I Love My Cayce...

And my Cayce loves me!


In a tree, beside a lake...


Kissing each other, for goodness sake!


In the desert, hitching a ride...


Little Cayce is by my side!


Ok - so I got a new scanner... and obviously it works...
I just had all these cute pictures of me and Cayce... pardon the cheesy rhyming... I don't know what came over me.... Too much Dr. Seuss I guess....

FotoFriday - 11.26.10

What am I thankful for?







Family.
Happy Thanksgiving Holiday everyone.

FotoFriday - 11.05.10

Can you guess where we went on Wednesday?
The St. Louis Arch! The kids had never really been downtown (outside of the car anyway) and Kirk had never been up in the Arch. So it was a first for them all. I was very proud of the kids and Kirk for going up to the "tippy top."


When we first got there Nola couldn't believe she was that close to the Arch and was a little intimidated to touch it at first. She knew it was metal and was afraid it was going to be hot... cute.



Logan wasn't concerned at all and practically ran up to hug it!



We went in, looked around the museum, tested out the display pod (to make sure the kids were really prepared to get inside the real one before paying for tickets), went up, looked down at the city, and were ready to go back down. By that time Logan was well into his nap time and feeling a little cranky and upset... nothing a little Papa-snuggle couldn't cure.



Afterwards we went back outside and played on the steps a while.



The we started our walk back to the car... Nola takes on St. Louis! She and Logan both had a blast!

FotoFriday - 10.08.10

Fotos from Friday... even though today is totally Tuesday...

Here are some shots leaving St. Louis, going over into good ole Illinois.


(Images removed because they will possibly be sold on Etsy... don't wanna give away any freebies! hee hee)



I have no idea which bridge this is, but you could see it from the highway...



And all the way to Illinois we went, to Eckert's Orchards.



Wagon rides to the trees where we picked apples...



There were rides ridden, goats fed, apples picked, wagon rides had, trains taken, sun endured and lots and lots of fun. We have officially decided that this will be a McFarland Family Tradition. But next year we will make the trip in August... that's when the HoneyCrisp apples are in season and those are my all time favorite apples in the World! This time we ended up with Fuji and Golden Delicious... all good, but they're no HoneyCrisp!

Red Delicious

Nola (starting to wiggle): Mama? Is the apple picking farm open today?
Me: Yesss....
Nola (starting to bounce up and down): Mama? Is Papa off work today?
Me: Yes.
Nola (jumping up and down): Mama? Can we go there today?!?!
Me: YES!
Nola (in full spin): Yea! Yea! Yea! Yea!
Nola (full stop): Can we go yet? Can we go now? Can we?
Me: Oh geez...


So, we are going over to Illinois to Eckert's Farm to go apple picking today. But not for another hour at least since we are all currently in jammies. But I hope to have a good batch of apples AND photos by the time we get home. So FotoFriday is not forgotten, but will probably squeak in by the midnight deadline... so come back and check tomorrow!

This is year two of our Apple-Picking tradition. Kirk and I talked about how fun it would be to take the kids apple picking every Fall until we end up taking our own Grandkids... How cute would that be? Grandma and Grandpa? Logan as a father? All of us out in the orchards picking apples and taking pictures every year? Yeah, I love the Fall....

So off to the Orchard we go! This is going to be a Red Delicious day!

It Went Well...

The party's over. But it went really well. We've had several really fun days with the boy's birthdays, Kirk's vacation and the party.

Thursday was Logan's actual birthday. We woke up and sang happy birthday a few times. Then I made chocolate pancakes (that's Bisquick + hot cocoa powder) in the shape of smiley faces with banana accents. Here's Big Two enjoying his 'cupcakes', which is what he calls pancakes.


Look how long those legs are! Much longer than a two year old needs in my opinion...

Then we let him open some toys - a 50 pack of army men plus tanks and accessories, and a little motorcycle with two little guys. He loved them! Loved them! Thank you Walgreens!

We played for a while then headed to Chuck E. Cheese for the afternoon. Over all it was a good birthday for little man.

Friday was Big Man's birthday. He had gone out the night before to celebrate grown up style with the boys, so when he came home his gifts were waiting in the living room. The kids were really excited for him to open his presents since they helped me pick them out this year. And kudos to Nola for not spilling the beans for almost an entire week!
His first present was the Perfect PushUp. (as seen on TV) He's been all about working out. We've lost him to P90X, we're in week four I think... So I knew he's love this gift. And he did.


The second gift was his real present, which the kids did actually help me pick out. A new Fire Pit! He loves to burn things and our old fire pit is about five years old and completely junked out. It's a shallow bowl type which is now warped and rusted... just old. The new one is a deep cauldron style with a cute criss cross design on the side. More room to burn stuff, looks nicer and will probably last longer.

He loved it. Then it rained all day.... oh well.

Saturday was the party. It started at 3 and I was barely ready. I felt like I was making decisions all day just to get to three o'clock. Shower, or no shower? Shower and wash hair, or shower and not wash hair. Kid's bath before lunch or after? Make up? What to wear? Ice cakes before shower and make up? Some how it all managed to work itself out... even though I was still icing cakes when the first guests arrived. But I was showered, hair done AND make up on. So at least I was presentable while running around like a chicken with it's head cut off...

People came and we gathered outside (Logan still taking his nap for the first hour of the party). Eventually he woke up and we grilled some hotdogs. All the kids got to eat on their ZOO PALS!


We hung out in the back part of the yard where the shade of the pecan tree made it much cooler. There's Kirk in the background putting together his new fire pit.


After some pool, some grub, some playing and chatting we came inside for gifts and cake!

Kirk and Logan, matching in their camo shorts and wife-beater shirts, ready for presents.


Logan loved all his gifts! He was a good opener, and not easily agitated by the two assistants he had (Nola and Allyson). The grown ups were the ones yelling for all the other kids to get out of the way so we could all take pictures... I guess it's just always that way.

After presents we moved onto cake and ice cream.
Going back in time, here are the un-iced cakes, ready to be turned into Zoo Pals

I chose to go with Punky the Monkey and Shelly the Turtle. Here are the results:

I'm very aware that Punky looks more like a bear than a monkey... But I had all of fifteen minutes to whip these suckers out... that left little time for careful details and a slow steady hand. Shelly was all I got done in those 15 min. Then I was doing Punky with an audience and I really just wanted to be done so I could visit... I rushed him a bit.

Logan was asleep for all this so it was a surprise to him when I brought out the two cakes... and he made all the rushing and mistakes okay by exclaiming, "Zoo Pal Cakes!" He didn't care if Punky was a Bear or a Monkey... he just wanted to eat him!



And as the question was being asked around the room, "Turtle or Monkey?" everyone else seemed to enjoy them too. After cake we went back outside for more playing, visiting and pool. When there were the chosen few left behind (kidding, it was just the last people there) we roasted marshmallows on the new fire pit, chased lightning bugs, drank some wine... We wrapped it all up by 8:30. It was really fun. I'm glad we had the party here and I'm SO GLAD that Mother Nature cooperated and took away all the rain that was in the forecast.

Now I'm ready to plan a grown up get together in the yard ... no kids allowed! (But I can still make animal cakes!)

Birthday Boys

Coming Soon!

Logan will be TWO on Thursday!
My tiny baby (okay, he's a giant baby) will be a little boy soon. I've been told that he hasn't been a baby for a long time now, but I refuse to accept this bit of information for fear that once I accept the fact that he isn't a baby I may, just maybe, just might, have thoughts of having another one.... Yep I said it. Another baby.
But don't go freaking out yet... there is no way we are having another baby. It has been decided, officially, that we are done. The baby machine is shut down. I just think I would have to entertain thoughts about having more babies (or just one more baby), while knowing it wouldn't happen. Maybe this is why the youngest child in a family gets to be babied much longer than necessary - mothers have to hold onto that feeling that they have a baby in order to squelch the desires to have more. It's mental birth control.

Logan is head over heal crazy about this one particular commercial on television. Zoo Pals. They are paper plates made by Hefty. Simple, and admittedly flimsy, paper plates with animal faces on them. The song is catchy and the commercial is very colorful. So what's a mom to do? Have a Zoo Pals party! I have the cups, I have the plates. I have plans to make balloons to look like them (balloons + sharpies = animal faces on balloons). I also plan to make not one, but two cakes in the shapes of Zoo Pals (which would be a circular pan plus two cupcakes for the ears or feet). Other than that - well, he's two - he won't care. So I will make sure to take lots of pictures of all my little crafty plans. Oink Oink Zoo Pals! Hoot Hoot Zoo Pals! Ribbit Ribbit Zoo Pals! Zoo Pals Make Eating FUN!

Also Coming Soon!

Kirk gets old! Well, as old as me anyway. He is nine months younger than I am so this is the time of year I look forward to. I have 3 whole months where he can't get away with calling me Older, or his Old Lady... yuk! Kirk's birthday is the day after Logan's. I plan on making him enchiladas that day (one of his favorites) and giving him his gift. I would tell you all what I got him because I think Hell would freeze over before he sat down to actually read my blog... but as soon as I posted it Destiny would think she was funny and he'd peek. So you'll have to wait until Friday... But it's a good one, for him anyway.

And Kirk is on vacation this whole week. So far our plans are to get out and do something every other day or so (if it were up to Kirk he's spend every waking hour laying on the couch).
Today: Zoo,
Tuesday: home
Wednesday: Shopping at the Mills, errands, etc.
Thursday: Chuck E Cheese (Logan's Birthday)
Friday: Home, Errands, etc. (Kirk's Birthday)
Saturday: Logan's Partay!
Sunday: Home, clean up, recovery
Monday: Grant's Farm
Tuesday: Home
Wednesday: Logan's two year check up

Well - I guess I'd better get ready for the Zoo....

Flora & Fauna

We went to the Zoo the other day. And here are a few pictures of some animals...
I must say, the Okapi and the Zebra are my favorites but I can never get a good picture of the Okapi - they're always hiding in the back. Oh, if only I had a telephoto lens.... But the Zebra showed me his true colors.

Even their butt stripes amaze me. The patterns of a zebra are impressive, even the bootie ones!
And then we saw a lioness in a tree - first time seeing that at the zoo.


And we visited the Stingray Exhibit. Those suckers were big!

And you could touch them and feed them. They were so slimy! I was shocked, even though I have no idea what I expected, of course they would be slimy! But it still made me say, "Eeewww!"

The kids were somewhere between awed and bored. But they talked about it later like it was really cool.


And the classic Saint Louis Zoo shot - kids in front of the Giant Gorilla Statue.


And this year is the 100 year anniversary of the Zoo - so we had to get this shot... Look how adorable they are!


And moving on to the Flora...

My Fairy squash! I have about six so far.


And the yellow one is a One Ball, and the tomatoes of course... the garden is being good to me so far. My window sill is full!


The one ball was yummy - and so were the Fairy squash.


They taste like acorn squash, if you've ever had those. And you cook it the same as well.
So that is my flora and fauna for now... hope you've enjoyed it.

Over the River & Through the Woods

To Grandmother's House We GO!

Went to my mom's on Saturday with The Buster & The Beans. They had so much fun. My mom's new house is over the river (the Missouri River) and through the woods (the remaining suburban woods of St. Charles) from my house. When we got there we had to go check out the pond, or as Buster calls it, the Wa-Wa.



We were hunting froggies!



Then they picked dandelions for me while Mom and Ron worked in the yard.



The biggest thrill was the hill. It took Logan a while to get the hang of it but eventually they were both going UP the hill....



Then DOWN the hill...



Even falling was a blast!



It had rained, so I was on a mission to get some good droplet photos...
Raindrops on Hosta:



And did you know that Peony buds won't open unless ants eat off the sticky layer on them? I did not know that until I was informed by my mom, who probably was told by Ron... Interesting info. Here are some little ants at work on a peony (see the one underneath?):



And then I found the best raindrop photo-op! I went to just take a picture of the one Iris remaining intact after the storm and found it was holding a raindrop right in the center. Isn't that perfect?






Then Nola Bean decided to climb a tree. She didn't get very far, but her feet did come off the ground. And to her, that's climbing a tree. Even though it looks more like she's just hugging it.



And one last shot of the kids by the tree at the top of the hill. Logan kept knocking on it saying, "Nah-Nah. Nah-Nah." Probably about 50 times... I guess he thought someone might come out, who knows. They look so small by the big ole tree.



Fun day. Kids were asleep by the time I was out of the driveway. Good times!