Island Lake State Park

The sun was shinning and it wasn't too cold out, so we took the boys up to Island Lake State Park to do a little hiking.  The boys had a lot of funning running and throwing stones into the water.  They can't wait for some warmer weather so we can stay out longer.
 

Talkin' Tuesday

I placed a bag of garbage outside the back door yesterday, needless to say some sort of animal got into it during the night.  When I asked Owen who did it?  He responded with a list of suspects...


"Maybe it was a bear, or a lion or a raccoon!!"

I'm going to go with the last option....lol.

Happy 8th Birthday David

We celebrated David's {I was informed he'd like to go by Dave, though he will always be David to Aunt Lindsey} 8th birthday today.  The boys had a great time with nerf guns shooting anyone that was in range.  Time sure does fly!  We love ya David James!

47

47.  It was 47 degress today and you would have thought it was 80!  The sun was out and the snow was melting.  I pulled out the mud boots today only to discover that Aiden's didn't fit so we made an emergency trip to Target for a new pair.  The boys loved jumping in the puddles.  There is even talk of a trip downtown to walk the boardwalk and possibly get icecream. {Crazy I know}

Happy Birthday Dad

Happy Birthday Dad!
We spent the day sledding, drinking...lol and playing some UNO attack!
It seems I was the only adult out pulling the kids around and may have put a hole in the boys snow tube!

Top 10 Pictures of 2010

The start of the year HAS to have a winter zoo trip, not just any zoo trip either.  I has to have Papa along too.  It's become a tradition on that first warm up of January.

  

We decided a bigger bathroom was in order

The addition of my newest nephew Luke on April 30th

Aiden started soccer.  He was a little timid but loved it!

Cousins!  They looked so cute on Easter with their rainbow shirts!

Making pickles with ingredients from out own garden this year!

Saturdays this summer meant hanging out with my dad at Farmer's Market.  I'd get up before anyone was awake and help him set up.  Then go back and get the boys to spend the afternoon helping Papa.

Aiden started preschool in the fall.  I love seeing all the projects he brings home and seeing him write his name on everything he can find now!

Halloween 2010!  My two pirates in homemade costumes.

Christmas 2010 and our family.

Christmas Day at PapaMom and Papa's.





It was a Pillow Pets Christmas!!!

Make It, Bake It, Sew It or Grow It 2010

I love this new tradition we started. This was our second year for MI,BI,SI,GI.

The Breakdown:

Uncle Bill had Nana and made her a new Bird House...more like a Bird Condo

Nana had Cheryl {again} and made her some meals and froze them.

*Meat Pie

*Stuffed Peppers

* Chili

* Corn and Barley Soup

Cheryl had Meghan and made her two different wreaths, one for the spring and one made out of pages from a landscape book.

Meghan had Jessica and made her a new scarf, some lavender lotion and danishes

Jessica had Emily and made her homemade cleaning products

*Laundry Soap

*Fabric softner sheet

* Stain remover

Emily had Tony and made a great basket full of homemade pasta, pasta sauce, ravioli, cheese, crackers, and wine.

Tony had Carolyn and made her two cutting boards from maple and walnut. (Those Cutco knoves will love them)

Carolyn had Gary and Billy had Lindsey and combined our gift this year. Billy made me a Bag O' game board complete with a shamrock on the front. Carolyn sewed green and white bean bags for Gary to play with the board. They also had shamrocks sewn of the front and a bonus smaller version for the kids.

Gary had Phil and made him a basket of BBQ items. Spice rubs for chicken, pork and steak along with his 21 Pepper sauce. He also got some homemade pickles, hot pepper rings and raspberry jelly.

Phil had Steve and made him three different kinds of fresh salsa. Mild all the way to Hot!

Lindsey had Bill {again} and made him drink holders to use outside when he plays Bag O'.

Steve had Billy and made him a gong for his yard, complete with stand.

McFarland Christmas 2010

Christmas Morning

What a great Christmas morning! The boys woke up to letters from Santa and lots of toys. The living room still looks like it blew up....wrapping paper and toys everywhere.

Five Years

It feels like just yesterday I was was bringing home my little baby boy, now he's a "whole hand". Five years have flown by and watching Aiden get older is bittersweet. He is still my cautious, tidy little man just another year older!

First Snow

The first snow of the year has arrived and two little boys were so anxious to get out there and build a snowman.  Bad news though, it was 8 degrees out and it wasn't snowman snow.  Aiden didn't understand that there is differend kinds of snow and kept telling me to make a snowball so he could start rolling.    So instead of snowmen we made a few snow angels and called it a day, it was too cold.

 

Sugar Cookie Houses??

I had some extra best sugar cookie dough in the fridge so the boys and I thought that we would try to make gingerbread sugar cookie houses.  They came out great!!  We get impatient waiting for the royal icing to dry and hold all the pieces together, so this year we used a little hot glue.  We never eat them anyway, right?  The boys had to wait for Gary to get home from work so we could all do it together {I think they asked every 10 minutes when Dad was coming home}.  

Owen's House

Aiden's House

Christmas Tree 2010

Christmas Countdown

It's not the Christmas season if you don't have have a Christmas Countdown Chain! The boys and I glued links together one afternoon and hung them in the bay window. Aiden is sure to rip one every morning, while Owen's may be a few days behind. Aiden quickly counts how many days he has left on his chain and corrects Owen's for him. Next year I think we'll have to do a Birthday Chain as well.

Aiden's 2010 Holiday Concert

Last night was Aiden's school concert, he was so excited to sing.  The class has been practicing since November but Aiden wouldn't tell me what songs they were singing.  All three of the Lion Rooms sang songs together then each class sang a song with their class.  Aiden's class sang Up on A Housetop complete with arm gestures. 

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Happy Halloween!

The boys had a blast this Halloween, it was definitely Aiden's year! He was the first to every door and was begging to keep going. Owen tuckered out about 45 minutes in while Aiden and Chloe went 2 full hours!! I finished their costumes in the nick of time too...they were two adorable little pirates if I can say so!

Pumpkin Painting

We had The Scotts and {some of} The Mongomerys over to paint pumpkins on Saturday.  The kids, and adults had a great time. 

Brighton Farmer's Market

The boys and I have been spending Sturday mornings with my dad selling produce at the Brighton Farmer's Market.  The boys really enjoying seeing thier Papa, and I know he loves it too.