few pictures from the weekend.

"Daddy, I love this place!"

Claire can't wait to get on the next ride!Daddy and Anna Kate on the little roller coaster. She loved it.

The flying Dumbo
Claire taking a break
There is a petting zoo part to the park and Anna Kate decided to get down on the rabbit's level to pet it. She didn't realize she was laying in rabbit poop and was just a little embarrassed when she stood up. Oh well.
"How do they do that?"

Thanks Grammy and Pa for a great time!!!

2007-05-25T13:18:00.000-07:00

End of School!!!

It's that time of the year again. For me it means typing, giving and grading finals, averaging grades and packing up a classroom. For my kids, it's end of the years field trips, field days, honors programs and lots of playing with friends on the playground. All three kids were excited about all of the last week festivies but did not want to leave school and their friends. They all three had great years and we couldn't have asked for better teachers for each child. Blake and Claire both made the all A honor roll for the entire year!! Here are a few pictures from the last week.

This is Blake running through the obstacle course. Ooops I missed his head!
This was a hula hoop relay.
Claire at the beginning of the obstacle course.
The tug-a-war is the huge ending event at Sidney Deener of their field day. Claire's class won the first two rounds but lost in the finals. Her hands were so sore after it was all over.

Blake taking a break during the tug-a-war.

Here a few random pictures: Here is Claire climbing a tree in our front yard. From the last few pictures, can you tell which child is the athletic, determined child????

Ryan McGaha, Anna Kate, Claire, Blake and Conner McGaha enjoying a cookie on our front porch swing.

2007-05-25T12:52:00.000-07:00

A Very Busy Month!!!!

What is with the month of May? It is always so busy. With Mother's Day, Graduations, end of school, wedding showers and for us Mark's birthday and Our anniversary this month always makes a huge dent in the wallet and leaves a very tired mommy.

This year on Mother's Day weekend we entertained 25 people (from my family) for lunch at our new house. My parents came up on Friday and on Saturday my grandparents, Aunt Nancy and Uncle Jeff and their 4 children plus spouses and grandchild, and my grandmother's sister and her family all came. Everyone was in town for a different reason and it was a great time to get together. It just happened to be about a week after getting everything moved in the house. So boxes were stacked in the corners and closets and some walls still need paint but we had a great time. We had lunch, sat around and sang old hymns and did lots of catching up.

Anna Kate and Papa

This is Hudson, my cousin Rebekah's little boy. Notice the watch on his wrist. He is facinated with watches and clocks and wears his watch proudly.

Claire taking a break on the swing.

This is my Aunt Phyllis (in front), her grandaughter Kendall Pfiefer, her daughter Patricia Pfiefer and my grandmother. Thirty two years later, I'm still introduced as the flower girl in Trish's wedding. Aunt Phyllis is my grandmother's sister.

Nana and Anna Kate... For all of you who ask "Where does AK get that red hair?"

2007-05-05T19:18:00.000-07:00

"Dear God,

Thank you for making Mrs. Curtis a long, long, long time ago. And thank you for Mr. Curtis and for helping them make my school." ..... Anna Kate Farley

That was part of Anna Kate's prayer last night. This afternoon we had a party/program celebrating Mr.and Mrs. Curtis who started Curtis Kindergarten and Preschool where Anna Kate attends. They have sold the school and today was a celebration of their impact on the city of Searcy. The Curits' and the Farleys go way back and have been dear friends forever. So I was so glad that Anna Kate was able to be apart of this last year and of the program today. She loves it when Mr. Curtis comes to the school to visit. The students sang a few songs and we watched a slide show of Ms. Evelyn telling how she started school and what her mission was. I believe the school has been open 28 years. WOW!!! They have sold to a Mrs. Lively who grew up in Searcy and is moving back to be closer to her family. She a has lot to live up to with reputation that the school has. I wish her the best and am so thankfully we got to be a part of the Curtis Kindergarten.

Anna Kate had the only speaking part of the program. She got the giggles when the put the microphone in front of her but recovered and did a great job. Her class sang two songs by themselves and then sang a song with the entire school.

Grammy (Mark's mom Janice), Mrs. Evelyn Curtis, Mr. Burl Curtis

and Anna KateMs. Ryan and Anna KateThis is Mark's Aunt Kathryn who Anna Kate is named after. She is Mark's grandmother's sister.

2007-05-05T18:29:00.000-07:00

Spring has Sprung!!!

So sorry it's been so long since I've blogged. Life has been crazy around here. We went out of town for my grandad's 82nd birthday came back and began working on our new house trying to get it ready to move in. It's been a month, we're moved but not everything is ready. We are still feverishly painting and trying to get ready for Mother's Day weekend when 25 (give or take a few) of my family members will be here on Saturday for lunch. I've already warned everyone, the house will be clean and picked up but not decorated or fixed up in any way, form or fashion.
Between moving and trying to end the school year, it'll be a miracle if I actually make it until the end of school. When school is out we hopefully will leave town for a few days and then I'll come back and have surgery in June. The rest of my summer will be recovering. Here's a look at our crazy last two months!

Ridem' Cowgirl...Anna Kate couldn't wait to ride horses with Grandaddy. Unfortunately this horse did not want to her to ride. Right after I took this picture Dad was leading her in a round pen and the horse starting bucking. The closer Dad got to the horse the bigger and faster she bucked. It's a true miracle Anna Kate stayed on and that the horse didn't slam her against the fence. Dad said he had never seen a child with that good of balance. He said most adults would've been thrown. She got of and proclaimed "I'm a real cowgirl now!" Of course that was after she stopped crying.

Happy Birthday PaPa!!

Did somebody say P-A-R-T-Y...This is how PaPa was greeted by 3 of his great-grandaughters at his birthday party.

Claire loves bugs. She loves the outdoors and our new place is perfect for her. This was one Sunday afternoon while we were working on the house she caught several caterpillars and played with them for a while. Let's just say they got their excersice!!

Easter 2007

The New House

This is Anna Kate, Blake and Claire on our front porch swing. I love coming home from work and just sitting on the swing in the afternoon. It's so peaceful and relaxing. I can't wait for the inside to be done so I can actually relax. Soon I'll post some before and after pictures of the rooms so you can see Mark's handiwork.

2007-03-27T18:33:00.000-07:00

Happy Spring!! Sorry it has been so long since an update. The month of February we were sick it seemed like forever. Anna Kate had the flu for a week and then about 8 days later the stomach virus attacked. We're glad spring is here!! This picture was taken a couple of weeks ago at Claudia Stockstill's wedding at Harding. For those of you who have not seen the new addition to campus here is a picture of the chapel from the front lawn:
Here is the entrance to the American Heritage Bldg. Who would've thought??

Now a cute little Anna Kate story: This week we went to get her shots for Kindergarten. Who can believe my baby is going to school??? Anyway, she did great during the check up, yes she's in the 95% percentile in height (46 1/2 inches WOW) around 90th in weight, but when it came time for the shots she began getting nervous. The doctor had left the room and we were waiting for his nurse to come give the shots and she was getting worried. She decided she wanted to pray about it before the nurse came back. She whispered a little prayer "Dear God, please help my shots not hurt. Please help it to go quickly and not to be so bad." After she finished she looked up at me with a huge grin, a sigh relief and proclaimed "Mom, God is going to do a miracle today!" I said "what do you mean?" She said, "When kids pray about their shots, God does a miracle and it's not going to be bad, it'll be okay." I was like there you have it. The nurse came in, Anna Kate sat there didn't flinch, no tears, no whine, nothing. Three shots... 1 in one arm 2 in the other. All smiles. Who smiles when they get three shots??? God did perform a miracle in Dr. Ben Wilkins office March 26th. Oh to have the faith of a child!!! Dear Lord, please let her always stay close to you and have the faith to ask and believe.

2007-02-10T13:38:00.000-08:00

Swing your partner, Do-si-d0!!!

Thursday night Blake and Claire had a square dance program at school. It was just the first grade and they square danced to about 5 different songs. It was so cute. They wore their boots and jeans that Nana & Grandaddy gave them for their birthday and were so excited. They were the best looking cowboy and cowgirl there.

Claire, Karsen & Blake

Karsen was in their kindergarten class and was Blake's first girlfriend. They also took TaeKwonDo together.

Claire, Coach Stamps & Blake

Coach Stamps is their P.E. teacher. He loves Blake and Claire. Anytime we see him in town he stops and just loves them. We love being at Sidney Deener.

2007-02-10T13:20:00.000-08:00

Random Pictures.

Here are just a few random pictures of what's been going on around here since Christmas. Not much.

This is Claire at the Honors Assembly at school. She and Blake both made the All "A" Honor Roll.

This is our resident Power Ranger. We have never had "boy" dress up clothes until now. I ran across several super hero, power ranger, costumes at the fall consignment sale and bought a few thinking I would give them to him for Christmas. Well I forgot. So one rainy day I came across the box and Blake got a big surprise. He was so excited.

This was last week. Anna Kate had the flu. She was out of it for 5 days. Luckily she began running fever late Wed. afternoon. Thursday was a snow day and Friday her preschool was cancelled because their heater was broken. Her preschool teacher Ms. Ryan came and stayed with her on Friday and I took off on Monday. So we only missed one day of work and school. Not bad for a 5 day flu. All she did was sleep from Wednesday-Sunday. I don't think she has ever been that sick.

2006-12-31T11:55:00.000-08:00

Wow...Santa Came !!!! Christmas Morning!

On Christmas morning the kids are not allowed anywhere near the tree until Mark and I are ready. Lucky for us we have very compliant children in this regard who have never challenged or peeked. This year they all jumped in bed with Claire until I went and got them.

Anna Kate asked Santa for a baby bed for her babies. Wow, did he come through. Bumper pads, mobile, the whole nine yards. It even has storage underneath behind the cabinet doors. It's so cute.

Claire had asked Santa for a real guitar that so that Mark could teach her to play. This one came in her favorite color. How cool is that.

Blake had asked for Lincoln Logs and a new real lightsaber. No one could have said better than he did "I got everything I ordered!" His lightsaber is really an interactive game you play on tv by using the light saber. It's pretty cool. Of course you know who had to be the first to try it out.

Claire had also asked for a diary. We gave her a purple leather journal that she can start writing in. She loves to write about her day and also create stories. Claire says she may be an author when she grows up.

Christmas is over, the tree taken down and we're ready to see what 2007 has in store. Hope you've had a great holiday season and that you have a very blessed NEW YEAR!!!

2006-12-31T11:43:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve morning we went to church, had lunch, everyone but mom napped, we decorated cookies for Santa and then went to Grammy and Pa's for the Farley Christmas.

All ready for bed with cookies and milk set out for Santa

2006-12-31T11:33:00.000-08:00

Christmas with the Farley's

We got home from Tyler late Saturday night and had Christmas with Mark's family on Christmas Eve night. We went to church that evening as a family and then ate lots of food and opened presents. It was so crazy with 9 kids 8 of whom are 7 years and younger that I only took two pictures.

Here's the breakdown of grandchildren: Lindsey-14, Blake-7, Claire-7, Sierra-7, Jaden-almost 6, Anna Kate-5, Ricky-3 1/2, Jackson-3, Damien- 22 months and two more are due in May.

Anna Kate (5) and Jackson (3) love playing together. Jackson has a sister on the way due in May.

Unlce Tim, Anna Kate (with a bow from a present tied around her head) and Claire

2006-12-31T11:01:00.000-08:00

More pictures from Texas....

Sydnie and Anna Kate werenot only joined at the hip, but also by earphones and the CD player the whole time we were there. It was so funny as they tried to walk around and listen to music. They love being together.

All the kids had fun cutting out cookies with Nana and then decorating them with lots of icing and sprinkles. Of course some got more in their tummies than on their cookies...

Clay is such a two year old boy full of energy and lots of smiles!!!

2006-12-31T10:31:00.000-08:00

A Texas Christmas

We went to Tyler to have Christmas with my family the Wed-Sat. before Christmas. Of course the kids had lots of fun with Sydnie & Clay and loved visiting Granny and Papa. Everytime we go back home, I'm so thankful that my kids have such a good relationship with my grandparents. I have such great memories spending time with my great grandmother, Papa's mother who died when I was a sophmore in college and am glad my kids are able know my grandparents.

My grandparents, Granny and Papa, with Anna Kate, Claire, Blake, Sydnie & Clay

Blake got a telescope and binoculars from Nana and Grandaddy along with a model of the solar system and a book on the solar system. Anyone need any help with planet trivia, give Blake a call. He's got it all down now.

Along with a personal CD player and CD's Claire got several books like Charolette's Web, and My Friend Flicka. She loves to read. When you can't find her she's either reading or listening or trying to play music.

Both of the girls got a Disney Princess Cd player and Praise & Worship CD's. They were so excited. Blake got one for his birthday and everyone has been fighting over it ever since. Everyone was so exicted. It made for a very quiet trip home, except when Anna Kate wanted to tell you something. She hasn't learned that we can hear her even though she can't hear us.

We got Clay this "Cars" play rug with a couple of cars from the movie Cars. It was a huge hit. It happened to be the first present he opened of the evening and he refused to open anything else. I hope this buys Larisa lots of quiet play time over the next few weeks.

2006-12-14T17:23:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Anna Kate!!!

Tuesday was Anna Kate's 5th birthday. Wow, how time flies. Although she is a big girl now she will always be my baby. She still every night around 7pm climbs in my lap for a little cuddle time. I love it. As a five year old she has a very sweet spirit that amazes me daily. She is constantly analyzing things, asking tons of questions (alot of questions about heaven), she loves to sing (mostly praise & worship songs), and is very dramatic and funny. Who knew 5 years ago this red head would bring so much laughter to ensure we would all smile at least once a day.

Her party was a Candyland theme. It was so much fun, with 17 friends making candy necklaces and decorating gingerbread men. The cake was amazing. I've found a lady who loves to decorate cakes and delivers too. She out did herself on this cake.

Can you believe this cake? And it was very yummy!!

2006-11-07T03:58:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday to Jackson, Tyler, Miles, Kayley, Walker, Sierra, Connor and Maribeth.

The birthday season has begun. It's crazy around here. Blake and Claire's birthday kicked off the Downtown/Farley birthday season. We had their party on the 28th, this past Saturday we were invited to 3 parties, this coming Saturday we have 3 parties, the following weekend we have 2 then it is Thanksgiving. Shortly thereafter it will be Anna Kate's. It's nuts. At Downtown, where we go to church, beginning in November we have 5 4 year olds turning 5 in Anna Kate's little social group and then the Farley family has 4 grandkids with birthdays within 10 days. Poor Anna Kate by the time her party comes around we're all partied out. Here are pictures from the first party, Mark's nephew's party at the Little Rock zoo. Jackson turned 3 last week.

Jackson, Anna Kate, Claire and Blake

Jackson and Anna Kate riding the train.

The Birthday Boy

My three little sunflowers.

2006-11-07T03:48:00.000-08:00

Mom goes back to work.

For those of you who have been wondering why you haven't heard from me lately, I've gone back to work recently. It was very sudden. Two weeks ago I got a phone call from a private school here in Searcy, Liberty Christian. They had a teacher who had to be put on bed rest and ironically she is pregnant with twins. So they needed a teacher immediatley. If talked to the principal on Wed. and Thursday 10/26 got the call saying I had the job. It was crazy with my family coming in for Blake and Claire's birthday, Halloween and all but I survived my first week and am trying to get organized. Now the beauty of this job...It's a part time position. I only teach 3 classes, 6th grade science, 7th grade science, and 7th grade World History. I go in a 8am and am finished by 10:50 am. How perfect is that. I take Anna Kate to school and Mark takes Blake and Claire, but I'm still able to pick everyone up, go to the store without kids and have some time to myself. Next semester I'll pick up a 1:15 class and teach Arkansas History but I'll have a two hour lunch and still be out an hour before my kids. It pays as much as sub pay with the public school system and I'm in charge of my room. I have 10 6th graders and 9 7th graders. Once I get in a good routine it'll be great. Right now I'm just trying to catch up on science and history and learning this curriculum. So if you haven't heard from me in a while, I'm either taking nap while no one's home, or have my nose in a book while trying to do laundry and pick up my house. I'll figure it out soon, I think.

2006-11-02T18:04:00.000-08:00

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Look at all our LOOT!!!

2006-11-02T17:13:00.000-08:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU TIMES TWO!!

YAHOO WE'RE 7!!

This has been one of those birthdays that we've reflected on far Blake and Claire have come. I wish their baby pictures were digital so I could show you a picture of these 2 pound babies to compare where we are today. How Awesome is our GOD!!! They are both one of the tallest in their classes, reading way ahead of grade level, very talented artist and Claire is a great musician. (Her dad is so proud) We have been sitting around and can't believe we have 7 year olds, 1st graders. WOW!!! Words can't describe. Here are pictures from their Cowboy party. They've been planning this party for months. They wanted to have a Cowboy party, called Nana and Grandaddy to ask for boots and jeans and even wanted to be a cowboy and cowgirl for Halloween. Blake even exclaimed " We're having a very special guest at our party, a REAL cowboy...Grandaddy!" How cute. I can't believe I didn't get a picture of them with Grandaddy.

A few years ago I put candles on their donuts for breakfast on their birthday. Now I'm in big trouble if we don't have chocolate birthday donuts.

My parents, Larisa (my sister-in-law) and Sydnie and Clay came for the week-end. Mom wanted a picture for her Christmas card with them all in their boots. Look at Anna Kate's PINK boots. She got her birthday present a little early.

Blake and Claire on their actual birthday.

2006-10-24T16:32:00.000-07:00

New Bikes

Yesterday we gave Blake and Claire their birthday presents a week early. They got new bikes along with Anna Kate who got a new bike last Christmas from Santa but we had to take it back because it was too small so we finally got her one too. They were sitting in the driveway when they got home from school. They were so excited, they wore themselves out.

2006-10-24T16:14:00.000-07:00

USS Razorback...The Submarine.

Claire's Brownie Troop went to visit the USS Razorback a submarine that fought in WWII and Vietnam last week. It is docked in Little Rock and was very interesting. We started at one end, climbed down into it and toured the entire inside and came out at the other end. It was amazing . Of course 1st and 2nd graders didn't quite get all of it, but thought it was cool, being underwater and all. It was a very interesting experience. And yes, I actually climbed down the ladder and got back out.

Devin, Katie and Claire sitting in one of the control rooms on the submarine.

Alexis and Claire standing on the deck looking into the river.

2006-10-24T11:07:00.000-07:00

The Fire Station

The first grade classes at Sidney Deener went to the fire station a couple of weeks ago. The fire stations is only a block from the school so I walked over with them and tried to keep up with both classes to get plenty of pictures. A bit of a challenge. There were 6 different "stations" set up that each classes vistited seperatly. For example at one they got to hold the hose and hit a target, next there was a house the kids got in and then they filled it with smoke and they kids had to practice getting out. It was alot of fun.

Blake spraying the target. As you can tell he was really into it.

Claire and her friend Emma.

Blake crawling out of the first floor of the smoking house.

Blake made the evening news climbing down the fire escape of the smoke filled house.

Claire with fireman's coat and the using the fire hose. It was a fun day.

2006-10-24T10:55:00.000-07:00

SISTERS

Sisters... I couldn't pass this up. They were being so sweet waiting on the front porch for the mailman. I always wished I'd had a sister so I can't wait to see how they grow and bond even with their very different personalities. Of course Anna Kate adores Claire, however big sister doesn't always adore little sis. At times I wonder if they even like each other and then the next minute they are full of giggles.

2006-09-04T18:09:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Nana!!
This weekend we went to Tyler for my mom's birthday. On Saturday we went swimming and had a birthday party and Sunday we went to the ranch where Dad boards his horses. Blake, Claire and Anna Kate love being with Grandaddy in the barn and Claire especially loves horses. They all want to be cowboy/cowgirls like Grandaddy. Anna Kate asked if all cowboys live in Texas. They are so into the western thing that they asked Grandaddy and Nana for boots and jeans for their birthday, Blake and Claire's party is going to be a cowboy/cowgirl hayride and they want to be cowboy/cowgirls for Halloween. We're going to ride this one for all it's worth.

Claire loves petting the horses.

Anna Kate, Mark and Blake swinging on the porch of the barn.Claire on the porch of the barn

Grandaddy, Nana, Blake, Claire and Anna Kate

Of course Anna Kate had to have the pink boots!

Papa, Granny (my grandparents) Blake, Claire and Anna Kate

2006-08-21T18:05:00.000-07:00

The Actual First Day of School!!

Here are the pictures of the actual first day of school:

All ready to go. We can't wait!!!

I had 3 very excited kids this morning. Anna Kate couldn't even eat breakfast. Mark said she woke up at 4 am wanting to get ready. She did go back to sleep but was up for good around 6:15am. She couldn't wait to get dressed and carried her back around for an hour. Blake was concerned about being late and Claire was just giggly. First we took Anna Kate to school. On the way she told me I could just let her out and she would go in by herself. I DON'T THINK SO!!! I explained that I had to go in to sign her in but would not go in the classroom, she didn't even look back.

Anna Kate's First Day at Curtis Kindergarten

Now it was Blake and Claire's turn. At Sidney Deener parents drop off their children at the gym for Deener Daybreak, a morning meeting of the entire school. All the kids sit as a class and at 7:50am they begin the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance, singing the Star Spangled Banner, announcing the lunch menu for the day, word of the week (attitude is this week's) and a quote for the week. Then the kids walk as a class to their room with their teacher. It's really cool as it creates a cool community atmosphere and gets everyone started off on the right foot. This happens every day. This morning of course we walked them into the meeting and stayed until they left the gym. They were ole' pros.

Blake and Claire outside the gym

They all had a great day. Ms. Ryan said Anna Kate had a wonderful day, obeyed beautifully, and tried everything on her plate at lunch. That's a miracle. She also said Anna Kate came up to her around 10:45 and said "Ms. Ryan I'm exhausted can I take a nap now?" Blake and Claire loved their teachers and each one did something different. Blake went to Art and Claire went to Music. It's going to be fun keeping up with two different classes and schedules.

2006-08-21T17:27:00.000-07:00

First Day of School !!!

Today was the first day of school for all three kids. Blake and Claire are in first grade at Sidney Deener Elementary and Anna Kate started Curtis Kindergarten for Pre-K. They were all so excited. Yesterday we had an open house at both schools. First we went to Anna Kate's. She already knows her teacher Ms. Ryan because she was our children's minister intern this summer at church.

Anna Kate and Ms. Ryan

Anna Kate and Connor (her boyfriend)

Anna Kate's boyfriend Connor is in her class although Anna Kate is going for 5 full days and Connor is only going for 3 half days. But they can be partners in crime for the mornings. Her classroom is decorated as Ms. Ryan's ranch and she actually has two rooms, one that has tables for work and another big room for playing and napping. They will cook lunch for her and it will be interesting to see if she actually eats what they fix. She says she's going to try. This is going to be so fun.

Then we moved on to Sidney Deener. This year Blake and Claire are in two different classes. Claire is in Mrs. Raines class and Blake has Mrs. Lawson. It was amazing to see how they got the right teacher with the right kid. At least first impressions.

Claire and Mrs. Raines

Mrs. Raines has taught for 3 years and last year taught 3rd grade. I think she will be great for Claire. She welcomed her with a great big hug and has a very organized but fun room with a great story corner. She seemed very sweet.

Blake and Mrs. Lawson

Blake's teacher Mrs. Lawson is a seasoned teacher who loves little boys, so we've been told. She had a very organized and structured room and schedule. Just what Blake loves. We've been told by others who have had her that she'll get Blake on the AR (acclerated reading)program quickly and move him along at his pace. I can't wait to see what happens.

It's so funny to watch Blake and Claire with school. Blake is so outgoing and an intellect especially with reading and writing. Claire is quiet, athletic, and loves math. She was so excited to find a Math book in her desk at Open House. It will be fun to see what the year holds for each of them.

2006-08-21T16:56:00.000-07:00

Toothless!!
This weekend we were eating at Colton's and Claire bit into a roll and out came a tooth!!! It's her 5th one to lose, the one to the left of the bottom center teeth. Blake has only lost 2 and Anna Kate is trying every which way to figure out how to start loosing teeth. Claire lost her top two in March and one of them is finally coming in. I was really beginning to wonder. We took her immediately to have her pictures made while we had the huge gap and we actually had all summer to wait. I can't stand it. She is no longer a cute little girl, but now we have a beautiful big girl, teeth or no teeth.

This was this spring

This was Friday night!!

2006-07-30T20:10:00.000-07:00

This weekend we took a day trip to Blanchard Springs, AR and Mountain View, AR. We invinted the Traughber family to go with us to Blanchard and then some other couples from our small group bible study met us in Mt. View for supper and Bluegrass music that night. Blanchard Springs is home to the Blanchard Springs Caverns and Sylamore Creek. We took the tour of the caverns and then had a picnic lunch before taking a swim in the creek. The kids had so much fun.

After swimming we cleaned up and went into Mt. View and sat around the court square and listened to sevearl different groups play Bluegrass music. It's really pretty funny. These small groups just form, there could be 10 different groups playing at the same time just around the town square, and people bring their lawn chairs and sit around and listen until late into the night. We listened to 3-4 different groups, had ice cream and then came home. Anna Kate was very curious about man playing the banjo under the tree. Of course, never meeting a stranger, she just went up to him and began asking questions. He let her pick a little and she loved it. She says she's ready to go back and sing herself. Claire enjoyed roaming around picking flowers and Blake, well if he wasn't playing with his friends he was bored. But oh well, he needs a little culture.

2006-07-30T19:59:00.000-07:00

Mother /Daughter P.J. Party

At church we had a mother/daughter pajama party. No we didn't spend the night it was just a come in your p.j's, eat pizza and have a makeover. It was very cute. The children's ministry intern talked to the girls about being beautiful on the inside and then we went to stations for our external beauty treatments. At each station the girls received a "beauty secret" attatched to a beauty item. Ex: manicure station: the girls painted their nails and received a nail file with the verse "whatever you hands find to do do with all your might" tied to the file. We had a pedicure stations, manicure station, hair station, and a facial station. Then they decorated a box to keep all their beauty secret verses in. Very cute idea. I didn't take Anna Kate just Claire. She was needing some one on one time.

2006-07-30T19:15:00.000-07:00

Sorry, I need to catch up on the last few weeks. I'll probably do it with 3 new entries to get all the pictures in. Please bear with me, with these entries I'm going to experiment with picture placement and captioning. I can't quite figure it out. So if the don't look right or are spaced funky I'm learning. First we finished swim lessons a few weeks ago and all three kids made so much progress. It was amazing. They took at Harding's indoor pool where Mark's cousin J.D. Yingling is the swimming instructor. He was Anna Kate's teacher while Blake and Claire had college students as their teachers. They all three can swim pretty well and all went off the diving board several times. It's amazing how quickly they made progress. On the first day Claire didn't want to put her head all the way under after just a couple of days she was bobbing up and down and now is swimming great. Here are the pics: All smiles!! Claire swimming with the kick board at the beginning of class and this was Anna Kate's reaction on the last day when she FINALLY went off the diving board. We had tried for two weeks to get her to jump, everyday she would get on the board, walk to the end and back out. The very last day she jumped 3 times and loved it. Afterwards she said " Mom I'm really sad I didn't jump before."

Blake was a fish from day one. As long as he had his goggles he was off. By the last day he could swim the length of the pool. Amazing!!

2006-07-16T20:35:00.000-07:00

FOREVER FRIENDS!!!!

Giggles and tears... oh how the female emotions begin so early. One of Anna Kate's best friends, Katie Castleman, came for a visit this week-end and they had so much fun. Katie and Anna Kate have been great friends since they were two (they are about to turn FIVE, oh my!!) Teresa, Katie's mom, became one of my great friends 3 years ago and one of my daily phone calls. We had playdates and swapped some babysitting until they moved to South Carolina 2 years ago. Thanks to Cingular mobile to mobile and AT&T unlimited long distance the daily phone calls still occur and we've tried to keep the girls in touch. We survived hurricane IVAN 2 years ago trying to make it to Katie's 3rd birthday and last summer they flew to Wichita with Teresa being 6 months pregnant. What great friends!!! Well, this week-end they picked up right where they left off. Dress up, singing, dancing, lots of hugs and tons of giggles. The Castleman family stayed with another family but the girls wanted to be together so Katie spent Friday night with us. Their first big girl sleep over. They were so funny to listen to. Not once did they fuss or argue. They finally went to sleep around 10:30pm and awoke promptly at 8am with more giggles, hugs and of course dress up clothes. They were both sad when Katie had to leave but reunited at a birthday party and at church. But then came the tears. Anna Kate fell completley apart when they had to leave after church. We all tried to comfort and console, the moms fighting back tears too, but she couldn't be comforted. About half way through lunch she finally sniffed and slowed down the tears when her daddy promised her a South Carolina trip this fall. From now till then I'll have to answer the question every five minutes "how much longer till we go to South Carolina?" I pray they can keep their special friendship through the years and across the miles. We miss you Katie!!! Thanks for such a special weekend.

2006-07-08T10:57:00.000-07:00

The 4th of July. I thought I'd add pictures from the 4th. We went to Mark's parents for lunch and then our Sunday night, not so small, small group met at the Traughbers for supper and then headed to Harding for firworks. The kids had a great time. The little boy in the chair with Anna Kate is her boyfriend Connor McGaha. They are so cute and funny. They talk like grown ups and pair up every Sunday night at small group and at church. They did inform us they are not getting married because they don't want to kiss. YEAH!!!! They're just going to be best friends. That's good enough for both sets of parents.

2006-07-08T07:40:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my blog. I've been inspired by a few friends to start a blog to keep friends and family updated with pictures and the details of our crazy lives. To catch everyone up, we moved back to Searcy in December after a very interesting experience in Kansas. Blake and Claire finished kindergarden at Sidney Deener and loved every minute of it. It is so fun to watch them and their personalities come out in their activities and interests. Blake likes to read, loves legos and Star Wars, wants to know how everything works and never forgets a thing. He's a little engineer. Claire is pretty quiet. She likes to read, loves math, art and is very athletic. During a recent trip to my grandmother's house she taught herself to play Mary Had a Little Lamb by ear on the piano. So now we are checking into lessons. Anna Kate never stops talking. NEVER!!! She loves playing with baby dolls, playing dress up and performing whether it be ballet or singing. She is very dramatic...a true red head.

We are enjoying our summer by visiting grandparents and taking swimming lessons. They have two more weeks of swim lessons and then we'll be done. All three of them are looking forward to school starting. Anna Kate will be going to preschool five days a week this year at Curtis Kindergarten. She and I are so excited. She was so bored last year being at home. I think it will be good for her.

For now we're just enjoying the long summer days and loving being back in the south...back home hopefully for good.

Cristy