Live Laugh Love

Fun pics from Trunk or Treat!

2008-11-05T21:49:00.000-08:00

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So cute!!!!

Long time no blog!

2008-10-27T21:04:00.001-07:00

I can't believe that I have let so much time pass since I have updated my blog! Our life has been so busy with school, volleyball, and travel softball. If I were a good mom I would be keeping up with more sweet memories but I have been falling down on the job! I hope to be back on track and able to be at home more but I'm sure our life will spin out in another direction soon and get busy again! I guess that is life and I am so thankful that I have such a good one:)

Do we look alike???

2008-10-27T21:04:00.000-07:00

Travel ball comes to an end

2008-10-27T21:02:00.000-07:00

I have mixed feelings about the end our travel ball season. It was a great learning experience for Kylee and we did have a lot of fun on the trips we took, but I have to admit I am ready for a break. Kylee was asked to join the Montgomery Angels this fall. She had a blast pitching and playing 3rd base. We didn't have a lot of success in bringing home trophies after each tournament, but that was not the goal for this group. The coaches of this team wanted to really focus on building relationships between these girls that would last forever. They do in fact hope to bring home more trophies in the future and they feel that building a good team of girls that get along and work together will accomplish that. It was a little less competitive than John liked but it was probably good for him to be around coaches that really just wanted the girls to build memories and have fun! I do have to brag that we came in 2nd place this weekend which was a nice way to end our season!

Our last night together at dinner, the coaches gave Kylee and one other girl that would not be able to play next year because of their age a small angel charm to always remember they were an angel. So sweet! Thank you Coach Glen and Coach Daryl!!

Conference Champions!

2008-10-27T20:45:00.000-07:00

Kylee's first year playing Volleyball has been so much fun! She has absolutely loved it! We have played with a great group of girls and had great coaches. And best of all Conference Champs 11-1 baby!!!! I am so proud of all that Kylee has accomplished this year!

A night to remember!

2008-09-13T20:31:00.000-07:00

Well, we pulled it off! About a month ago my good friend Melissa and I were talking after church on Wednesday night. Kylee's birthday came up and she decided that she wanted to plan a surprise party for Kylee. She is one of the sweetest women I know and it was out of the goodness of her heart that she put so much time and thought into making this a very memorable night for us. The food was great and the company was awesome! We played a fun game that took us all back to our teenage years, and we can't forget the gifts! (and what awesome gifts they were!) I feel so blessed to have friends that care so much about me and my children. So to you Melissa, thank you so much for all of the time and effort you put into this special night! To all of my special friends who came and brought such great gifts, I thank you and Kylee and I will never forget how special you made us feel!

2008-09-12T09:44:00.000-07:00

Happy 13th Birthday Kylee!!

A Mollie Memory....

2008-08-23T21:39:00.000-07:00

At any point during the day it doesn't surprise me if I feel a little hand tugging on my shorts or on my shirt when I am sitting down. Some little ones have special blankets, babies or animals that they snuggle with when they are tired or simply need a little comfort, but my sweet Mollie just needs a loved ones shirt to do the trick. As far back as I can remember even as a small infant when I held Mollie she has always found my shirt sleeve and puts just one finger under it and she seems to be in heaven. I have always loved the feel of her sweet hand up against my arm and knowing that this is all she needs at the time to relax and comfort her. There have even been times when I am washing dishes or doing something around the house and it is past nap time and she will come lean up against my legs and put her finger up under the edge of my shorts and her eyes roll back in her head. I love it! It is so sweet and I hope she always knows that my shirt sleeve will be there for her comfort no matter how old she is!

I know it is a small memory, but it is one that I will always cherish and never want to forget!

Better late than never

2008-08-12T18:39:00.000-07:00

These are a few pics of the kids that Allison took at the lake last weekend. A little late I know. I finally figured out how to get them from snapfish to my computer to my blog. I realize that I'm really behind in the computer world!

I absolutely love these pictures and this is exactly the way I want to always remember my sweet ones. Thanks Allison:-)

School Days

2008-08-11T09:01:00.000-07:00

Today we are starting our second year of homeschooling. My sweet Kylee is in the 7th grade and Payton will start the 2nd grade. Wow, where does the time go?? School supplies and books have been bought, lesson plans have been made, and we are ready for another year of learning and hopefully a lot of fun! I'm really excited about the year ahead. I feel like I know a little bit more about what I'm doing, but it truly is a learning experience for all of us:-) I hope that with our choice of homeschooling I can offer my kids a great one on one education and days full of laughter and love. Well see how that goes??:-) I am truly blessed!

Mollie's pet pig???

2008-07-28T16:13:00.000-07:00

Mollie came in from the front yard the other day with this. I asked her what it was and she said, "My pig!". I looked at it and I guess I can see it???? O well, I cleaned it up for her and she has loved on it, covers it up with her blanket and makes the occasional "oink" sound talking back and forth to it. As I am writing this she is pointing to the the picture saying," my pig, my pig". I love a two year old's imagination! This is exactly why I started this blog, so that I could remember all the small things that I know I would forget otherwise.

Our Atlanta trip...

2008-07-28T15:56:00.000-07:00

John and I took the kids to Atlanta last week for one last fun trip before school starts. We only stayed for two days, so we had to pack a lot of fun into a short amount of time. We arrived in Atlanta Thursday afternoon and went straight to the Georgia Aquarium. This is what I was most looking forward to. The kids loved it , and we spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the world under the sea. We ended the day with dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. YUM!
Friday morning we headed to White Water for the day. The kids and I had never been to a water park, so we were in for a treat. We were amazed with the amount of different slides there were. The bigger kids of course rode everything including the new Tornado ride. I volunteered to sit that one out with Mollie. I feel like I'm getting old! I remember being fearless as a teenager and making fun of my mom for sitting out and saying that she couldn't handle the big stuff anymore, and now my stomach turns just looking at some of the new rides. I did get up the courage to ride several slides and had a blast playing with the kids. As for my little Mollie, she strapped on her life jacket and hit the kiddie slides and would have jumped up there with Kylee and Payton if she could have. We had a blast and made a lot of good memories!
I enjoy these times that we can get away just the 5 of us, and l look forward to visiting Atlanta again soon. Maybe next time we will have a navigation system so that we don't get lost everywhere we go:-)

good times with good friends

2008-07-10T08:40:00.000-07:00

Payton had some of his best buds over this week. I can't believe how much these boys have grown. Jackson made the comment while sitting on the couch, "We have been friends since we were born!". I love the special friendship they have. They fight like brothers sometimes, but quickly get over it and again are back at play.
We enjoyed grilled hot dogs and Cheetos (sorry moms) for dinner. Then we had evening of horseplay, gameboys, movies, and we can't forget the fun trip to Brewster's for a cup of ice cream with gummy worms on top. Good times with good friends.
Unfortunately Braxton could not spend the night because of a rough night before battling allergies, so we were thrilled that Jackson was able to party through the night with us.
I am so grateful that these sweet boys are in Payton's life. I told them that I wanted them to stay good friends forever and one day their kids could be getting together for a spend the night party!

can you say bed head?

2008-07-10T08:08:00.000-07:00

This is what I wake up to every morning! The things us girls have to go through to be beautiful, and believe me it takes some work to get through this mess:-)

4th of July

2008-07-06T19:24:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pics from Friday at Aunt Sherrie's farm. They are two of the most giving people that I know. They had all of the family out to thier house again to celebrate the 4th of July. We ate, played games, and just enjoyed each others company. Uncle Donnie always has so many fun things for us to do. He is going to be an awesome Grandad one day! Sherrie took some pictures of Mollie to get some ideas for a portrait, and I get to benefit by having some great pics of her for myself. She took a lot more and I will be posting them soon:-)
I also have some awesome pictures of Kylee that one of the mom's took during the All Star games. She is a professional photographer and took some great pictures of Kylee in action. I hope to have those posted soon too:-)

2008-07-04T14:32:00.000-07:00

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more pics from this week

2008-06-23T09:54:00.000-07:00

I had to re post these pictures because they didn't open up on my blog the first time. Hopefully I will get better at this blogging thing one day :-)

Loving my Life!!

2008-06-21T22:29:00.000-07:00

What a week! We just ended our week long vacation in Orange Beach. I was so blessed as a child to have great family vacations and I am thrilled that so far I have been able to do the same with my family. We stayed at the Pheonix VI this year. It was a great condo but it seemed like we hiked at least a mile to the beach and back everyday. John was such a good husband and Dad to lug back and forth our chairs, radio, cooler and everything else you need for a fun day at the beach :-)
We enjoyed the sun, the water, the sand, and tons of jellyfish! I have never seen so many in my life! We were all stung several times, but that did not keep Kylee and Payton out of the water. In fact, Payton got to where he was catching about ten jellyfish a day with his crabbing net (yes they were that bad!) and would bury them in the sand. And Kylee continued to boogie board with the occasional break to ice down a sting. I'm glad that they did not let it keep them from having fun. Now for Mollie and I , we decided to play it safe and enjoyed building our sand castles and making our sand soup (our secret recipe of sand and ocean water).
We also enjoyed our favorite restaurants like Sea-n-Suds, Lu Lu's, and The Original Oyster House. I'm sure I've gained at least 5 pounds! At night we played old family favorite games like Yahtzee and went crabbing on the beach. My parents came with us this year so the kids loved playing with Paw Paw and laughing at his jokes. Great memories!
We all loved getting to travel to the beautiful beaches and staying in a great condo, but it doesn't really matter where you go or where you stay. It's just important to get away from the rush of life and to remember who your kids really are and for them to get to do that same with Mom and Dad. My favorite moments this week where sitting back and watching my kids get along and seeing my whole family just LAUGH!

good times

2008-06-21T21:12:00.000-07:00

Softball

2008-06-04T13:07:00.000-07:00

Last night Kylee's softball season came to an end. We came in 2nd place out of the three AUM teams which was a little surprising with the 7-8 record that we had, but that's not the important thing. right?? Kylee came home last night and told me that she was so ready for a break , and then got the call this morning that she made the allstar team:-) She is happy that she made the team but not looking forward to practicing everyday (yes everyday) in the 95 degree heat for the next few weeks. I am very very proud of her! She has become quite the athlete and I love being there to support her. I included a few pictures from last nights game of Kylee in action on the pitcher's mound.

Kylee in action

2008-06-04T13:05:00.000-07:00

Fun filled Saturday!!

2008-06-02T22:14:00.000-07:00

What a day we had Saturday. We started it off with a great baseball game. Our team has done so well this season. We are 12-0!! Payton is having a great time and learning a lot. I posted a few pictures from the game. Payton thinks he is cool with his game face on and he is ready for action.
After the game we headed to Prattville for some fun at the farm. We celebrated all of the May birthdays and Sarah's graduation from college. We enjoyed good food and family. The kids rode horses, played croquet and other fun games that Uncle Donnie had planned. Donnie and Sherrie have stepped up and taken over where Granny and PawMac left off and kept our Mcfarlin traditions going. They are the best!
I have posted several pictures. Probably too many but I want to remember them all. They are not in the order that I wanted but I am still learning this blogging thing. So bear with me.

Pics from the game

2008-06-02T22:10:00.000-07:00

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more pictures

2008-06-02T21:49:00.000-07:00

Mollie and cousin Mckenna

We love cousin Sarwa!!

Fun pictures from Saturday

2008-06-02T21:45:00.000-07:00

School is out in the McFarlin house!

2008-05-28T21:50:00.000-07:00

We have finally finished our first year of homeschooling. What a year it has been! It has been full of good days, bad days, and ugly days (not too many ugly ones). Over all it has been a great year. I am so glad we made the decision to home school. To be honest, starting out I was scared to death at the thought of my children's education being in my hands. Through alot of prayer and support we made it through this year and now I absolutely love it. Still not totally confident in myself, I have learned that I'm not a total idiot.
Kylee ended the year with straight A's and Payton is coming along great in his reading and math. It is so rewarding to work hard your first grader and then see the light bulb go off when he gets that double digit subtraction or when he can finally read those big words that used to stump him. Those are the small things that I have come to appreciate through this journey. I won't lie, some days I thought to myself how nice it would be to have them away at school for a while, but those days became much less as the year went on. I have come to realize how much it means to me not to miss out on the best part of their day. It has been a great year for our family!

Excuse the underwear in the picture below. We were a little too relaxed that day :-)

A few pictures from this year

2008-05-28T21:49:00.000-07:00

2008-05-24T00:11:00.000-07:00

My sweet Payton

2008-05-23T23:24:00.000-07:00

As we sat around the dinner table tonight after Kylee's game ,Payton said the sweetest thing. He said " Mom, I wish that we could always be together like this, I don't want any of us to get old and die, I want all of us to stay just like we are now". I love that boy! Sometimes we butt heads and I could just pinch his little head off, but Payton is by far my most sensitive child. I treasure the relationship we have. He is the only one of my children who likes to sit by me and cuddle, and begs every night for me to lay with him until he falls asleep. There something unique about the relationship between a mother and her son.

Sometimes I lose sight of the small things that really matter. I get caught up in the act of being a mother instead of the gift that it really is. Hearing those sweet words that Payton said tonight makes me realize that this is what it is all about. And on a lighter note I guess he does really love me! (sometimes I wonder) I love being a mom!

Mollie's first big girl haircut!

2008-05-21T22:55:00.000-07:00

My sweet little 2 year old Mollie got her first big girl haircut! I have been trimming her hair when needed, but it was clearly time to let a professional take over. Her hair is finally getting a little thicker and extremely stringy. I always loved having Kylee's hair cut in a little bob, and now I get enjoy it with Mollie. So we went to see the girl that cuts my hair, unfortunately she was not there so another stylist cut it. Mollie sat so still and actually looked like she was going dose off for a minute as her hair was being brushed ( I wish I would had my camera then). She was so good and such a big girl!

As soon as we got home I of course had to put a big bow in and take a look. I love me a bob and a bow! Can I hear an Amen Allison!!

Sisters

2008-05-21T22:22:00.001-07:00

I love this picture of my girls. There is nothing like the bond between sisters. I had a great relationship with my sister growing up and still do. It has been such a blessing to have them in my life. Even though there is a ten year age difference between Kylee and Mollie, they share such a love for each other. Kylee has been like a second mother to Mollie. From day one she has helped take care of her from changing diapers, rocking her to sleep, to sometimes being even more protective than me. I could start a totally different blog about how great of a daughter Kylee is, but I'll stop there before I start balling:-)

It is so funny when Mollie gets in trouble. Of course she starts crying and says "kyyee, kyyee", and runs straight into her big sister's arms. It can be a little irritating at times but I love it.

They will spend hours in Kylee's room playing dolls, dress up, and restaurant. These are such precious memories that they will always share.

I hope that they will forever stay as close as they are now. And what better example could I ask for my sweet, but temperamental Mollie, then to have a pure hearted good as gold big sister like Kylee.

A few more pictures...

2008-05-20T11:34:00.000-07:00

Take me out to the ballpark.....

2008-05-20T10:58:00.000-07:00

Last night Payton's baseball team were the Biscuit Buddies at River Walk Stadium. We had so much fun! Payton said that this was a night that he would never forget. The fun started with the boys hanging out in the dugout getting their baseball signed by a few players. Then each boy was announced by name and position onto the field. (so cool) The best part came when the Biscuit that shared the same position came out and stood with each boy during the national anthem. As you can see in the pictures, Payton was star struck! He talked about Chris Nowak ( the third baseman) the whole night! It was a night of good baseball ( Biscuits won 11-4) and fun with good friends.

Well here we go!

2008-05-19T09:30:00.000-07:00

I have officially entered the blog world! I have spent the last year ( maybe longer ) looking at all of the adorable blogs of some of my close friends and some people that I don't even know at all. Each time thinking what a great idea this is to keep up with sweet memories that would soon fade away if not written down. So I am not going to procrastinate any longer and I'm going to let it all hang out. I can't promise that my words will flow as beautifully as Mellissa's or that I will have the cute clever sayings like Allison, but I will do my best to capture the sweet and funny memories of the McFarlin clan.