Seven

A couple months ago I heard a friend’s daughter’s birthday announced on the radio.  She was turning seven.  It totally shocked me when they said seven.  I immediately got a little sniffly over it.  I remembered visiting this family when their daughter was an itty bitty newborn baby.  How could that have been seven years ago?  Seven sounded like a lot of years.   I remembered being pregnant with M when we visited.  Then it hit me (hard)...M was turning seven soon too.  I was sniffly over my friends little girl, but  I completely lost it over my own firstborn son.  I had never been bothered by M's age before, and it was completely out of character for me to get so emotional over it.  But for some reason seven just felt like such a BIG number.  It felt different and I wasn't sure I liked it. 
 
That night after M fell sleep I sat by his bed, stroked his hair, prayed over him, and made peace with seven.  I thanked God for the wonderful years we've already had with M, and asked for wisdom to guide his little soul in the next year.  I prayed for him to have a heart for things of eternal significance and not the things of this world.  I also prayed for the girl he will someday marry.  I was joking with MIL and SIL the other day that I have already done so much praying for M's future spouse that there is no way she will ever be able to live up to my expectations.  :)

Fast forward to last Tuesday, and it was time to actually celebrate my sweet boys birthday.  Him and B were coming home from float trip the evening of his birthday so we all gathered at the house to surprise him when they came in.  If you know M then you know this type of this is right up his alley.  We all waited in the backyard and sang Happy Birthday as soon as he walked around the house.  It was so fun to see how surprised he was!  B said he didn't even notice all the cars in the drive. 

A little overwhelmed by the surprise



Cousins 

The party had sort of a military theme.  Everyone was supposed to wear camo.  Guess who has two thumbs and totally forgot about wearing camo?  This girl!  I didn't remember until my parents arrived.  They go all out for any kind of dress up event (see below photo).  Fortunately, B had a jacket in his closet I was able to throw on.  We gave M a wallet with some cash, and gift cards already in it.  He loved it.  Later that night I found him in his room pull all the dollar bills out of his piggy bank to put in his wallet.

We are so proud of the little man Michael is growing up to be.  We can't wait to see what his seventh year has in store for us!

Talk to ya soon,

Angie

Turtle Rock Retreat

Last weekend B planned a family getaway at Turtle Rock Retreat just outside of Jasper, Ar.  We will never understand how he finds these places, and the getting there is usually a little sketchy.  But we always have a great time.  B's parent, my parents, and B's brother Rog all came along for the fun this time.  I attempted to catch my death while we were there so I spent a lot of time resting.  This isn't necessarily a bad way to spend a vacation...just not what I had planned.  I would like to thank the owners of Turtle Rock for their investment in a wonderful memory foam mattress for the master bedroom.  It helped me quickly forget my worries about resting while everyone else was having fun.  :)

The kids were more than a little over the moon about the hot tub on the back deck.  They LOVE them a hot tub or "hot pool" as M used to say.  I let the older taters talk me into a little late night hot tubbing in the rain the night we arrived.  It was alot of fun.  I love that kids don't consider rain or cold a reason not to do something! 

Late night hot tubbing

Early morning hot tubbing

The guys and the taters were able to do a little fishing between breaks in the rain.  There was a nice pond beside the cabin and the Little Buffalo ran just along the tree line in the pic below.  E was excited to get to with them.  She is such a funny cross between girly girl and tom boy.  She loves to do things with her daddy!

Looking for worms

 The rest of our time was spent doing the things we do best...talking, laughing, EATING, and enjoying each others company.  We are so fortunate to get to be with both of our families at the same time.  It makes the memories that much sweeter.

Games with papa Bill

Tyrant Tater and Memaw checking out the horses

Breakfast with Pepaw Frank

M turns seven tomorrow!!  I've gotta go cry in my sweet tea for a bit to prepare myself for it.  :/ 

Talk to ya soon,
Angie

 

Noteworthy Nuances

Life has been happening here at House of Farrer much the same as usual.  Brent was out of town for a week at SWAT school so I stayed busy playing chauffeur a bit more than normal.  Plus I had to get up earlier and get all the taters ready to leave the house in time to take M to school each morning.  This is no small feat for me friends.  I think I've said it a thousand times...me and the early morning are not friends.  But it was all totally worth it because now we have a bona fide SWAT, Special Weapons And Tactics, (I had to google that) officer living under our roof.  ;)

Here's a quick rundown of the handful of notable things that happened while B was away.  Ooops almost forgot we were able to have a little dinner/ice cream date downtown before he left.  I documented it with one of my soon to be famous self portraits.  I think I really need to work on the angle.  It was prom night so we drove down to Bogle Park and reminisced about Bentonville proms past.

My mom had a birthday and turned another year younger.  We celebrated at my bro and SIL's.  I have a few pics but all I can really remember clearly is a HUGE bowl of homemade whipped cream and butter pound cake.  Sigh. 

Nanny and Rhett

The Girls.  Mom, E, Me, and Mandi.

Michael's class got to perform at Rise 'n Shine and he got his AR tee.  I didn't get any good pics of the performance, but it was really fun.  Rise 'n Shine didn't disappoint.  It was like a mini elementary school version of the Wal-Mart Shareholders meeting.  I could have done without hearing Celebrate Good Times on repeat at 7:25am.  I sort of like to get pumped up for the day in SILENCE, but that's probably just me.

Tyrant Tater could have done without the music too!

Michael also lost his two front teeth in two days.  He lost one eating at my mom's office and his teacher pulled the other one for him at school.  She even put it in a really cool treasure box looking tooth keeper for him.  It was the envy of the younger taters for days. 

 

Ellie Rose came to work woth me one day and I dressed her in a little Spring "business casual" outfit.  Could she be any cuter?

Michael had his AWANA awards ceremony.  He had just gotten his hair cut earlier that day.  He kept joking that people weren't gonna know who he was with no teeth and no hair!



E, M, and our friend Sophie.  Cuties!

We had a great weekend.  B found us another cabin in the woods to relax at.  I'll share about that later.

 

Talk to ya soon,

Angie 

Five Things I'm Loving About Spring

1.  Tulips.  Tulips are my third favorite flower (behind Calla Lilies and Gerber Daisies), and they are blooming everywhere right now.  I've been buying fresh ones at the store for our kitchen.

 

2.  Sunscreen.  It's been hot and sunny enough that we've had to breakout the sunscreen a few times in the last week or so.  Woohoo...we don't mind at all!  E was even talking about how good sunscreen smelled when we put it on her this weekend. 

3.  The New Mothership.  More precisely, the roll down rear window feature in the new Mothership.  The back windows in the old van were sealed tight so this is a novelty for us.  B said the other day it was almost like having a convertible.  Bahaha.  I guess it's pretty obvious we've never actually owned a convertible!

4.  Bradford Pear Trees.  The small Bradford Pear in our front yard has blossomed.  It's the only tree in our yard.  I'm glad it's a pretty one!

5.  Tyrant Tater Sliding.  TT has figured out how to climb up and go down the slide by himself.  It's fun to watch.  :)  I got him on video the other morning.

Talk to ya soon,

Angie

Our Easter

I am little late posting but we had a great fun filled Easter Weekend.  As with most holidays both sides of our family got together at B's parents for food and festivities.  I am sure you're thinking wow these people seriously cannot get enough of each other.  The truth is we sorta can't!  Or at least no one wants to be the first to say it.  ;)

On Good Friday evening we went to church with my parents and heard Joe White, the president of Kanakuk Kamps, speak.  He was awesome.  They didn't have child care so we took the tyrant tater with us and he was shockingly well behaved. 

Saturday evening we went to our church's Easter service.  They had child care but E asked to go with us.  We let her, and she was shockingly NOT well behaved.  I had to take her out, and then she threw a crying fit to go back in.  Looks like she'll be enjoying her kids church classroom exclusively for the unforeseen future.

Saturday night in lieu of dyeing eggs the taters and I baked our first ever bunny cake.  They had so much fun and it turned out really cute.  Of course, my SIL had to bring a bunny cake to the party too.  Hers looked fluffy and yummy which led me to have to defend our cake as "just for looks" all afternoon.  Heehee.  I also made my speciality, green bean casserole, for our dinner.  My BIL noted that I had been rocking that casserole for at least ten years.  I let him know that I plan to rock it for decades to come! 

Easter Sunday the taters and I went to service at our church again because I was helping in the nursery.  B slept so he could go to his parents with us that afternoon.  We were so glad he was able to spend the day with us!  This is our obligatory family Easter pic.  The tyrant tater is in this mood more often than not lately.  One of his MDO teachers told me he'd had a rough day a week or so ago, and I told her it seemed to me like he'd had a rough two years! 

 A few pics of the taters in their Easter clothes.  My mom bought E this beautiful dress and she mostly just wanted to get out of it all morning.  M and R had matching seersucker pants.  I LOVE seersucker.

 We ate dinner, did Resurrection eggs, hid eggs, hunted eggs, hid eggs, hunted eggs, took naps, ate leftovers, hid eggs, and hunted eggs for the rest of the afternoon.  Did I mention hiding eggs?  :)  

 

Talk to ya soon,

Angie







Candlelight Dinner for Five

We had a pretty low key Tuesday.  B and were both off work so I spent the morning grocery shopping at our brand new Harp's store.  I only had a small list of items, but spent almost two hours in there.  It is a pretty store and since I was by myself I decided to browse around a bit.  I even bought a bag of almonds from the self serve healthy snack display simply because I couldn't walk away from that beautiful wall without buying something.  I like to throw financial caution to the wind when I'm at the grocery store.

M had his first baseball practice last night.  E may have been just as excited as her brother.  She threw a big fit right before they left because for some unknown reason she thought they were leaving without her.  She knows the drill now and takes her own bat and glove, but always says "only bubs will go out on the field."  Sweet girl.  I can't wait for her to be old enough to participate in a team sport.  She is beyond ready.  And no the irony of me saying she threw a "big fit" and then referring to her as "sweet girl" in the next sentence is not lost on me.  Maybe she comes by her quick mood swings honestly.

 While they were gone the tyrant tater napped so I had time to make something a little more interesting than usual for dinner.  I decided on salmon patties and baked potatoes.  Interesting is relative people.  If you eat hamburger helper more than once a week salmon patties are highly interesting.  Not that we eat HH more than once a week...who would do that?  Gross.  Ok, ok, maybe we do eat a bit much hamburger helper.  Get off my case about it already.  This was only my second time EVER to make salmon patties.  I text my friend Devin this pic while I was cooking them and told her that 1) They looked a little on the large side and 2) They looked a little on the well done side.  Honestly though the way things look is the least of my cooking woes.  They tasted great.  Again with the relativity.  They tasted better than hamburger helper.

When I was a very young girl we would sometimes make home made pizza and eat in candlelight.  I'm not positive if the candlelight was saved just for pizza night, but for some reason to me candlelight = homemade pizza.  This memory randomly popped into my head yesterday, and I decided we would try to keep the candlelight dinner tradition alive. Albeit with blackened xxl salmon patties instead of pizza. :)  I already had the candles out when B and the taters got home.  B stuck his head in the kitchen, wiggled his eyebrows, and said "Looks like we're eating in candlelight tonight."  A second later he popped back in and asked, "The kids too?" Heehee.  Yes B the taters have to eat too.  They actually really enjoyed the novelty of a candlelight dinner, and even asked if we could light the candles again tonight. 

On another sort of nostalgic note I was in a local store today and as I was leaving saw an old game on one of their jewelry display tables.  It was a the game PIT.  I used to play this game with my Nanny Sheila all the time, and she always laughed so hard during it.  I don't think it is supposed to be funny but she thought it was hilarious.  I mentioned this to store owner and picked the game up to look at it.  He came over and said I could just have it!  It was just being used as a prop and he said he'd like to see it go home with someone who had a sentimental attachment to it.  Everybody now...AAWWWWWWW.  This seriously made my day!  I can't wait to teach the taters how to play. 

I am also really glad he decided to give it to me because I would have been tempted to buy it anyway. Now I can put that fourteen dollars toward something more fiscally responsible. Maybe another bag of nuts at the grocery store, or maybe fourteen boxes of hamburger helper!

Talk to ya soon,
Angie