The MacFarland's

Happy 2009!

krmac — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 06:21:47 +0000

Here’s hoping everyone has a wonderful, happy, healthy, prosperous new year! 2008 was good to us and we are very ready to see what ‘09 has in store for us! This year Scott and I will celebrate 10 years of marriage (in March) and Kacey will start Kindergarten. Brady will start third grade and move up a rank in Cub Scouts. So much to look forward to in the New Year….Oh, and Happy Birthday Mom!

Christmas ‘08

krmac — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 17:30:38 +0000

Christmas was tons of fun this year, the kids were hyper and going nuts and it was so much fun to watch them get excited about Santa coming! I was so impressed in the weeks leading up to Christmas Day as they were so patient and never really bugged me to open the gifts that were wrapped and sitting under the tree. Our Christmas Eve tradition is to open all the wrapped gifts from each other. The morning of the 24th, they knew this and all day proceeded to get very anxious about those presents under the tree. They started asking when was it time to tear into them, so earlier in the day we let them pick one gift to open and the rest we managed to get through dinner time then there was just no holding them back. We got them both books, boards games and Kacey got a Barbie and Brady got the Wii Nerf game. They were very happy with what Mommy and Daddy got them but once the excitement of what was in those boxes under the tree waned, their attention quickly turned to Santa. We tracked Santa on the NORAD Santa Tracker until he was in South America then it was up to bed so Santa wouldn’t skip our house. They both went to bed very easily and with no hassles like usual, they knew this night they had to be on their best behavior and that meant going right to sleep!

The next morning I awoke to a tap on the head and a voice saying “Come on! Let’s go!” It was Brady….I looked at the clock and it said 4:30am!!!! I explained to him that it was way too early to be up and for him to go back to bed. I don’t think he ever went back to sleep, he hung out patiently in his room watching tv and playing with toys until 7:30 when there was just no holding him off. So I asked him to go wake his sister and they could head downstairs to see what awaited them. Scott and I listened from our bed, it was too cute listening to the “ooohs and awww’s” coming from the living room downstairs. We jumped up and ran down to see them carrying on with huge smiles on their faces. Mission Accomplished for another year Both of them got what they had really wanted and then some. Santa loves to load their stockings down with goodies and fun little gadgets and toys. I love watching them sit in the floor and dump them out and sort through it all and I think they really love that part too! For anyone who is curious (family mostly I’m sure) here is the rundown of what they got…

Brady:

Vulcan Fully Automatic Nerf Gun (this was his most wanted item, he talked about it for weeks!)

Fusion Asphalt Scooter (he’s been wanting this for a while)

EduScience 120x Telescope

Discovery Channel Science Rock Tumbler (which is currently on Day 2 of tumbling rocks)

Mouse Trap and Sorry! Sliders Board Games

Young Scientist Kit: Crystals, Fossils, Minerals

Wilson Football

All kinds of stocking goodies including rocket balloons, punching balloons, candy, action figures, a keychain LED flashlight, play microphone

We got him a set of mystery books (he LOVES to read), the board game Clue and the Wii Nerf Game

Kacey:

Pink and Purple Razor Scooter (her most wanted item)

Pink Talking Cash Register

Swim with Me Puppy

Baby Doll Stroller

Baby Doll that teethes

Fur Real Baby Pig

Barbie Ballerina Dress

Barbie Diamond Castle Liana Styling Head

Her stocking was full of bath toys,bath tablets that color the water, Fizzing Bath Eggs, candy, play microphone,Disney Princess figurines

We got her some Little Critter books (her favorite), Horton Hears a Who Board game, and Princess Liana Barbie Doll

Here is all of our photos from the day…. Christmas 2008

Feeling Festive!

krmac — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 15:05:23 +0000

Here’s what happens when it’s cold outside, the kids are bored and mom has too much time on her hands

Tuesday Scout meeting

krmac — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 22:07:48 +0000

Last night was the final pack meeting for 2008 and boy was it a fun one! They handed out the awards for the popcorn sales and Brady was one of eleven boys who sold $300 or more of popcorn! Brady was the only Wolf in the whole pack that sold that much. They let each boy throw a whip cream pie in the face of any leader. Brady chose his Den Leader Terry, it was so funny! He also got awarded a medal for his popcorn sales. Santa also made an appearance and handed out wrapped gifts to the boys, which turned out to be their pinewood derby cars for the competition in January. It took the boys a few minutes to figure out that Santa was really Den Leader Terry Brady also had earned 8 beltloops so those were awarded as well. We were so proud of our Scout!

(be sure your volume is turned up so you can hear them)

Homemade Birdfeeders

krmac — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 17:32:27 +0000

Some of the pine cones went to good use already! The kids made birdfeeders out of pine cones, peanut butter and birdseed yesterday. They turned out really good! (See previous post)

Weekend Getaway

krmac — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 17:17:58 +0000

This past weekend we met my parents at Bastrop State Park for a short, but fun weekend getaway. I love the Lost Pines and the feeling of being in far East Texas but only 30 minutes from home! My parents drove up on Friday to get Brady so he could have an extra night out there hanging out with grandpa. Scott, Kacey and I got there early Saturday morning and as soon as we had our tent set up we went on a long hike through the pines, it was awesome! The sun shining through the pine needles, the smell of fresh air with a hint of pine was all I needed to feel relaxed.The weather was sunny and cool during the day, although it was a little windy. Saturday night was the coldest of the week (of course!) so the kids stayed in the camper with my parents and Scott and I braved it in our tent. It really wasn’t bad at all once you got all snuggled under the warm blankets, we both slept pretty well. My parents cooked a great dinner Saturday night….grilled chicken can’t be beat! Sunday we had a huge breakfast and everyone was stuffed after that wonderful meal of scrambled eggs, bacon and puppy dog tails with gravy. I grew up eating them, it’s what my great-grandma called fried bisuit dough. Yummy! The kids went nuts the whole time, they had so much fun running around exploring and collecting pine cones. Back behind our campsite was a small trail that made a loop back to our site. It had a fallen tree across the start of it and the kids loved walking across it to get to the little foot bridge crossing a dry creek. The other end also had a log going across the creek and you had to brave it to get to the other side. I even walked across it a few times! Sunday morning I had everyone helping to collect pine cones to take home with us. I am going to use them to decorate with at Christmas and the kids and I made bird feeders from a couple of them yesterday, hope the little birdies like them! We rolled them in peanut butter then birdseed and boy did it turn out to be some messy fun!

I can’t wait to take the kids back out there again, hopefully we get a nice warmer weekend soon!

I took a ton of photos and am just now done with going through them! Here they are…

Bastrop State Park Campout

Raingutter Regata

krmac — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 23:07:56 +0000

Today we went to the Cub Scout Raingutter Regata at one of our local parks. The weather was gorgeous and the boys had so much fun showing off their boats to each other. We worked on Brady’s boat throughout the week and got it all finished up last night just in time for today’s race. He did a lot of the work himself, although Scott helped him out with the final sanding and painting and of course gave him some helpful tips along the way. They had so much fun working on it together! I did the jolly roger symbol on the sail for him when he told me he wanted a pirate boat. He painted the gold stripes on the sides and I applied the clear coats of paint while he was at school Friday. We tested it in the bathtub this morning and it worked great. The boat was really fast and he won most of his races.

Working on his boat earlier in the week, getting it sanded down.

Spraying on the silver paint

The boat did really good on the water!

Halloween ‘08

krmac — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 15:49:55 +0000

This was probably the most fun Halloween yet! I think the warm weather and the fact it fell on a Friday this year helped. There were tons of people out and lots of great decorations at everyone’s houses. The kids were hyper and ready to go out as soon as the sky was hinting at getting dark. So we got ready and went trick or treating. Brady was grim reaper with a bleeding chest and Kacey was a dainty little Cinderella, quite a contrast huh? We left Scott at the house to hand out candy and I took the kids out, mostly so I could take pictures. We didnt go too far and after the kids got an “acceptable” amount of candy, we came back to help pass out candy. They ended up with enough to put them into a sugar induced coma for the next 2 months! We loved seeing all the little kids dressed up and there were several adults dressed up too! Everyone was is such a festive mood, it was definitely the best year yet! I was especially proud of my pumpkins too, I worked feverishly over the last 24 hours to get them done. I had 2 left over and decided my arms needed the break so I stuck them out front for decoration. Not an hour after I did that Scott sent over two patterns he wanted to do and when I saw them I knew I had to go get them and get started. Overall it was a fun night full of candy and smiles!

Halloween ‘08 Photos

Pumpkin Carving

krmac — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 01:10:24 +0000

We got a late start at pumpkin carving this year, but nonetheless we pulled it off. Kacey and I started early in the morning then after Brady got home from school we did 2 more. I still have 2 more pumpkins to carve but I don’t know if my arms can take any more! The kids had fun cleaning out the slimey, stringy insides and retrieving the seeds for toasting tomorrow. I didn’t get any photos of them helping because I was elbow deep in pumpkin guts! I always look forward to carving them every year and it has become a tradition. I started carving pumpkins when Brady was almost 3 and have carved every year since then. We’ll see how my poor arms and hands feel in the morning, I may go ahead and carve the last 2. I usually carve one or two so it would be neat for me to say I carved 5 this year!!! We lit our carved pumpkins in the living room tonight, the kids were anxious (and me too!) to see them lit up. We are very proud of how they turned out. Here are a few pictures from tonight.

Cub Scout Campout

krmac — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 13:42:07 +0000

This weekend we took Brady down to Garner State Park for the Fall Campout. This was our first camping trip as a family and we had so much fun! I grew up camping so this brought back so many good memories for me. We took Brady out of school early on Friday and headed out of town around 11am. We stopped in San Antonio for lunch then headed out Highway 90 to Sabinal then up to Concan. For me, we just couldn’t get there fast enough and the kids were really anxious too. They did really good on the drive there and they both had their headphones and music so it was nice and quiet in the car most of the way there! As we pulled off onto the main road leading to Garner, there was a certain energy in the car, I loved it, we were getting out as a family into nature. Scott let me go into headquarters and check in, a job that in my childhood was reserved for my dad. I felt like a big girl getting to be the one checking in and picking out our campsite! We got all checked in and ventured down to find our site, it was such a pretty drive through the park to our camping area. Turns out we were one of the first Wolf families there so we pretty much decided we weren’t going to settle for the one I had chosen from the map, so we checked out others and decided #28 was pretty awesome. So Scott drove back up to tell headquarters and me and the kids immediately headed towards the river to check things out. The kids almost immediately begged to get in, which I would have considered but I didn’t bring anything for them to get wet in, plus the water being spring-fed was cold! They probably would not have spent much time in it at all. Soon Scott was back and it was time to set up camp. He got the tent set up very fast and I got our beds made up and everything else unloaded. About that time our leader, Terry, and his kids arrived so Brady and Charlie took off to the river and we relaxed a little around our campsite. Within a few hours more families started to show up and pretty soon there was our group of boys running around wild from campsite to campsite and down to the water. It was so neat seeing them far from home, bonding and spending time with one another.

That evening we cooked Kiolbasa sausage on the grill and soon realized our site was being invaded by skunks!!! They were very tame and didn’t scare away too easily. Brady thought it was cool of course and pretty soon word had spread that we had skunks. So Brady went running off and soon returned with his group of “skunk hunters”. The boys thought they were going to be tough and scare them away, but in the end a very persistent Scott drove them back out away from our site. Scott even had to go face to face with one when we realized that our tent was open! After about 30 minutes, the skunks went peacefully. We were pretty early to bed that night as we were exhausted from our early day. Brady was very comfortable with sleeping in the tent and fell fast asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. Kacey on the other hand took some persuasion to stay in her sleeping bag. She kept asking to crawl into Daddy’s but I soon got her settled and off to sleep she went.

We woke up to a beautiful but cold Saturday morning sunrise and got the day going. I cooked some pancakes but soon realized that the pan I had bought was not holding up. The teflon coating was coming off into the food! Boo! After some frustration, I managed to get a few more made and was able to feed the kids. Right after breakfast Scott and Brady left for the almost 4 mile hike with the 2 wolf dens. Kacey and I grabbed the camera and some water and walked down to my friend Kelli’s campsite to see what was going on. So we decided to take the girls (her daughter is the same age as Kacey) on a short walk around our camp area and explore around. We made our way to the big pavilion, and it turned out the hikers hadn’t left yet so I was able to snap a few photos before they finally went on their way. So we continued on our way too, walking and talking with the girls doing the same, it was so cute! I am so glad Kacey had a friend there, I think they both really enjoyed it.

Later on that day all the scouts met up at the basketball court area for some fun and games. Brady’s favorite was tug-o-war and the boys were super competitve! The parents were getting all into it and pretty soon it ended up being dads against boys! The boys really put up a good fight and of course the dads let the boys win.

Saturday evening was the big campfire and cookout for everyone put on by our packleaders. After enjoying hamburgers and hotdogs it was on to the skits and joke telling. Each den had to perform a skit and all of them were really funny and they all did a really good job. After all of the scout festivites were over, we headed back to camp to relax a bit. The exhaustion was really starting to take over but I think we all just ignored it.

After the sun had been down for a bit, Scott and I took the kids out in the dark with our flashlights and ventured around. The sky was crystal clear and the air crisp as we walked around away from the lights and sounds of the other campers. Kacey got a bit nervous but settled down once we told her Daddy was right there to protect her! We saw a skunk down by the river and scarred an owl out of a big tree. I wanted to get some shots of the stars and I wanted the kids to experience a star filled sky that you could never see being in the city. The mily way was so vivid it was just incredible to look straight up and get lost in the night sky. Brady was in awe and I think really blown away by seeing all those stars! On our way back to camp I had an idea for Scott and the kids to “paint” me a picture by shining their flashlights on a big cypress tree down by the water. I did a long shutter photograph as they “painted” in the scence with their lights. The result was pretty cool and something I will see and always remember as all four of us having made together. After that Brady was saying he really wanted to go to sleep and he wasnt kidding because as soon as we got back to camp, he told us goodnight. Kacey went to sleep just as easily. I had tucked her in and Scott and I sat outside at the table chatting and talking about our big day. Then we hear a sweet little voice saying “goodnight everyone”….by the time I got to the tent, she was out like a light!

Sunday we woke to another bright, cold morning. Everyone slowly started emerging from their tents and soon the sounds of giggling, hyper little boys filled the air. We gathered our things and packed up and hit the road pretty early. We were a little dissapointed as we had packed bacon and eggs to cook but since our pan bit the dust, we had no way to cook our breakfast. It was ok though, that small thing wasn’t going to dampen our spirits. Although I did have to apologize to my hubby who tried to talk me into getting a set of cast iron pans and I said no way because they were heavy. I wanted teflon. Lesson learned! On the way out we stopped at the entrance and I got the kids’ picture in front of the Garner State Park sign. Then it was time to head back east toward home. We grabbed a bite to eat in San Antonio again and managed to get home around 2pm.

We had an amazing, memorable, fun-filled weekend and I can’t wait to get the kids out camping again real soon!

Here’s the link for all of our photos from the weekend (there’s alot of them!)

http://albums.phanfare.com/themacfarlands/2875254#imageID=50325239