Royals, Fishing, and Four Wheelers

We began our weekend by attending a Royals game on Friday night with 3 other families. Greg, the boys, and I went, while Maggie spent the night with Papaw so that she could go fishing with him Saturday morning. The Royals lost, be we all had a good time eating $1 hot dogs and peanuts, and drinking $1 soft drinks! It was also Fireworks Friday, so we got to enjoy beautiful fireworks after the game! It was fun!

Maggie stayed all day with her Papaw on Saturday and caught 3 fish. The biggest was 18 inches long! She even swam for about an hour and a half. I think that it was too cold to swim, but she is a water girl and was bound and determined to swim! Later on in the day, she beat her Papaw at a game of Sorry! Needless to say, she was a tired little girl on Saturday night!

Sunday afternoon, Greg and his friend Mike took the kids four wheeling. I think that found some mud because Marshall was covered with mud splatters! He was very happy about that! He is 100% boy!

School is in full swing. Maggie and Morgan are learning that this year is different from last year. 3rd and 5th grade have a LOT more homework than they have been used to in the past! Marshall brought home his "Dick and Jane" book last week and takes great pride in reading to the family every night. We should have the book memorized by Christmas! Morgan joined 5th grade band and is playing the clarinet! That is the same instrument I played from 5th grade through college, so I'm excited that he chose it!

Maggie's dance and tumbling class begins Tuesday night this week and she is ready. She has done tap and jazz for the last 5 years. This year the dance studio is adding tumbling. If you have ever seen her cartwheel around, you will understand that she is very ready to add tumbling to her repertoire!

Pictures

I'm not sure what I'm doing, so here are some general pictures!

Here is Morgan, Maggie, and Marshall on the night of their Spring Concert at the end of last school year! Aren't they cute!!

Actually, that is all for now. I'm having trouble and need to figure this out!

Labor Day Weekend

This past weekend we went on the road!! Greg's brother that lives in Indiana was home for the weekend, so we went to Greg's parents in Shelbina, Missouri, to visit with his side of the family. We left Friday night after Greg got home from work and got to Shelbina about 9:15 that night. As usual, about 30 minutes into the 2 hour trip, the kids began asking "Are we almost there?". We spent Friday and Saturday visiting with Greg's mom and dad, his brother and his friend that traveled with him. Greg and his dad installed a garage door that Greg had salvaged on a shed that his dad had. The kids spent most of their day riding bikes, walking back and forth to Orscheln's and jumping rope. Nobody was safe from turning the jump rope!

Saturday night, Greg's parents took us up to Heartland Ministries, which is north of Shelbina, and showed us their goat and cattle milking facilities. Marshall was absolutely mesmerized by the entire experience. He says that when he grows up, he is going to have cows and goats too! On the Heartland Campus they also have a Ford museum that has Ford cars from 1906 to 2007!

Sunday, Greg's other brother and his family came up for dinner and to visit. Maggie was very excited because that meant she had someone to play with...her cousin. In the afternoon, we went out to the Shelbina Lake and had cake and ice cream to help Greg's family celebrate his cousins' 25th Wedding Anniversary! Congratulations Allen and Cheryl!!

By Monday, Greg and I were ready for our own beds and the kids were adequately tired out from their weekend of visiting and playing at Grandma and Grandpa's!

School's Back In Session!!

Well, school started last Wednesday, August 20, 2008, and the Farrell kids (and Mom) were ready! Morgan is in 5th grade this year, Maggie is in 3rd grade, and Marshall started Kindergarten! It was really hard to watch him walk out the door on his first day, but I know that he is loving being able to go to school with his big brother and sister.

Everybody is getting back into the "school" routine, including the kids at the daycare. By Friday, we had some very cranky kids who were just not used to this routine! Having a couple months off in the summer really messes with everyone's schedule!

This past weekend, we did nothing big but stay at HOME!! I think that this was only the 2nd weekend since May that we have been able to do that. On Friday night, we all went on a four-wheeler ride with our friends, the McFee's. It was the maiden voyage for the little four-wheeler that Greg just got the kids. Morgan and Marshall took turns riding it alone. Maggie isn't too interested in it. She would rather just ride with someone else in the buddy seat of a big four-wheeler. Needless to say, Marshall Farrell thinks he is big stuff driving the four-wheeler "alone". Saturday night we went to our friends, the Lewis' and had a weenie roast and made s'mores around a campfire. The kids played baseball and rode bikes (even in the dark). I think everyone had a great time! Then on Sunday, we had the most excitement of the entire weekend....we cleaned house and finished our back deck! What a way to wrap up the weekend!

Busy Weekend

What a busy weekend we have just had! Saturday, our newly formed Parent Teacher Organization hosted an adult co-ed slow pitch softball tournament, so Greg and I were up at the school's ball field from 7:00 a.m. until 9:30 p.m. playing ball and operating the concession stand. The kids stayed with another couple's kids and and my business partner's daughter at the daycare. They would take walks and come up and see us. Our team played four games and unfortunately lost every single one of them, but we had a good fun time with all the other people hanging around for the tournament.

On Sunday, my dad invited us to his house to boat, tube, and swim. We headed out in the boat and quickly got the kids in the tube. They all three rode at the same time and had a blast, especially when we would cross over the waves other boats were causing, because then they would go airborn! Greg and I took a turn riding too! After spending the day boating, we headed to a night swim party for the kids! They had fun, but the water was just too cold to stay in for too long. However, on the way home, I think we had three very sleepy kids!

Only two days of summer vacation left!

Last couple of weeks

The last couple of weeks have been busy ones for us. On the weekend of August 1-3, Morgan and I attended Cub Scout Resident Camp at Camp Geiger outside of St. Joseph, Missouri. Boy, was it HOT!! The camp was for all Cub Scouts and had various stations and activities for the boys to participate in. There was an obstacle course, slingshots, trivia, a giant waterslide, craft activities, tomahawk throwing, BB gun shooting, archery, swimming, and games. We both had a blast, though the accommodations were a little bit more primitive than I am used to.....I am not a camper! However, we both made it through!

While we were at Resident Camp, Maggie and Marshall got to spend the weekend with Granny swimming at Uncle Cory and Aunt Andi's pool and playing with their cousins, Aubrey and Allison. They, too, had a good time. Greg, bless his heart, was at home working on our back deck!! We now have a back deck and a front deck! Our house actually looks almost complete from the outside! I will try to post pictures later!

The week after camp, Greg and I played in our softball team's end of season tournament. We actually won our first game!! However, the win just kept us in the tournament an extra night as we lost the next game and were out of it then! Oh well, we have had a fun time playing ball this summer!!

Marshall's birthday was on August 5 and we had a joint swim party for him and his friend Brian (August 6 birthday) and Uncle Cory and Aunt Andi's pool. We all had a good time hanging out by the pool and swimming!

On August 8-10, Greg and Morgan attended Webelos Weekend (cub scouts) at Camp Geiger. Greg got much better weather than I did. He actually had to wear a sweatshirt to bed one night!! Again, there were lots of activities for the boys to work on. This time, he was working on earning some of his Cub Scout patches.

While they were gone, Marshall, Maggie, and I went to Gallatin to play in another softball tournament. Again, we lost 2 and won 1, but we had a great time. This weekend our school's new parent teacher organization is hosting a softball tournament and we are playing in it!

School starts in less than a week and the kids are excited. We went school shopping the other day and got all of the necessities. The back packs are packed and ready to go! We have a back to school dinner on Monday night and we will take them then!

Well...I had hoped to post pictures with this post, but I am on a dial up connection and it would take forever! Maybe next time!!

Slow Pitch Softball and VBS!

Greg and I are continuing our season playing slow pitch softball. It is a good thing we are having fun doing it, because I don't think our team has won a game yet! I pulled a muscle in my leg during a double-header Sunday and I wasn't sure how I was going to be moving the next day, but I am recuperating fine! It is terrible to get older!! :)

The kids and I are doing vacation bible school this week at our church! We are having a blast! The theme is Hawaiian and so we are having a lot of fun dressing as if we are headed to a luau!

It is only a couple of weeks until school starts! This is the first year that all the Farrell kids will be in school for all day! That is definitely going to be different for me at the daycare! I don't know what I will do without Marshall to argue with! He is looking very forward to going to kindergarten and Morgan is looking forward to fifth grade. Maggie says she is not ready for school to start, but I know that she will be excited to see her friends when the time comes!

Well...that is all for now! I will post more later!

Summer!

This has been a busy summer for our family. All three kids played baseball: Morgan on a 9-10 kid pitch team; Maggie on a machine pitch team; and Marshall on a tee ball team. Morgan's team finished out the season 6-2-2, but wound up getting fourth in the end of season tournament. Maggie's team lost all of their games :( however, she thinks they won them (after a 6-0 loss, she told someone they had won by one run!). Marshall's team did well for a tee ball team and Marshall slid across home plate every opportunity he could get! Ball season was very fun, but it had us going 3-5 nights a week for about 6 weeks! WHEW....we breathed a sigh of relief when it was over!

About the time baseball ended, Morgan's summer basketball began. His team wound up with a 3-3 record, which isn't too bad considering his team consists of 2-2nd graders, 3-4th graders, and 4-5th graders and they were playing 5th and 6th graders!

Greg and I began playing on a slow pitch softball team last week and we are having a lot of fun with that. We have other married couple friends and are enjoying spending that time together with them as well as having the kids tag along! Lots of fun for the whole family.

School is just a month away and I'm not sure the kids are ready to return yet. However, I know I am ready to get back to the school routine! I will post more later!