The McFarlanes

Sunriver 2010

2010-03-28T14:40:00.000-07:00

We love Sunriver. It is one of the first road trips Rob and I ever went on together. We also went there for one week of our honeymoon. Now we go back as often as possible. Someday we will live there...we keep saying, but for now we just keep visiting. We love the outdoor recreation, the rock climbing, the rivers, the scenery, and the snow. It is a place with so many great memories for us that we keep dragging our kids there to keep the tradition going.

I am not quite sure why we have the shovel out for sledding, other than it looks cool.

Crew loved sledding and I got a REALLY good workout pulling him up that snowhill 500 times because he wanted "Mommy to do it".

This was the perfect little bench for Whitney.

We created a new member of the family. We named him Fred.

The sledding may have been my favorite part. We found a new snow park just past Bachelor and went everyday in the late afternoon until dark. Sooooo fun!

Snow 101

2010-03-28T14:21:00.001-07:00

This is snow art by Robert. I of course think its fantastic.

Perfecting the art of snow angels.

Snow cones...

Playing at the Park in the snow,

Trying to catch snowflakes on your tongue.

Just being "Lucy"

2010-03-28T13:57:00.001-07:00

It started out rather innocently...Crew playing Dinosaurs, Lucy coming over to say hi...

Then Crew got distracted by Dinosaur train on PBS and Lucy got distracted by Danny the Dinosaur's head...
Then all of a sudden Crew came into the office crying with not 1, but 2 headless dinosaurs!

Super Lucy

2010-01-29T18:38:00.000-08:00

The girls thought this was hilarious today. Super Lucy / Minnie Lucy. The funniest part is that Lucy loved wearing it too. I guess she is a girl so she of course loves dress up.

Christmas at the McFarlanes

2010-01-27T21:15:00.001-08:00

We had one of our best Christmas's ever! It was lovely and relaxing and pretty much perfect. We enjoyed the company of friends and family all season long. I love winter break with my kids it is so nice to just be together. Although Rob didn't get that week off of work he was home for 4 days in a row. We all cherished the time with him and enjoyed the blessings of the season.

Christmas Photos

2010-01-27T21:01:00.001-08:00

Me and my cute girls! I must say that it is a lot of fun having all these cute girls. We already have a great time shopping together :) Sorry Rob! They love to get, "mani-pedis", and fortunately for me they still love wearing matching outfits. I LOVE IT!

Gracie was not interested in taking pics after she had already wore this outfit to church for 3 hours. I hear ya! We were all ready to change. Still look how grown up my Gracie girl is.

Wow, we take up a lot of space these days. Look how handsome our 2 boys are!

This was my favorite pic of the day. My chocolate and vanilla version of our kids. They are cute sisters.
Crew can't help it can he. He is just always adorable and cute. Plus look at how well he poses. I (and pretty much everyone else) can't help but think he is adorable. He kept asking everyone if they liked his hat at church.

LUCY

2010-01-27T20:32:00.000-08:00

Lucy finally came to us this past September. To say it has been a bit exciting is quite an understatement. She eats lots of interesting things. Crocs (the shoes) are her favorite treat of choice. She ate 2 pair that were Whitneys, a pair of Crews, and a pair of Paige's. She has chewed a bit of the baseboards, and an entire case of Costco water bottles that were full in the garage...where she was put in timeout for using our rug as her personal toilet. She is a tinsy bit hyper...for example when Rob went to take the garbage out front last week she ran across the street into our neighbors house. Luckily they thought it was funny.

Although she is crazy, and I refer to her as our wild animal (seriously I do) she is Crew's best friend. If we are at home they are together. Lucy lets Crew do whatever he wants to her. Mostly they cuddle on the floor. However, I have caught him playing WWF with her, shoving odd things in her mouth and nose, and using her as a pillow. She loves it all and just licks his face constantly. They have fallen asleep together several times and I just love watching them together. Most 3 year olds run screaming from her. She is 55 pounds now, 8 months old, and greets everyone by jumping on them repeatedly.

Leaf Art

2010-01-27T20:28:00.001-08:00

This past fall (yes I am doing a bit of catch up) Rob and I were pleasantly surprised to find Grace and Paige playing happily TOGETHER outside. This is what they were creating...Leaf Art on the trampoline.

Scandinavian Festival

2009-11-07T16:08:00.000-08:00

Rob and I have both pretty much lived in Oregon our whole lives, right here in the Willamette Valley, but this was our first trip to the Scandinavian Festival. It was so much fun.

a quick update...

2009-11-07T15:23:00.000-08:00

We knew it was just a matter of time before Paige, Grace, andWhitney dressed Crew up like a girl. It was hilarious. They were so proud of the work they did...make-up and all.

Uncle Doug came for a visit.

I took the kids to Jamba Juice for being good sports and going to the gym with me which is right next door.

Whitney did turn 5, and we did have a birthday party for her.

We went with a bunch of friends to a really fun swimming hole...

Our newest newest addition

2009-07-30T23:01:00.000-07:00

Isn't it ironic that I finally get my very own, incredibly adorable, charcoal lab puppy the day after a baby bunny winds up at our house. I mean isn't 4 kids, and 2 bunnies enough? Apparently not...

I will say in my defense that my mom warned Rob when we were dating that I tend to end up with pets. She should know she still has my cat. She has had her since I moved out of the house when I was 19. Also I should point out that until I was 7 (almost 8) we lived on a farm with cats, dogs, sheep, bunnies, goats etc. etc.

Rob and I have always wanted a dog. It just hasn't ever worked out until now. So here she is. Isn't she sooooooooo cute. She opened her eyes for the first time today (they appear to be blue). She won't make her way to our home for another 5 weeks. We are anxiously awaiting her arrival.

Our newest addition

2009-07-30T22:17:00.000-07:00

So if you have ever been to our house chances are you have met "Brownie". Brownie is our 3 year old bunny we brought home when we bought our house. I was pregnant with Crew and not quite ready to own a dog yet.

Yesterday our neighbors came home to find a baby bunny in their backyard. She was actually cuddling with their dog. They of course showed her to us (because we are serious suckers for any cute animal) and because they new we had a bunny already.

It looks like we have a new baby bunny named cupcake unless a previous owner comes around looking for her. We have asked all the neighbors around are block and so far we haven't found anyone (which my kids are very happy about).
Brownie is our very mellow super soft and very sweet girl. She adores "Cupcake". They are always snuggled up next to each other when the kids actually put "Cupcake" down (which isn't very often). Cupcake is always perched on one of their shoulders, beds, riding their stuffed animals or playing hide and seek with them. It is really very endearing.
She is really tiny. She actually fits in one of my hands.

I have warned them she might not be around to stay, but we are having fun with her while she is.

Alone

2009-07-29T19:43:00.000-07:00

Rob and I did it. We took a trip together without our kids. Well technically I just went to work with Rob for the week, but it was still without kids. Look at the cool plane we got to take :) While Rob worked in Mountain View opening up a new hospital I visited friends, and food in San Francisco and other parts of the bay area. For example, I had a lovely run in Golden Gate park, bought an obscene amount of Chocolate from Cocoa Bella's, and had a yummy dinner at Town Hall. Did I mention the sushi and the shopping? We went to 2 movies (and we didn't have to pay a babysitter). I slept 10 hours the first night we were there (I literally didn't wake up until 9:30am). We missed our kids, but they were in good hands with Grandma Verda and Grandpa Craig.

Student Parent Award

2009-06-23T19:53:00.001-07:00

The people that contributed, and or suffered the most from me being in school, was my Rob, and my kids. So getting a student parent award was very rewarding for me. My math professor submitted me for this (thanks Scott Falstrom). He only knew I had 4 kids because I had to miss a class when all 4 had strep throat at the same time. This was a fun day for Rob and I. We got a babysitter went to the award ceremony, and then had lunch together at our favorite campus spot to eat, Sweet Basil.

Graduation Party

2009-06-23T19:27:00.000-07:00

So after the actual "graduation" we had a little celebration at home. Gracie got all dressed up for it.
I was surprised that Doug wanted to come. I was glad. He is fun to be around. I keep trying to persuade him he should go to school to. Plus he is single, (I don't know why). Anyways thanks for coming Dougie.
Here is Kelvin and Miles, obviously moved beyond words from the ceremony. Susie, Kelvin, Miles and Simon all made the trip up from the Bay area for me. They are awesome. Thanks guys...Love ya.
This is miles. If there was any doubt before whether he would have red hair or not, here is the proof he does, he is soooooooo cute. I would love to have eyelashes half this long. I don't have a picture of Simon yet, but I will post one of him and Crew hanging out soon.
OK so Susie I don't know why, but this is the only picture I have of you from graduation. Sorry, but I wanted to account for you. :)

Graduation

2009-06-23T19:07:00.001-07:00

So its official at age 36, with 4 kids, I finally (finally) graduated from college. I love U of O, have always been a huge duck fan, so I am more than a little bit excited to say that I am a UO Alum. I really didn't think graduation would be a big deal, but it turns out I enjoyed every minute of it.My parents, Sandi and Clark, my baby brother (next to me) Doug, and of course Rob and Paige came. Although they are mostly Beaver fans (except for Paige) they were invited.
My in-laws, Verda and Craig came as well (also Beaver fans). I am trying really hard to convert everyone over to green and yellow.

It was really fun to have Paige come. Gracie opted out. I can't say that I blame her. Crew and Whitney...well, I wanted Rob to be able to pay attention so they all played Wii with the babysitter.

The Tear Drop Chair

2009-06-22T18:35:00.001-07:00

This is a really cool bean bag-like chair we purchased from Rob's pillows, and futons. It was quite the Eugene experience. The store is in a house, its a little chaotic and crazy, but seriously well worth it. I love the bunk bed we got there for the girls, and this chair became a family favorite overnight. It is called the tear drop chair. It is like a bean bag, but way better. First off the stitching is guaranteed for life, you can get a refill on the stuffing whenever you need it, and it is so comfortable I could easily have taken a picture of Rob, I, or even our babysitter asleep in it as well. None of us, though, are quite as cute as Crew.

Gracie's Field Trip

2009-06-22T18:27:00.000-07:00

Grace had a field trip up to Salem to the Gilbert House. It was so fun and I was so lucky to be able to go with her. Of course half the fun of the field trip is riding on the bus. The Gilbert House
is a really cute museum. We only wish we would have had more time.

Stuff

2009-06-22T18:13:00.000-07:00

I recently purchased a few items. I couldn't quite fit them in with all my kids in the car. My friend Kristy very generously offered to bring my kids home from the gym so I could stop by and pick up some of my stuff. I first went to Cost Plus to pick up a table, bench and some chairs for our back patio. After I got it loaded in the car I thought, "I wonder if I can fit in the bunk bed and bean bag that just came in too?'' Now I am a mom of 4 kids. To be out running errands even with just 15 minutes to spare, without my kids is somewhat of a miracle so I decided I could totally fit it all in. Now you have to imagine as I pulled up to the 2nd store with my Dodge Durango half full already the guy was positive the stuff would not fit. I smiled, laughed out loud really and said, "It will fit...trust me....I am annoying like that, " and guess what? It totally fit. The door closed and everything. I decided to take pictures to prove it to those (my husband mainly) who might not believe that everything taking up all the garage space really did only take me one trip. I love being persistent.

Who's that girl!!!

2009-06-22T18:01:00.000-07:00

Recently our 3rd child, Whitney, graduated from preschool. We were excited for her. She like her older 2 sisters had a graduation / singing ensemble. This is her letting us know beforehand that she is ready and can't wait to show us her performance potential. We had no idea.

You see we had no clue that Whitney, our family comedian, was also a professional singer. She has moves we had no idea about. She knew all the words, sang quite loud, had all the moves down (as well as some of her own). She was front and center and let everyone know she was the fantastic. We stared at her our mouths gaping wondering who this child was. It was hilarious. We had so much fun watching her, laughing, and congratulating her along with several other parents afterwards. Like I said, "Who knew"?

Paige's Field Trip to the Fish Hatchery

2009-06-22T17:51:00.000-07:00

Paige's 3rd grade class took the last few weeks of school and utilized the opportunity to take 2 field trips. This one Rob was actually able to make it to. They toured a fish hatchery and had a great time.
Paige is now officially a 4th grader, but she fortunately still loves to be silly and have a good time. This is one of her good friends from school. I really don't know how I ended up with a browned eyed girl, with dark brown hair, but she really is mine, really. When she was a baby I actually died my hair dark brown too so people would stop asking me if I was the nanny.

Fish

2009-06-02T23:06:00.000-07:00

We were at the Ala Moana doing some shopping in Honolulu and found this great pond of beautiful fish. Crew stared for a very very very long time.

Hawaii

2009-05-20T00:15:00.000-07:00

While in Hawaii we went on a catamaran ride out to see dolphins and go snorkeling. It was amazing. The weather was fantastic, we saw 80+ dolphins, sea turtles, and so many beautiful fish.

We took a day to go for a drive up to the North Shore. We went to Laie to see the LDS Honolulu temple. Beautiful isn't it.
Shaved Ice anyone? My favorite is pina colada with ice-cream. It was a happy day. Matsumoto's is definitely a favorite tourist spot and we loved it.

Yes, we did have Christmas...

2009-03-02T23:05:00.001-08:00

We did actually celebrate Christmas this year. It was wonderful of course. I love love love Christmas. We had so much fun playing games, cooking food, seeing family. It is the best time of year. Christmas morning the kids actually let us sleep in until 8:30. It was their present to us.

Gracie was super excited of course. She was literally bouncing off the walls.

My favorite gift was a much needed gift card to a local spa. Thanks Rob you are the best.

Our kids love Christmas breakfast. It is the only time of the year they get a box of "sugary" cereal.

Seriously cute. They are so much fun.

Yes they are silly much if not most of the time.

Yes, Crew did have a birthday...

2009-03-02T22:55:00.000-08:00

So I am not the best at blogging, and while trying to catch up on posts I realized yes Crew did have a birthday in December. He is officially 2. Well technically now he is 2 years and 3 months. We had a great little family party. Crew is so easy going and fun to be around. We are so thankful he is a part of our little family.

He got planes, trains, and automobiles for presents.

Crew inherited my sweet tooth, and its all about the chocolate cupcakes.

Here they are. They were quite tasty.

Happy Birthday Paige

2009-02-26T17:39:00.000-08:00

Right after the holidays we go into birthday mode. Paige, Grace, and I all have our birthdays within 1 month of each other. So it gets a bit crazy. This was the beginning with Paige turning 9. This year we let her have a "sleepover". In theory it seemed like a great idea. The only catch was Rob was out of town for work. 6 other 9 year old girls came over starting at 6pm. We made pizza's, then went roller skating, then back to our place for a lot of shrieking, giggling, late night cupcake making, late night snacks and junk food, movies, and more shrieking. It is quite amazing the amount of volume 8, 9 year old girls, plus Grace can make. I should have been more prepared with ear plugs.

All in all, excluding the skating rink injury for Isabelle which required her dad taking her to the emergency room at 10pm on a Friday night (sorry Bob), the party was a huge success. Thankfully my sister Lisa and her kids Jordan, Mackenzie, and Connor came to help me out. Mackenzie my almost 13 year old niece stayed the night to help out as well. It was fantastic. Happy Birthday Paige!!!

Paige and Volleyball

2009-02-25T16:31:00.000-08:00

So in my effort to do a little catch up I stumbled upon some pictures from Paige's Volleyball season. She has quite a nack for it :) Of course I am a little excited about the fact that she loves it. Here is a great little video of her serving.

I Love Math...

2009-02-22T23:07:00.000-08:00

I don't really love math. I am enduring math. I am just about to finish my last class to finally graduate and it just happens to be math. If you are ever on my facebook, all I ever do lately is study math and eat M&Ms to get me through. My Professor (Scott Fallstrom) loves to provide us with entertaining extra credit opportunities. This is one of them. Valentine Tattoos. Of course I did it. I put them on, took pictures, and emailed them off for him to post. The only problem was that the next day I had to get X-rays, and and MRI for that shoulder and felt rather silly sporting "Math" tattoos. I seriously better get a good grade for this class.

Our silly little guy

2009-02-22T22:59:00.000-08:00

So a couple of weeks ago, as I rounded the corner to go up the stairs (at about midnight) I was quite suprised to find our little man looking a bit like a sleeping catepillar at the top of the stairs. We laughed and of course had to take some pictures. We had no idea he had gotten out of bed, and have no clue as to how long he probably played at the top of the stairs before nodding off. Maybe he was just practicing for one of those carpet commercials. Regardless it sure is cute.

Happy Valentines Day!

2009-02-22T22:54:00.000-08:00

This may be a bit belated, but it sure is cute. Crew is is quite the ham, and loves getting his picture taken these days. This shows off his latest haircut as well, which is basically still hair that sticks straight up, but is shorter.

Mc "Rob"

2008-11-28T00:02:00.000-08:00

Soccer coach... field trip guy...

This fall Rob not only coached Paige's team (again), but he also coached Gracie's team as well. Now this might not sound so amazing, but he also did it much of the time with Crew on his back (in the backpack) and Whitney in the wings. This term it sounded good for me to take classes at night. Good in theory, not so great for Rob. He is the best soccer coach ever - of course - just ask any of the girls or parents from the teams they all love him. While Rob had some down time after his Peacehealth Riverbend job wound down he also had some time to go on a field trip with Grace. It was back to his old Alma Mater at the University of Oregon. They all had a great time, and got to run some laps at Hayward Field. Thanks Rob for all you do. (Our neighbor and good friend came up with the McRob name, several of us have Robs for husbands and my Robs is easiest to distinguish the Mc.)

Family Traditions

2008-11-20T00:07:00.000-08:00

Every year since Paige was 8 months old we have made a trip to the pumpkin patch. We loving going to Thistle Down Farms. We take the hay ride out, and we each pick "our" pumpkin.

We hang around the farm and check out the animals, the kids play in the hay maze, we buy produce, their amazing warm, fresh, homemade donuts and apple cider.

Happy Fall Harvest

2008-11-19T23:49:00.000-08:00

There is a great little bridge that was a great picture spot. Crew just loves looking at the moose on his boots.

They are good at enduring my endless torment of picture taking...

We all love picking out our pumpkins. Rob equally loves hauling them all over the place for us.

Crew wasn't getting the, "Just one buddy, just one."

This is such a cute little farm. They have so many fun little places to explore.

The Oregon Coast

2008-11-19T23:40:00.000-08:00

We recently spent the weekend at the Oregon Coast. We were very fortunate to experience incredible weather (seriously the girls were a little sunburnt). We decided to drive along Hwy 101 on our way home and made several stops along the way.

It was so much fun. The whole weekend was fantastic. I love family time.

Halloween Practice

2008-10-23T00:08:00.000-07:00

While I was out of town last weekend in Portland, Rob being the amazing dad that he is got all of the kids ready in the Halloween costumes and took them to our wards Trunk-or-Treat. This is our cute little witch getting ready to go get some candy.

And this is our cute little Dragon, eating some candy.

...and our cat...

...the entire bunch...

...and tinkerbell, of course overwhelmed with joy for candy.

Although I missed out on this evening they were all generous enough to share their spoils with me. I love Halloween, even when its just practice.

Date Night

2008-10-08T22:15:00.000-07:00

We recently had a family date night at one of our favorite restaurants, Bepe and Gianni's. Rob got home from work an hour early on a Friday night and suggested the idea and we all jumped on it. It was so much fun. We have always loved to go out as a family. Before we had any children we did it much more frequently, but vowed that even after we had kids we would still continue to do it.

As you can see, we are all happy about it. Well you can't see me because I am taking all the pictures, but I trust me I am also enjoying it. Bepe and Gianni's has delicious Italian food. The kids love the atmosphere because its a little more fancy than Red Robin. They love the bread with Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar. Plus pasta is a dish everyone in our family loves. It was so much fun being out for all of us. We had a lot of fun conversations, no one was complaining about what they had to eat, I didn't have to cook, or clean up. It was a lovely evening out so we even went for a little walk around the neighborhood after. Ahhhhh, we are so lucky to have such a cute little family.

Show me your smile...

2008-10-08T22:04:00.000-07:00

Although, not necessarily camera ready, this is what we get when we actually ask Crew to smile. Its very loveable don't ya think?

He is gradually perfecting it. He knows whenever we ask, and he poses, we all laugh endearingly. He is pretty darn cute.

Girls Trip - Victoria

2008-10-08T15:33:00.000-07:00

So I admit it. I am pretty spoiled. Not only do I have wonderful friends like Sandi (Brown hair) who happen to work for an airline and love me enough to take me along on trips with her to really great places. I also have a great husband who is always happy to watch the kids for me when I take breaks (I tell him its free therapy). Anyways... Sandi was so gracious and took me and Margaret (blond hair) away to Victoria for a quick weekend getaway. Not only was she able to fly us for free, but wait until you see the hotel she also was able to get us into for free. I think I need a job with Horizon Air.

This picture was taken right outside the hotel. They have the most lovely gardens. The flowers were not only abundant, but so colorful and beautiful. How could you not be in a good mood. Just on the right in the background is a little glimpse of the pool house. We went for a morning workout on Saturday, and I actually went swimming (without kids) and lounged in the hot tub. It was glorious. Not to mention they had a great workout room, and since I wasn't on a time frame I over did it and was sore for 3 days.

This is the Empress. Wow it was unbelievable. Sandi I owe you something serious. Chocolate for life. Dessert every month for a year. Whatever, just let me know. We stayed in the "Gold" section. OMG. We were treated like celebrities. They had this amazing lounge for "Gold" members that had the most amazingly delectable treats. There were just there for us anytime of the day all day, and when they ran out, they would put out more. For me it was pure heaven. Plus we had an amazing breakfast, and Hors D' Oeuvres in the evening. Hors D' Oeuvres, please it was a dinner, and it was good. They had even more desserts out for this...again...heaven.

There was a cute little Ice-cream parlor next to the hotel, and then a quaint restaurant with super yummy food. Ahhhh.

I absolutely loved Victoria. The people were so incredibly nice everywhere we went. The shopping was great and these streets were so cute. Don't I look very relaxed and happy. Free therapy.

Another cute pictures of my friends. This was also taken on the grounds of the hotel. It was pure luxury. There was a girl in the Lush store that asked where we were staying and when I told her the Empress her mouth dropped open and she said wow, you girls stay in style. Yippie, I felt really cool and sophisticated. Thanks Sandi, have I said that enough. It was so much fun.

Little Picassos

2008-09-16T21:37:00.000-07:00

OK so this is a little bit of catch up from summer. Paige and Grace enjoyed a full week of art camp. They loved it. At the end they had a fantastic art show to showcase their work. It was so much fun to see their creativity and their hard work.

Boys and Motorcycles

2008-09-16T18:27:00.000-07:00

What is it about boys and motorcycles? I mean I like to go for a ride on the 4 wheelers as well, but I don't go balistic about it. For Crew this was love at first sight. He saw the 4 wheeler and weasled his way on to it with some very convincing cries. Then he held on until we absolutely had to go home for bedtime. He loved it. He was very composed and kept his cool and just cruised around with Uncle John and his cousin Ander who is peeking out from the back. They had a great time racing up and around the hill at Rob's parents house. I am sure he would have slept on it if we would have let him. He is a bike magnet for any and all kinds. He already stands on the back of his tricycle and pulls up the front wheel for a wheeley. Crazy little man.

Indoor Picnic

2008-08-18T13:57:00.000-07:00

We have had some very strange weather for August. Its 80 degrees with thunder storms and lightning. Whitney got this cute picnic blanket from Grace for her birthday so we decided to have an indoor picnic. Crew has figured out the pros of having 3 sisters. They will do everything for him. It works out well for me to. Although Crew and Whitney are like identical twins he and Grace look an awful lot a like in this picture. Love the diaper :) We are soooooo excited to potty train. A few more months people, a few more months.

Happy Birthday Whitney

2008-08-18T12:53:00.000-07:00

Whitney has been excited for an entire year to turn 4. We celebrated together as a family and for breakfast opened presents. She loved her special day.

Paige gave Whitney a Dora Doll. Whitney wanted to have her hair the same and dress in her Hawiian dress to look like Dora. Dora spent the entire day with us.

Strawberry Patch

2008-08-12T13:08:00.000-07:00

Going to pick strawberries is one of our family traditions. We do it every year. Its like a treasure hunt trying to find the biggest, reddest most perfect strawberry. It is hard to tell if we ever find it because many of the strawberries end up in someones belly. Each of us has our own bucket to fill up. Paige and Grace get theirs pretty fast, Witney gets about 1/4 of a bucket and Crew wears his like a hat.

As you can tell Crew was so excited to be there. He could hardly contain his enthusiasm.

Whitney spent the majority of the time getting herself water. She drank at least a gallon and then helped everyone else get water to.

Butte to Butte

2008-08-12T12:38:00.000-07:00

On the fourth of July our entire family woke up at 6:30am so I could go run in the Butte to Butte. Its an annual 10K run that begins with the first mile being a really long steep hill. It was a really fun race hill and all. The best part for me though was that Rob amazingly wanted to go and see me run with all the kids in tow. They cheered me on at the start and then found me 3 other times along the way. I am so lucky to have such a cute and supportive family. It made the race that much better having them there.

Cheerleading

2008-08-11T22:49:00.000-07:00

The girls did cheer camp. They loved it. Suprising? No. They love their dancing so this was par for the course. They were adorable doing their routines. I am glad they had a great time.

Lance Armstrong watch out

2008-07-09T22:48:00.000-07:00

So the Tour de France started 4 days ago and as you can see our whole family is ready for it. These are Robs biking clothes. The kids all wanted to try them on. Crew has on the bibs. He looks a little more like a wrestler than a biker, but we are hopeful he will grow into them.

Getting ready for summer

2008-07-09T22:30:00.000-07:00

Rob took this picture. I thought it was hilarious. With the start of summer also came the start of swimming lessons. Crew is not taking them yet, he obviously has to learn how to open his eyes with his goggles on before he figures out how to do it in the water.

Haircut for Paige

2008-07-08T23:03:00.000-07:00

It was time wasn't it. Paige decided at long last that she wanted to cut her hair. So I grabbed the scissors had her stand in the shower and cut away. We sent the cut ponytail off to "Locks for Love" and then took Paige in to a professional stylist to even out my unprofessional job. The results are adorable. She looks so cute, and as a mom with 3 girls it makes my mornings go so much easier.

Tagged...!

2008-07-04T13:26:00.000-07:00

OK so apparently it is my turn to be tagged and then tag you. So be warned it will be coming your way. Now don't blame me, because I was tagged before I tagged you from my friend Melissa a.k.a lulu the baker. Cute name Melissa I like it. Here we go rules and all.

#1 Link to the person who tagged you.

#2 Post the rules on your blog

#3 Write six random things about yourself

#4 Tag six people at the end of your post

#5 Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog

#6 Let the tagger know when your entry is up

Here are six random things about me:

#1 I am completely obsessed with food. Not just I like it, or I like it a lot, but obsessed. It is mainly related to things of the sugar, sweet, chocolate variety, but I am not biased food in general will do. Now a lot of people think they understand when I say this, but really you can't possibly. It is what I imagine happens to people that are addicted to alcohol or drugs and I don't say that lightly. I can eat a Costco size bag of peanut m&ms without blinking. Yes my stomach hurts after I finish, and yes I don't feel well for a little while either but thats not the point. I can and I often do eat it. I don't have a gage that tells me to stop or that I am full. I kind of have a bottomless pit. I can keep eating when everyone else has long since been done. Its really not funny. I don't know how to stop it, and I wonder if I would if I could. I mean sure its probably bad for my health long term, but I haven't taken the time to figure out how, I guess I haven't wanted to know. I love, love, love junk food. I "really" go many days with only eating junk. Its what I think about when I wake up. I say to myself, "OK" I am not going to eat anything bad for me today. And then 1:00 rolls around and I grab a bag of ghiradelli chocolate chips and polish them off, or bake them, which brings me to #2.

#2 I love, no wait, I LOVE to bake. I love measuring out all the ingredients, I love turning on my 6 qt stainless steel kitchen aid and hearing the whrrrr of the blade against the ingredients. My babies all fell asleep to this sound. I love to knead any dough I have to stick my hands in, I love to go to the grocey store and buy, buy, buy flour, cinnamon, sugar, cream (especially cream). Seriously though it really relates to #1 because I LOVE to eat dough, and batter. I'm not a dough or batter snob either, pretty much any dough or batter will do. Yes I know about raw eggs, but I DON"T CARE. It tastes good. I make brownies and cake not for the end result, but for the middle result. My husband would come home and say, "What is this in the pan?" He couldn't tell they were brownies or a cake because usually they rise more than a cm from the bottom of the pan. Ahhh baking I love the smell of freshly baked cinnamon rolls, bread, cookies, pastries, mmmmm this is making me hungry. There is just something soothing about creating something that looks, tastes, and smells so delicious.

#3 OK so if you don't know me you might be wondering about what I look like. Well along with an eating disorder/obsession I also have one for working out. Maybe I should have put this one first. I think this obsession ultimately wins out because if I am really training for something I will make myself do a sugar/baking fast. The longest has been 4 months. I love to run, I love to bike, hike, climb, lift weights, do the elipticle anything that involves a great workout I love. I love feeling completely exhausted where I can barely move my arms or my legs because they are so worn out they don't function anymore. It feels great. I ran a 10K today. I thought I was going to puke on the mile uphill because I ate 2 donuts yesterday for lunch, but it still felt great. I love to run, and run, and run and run. I am not fast, but I can go forever. It is my stress reliever, my vice, my coping mechanism, and the way I deal with my eating obsession. I don't know if I run to eat, or eat to run, but either way I love them both.

#4 I love babies. If you know me at all you will know this. I can't walk by one without making some ridiculous sound. Alas this is why I have 4 of my own. Being pregnant kills me or I would have 10 at least I am sure. I love them. I love to hold them, kiss them. I am immune to their crying. Trust me. My first had colic for a year screaming often all her waking moments, but I still had more. I love love love love babies. My friend Heather let me watch her 3 week old and I almost cried I was so excited. He would have probably slept the whole time in his car seat but NO WAY, I held him while I played wii with his big brother. My baby is 19 months now and I don't care I will hold him until he is 5 if he lets me, or until my hip breaks. There is just something about their sweet gentle spirits that I can't get enough of.

#5 I am really scared of heights. This is something I try to keep on the down low because I love to rock climb, hike, and mountain climb. So the two don't really mix. Its absurd I know. I didn't really understand until I met my husband Rob. He took me rock climbing for our first date and thats when I knew this is the man I am going to marry, I loved it. Then we started to go all the time outdoors and the first time I had to repell off a 90 foot cliff I swore I was going to die. I am fine once I am off the edge and scaling down, but I can't make myself move off the end very well. I have learned to not look down, and I close my eyes and take deep breaths when I need to. Rob on the other hand is crazy, crazy, he runs off the cliff facing forward (Austrian repelling) and runs down the cliff. He has issues.

#6 I'm a news junky. I love the news. Newspaper, online, TV, however I can get it I will take it. It really interesting to me. I like to know what is going on everywhere with everyone. hmmm I wonder what that means about me....anyways I really love to watch CNN, PBS, Fox News,Katie, Larry King, Anderson Cooper, GMA, whatever. If its news worthy I will take it. I love sportscenter, ESPN I, II, etc. News News News.

Now on to the tagging. Happy times people Happy times.
- Brooke Cottle (love ya)
- Laura Church (miss you)
- Susie (I hope we move closer to you)
- Margaret (my amazing blogger friend and workout buddy)
- Ashley (whats up)
- Lanie (lets get together soon!!!)

Mine

2008-07-03T16:12:00.000-07:00

Our little Crew said his first 4 letter word today. MINE. We all laughed really hard. Really it wasn't his first 4 letter word rather his first 4 letter word that we regret him learning at such a young age. It was incredibly clear and very distinct. Mine, as in, "Don't touch, get away, I'm not sharing". Its actually suprising that it wasn't his first word since he is the 4th child, but other things like dog, ball, car, bike all seemed more important for his vocabulary. We are grateful. He is pretty cute and convincing as you can see, however, I am sure at least with all of us the charm will eventually wear off when he is grabbing my sunglasses (I am already on my 3rd pair this summer thanks to Crew), or the wii remotes from the girls.

Stephenie Meyers, "The Host"

2008-07-03T15:01:00.000-07:00

So way back in May I skipped school to go with some girlfriends up to Portland to Stephenie Meyer's book signing for her latest release, "The Host". We are all a little bit smitten with her Twilight series (http://www.stepheniemeyer.com). Although I felt a bit guilty going without Margaret, we had a very interesting crew going. Jen with her -had surgery 3 days before including installing several pins into her leg, brought along her mom and really good friend who I can't remember her name. Brooke with baby Ethan, pregnant Kristi and Kristine, and me. Thanks to Jen's pain and suffering we had the entire front row. It was such a great time. Stephenie is a talented individual, entertaining speaker who is passionate about her characters and loves what she is doing. She was a gracious host and asked that those with injuries (JEN) and with babies (BROOKE) get to go through and have their books signed first.

Wii Tournament

2008-05-18T23:00:00.000-07:00

I emailed my workout buddie - Margaret to let her know that I was in fact sore from playing wii tennis. She laughingly said we should have a wii tournament. So we did. It was sooooo fun, there was tons of great and yummy food, but what might have been the highlight was the actual sweat bands Margaret brought for all of us to wear. Margaret you rock! It was hilarious, with many, many laugh out loud moments. Thanks girlies for coming over last minute and indulging in my silly whims.

Rollins Brothers

2008-05-18T22:54:00.000-07:00

This is my dad Clark on the right, and my Uncle Dick on the left. They drove up from Milford, Utah to visit my parents and stay in Depoe Bay at the coast. I pulled the girls out of school for the day and we drove over to visit with them. I wasn't married the last time my Uncle Dick and my Aunt Toni so it was great to see them and for them to meet all 4 of my offspring. Crew instantly went to Dick. It could be the resemblance to his Grandpa Clark, or it could be that Dick walked all around the outside of the condo with him for as long as he wanted. It was so great to see them and spend the day with them. My Aunt Toni downloaded pages and pages of geneology for me. Thanks Toni.

The Prairie Mountain Monkeys

2008-05-18T22:44:00.000-07:00

Paige just finished her soccer season. Rob coaches this team and lets the girls pick whatever they want for their mascot. They picked Monkeys. Somewhere half way through the season we realized. Hey. We have a monkey suit for Crew. So here is our mascot doing what he loves best kicking the ball around. Paige had a great time playing soccer and is excited to do a camp this summer. Rob loves coaching the team and they won 7 out of their 8 games. Now from the last picture you might think a. they are running at practice, b. they are in a game. However in all honesty their game just finished and they are running back to get the donuts that Kaitlyn's mom brought.

Sunshine = Park

2008-04-14T22:42:00.000-07:00

If it is sunny we try to make it to the park. It is one of my favorite activities to do with my kids. They love it, I love it, they are active, I get to hang out with friends, relax on the bench, and play with them. It is a win, win, situation every time. I always feel like I had a good mom moment when I get to take them to the park.

Paige's wheels

2008-04-14T22:36:00.000-07:00

We have had some great weather, sporadically lately. We took advantage one evening to all ride our chosen form of transportation. Paige loves this skateboard. She has a bike, roller blades, and this (its Robs actually). It was fun to just be outside after a long, and very cold winter for us Oregonians. The sun is setting later and later so we can hang out well into the evening.

Our wheels cont.

2008-04-14T22:19:00.000-07:00

Since I couldn't fit us all in one post here are the rest of us with our wheels. Gracie just learned how to ride on, "2 wheels", so we all joined in with our wheels of choice. Rob loves his new bike. I equally love my jogger, which has been through all 4 of my babies. I am petitioning in vain for a double jogger. Whitney is our no fear biker on her cute red bike. Crew is just so darn cute, pink scooter and all, he just can't stay off of it to Whitney's dismay.

The Portland Zoo

2008-04-14T22:04:00.000-07:00

Spring Break. Yippie. It was so nice for all of us to have a week off of school. Since Rob is yet again ripping out floors in our house (including moving all of the appliances out of the kitchen) we (meaning the 4 kids and I) decided to spend a day up in Portland. We headed up to the zoo to meet up with some long lost friends from the bay area. Marrisa, Lanie, and Leslie were there with all of their beautiful children. They to have all moved to Oregon, anyone else want to move up here? Although it was cold it didn't rain on us and we had such a great time. Lanie was gracious enough to feed me and my kids as well before we headed home.

Paiges Baptism

2008-04-14T21:53:00.000-07:00

Paige's baptism was a wonderful event, and very special for our family and for our friends. We had her take the missionary discussions leading up to the baptism to give her the opportunity to make an informed decision regarding this event. She was ecstatic. She relished the entire process, and was so proud of dad for only having to dunk her once. Bishop Bingham came over to our home and confirmed her with all of our friends and family. It was great. It was so much fun to have so many of our wonderful friends from San Francisco here. We miss them and love them and felt so blessed to have them come and visit. Thanks everyone!!!

The Nings come to town....

2008-04-09T16:35:00.000-07:00

Paige's baptism was a perfect opportunity for family photo time. We took full advantage. Our family, the nings, Susie and I (this might actually be our first photo together) the boys.

Haircut

2008-04-09T16:31:00.001-07:00

OK so not that exciting, but major change for me. I cut off my hair. It feels great, like I lost 5 pounds. If only that were as easy as grabbing a pair of scissors. I wanted to go even shorter, but Becky, my ever so wise stylist said, "lets go in stages". I am grateful that I can still pull it back in my lifelong look of a ponytail.

Crew and Simon

2008-04-09T16:16:00.000-07:00

Simon is the closest thing to a brother Crew is going to get......and luckily they like that idea. They had the best time together. Kelvin thought he should try out what twins would feel like. The boys loved it. They like the view from up there. They followed eachother everywhere all over the house. I love the picture of them wresting. Seriously boys are so different than girls. They treat eachother and Kelvin like a jungle gym. It was so fun having them here with us. We miss them already.

Easter

2008-04-09T16:04:00.000-07:00

We had a great Easter this year. We had an easter egg hunt in the house before church in the morning, and then a quiet afternoon with just us. We had crepes, fruit, bacon and eggs for our Easter dinner. Yummy. It was a great family day.

Gracie turns 6!!!

2008-04-09T14:59:00.000-07:00

In march Grace turned 6. She was ecstatic to say the least. We had her "party" at Rainbow Park and Playground here in Eugene. It was great. Grace was all smiles and loved being with all her friends. Grace is so much fun, she is always happy and wanting to make everyone else happy to.

Where has the time gone???

2008-03-17T20:09:00.000-07:00

It has been an exceptionally busy last few months. I have completely posting any news of The McFarlanes for many weeks now. We have survived illness, birthdays, holidays, weather, and school. I finish up my last final tomorrow (for this term) and saying, "I can't wait" doesn't really do justice to the extent of my emotions for finishing this term. I have loved my classes and this term, but they have been very difficult and time consuming (I had to read 10 books between 2 classes). I will have 2 weeks off and hopefully will be able to post pictures and do updates from the last little while. Here are a few that I had enough time to put together.

Catching Up

2008-03-17T16:01:00.000-07:00

I have been unable to post much lately so this is the "girls" update. Paige has turned 8, had a birthday party at Build-A-Bear workshop. It was a lot of fun. She is excited to be baptized on March 29th.

Girls Weekend

2008-03-17T15:22:00.000-07:00

So some girlfriends and I went to stay at the coast for the weekend. Ahhhhh. Therapy at its finest. As you can see we had a large variety of foods. M&Ms, skittles, whoppers, brownies, milano cookies, ghiradellie chocolates etc. Then there was the shopping. Heather you go girl.

Mommy's little helper???

2008-03-17T15:09:00.000-07:00

Crew. Crew. Crew. He is so enthusiastic about helping me in the kitchen. In fact I can't remember a time when I am in there that he isn't. Sometimjes its helping to take out the dishes
whether they are clean or dirty, othertimes it putting them away.......somewhere to be found at a later date. He is such a great cooking companion, as you can see he is fulfilling the role of taste tester. He likes to tell me what to do in the kitchen. Someday I will be able to make complicated dishes that will take hours to cook. However, for now, I will be sticking to things I can make with one hand, while holding or navigating by little guy.

Our Barnwood Floors

2008-01-27T22:47:00.000-08:00

Way down in much earlier posted pictures (Halloween time) I mentioned Rob was remodeling our downstairs floors. He actually ripped down an old barn, and ripped out our downstairs (14 weeks without furniture). Through a trial and error, grueling experience (we are stilled married) the floors are in. They look fantastic. I love the wide planks. I love the chocolate color. Of course. It has transformed our downstairs and it looks a zillion times better than white carpet with 4 kids. Now we are in the midst of painting Crew's bedroom. Then we are putting tile in the kitchen, then Robs building bunk beds, and then end tables, and a then the wood up the stairs, and well I think you get the point. The floors look great, and we love our house, projects and all.

P.S-After renting houses and apts for the first 9.5 years of marriage my opinion of owning a home is that it is slighty over-rated. I have fond memories of calling the landlord for things like, "hey our hot water heater is not working", and "hey our garage door opener is broken", and "will you pay for the grass seed to replant the backyard?" etc. etc. etc.

Let it snow, Let it snow. Let it snow......

2008-01-27T22:42:00.001-08:00

What a great way to start the day. We were all so excited to have snow. Not just your token usual Willamette Valley flake or two, but real, Mt. Bachelor, snow for hours, white everywhere, deep enough to actually eat some without dirt on it, snow. We threw on our snow clothes, headed outside, and went up to find our neighbors the Lesh Family to have a snowball fight with. It was great. We went back and celebrated with hot cocoa after.

Crew, you are really cute!!!

2008-01-27T22:34:00.000-08:00

I couldn't help take a bunch of pictures of him with his tie on. Doesn't he look so cute. He is totally kissable and gets a ton of them with 4 women surrounding him at all times. We love this little guy. It helps that he is not only totally adorable, but also so easy going.

2008-01-27T22:31:00.000-08:00

Seriously mom are you really putting green hair products on my head? 3 girls weren't enough for you to do this morning? I mean I am the 4th kid, I am a boy, I really don't think its necessary do you?

2008-01-27T22:26:00.000-08:00

So in case you were wondering I did successfully end my chocolate craving the other day. I made a yummy ice-box cake with chocolate wafers, and cream that I whipped mint extract into, then shaved some really good dark chocolate over the top. I ate at least half of the cake, then shared the rest with Rob and the kids while I went to the gym for 2 hours to burn it back off. Thank goodness for treadmills, and eliptical machines.

Strep Throat

2008-01-27T22:11:00.000-08:00

So the other day Grace was not feeling well. Her voice had been "funny" for a few days, but she had not complained at all about feeling sick. Then she woke up with a fever and was noticeably not well. Crew on this same Friday was also uncomfortable to say the least (like you couldn't put him down at all) so I called the doctor and got them in for the last appointment of the day on a Friday. Paige was at piano, Rob was still at work, so Whitney, Crew, Grace and I all went in for the appt. After the doctors initial exam of Grace she really just thought it was viral, however, she did decide to try a throat culture for strep. Thankfully her office has the ph test that take all of 2 minutes to tell you if you are positive for it or not. Grace was. The doctor then proceeds to check out Crew. Which also appeared to be viral. I was suprised when she said he didn't have ear infections (mainly because I wanted it to be something fixable so I could sleep at night again). She mentioned his throat was also red. So I asked her to do a throat culture for Crew. She said, "it is very rare for a child under 3 to get strep throat", and "in all my years of practice I have only had it happen about 5 times". Regardless of this I still wanted his throat cultured, which she obliged. Hey its my insurance anyways right. So when the timer went off 2 minutes later and the nurse who was doing it dropped her mouth open, we were very shocked that Crew in fact had strep throat also. We (the doctor and I) instantly turn our heads to look at Whitney, who hasn't been the slightest bit sick at all, and who has been reading a book to herself and singing in the corner the entire time. The doctor says we better check her to. Guess what, yes, really Whitney to tested positive for strep. She also wrote me a prescription for Paige, who did in fact come down with a fever the next day. So this is a picture of 1 of 4 bottles of antibiotics we were so lucky to get to pour down our kids throats twice a day for 10 days. The pharmacy tech. got quite a laugh when she used every last drop of Augmentin that they had in stock for us. Yippie.

hmmmm!!!! I am hungry

2008-01-25T16:46:00.000-08:00

So this would actually fit better as a post into my personal blog, if in fact I had the time to actually navigate 2 blogs. I can't seem to part with wanting to update things relating to my kids especially when they are of course adorable and cute. But I find myself wanting to post things that just pertaing really to me, myself, and I. So as I am sitting here looking through some pictures that I will post potentially right after this I find myself hungry. Hungry for something sweet (of course) yet without having to do any baking, driving, walking, moving at pretty much any pace other than reaching in the cupboard. Ugh. Where does that leave me???? I can't seem to keep any really good treats in the cupboard longer than 2 days max (because I don't have that capacity to eat just 1 or 2 or 10 for that matter). I don't know if any of you can relate, but for lack of anything better I find myself eating peanut butter chocolate chips. This is where the hmmmm comes in. I know I could do better. I know I could at least make cookies, whip up some cake batter, for heaven's sake I could have Rob pick me something up on his way home (he already called and is on his way), but I haven't, didn't, and alas am sitting here eating them while drinking OJ with ice in a green Nalgene bottle. hmmmm well now that I actually talked about baking I feel a little more motivation, maybe I will go bake, peanut butter cookies.....hmmmm

Book Meme

2008-01-22T22:34:00.000-08:00

OK so I was tagged today (whatever that means Margaret) with something called a Book Meme. So I am obliging my friend of course in fear of disappointing, and because she also mentioned something about taking away my chocolate. This was an incredibly motivating factor for me. I do not honestly know the last day I went without chocolate. I am sure however if there has been in fact a day that I went without chocolate I most certainly substituted something else that required a large amount of sugar. Anyways the point being I am going to respond and do the, "Book Meme". Here are the rules etc. etc. I am doing a copy/paste from Margarets Blog.

1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next five sentences.
5. Tag five people.

Little did Margaret know, or maybe she did, I don't know, but now you will know. I am in the midst of reading a book for my SOC 455 class (Poverty, Race, and Gender in the U.S). The book is Domestica, Immigrant Workers Cleaning and Caring In The Shadows of Affluence by Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo. Yes the title is a mouthful you should see the book. So here goes,

"I felt despair, because to so suddenly be told that there is no job on Monday-well, it's awful." For Celestina, the emotional trauma was compounded by having to part abruptly from the two-year old toddler for whom she had cared since his birth, and whom she had grown to love. Her live out position had been Celestina's first job in the United States, and nothing in her life as a middle class woman in El Salvador had prepared her for this incident. She responded to the entire experience with the kind of vows commonly recited by nanny/housekeepers who undergo a blowup or are, in quieter voices as she was, abruptly fired. "I said to myself, 'I'll never work in house again, and I'll never take care of a child again.' "

The incident referred to is the family she worked for wanted her to become a live in nanny/housekeeper. They asked her in person, on the spot, and she said she couldn't because she attends night school. They fired her right then and gave her a 1 weeks severance pay.

Not necessarily a light subject, but it honestly is what I am reading right now at the moment. My next step is to tag 5 people. I will add that tomorrow.

Crew's Birthday

2008-01-03T07:55:00.003-08:00

We celebrated Crew's Birthday. Finally. On his actual birthday Crew and mom went to San Francisco to visit friends. Then our family went to Sunriver for a week and then it was Christmas so he had a 13 month old birthday party. It was a little bit anti-climatic since he really didn't like the cake, however, he did love his toys. He is pretty handsome don't ya think?
Happy Birthday CREW!!!

Crew

2008-01-03T07:55:00.001-08:00

Gracie a Astronaut?

2007-12-30T21:45:00.000-08:00

We went to the science factory last week during our winter break. Grace had fun playing astronaut, and loved learning about recycling, and conserving water and energy. She is now likely to ask you if you turn off the facet while brushing your teeth. She also had fun playing with shaving cream and food coloring in their project room. Lastly she and Whitney looked pretty cozy hugging so I couldn't help but add it in also.

Christmas Christmas Christmas

2007-12-30T21:10:00.000-08:00

Paige was ecstatic about all the great things she got, even her new hat which looks super cute on her.

We were (Rob and I) so happy to buy lots and lots of cars and trucks this year. After almost 8 years of dolls, barbies, everything pink, we were as happy as crew to play with his toys. He seriously loves driving around his new cars.

Christmas at the McFarlanes

2007-12-30T21:02:00.000-08:00

Paige was gracious enough to take a family picture of all of us without her, we were to lazy to set the timer. Whitney loved Christmas enough to smile for pictures the whole day. And Paige and Grace decided hugs were a really great thing especially when they just gave you a present.

Snow Clothes

2007-11-18T16:08:00.000-08:00

We are gearing up for Thanksgiving in Sunriver (our annual tradition). We were trying to figure out what we have and what we need to go sledding, and snowshoeing with the kids. Whitney is excited....really. We are excited because these snow boots have now made it through 3 kids. We are going to go over the hot pink (which you can see in the picture) with a black sharpe when Whitney grows out of them so that they will actually go through 4 kids. Yippie. And if you were wondering those are the hardwood floors Whitney is standing on. Although unfinished the entire downstairs (well except for the kitchen and entry which we still can't decide what we are doing with) now have barnwood floors. We still don't have furniture in the downstairs (its been 8 weeks) but I am hopeful to have it back in before the Christmas dinner I am hosting on Dec. 6th (no pressure Rob) (really no pressure).

Crew

2007-11-17T18:32:00.000-08:00

This is a picture of Crew from this past August. We were at a "Dude Ranch" in Virginia for a McFarlane family reunion. Isn't he so cute! I put it on my computer today as my backdrop and everytime I see it, it makes me smile. He is a happy little guy.

Veteran's Day

2007-11-14T22:45:00.001-08:00

For the long weekend I took the kids up to Albany to stay at my sisters house and then to the Veteran's day parade to watch Jordan (their cousin) in his middle school band. It was a really nice day and we went for a walk along the river afterwards.

Fall Leaves

2007-11-14T22:27:00.000-08:00

We decided it was time to rake the leaves. We of course made big piles to jump into. It was so much fun. Whitney however, wasn't so excited to take a picture of course so she hid in blueberry. Crew on the other hand loved laying in the leaves. He really wanted to eat them, but we just let him roll around in them for a while. Happy fall!!!

Beef Jerky

2007-11-10T21:55:00.000-08:00

We caught Whitney eating this huge, like as big as her head huge, piece of beef jerky. At least she is getting her weekly serving of protein taken care of in one sitting.

I'm having fun!

2007-11-01T19:37:00.000-07:00

OK so Whitney stayed a little bit sour through the pumpkin patch field trip until we bought doughnuts. It was extremely muddy from a week of heavy rain. So we literally had two inches of mud stuck to the bottom of our boots. It is still stuck to the floor mats in "blueberry". Back to the doughtnuts however, we went to Lee's doughnuts. Seriously the best doughnuts I may have ever had. It was a proud day for me to only 4 out of the dozen I bought. I shared with Rob, Whitney had one, then I gave the rest to Cheer. She probably thinks it was me saying thanks for watching Crew for me, however, it was really so I wouldn't eat the rest of the box. Which of course I would have.

Baby Crew

2007-11-01T18:08:00.000-07:00

So some of you may not have seen Crew before. He is absolutely amazing. Since I am just getting around to posting photos I am putting this one from last February on. He is 3 months old and already sooooo handsome. This is his Oh I am so satisfied look. The diaper is obviously clean, he is obviously well fed (from the size of his cheeks), and life is good.

Scary Witch

2007-10-31T22:36:00.001-07:00

Paige is really not a scary witch. She is a really cute witch. We really don't know how this girl got to be so photogenic, its perplexing, and really quite amazing, but hey as a parent of course we think shes talented, smart, and beautiful. She wanted to be a vampire bat for Halloween (I don't know where that came from), but we stumbled upon the witch costume and she loved it.

Gracie, Gracie, Gracie

2007-10-31T22:32:00.001-07:00

Thats our girl. Well at least one of them. Gracie is such a ham. We were looking at the goats. I guess she is practicing her sign language. I am not sure exactly which sign was for us and which was for the goats.

Oh Whitney

2007-10-31T22:28:00.001-07:00

We have always believed Whitney has the most convincing pout. Here is the proof. I went with her on her school fieldtrip to the Pumpkin Patch. You'd think she was getting shots or something. She really did have a great time. This is just her picture face. She is so funny.

Our little cutie

2007-10-31T22:25:00.001-07:00

This was how Crew spent his time at the pumpkin patch. He loved it!!!! Isn't he adorable though really. Seriously he is so darn cute it is really hard just to let him sleep sometimes.

2007-10-31T22:12:00.000-07:00

Here I go trying to take a sec to actually update our life online. Here are the kids. October has been a great month for our family. We have been to the pumpkin patch several times. The weather has been suprisingly great, and we have spent as much time outdoors as possible. We know winter is on the way and rain for months to come. The kids are all amazing. Its shocking how much they change, and how fast. Halloween was today and we all (except Crew because he is super sick) have had a great time. In case you were wondering are drapes are tied up in the background because when we let brownie our bunny out she likes to chew on them. Also, the girls happen to be standing on our new hardwood floors. They are not quite finished yet. Hopefully sometime this year. However they look good in the picture. As long as you don't run across them barefoot (you will get slivers, trust me I know) they are great. Rob has been working really hard on them. If you don't know the story, well its long and I will post it with a different picture.

Happy Sunday

2007-05-20T15:50:00.000-07:00

So I decided during Whitney and Crew's naptime today to set up a blog. We will see how it goes. Life here is going great. We are all growing, and and we are all so happy summer is coming.