The last 8 weeks have been a blur... I can not believe it's December and Christmas Eve is tomorrow!! There are lots of pictures and stories to tell when I have my thoughts together. Until then just a picture of when fog and coldness mixed yesterday morning...
This year we've been focusing on life skills for the kiddos... because man does time fly by. You think 18 years... plenty of time to teach them the things you find crucial in life... then BAM... you look around and your little girl is on the last few years of being at home.
Ainsley wanted to do a complete room makeover this summer... including a new bed... new paint... new bedding... new lights... the works! It's super easy to say "I want this and that" and have someone get it done for you but that's not real life... at least in our house. So we said okay but you are going to do it... with guidance of course. There were a few rules set in place.
First up was making a new bed... there was a lesson on picking out boards and supplies at Lowes...
How to measure and use a chop saw and then she cut her own boards...
How to sand the boards and use a nail gun to make the feet for the bed..
Then came more sanding and staining...
My most favorite picture... she does the same thing with her tongue that Stewart does when he is concentrating...
I didn't get a picture of her painting her room grey but she did it all by herself...
The final projects... she made the bed and we had the nightstand which she sanded/stained to match..
Then came her big photo wall she did... love it!!
She did an amazing job... so very proud of her and Stewart for helping her with this big project.
Some days I think I should have a taxi meter in the car or better yet an Uber account to shuttle everyone around! A few weeks ago me and my favorite sidekick drove for 3 hours straight... yep not a typo... 3 hours!!
It went a little something like this...
Ainsley: "My friends and I want to go to the corn maze in Blackfoot." I asked the usual questions... who is going, how are you getting there, what time etc... Ainsley said the boyfriend was driving (he has a permit) and his mom would be going since he has to have an adult driver until he gets his licence.
So panic immediately set in...not ready for kiddos driving each other around... yes there was an adult in the car but an inexperienced driver... on the freeway going 80... late at night!?! It wasn't just the boyfriend... I would have felt the same way if it was any one of the friends driving. Thankfully more kiddos wanted to go than seats available so I said I would drive... drop off... and then go back later to pick everyone up.
Walker also had a scout camp out that same night and couldn't stay overnight because he had a choir retreat early the next day... so we had to go and get him off the top of the mountain and bring him home as well.
We left at 8pm picked up the kiddos we needed to and drove 40 minutes to drop them off... then drove past Pocatello and up to Scout Mountain in the dark... almost hit a moose (holy crap that was freaky!!) and luckily found the scout group on the mountain (no cell service). There was no time to head back home to drop Walker off so we immediately drove back to the corn maze to pick everyone up by the 11pm closing time... took everyone home and then whew... we joked that we actually could have driven to Butte that night!!
So yes the group at the corn maze...
and the reason why you should not wear white shoes to a corn maze...
Walker choose an extra science class to take this trimester. It started out as an insect class... this was such a good experience for him. Insects/bugs in general use to freak him out and so I was a bit worried how this whole class was going to go but it was so fun to hear him tell "Bug Class" stories at dinner. The time "Jumpy" a very large Wolf spider escaped from his cage and how everyone who was standing around immediately left the area or how they would set traps up in the field by the school and check them every couple of days to see what interesting specimens they caught. There was also the weekend we were in charge of the praying mantis... he sat in his pickle jar on the dining room table with his dead and live grasshopper food. I'm sure the poor grasshopper being eaten alive was actually mouthing, "HELP ME!"
The next part of the class was all about fish... they focused mostly on the species of fish here in Idaho. They even tied their own flies and then tried out their flies on a fishing trip! Here is Walker's Wooly Bugger Leech fly that he tied all by himself. He didn't catch a fish at all but the fish that were caught his teacher took them home and cooked them up for everyone to eat in class.
I decided to see if this teacher offered another type of class next trimester and he does! Knowing the ins and outs of school I was able to get his schedule changed and next trimester he will be learning about mammals and birds.
Another piano recital is finished... I can't believe how much they have grown lately...
Walker started piano lessons in 3rd grade a year older than when Ainsley started since he just wasn't ready... it would have been quite the struggle at that time to enforce practicing. We wanted music to be a life time love... not something he absolutely hated or something that we fought over. So very glad we waited that extra year... gave him time to grow and learn those patience listening skills!!
He is now at the same level of piano skills as Ainsley... really makes her mad that he can play the same pieces when he is 2 years younger!! We've been really lucky and have gotten really good teachers... our current piano teacher realized early on that Walker loved to play pieces fast and loud and has found pieces that fit those criteria to make it an enjoyable experience. He played a jazzy piece for the fall recital and really loved it...
Ainsley has been struggling with piano lately... her interests have changed the past year (cheer... high school... boys and friends) She dreads practicing and going to lessons... we have lots of chats about practicing vs facetiming and texting friends. I think just about every week she asks,"Do I have to keep taking lessons?!?" She loves to play for fun especially current pop songs but actually lesson songs she hates... I reminded her this week that Walker was going to pass her up soon (hoping to instill some competitive drive) and she says, "Fine... I don't care!"
We were down to the wire with the nagging to practice for the fall recital... I even made her come home first to practice before she could go to the football game that was after school... yeah that was a fun practice! She pulled it off though... whew!
We decided to work on creating an area for the kiddos and the extra kiddos that come hang out at our house. Somedays it's just one extra kiddo at our house and some days the noise of 6 makes it seem like it's the entire freshman class!! The family room downstairs use to be a spot to play the wii with just 2 gaming chairs, a tv and an old love seat.
Over the summer when we had our garage sale we decided to just put a free sign on the old couch... no takers except for the teenagers!
Yep many nights they'd pull out the old couch from the garage... and set it up in the driveway! High class living right here at the McFarlands. You add in wifi for streaming movies... a long extension cord to charge the phones... some pizza and popcorn and you are "living the life".
Memories for sure...
Homecoming game and school pride... lots of laughs and chatter as these two got ready for the game... super cute!
This is a new friend added to the group... I literally just met her moments before snapping this picture!
Glad this year wasn't a going to the dance year... I asked about it and the reply was,"Freshman don't really go... plus it will be way more fun when you are a junior or senior." I seriously don't know where she would have fit it in... since her weekend was filled with Bonfires, Birthday parties, and movie watching with the group... or what it is called in teenage terms, "The Squad".
It was a quick back to school night for Bug... we already know all the teachers after having been there for 3 years with Ainsley and so it was a quick tour of each classroom... "this is where I sit... this is what we are doing... this is my locker... etc." No standing in long lines to chat with teachers this year... just a quick wave to them as we headed to the next class!
Yearly pictures are always a must... He has one of the smaller lockers this year... which makes for having your own locker! Lucky to get a top locker as well!!
Love... love... the change of time!
Last year...
and this year...
A snapshot of life right now... each kiddo in their "natural habitat"...
The twelve year old...
The fourteen year old...
Back to School for 2 weeks now and I'm still trying to figure out schedules and routines... menu planning, normal house clean up, laundry, getting kiddos here and there etc. At mid week Ainsley says, "Can you show me again how to wash something?" After a small gasp... and the picking up of my jaw, I showed her once again how to do the laundry basics. She only had a couple of items she needed washed and since I had extra laundry sitting nearby I tossed in one of my shirts. This is what happened on her very first laundry experience... and this was my shirt!!
She had tossed in one of her new shirts that hadn't been washed before and I forgot to mention in the "basic laundry rules" that if you have an item that has never been washed before it needs to be washed separately! Ugh... I am thinking that this laundry rule will be one she will remember... especially when I'm yelling from the laundry room... "What the hell happened to my shirt?!?"