The Farr Family

Christmas Day

2012-01-23T10:24:00.000-08:00

Our church starts at 1:00 pm so we opened presents first, then attended church. Our family had a great christmas.
Everything Jordan is wearing is something he got for Christmas (including the swimsuit):
Kaylee asked for Zebra stuff and running shoes. Here she is wearing a dress and holding a football. This describes her to a T:
Lexi's main gift was a scooter. She lost hers a few months ago. This also describes Lexi to a T: Earlier in December I asked Mason what the most exciting gift he could receive would be. He replied, "I can't tell you, it's a secret". Luckily he is 4 and is satisfied by most toys: Noah was spoiled as well:

The kids all received new church clothes from Grandma. They sure looked snazzy for church:

One gift that we enjoyed over the break was a 12 in 1 game table. Although I did find out I am horrible at playing pool. We had a wonderful holiday season this year!

Target Gingerbread House

2012-01-23T10:18:00.000-08:00

Each Christmas my work (Target) has a gingerbread house contest. They provide the Gingerbread house kit to anyone who wants to participate. I had a fun time this year designing my house. This is what I came up with this year:

I didn't win...but I had great time decorating my house. There were some VERY creative houses. I was really impressed by the winners.

Holiday Concerts

2012-01-23T09:23:00.000-08:00

This year we were able to attend a ton of holiday concerts. First we saw Lexi in a Thanksgiving Concert. Here she is singing...The Turkey Tango

The Turkey Tango Lexi Farr from Kristi Farr on Vimeo.

Kaylee and Jordan both had their Christmas Concert on the same night. So Doug went to Kaylee's Choir Concert and I went to Jordan's Band Concert. Unfortunately, we only have one camera so we didn't get any of Jordan this time around.

Mason had a little program at his preschool. Noah and I went during his school day to watch him.

Mason's Preschool Concert from Kristi Farr on Vimeo.

This entertained Noah during the concert.
It's always fun to watch my kids perform during the holidays.

Noah 19 months old

2012-01-23T09:18:00.000-08:00

Noah is getting so big. Here are some pics I took in November. He is 19 months old in these pictures:

What a cutie!

Passing the time

2011-11-22T14:10:00.000-08:00

There are some days when I don't feel very patient. Those are the days I try to come up with fun things for my kids to do so they won't bug me...I mean I try to find stimulating activities for my preschool age child so he can better develop his mind and personality. (Okay...so maybe a little of both reasons) This idea I stole from my friend Amie...it was easy and fun:

Halloween 2011

2011-11-15T08:06:00.001-08:00

I know I am a little late on this. But here is this year's Halloween Costumes.

NOAH: FAT COW

MASON was Spiderman, Buzz Lightyear, and Spongebob depending on the party. Lexi: Angel Kaylee: Pirate Jordan: Deck of Cards The loot:
We also carved pumpkins, but I forgot to take a picture of the finished product.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Grandpa and Grandma's Visit

2011-10-31T19:22:00.000-07:00

We had the privilege of having Doug's parents visit this month. They were only here for a short time, but we were able to squeeze in a few fun things. We went to the park on the way up to Estes Park. The fall colors were beautiful:

While we were in Estes, we stopped to see the Elk (and to get an ice cream cone):

The next day was Grandpa's birthday. We went to the pumpkin patch to pick out this year's pumpkins. (Pictures were taken on my phone...I'll have to figure out how to transfer them later). We had a birthday party with cake, ice cream, presents..etc. It was fun to celebrate.

I was going to put "Happy Birthday Grandpa" on the cake, but Mason wanted me to put "Happy Birthday Alan". Silly kid. The cake looks really good...and I tried a new checkerboard pan that I got for my birthday, so that was fun. BUT, in reality it was really dry. Next time I'll try a different recipe. As long as we had ice cream or a lot of frosting with each bite, it was edible. (Sorry Grandpa).

I'm glad we had the time to visit. It went by sooo fast.

Awwww

2011-10-31T19:19:00.001-07:00

Here is a picture of Mason and a friend from church. This is at a scouting activity....so cute.

Jordan's Cell

2011-10-31T19:13:00.000-07:00

Jordan had to make an edible Animal Cell for Science. He used a Sugar Cookie with candy. He especially liked eating it afterwards.

Noah's progression

2011-10-31T18:42:00.000-07:00

Noah is growing up fast. With all of his brothers and sisters around he thinks he can do whatever they are doing too. He definitely lets us know what he wants and doesn't want. What a big boy!

Kaylee's adventures

2011-09-22T16:19:00.000-07:00

This year, as usual, Kaylee wants to be involved in as many activities as possible. So far she is in Silver Falcon Singers, Intramurals, Girls Activity Days and Safety Patrol. She also attends Doug's High School Marching Band practices with Doug whenever possible. She decided last year that she wants to be a trombone player and Doug magically found one for her to practice on. Here is a picture someone took of her at the last Marching Band Practice. She was filling in for a student who was absent.

I think the trombone is almost as tall as she is. She recently asked if she could try out for Student Council. I think we are going to have to put a limit on her activities. She maintains straight A's, so I guess we're okay so far. :)

Terrible 2...I mean 1.

2011-09-13T09:26:00.000-07:00

I've always said that the terrible twos started at 1 1/2 and lasted 2 years. Maybe I need to edit that to starting before 1 1/2.....
What is that you ask? It's whiteout tape.

I decided a long time ago that I absolutely love this age. Yes...you can't leave them alone for a second (or pay the consequences). This incident actually happened to be on Doug's watch while I was at work, but could've easily happened during mine.

What I LOVE about this age is their progression. It always amazes me how much a 1 year old learns in one year. Noah is already saying a ton of words (and tries to say almost any word now). It's fun to see his personality develop. He gets really excited about Dinosaurs and Dogs and likes to imitate their "growls". So cute. He is now an expert on our stairs and I am glad to get rid of the gate. He did scare me for a while because he insists on going down the stairs forwards instead of sliding on his tummy. He is an expert now though.

The older kids are having their impact on him too. The other day he found a stick, pointed it, and said "DIE". DIE DIE DIE. Yep. You sometimes get the bad with the good. They also taught him how to give a knuckle bump with the ppsshhhh sound added. We gotta make sure this kid is "up on the greeting trends".

I am excited that he goes to Nursery in 4 more Sundays (and one of those Sundays is General Conference). So only 3 more Sundays to go before I can just sit and enjoy class...So looking forward to that.

What a sweet boy.

Jordan's advancement

2011-09-13T09:22:00.000-07:00

Jordan has been enjoying Scouts. He has earned his Tenderfoot, Second Class, and First Class now. He's earned a few Merit Badges too. Keep pluggin' along kid!

Mason's First Day

2011-09-13T09:18:00.001-07:00

I know I'm a little late on this, but Masons' first day of preschool was September 6th. This year he is going to University (Charter School) 4 days a week in the afternoons. He is excited about school and asks every morning if it is time to go yet. He is getting so big.

My Calling

2011-09-13T09:00:00.000-07:00

I have been the Cubmaster in our ward for 2 years now and absolutely love it. It is a really fun calling. A little intimidating at first, but SUPER FUN! I really don't understand why they don't have more female Cubmasters. Doug is my assistant and helps out a ton when he is not too busy. It's been fun to do it together.

Family Photo...help.

2011-09-10T12:04:00.001-07:00

While we were visiting in Utah, we had some family photos taken. I can't decide which one I like the best. All of them have a quirk...you can't get around that with 7 people. So, I am opening it up to a vote. Let me know which one you like best.
Photo number one:

Photo number two: or photo number three: So which one do you like?

First Day of School

2011-08-18T07:49:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it is here already...The first day of School. All sorts of emotions are going through my head.
* Sad that Doug and all of the kids will be gone all day.
* Happy that the kids will be gone all day...lol.
* Anxious for the kids on their first day....hoping all will go well.
I could go on an on.

The kids were very excited to return to school. I couldn't let them leave of course without getting that "First day of School Picture".

JORDAN-7th grade

KAYLEE-5th grade (She has Mrs. Starkey this year)

LEXI-3rd grade (She has Mrs. Lee this year)

And this is what the little boys were doing while I was taking pictures: Mason doesn't start preschool until September. Happy first day of school!

Vacation to Utah

2011-07-22T10:25:00.000-07:00

Our family had a great vacation this year to Utah. We were able to visit friends and family and we enjoyed catching up with everyone. We left on Kaylee's 10th birthday. She was spoiled, as usual. When we arrived at my mom's house there were Dunford Donuts waiting for me...I mean Kaylee. I LOVE the chocolate covered cake donuts from Dunford. I haven't found anyone else who makes better donuts. I will have to put a picture of that later. My camera battery died and my mom got a picture...so I'll have to get that from her. A few days later, Kaylee was able to get this chocolate cake from Grandma Farr:We went to Hogle Zoo on Tuesday with Grandma & Grandpa Burgess. Heather and her two girls also came:

We had a really good time at the zoo.
The next day we headed to the Farr's house. We got together for family pictures at Murray Park. Doug's cousin Katie took pictures of the entire family. I don't have those pictures yet, but I took a few snapshots of my own.

Unfortunately, Noah wasn't feeling well and we couldn't get a good picture of him at all. I didn't take a lot of other pictures, but we also went to Lagoon (well known amusement park in Utah), to the mountains with my family, to the cabin with Doug's family, a Burgess family BBQ, and spent some time with my BFF Melanie and her sister Becky. We had a great trip!

Independence Day

2011-07-22T10:16:00.001-07:00

As usual, we headed out to watch the Greeley Stampede 4th of July parade. Doug marched along with his students in the all city band. This year, Jordan was old enough to join in playing his trumpet. Unfortunately, I had to work that evening. Doug and the kids went to Windsor Lake and watched the fireworks over the lake. They had a good time. Our supervisor let my employees and I go on the roof of Target and watch the fireworks too.

Sunday Pictures

2011-06-12T14:01:00.000-07:00

Since I had the camera out after church...I decided to snap a few individual shots of the kids. Noah was asleep...so I didn't get any of him. Also, he was attacked by mosquitos this week and his head is covered with about 18 bites. Very unfortunate. The first bites of the season always sneak up on us. Here is Mason:

Lexi: Kaylee: Jordan is in the post below. Here is Doug: I am excited to get a family picture in July while visiting Utah. Hopefully Noah's mosquito bites will be all cleared up soon.

Jordan turns 12

2011-06-12T13:38:00.001-07:00

This was Jordan when he was 1:

Today is Jordan's 12th Birthday. Yesterday he went fishing and out to eat with his Dad. They had a great outing together. Later, he opened presents, ate donuts and ice cream and had a BBQ.

Today Jordan was ordained a Deacon. He also worked really hard and earned his Faith in God award. Way to go! Happy Birthday!!!

Cub Scout Day Camp

2011-06-10T20:43:00.000-07:00

Since I am the Cubmaster in our ward, I volunteered to attend Cubscout Day camp. It was really fun (and long). We had sunshine, wind, and rain. I was there for all four days. Here are my boys in my pack: Wolves and BearsAnd the Webelos: They each were able to rotate between 10 really fun stations. Good times.

Family Visit

2011-05-27T20:35:00.000-07:00

We were excited to have Doug's brother Darren and his family come to visit. They have one little adorable boy named Judson who is 3. Unfortunately, I didn't take a lot of pictures...but I did get this one of Judson and Mason holding hands. So cute:

While they were here, we took a walk along the Poudre River Trail, had a picnic in the mountains, and went swimming and mini golfing at the funplex. Fun times.

Scrapbooking weekend.

2011-05-25T20:18:00.000-07:00

My sisters and I were able to get together for a scrapbooking weekend. We went out to eat, shopped, stayed in a hotel, and just enjoyed each other's company. These always go by so quickly. My mom usually joins us for these weekends, but unfortunately she wasn't able to make it this trip. Hopefully next time...

Marilee and Stacie

Kaylee sings

2011-05-20T21:26:00.000-07:00

Kaylee had her Spring Concert with the Silver Falcon singers. It was very enjoyable to watch her sing. They performed several showtunes or songs from musicals.

She loves music.

Doug's Birthday

2011-05-20T20:11:00.000-07:00

Doug's birthday was on his last day of school. We went out to dinner to celebrate. He turned 39! Happy Birthday!

China

2011-05-19T13:46:00.001-07:00

Lexi's 2nd grade class had to choose one topic of their choice and give a 20 minute presentation on that topic. She had to write an essay paper to go along with her topic. The topic she chose was on China. For part of her presentation she had to have some kind of DVD, display board, slide show, model, etc. She ended up making this DVD...with her parents help, of course: (Warning: It is over 10 minutes long)

China Presentation-Lexi from Kristi Farr on Vimeo.

In addition to this DVD she spoke about the children in China, the food, and the language. She also passed out chopsticks to her entire class. She did a great job!

Noah's first haircut

2011-05-06T13:42:00.003-07:00

Noah had his hair cut for the first time today. The evidence (eewwww): The result:
He is blonde, so it's hard to see his hair in this picture. What a cute young man.

Noah's haircut from Kristi Farr on Vimeo.

High Marks

2011-05-06T13:25:00.000-07:00

Jordan was able to play his trumpet in his very first Solo & Ensemble festival this year. Doug just entered him on his own (it was not initiated by his school band). It was a very good experience for him and Jordan received high marks. He received a one minus from all of the judges. Great job Jordan! This actually happened near the beginning of the year, but he just barely received his ribbon.

Noah's walking!

2011-04-26T12:16:00.000-07:00

Noah has been practicing his walking for the past couple of weeks and he has become more confident each day. Check it out:

Noah walking from Kristi Farr on Vimeo.

I'm not sure why he grunted every time he walked, he normally doesn't do that. Kinda funny.
He has been trying to talk more too. He knows Hi, Peek-a boo, bottle, Ma ma, Da da, Vroom. These are the words he says on a regular basis. Of course, he understands a lot more than what he can say. I taught him to give me kisses when I ask. So adorable.

Update on Mason

2011-04-26T11:51:00.001-07:00

Mason is enjoying his preschool. Here are a few recent pictures.Posing in the form of the letter "E" . This idea was stolen from a friend in Nevada. (Thanks Kathryn) It's been fun to hear how the 4 year old brain works. I think I laugh every day at something he says, but a couple I can remember are:

* He asked my why the moon was following us when we were driving in the dark the other night.

* He wanted to see if the Easter Bunny would bring him a bicycle because he thought it would be funny to try and see if the Easter Bunny could fit it into his basket. (He just got a bike for his birthday a few weeks ago).

I love this little guy.

Easter

2011-04-26T11:30:00.000-07:00

Easter was fabulous as usual. We colored eggs and had a treasure hunt with the kids on Saturday. The Easter Bunny hid all of the Easter baskets for Sunday and the kids were delighted with their loot. Doug and I went to church in shifts because Mason and Noah have been sick with colds. Unfortunately, I forgot to get a picture of the kids who did get all dressed up. I will have to get a good picture soon. It was fun just spending time as a family.

There were 11 colors in our Easter kit this year....so crazy. I think they had 6 when I was growing up. Do they really need that many colors? I'll tell you one thing...I didn't boil 77 eggs which would allow each family member to have one egg of every color.

Happy Easter!

Art Recognition

2011-04-20T09:42:00.000-07:00

To our surprise, Kaylee's artwork was chosen to represent McAuliffe Elementary in the District Art Show. I asked her what the artwork was and she didn't even know until she got there. LOL. Great job Kaybabe!

Noah's First Birthday

2011-04-18T21:58:00.000-07:00

Noah turned 1 on the 13th of this month. I can't believe how the past year has just flown by. He still prefers to crawl. He has only taken a few steps on his own with some prompting. He thinks it is a game to fall into my arms. I just love those little cheeks. Grandma gave these Thomas the Train shirts to the boys for their birthdays. I wanted them to both look at me and smile...but after several tries, this is the best shot I got: I made this train cake: And he received a train as his main gift from mom and dad: Overall...he had a fun birthday (at least, I'd like to think so)!

Battle of the Books

2011-04-14T06:03:00.000-07:00

Kaylee participated in this year's Battle of the Books. Her team didn't make it to the district level, but she had an enjoyable time anyways.

Princesses of "BOB" was the team name they chose. Kaylee is the one in the bottom right hand corner.

Mason turns 4!

2011-04-14T05:44:00.000-07:00

Mason turned 4 last Saturday. After making him some yummy pancakes for breakfast he opened his present. He loved playing with his new gifts.We headed out to the restaurant of his choice for lunch. He chose Wendy's. Afterwards we went to the Funplex for a game of Miniature Golf. When we arrived home he blew out his candles on his Spiderman cake that I made for him.

Mason's Birthday from Kristi Farr on Vimeo. (I thought it was funny how Jordan ends the song with a high note)

Happy Birthday Mason!!!

Finally!

2011-04-07T19:08:00.000-07:00

Lexi had her birthday in the beginning of March, but she has been waiting in anticipation for her birthday party. Today we finally were able to accommodate her wishes. Our family was burdened with the stomach flu for the past few weeks, but we have been well for over a week...and hopefully we'll stay that way for a long time. She chose two friends to go the funplex and go swimming (she has a lot of friends so this was a difficult choice for her). After swimming we came back to the house for food and presents. We all had a good time. I made these butterfly cupcakes for her birthday. They were really fun to make. Eight years old! I think it took her like 4 or 5 blows to blow out all of the candles. Here she is with one of her presents:

Lexi Birthday from Kristi Farr on Vimeo.

Happy Birthday Lex!

Garden of the Gods

2011-04-07T18:27:00.001-07:00

Over the weekend we had the opportunity to head out of town. We traveled a couple hours away to Colorado Springs. While we were there we went to the Garden of the Gods. It was a lot of fun hiking around and we had 75 degree weather that day. Noah loved being outside. Whenever we open the door at home he goes for the door as fast as possible. I just love kissing those chubby cheeks. Mason loved exploring and hiking around. Lexi, Kaylee & Jordan begged to go on more hikes the next day. Unfortunately it was cold the next day. We went miniature golfing at a place that was only $2/person. Very cool. They had 3 courses to choose from and the kids had a great time.

We found a fun park and roasted hot dogs and s'mores for dinner. We stayed overnight at a hotel which was really fun for everyone. It makes me want to go on another vacation already. I am loving this warm weather.

Lexi's baptism

2011-03-12T09:02:00.001-08:00

Lexi turned 8 on March 5th and was able to get baptized that same day. We were lucky to have lots of family come to celebrate:
Grandma & Grandpa Farr:

Grandma & Grandpa Burgess:

All the Farr cousins(except for Judson. We should just crop him in somehow)

Lexi had a fun day. After the baptism she chose to go to Golden Corral for dinner where she ate as many as desserts as possible. She was excited to get her scriptures, scripture case, baptism memory book, necklaces, a bracelet and a Holy Ghost night light for her baptism celebration. (Yes...she was absolutely spoiled!!!)

Mason's first day

2011-03-12T08:51:00.000-08:00

I recently joined up with a couple of friends to do preschool for Mason once a week. We only have 3 kids and we meet once a week, but it will be fun for Mason to see them and learn. I took his picture:

He has changed so much over the last year. He is growing up so fast!

Lexi's Concert

2011-03-12T08:46:00.000-08:00

Lexi recently had her 2nd Grade Concert. It was fun to go and watch her.

Untitled from Kristi Farr on Vimeo.

Noah's bathtime

2011-03-12T08:43:00.000-08:00

I always have to have at least one bathtime picture of my kids growing up. I don't know why, but this seems required. Here is Noah:

Lexi

2011-03-12T08:37:00.000-08:00

I can't remember why we took this picture. I think it was because Lexi really liked this dress. Anyway...it turned out cute.

She immediately tilts her head to one side when she knows she is getting her picture taken.

Friends

2011-03-12T08:34:00.000-08:00

Mason has some neighbor friends that he plays with almost every day. This is Mason and his friend Tyler eating pancakes:

Dentist Visit

2011-03-12T08:27:00.000-08:00

We recently went to the dentist and everyone was cavity free. Woot Woot! Mason chose fake mustaches for his prize, but happily shared with the other kids:

Okay...so this last one is not of Kaylee in a mustache, but notice how she has candy in her hand (It was the day after Valentines day that we went).

Valentines

2011-02-14T12:22:00.001-08:00

Happy Valentines Day!

On Friday, we all dressed up and went to the "Big Band Boogie Ball" that was held at the University in their ballroom. We didn't stay long because it started so late and the little kids were getting tired. I snapped a picture before we left:The music was very entertaining. Doug, of course, was there all night since he is part of hosting the event.

Over the weekend, we purchased a new table with some of our tax refund. We sold our table when we moved to Greeley over a year and a half ago with the intention of buying a new one when we got here. We've been using a "generational" table that my sister Marilee let us borrow and folding metal chairs so it was nice to buy a new table.

Notice the candy, card, and placemats. That is what Doug gave me for Valentines. What a sweetie! The kids all received Valentines from both sets of Grandparents (THANKS!), us, and I'm sure they will come home with tons of candy from school too.

I hope all of you have had a GREAT Valentines day.

Noah update

2011-02-09T13:12:00.000-08:00

I realized that I hadn't done a recent "Noah Update" and thought I would squeeze one in today. Noah will be 10 months old on Sunday.

He has 7 teeth. (4 on top and 3 on the bottom)

He crawled at 7 months old

He climbs the stairs (with supervision, of course)

Stands up to furniture.

Throws his food off of his High Chair when he doesn't want it.

Attacks his siblings if they take something away from him. (Nice, huh?)

Says Uh-oh, Da da, Ma ma, and boo. (learned in that order)

He can clap and wave hi.

Loves to play the piano.

This video is from when he was 9 months old:

Noah 9 months from Kristi Farr on Vimeo.

Mason's Preschool

2011-02-04T09:59:00.001-08:00

I decided to home school Mason for Preschool this year. Next year he will probably go to a community/local school for Preschool. He wasn't so sure of the idea at first, but once I showed him how fun it is, he has really liked it.

In the second picture he is holding a Big Bird puppet he made. We have also been talking about feelings and I liked the "surprised" face he was making in the second picture.

Denver Zoo

2011-01-18T10:46:00.001-08:00

Yesterday we took the time to take the kids to the Denver Zoo. We all had a really good time. Here is a video of our trip:

Untitled from Kristi Farr on Vimeo.

(I'm not sure why the title page of this video downloaded as January 201...in my file it says 2011. But...you all know it is year 2011, right?!)

Butterfly Pavilion

2010-12-30T17:57:00.000-08:00

Kaylee and Lexi were able to go to the Butterfly Pavilion in Westminster with their friend Cassidy. I haven't ever been there before, but the girls said it was really fun. Kaylee took her new camera that she got from Santa.
Kaylee holding a butterfly:

Lexi holding a tarantula named Rosie:
Kaylee holding Rosie: Kaylee as a tarantula:Kaylee took several other pictures of bugs, bees, spiders, butterflies, a turtle, flowers, etc.

Today it snowed and the kids were able to try out their new sleds they got from Santa. They have never been sledding before and they said it was really fun. They also went swimming at the funplex for a couple of hours. We have really been enjoying the Christmas Break.

The Christmas Bat

2010-12-25T18:13:00.000-08:00

We were all very excited to receive a Christmas Bat Pinata from Uncle Kevin and Aunt Pela.

2010 Christmas Bat Pinata from Kristi Farr on Vimeo.

Christmas Day 2010

2010-12-25T12:02:00.000-08:00

It's a family tradition to start off Christmas by lining up on the stairs in age order. Each of the kids expressed how this was their favorite Christmas so far. (They usually say this every year). I like to set up the kids with their toys. They love looking back in their scrapbook and remembering their gifts. Soooo....here they are: NOAH
MASON LEXI KAYLEE JORDAN KRISTI DOUG Family gifts Merry Christmas!

Silver Falcon Singers

2010-12-15T09:42:00.000-08:00

We enjoyed watching Kaylee sing in her school group...The Silver Falcon Singers. This group is a combined group of 4th and 5th graders who volunteered to participate. She enjoys practicing a couple of times per week in the mornings with Mr. Beckman and her peers. I actually like that she is the shortest because I can always count on her being in the front row...first in line.

Silver Falcon Singers 2010 from Kristi Farr on Vimeo.

Farr Family Christmas Letter

2010-12-05T11:42:00.001-08:00

I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season. I know I am. I am proud to announce that I have my Christmas shopping done. Woo hoo. This is the earliest I have ever done this. Now I just have to start wrapping. I decided to do the Christmas letter online this year.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM THE FARR FAMILY!

Doug has had a busy year as usual. He is constantly attending and directing music concerts/gigs/parades. Music runs through his veins. He was able to take his students to New York over spring break (I was SUPER jealous). They were able to see a show, perform, and go to several tourist sites. His students played at all of the School Basketball and Football games and were able to do a Marching Band show....PHANTASM. It was really awesome. In addition to his busy work schedule, he has been a great Father, and has several callings in the church (Ward Organist, Cubmaster Assistant, Stake Music Coordinator, and Stake Music Cultural Coordinator). He will always be busy....

Kristi: I have also had an eventful year. In April, Noah was born. (I could stop here because that seems to be eventful enough...lol) Taking care of the household and 5 children really keeps me on my toes. I am constantly trying to organize and perfect being a wife and mommy. In November, I started a job working at Target. (This sounds so luxurious. I'm sure you are all coveting me right this minute). I'm working opposite Doug's schedule. I'm looking forward to getting a "real job" one day when my kids get older. I have also been focusing on my health this year and have lost 22 well earned pounds. I really enjoy my calling as the Cubmaster in our ward. Life is good and busy.

Jordan started middle school this year. This is such a big change for a child. Other than having tons of homework, he seems to like it. He joined the Winograd swim team. This sport is only during the fall time. He went to swimming practice every day before school and had swim meets once a week. He was able to learn a lot from his coach. He also joined the band and plays the trumpet. Jordan seems to have a natural talent and ear for music (I'm sure this was inherited from his father). He still has a little "kid" in him though. His new love this year is Bakugan. Once he finds something he loves, he goes all out. He still really loves Sonic too (and has for several years now). He enjoys going to 11 year old scouts once a week.

Kaylee started 4th grade this year. She has enjoyed doing as many "extras" as she can. She joined the Silver Falcon Singers and practices twice a week before school. She really enjoys singing. She is also involved in the Book to Movie club at the Library once a month. (The kids read a book, then come to the library to discuss the book and watch the movie). She was super excited when I allowed her to get her ears pierced this year. She said it really really hurt, but I think now all the pain is gone, she enjoys wearing my earrings. She goes to Activity Days twice a month at church and has recently joined up for a mini art class after school. She is our social butterfly and is interested in all of the trends. I'm already afraid for when she is a teenager.

Lexi is still our happy go lucky girl. She is always smiling and her giggle is contagious. She has many friends and is constantly asking to play. Since she is in second grade, her homework is very minimal. She can't wait to turn 8 in March. Not only will she be baptized, but she'll also be able to go to Girls activity days at church. She loves to play with Noah and make sure he is entertained. She has many hobbies, but still tells me she is bored quite often. She loves to be silly.

Mason is starting to outgrow the terrible twos. (Yes...I know he is almost 4, but I have always said that the terrible twos last for 2 years..from 1 1/2 to 3 1/2). He is starting to lose that baby face and he is getting his boy face. He is EXTREMELY independent and knows what he wants and when he wants it (he expresses this very clearly and loudly). He has always been very sociable and I love listening to him talk with other adults. He will tell them everything and anything that he can think of just to keep talking. He loves cracking jokes. He mastered potty training over the summer (hooray). Even though he is only 3, in some ways he seems a lot older.

Noah was born in April and I can't believe how this past year has just flown by. He has followed the average growth chart to a T. He smiled at 5 weeks, rolled over at 3 months, sat by himself at 6 months, started crawling at 7 months. This last one he just mastered in the last couple of weeks. He spent at least 3 weeks trying to figure it out. Now he crawls around the house trying to get into things he's not supposed to. We have had our tree up for 3 days now and he has already pulled off an ornament. I was hoping that he would be one of those babies that didn't crawl until they were 10 months old. It's funny how your perspective differs from when it's your first child. He has been teething like crazy. His fourth tooth is just about to poke through (I can see it). He loves trying the new foods that I give him.

Girls' school photo

2010-11-09T08:27:00.001-08:00

Kaylee-9 Years Old

Lexi-7 years old

Par-tay with the Cooks

2010-11-03T12:30:00.000-07:00

I don't know how your Halloween Festivities went, but we had some really fun parties here. We went to The Cook's house (my sister) for dinner and games. Here is Jordan and Lexi balancing a ball on a spoon: (Notice how Mason is being his usual Masonater self and succeeding at knocking Lexi's ball off of the spoon) Charles and Marilee raced against Doug and I....and unfortunately, they won.

Another game we played was throwing 5 balls into the Witch's Cauldron. I wonder if Mason did such a good job because he stuck his tongue out to help him concentrate?!

Aunt Marilee had some really fabulous prizes. She is soooo ready to be a Grandma. Doug read a "scary" story to the kids:We all had a great time at the party. We were also going to go to a free corn maze in the area, but we hit really bad traffic on the way there and it closed before we got there. Bummer. Maybe next year....

Ward Halloween Party

2010-11-03T12:01:00.000-07:00

We all enjoyed attending our Ward Halloween Party. It was so much fun. It was held on a farm. There were several games...Cake walk, Bean Bag Toss, Pumpkin bowling, Potato sack races, Donut on a string, Fortune Telling, Face painting, and pumpkin seed spitting (which, apparently, I am horrible at by the way)
Kaylee was an angel for Halloween (she is showing off her cake walk prize): Lexi dressed as a Witch: Potato sack races:
Jordan was a Knight for Halloween: Mason was Spiderman: Noah was a Dalmatian puppy (He even has the slobber part down): They had a hayride set up to take all of the kids to the pumpkin patch where they could pick out their own pumpkin.
They also had these really awesome tunnels out of big bales of hay. The kids played in the tunnels and on top:
After all of the fun and games...we had trunk or treat. The kids stocked up on candy. Jordan also attended another party that a classmate held that evening. Party party party.

Pumpkin Carving

2010-11-03T12:00:00.000-07:00

This year's pumpkins: Mason-Spider, Jordan-Sonic, Kaylee-Candy Corn, Lexi-Ghost.

This and that

2010-10-27T11:40:00.001-07:00

I LOVE the fall. It is my favorite time of year. I love the culture here in Colorado SO MUCH more than Nevada (sorry NV friends). I love the four distinct seasons. Stepping out into the crisp fall weather seeing the beauty of the trees and grass. It is breathtaking. This is the view outside my back window:

This is everywhere right now and I love it.

I snapped this picture yesterday and I thought it was so cute of Mason and Noah. I love these boys!: Lexi wanted me to put this next picture on the blog. I still really enjoy doing fun, fancy hairdo's for the girls when they will let me and we have time:

Monster Cake Balls

2010-10-22T08:42:00.000-07:00

Jordan had an assignment to bring in 30 Scary Halloween treats for his class. I made these cake balls. They are super easy to make. All you do is bake a cake and crumble it into a bowl. Then you add a container of frosting and mix. Roll into balls and freeze. After they are frozen, you dip them into melted chocolate. I also made a ton of chocolate covered pretzel sticks to stick in the sides so they would be spiders, but once I started sticking them in...they fell apart. So instead of making spiders...I piped faces on them with frosting and made "Monster Balls". What kind of fun Halloween treats are you making this year?

President Uchtdorf

2010-10-21T08:10:00.000-07:00

How does President Uchtdorf affect your family?

Uchtdorf laugh from Kristi Farr on Vimeo.

Near conference time, Jordan said Uchtdorf and Noah just started to crack up. Since then, it's become a little game in our family.

Crib and sitting

2010-10-19T07:59:00.000-07:00

I was super excited to find this crib on craigslist. It is a $300 crib and I got it for $75 from a well to do family who is pet/smoke free. Woo hoo. I love it. I also found this Noah's ark crib bedding. I thought it would fit Noah perfectly. :) Grandma Farr helped me put it together while she was visiting.

Also, Noah recently learned how to sit. He is growing up so fast.

Fall Pictures

2010-10-16T18:48:00.000-07:00

Today we drove up to Estes Park and took some "professional" (aka Doug and I took the pictures) photos. We heard about the Elk at this time of year and we were not disappointed.

We also saw this Eagle: Some of you may recognize this hotel...it was featured in the TV series "The Shining" and the film "Dumb and Dumber": And finally....the pictures of the kids: Noah-6 months old Mason-3 1/2 years old: Lexi-7 years old: Kaylee-9 years old: Jordan-11 years old: The boys: The girls: We never did get a good picture with all of the kids (even though we took tons). Here are a few of the "best ones": We had a good time. Please feel free to comment on which ones you liked the best. (I'm still trying to decide which ones to print and put up on the wall).

Visit from Grandma, Grandpa & Heather

2010-10-16T18:15:00.001-07:00

We had a really fun time last weekend with Grandma & Grandpa Farr and Aunt Heather. They came to visit for the weekend. On Saturday morning, we went to the Greeley Invitational for the marching band. Several bands participated in this competition. We were able to watch a few of the bands including Doug's band, Greeley Central. We were excited to learn that GCHS tied for first place. Their show was very entertaining. They performed 3 songs from Phantasm. All Halloween type songs. It helped that the school colors are orange and black. We all really enjoyed the performance. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera. No pics.

In the afternoon, we went to Tigges Farm and let the kids pick out a pumpkin from the pumpkin patch. Here is a picture of the kids with Grandma and Aunt Heather: Grandma, Mason and Noah:
The loot:
It was pretty warm in the morning, but in the afternoon it became really cold. Most of us were really cold during this little adventure.

Grandma brought this really fun Halloween Party book. We played Halloween Bingo with candy corn, played a Halloween toss game, and made spiders out of pipe cleaner and fuzzy balls: Grandpa liked to just relax and read: Grandma ended up feeding Noah a lot while she was here. He was pretty cranky the entire weekend because he is teething: After school on Monday we went to Windsor Lake and played in the sand. The girls ended up getting the dirtiest.

We had a really fun time with the family. We always love having people come visit us. Come again soon. :)

Noah

2010-09-23T13:57:00.000-07:00

How can you not just love this little guy?:

Noah...5 months.

Grandma & Grandpa Visit

2010-09-15T10:31:00.000-07:00

Grandma and Grandpa came to visit. Here are some random pictures I took.
The girls wanted curlers in their hair.
Grandma cut Kaylee some bangs. She loves them.

Noah and Grandma: Jordan with his Bakugan...watching Bakugan.

Grandpa wrestling the girls. An all time favorite.

See next posting for more Grandma and Grandpa fun!

Evans Day Parade

2010-09-15T09:08:00.000-07:00

I love the Evans Day Parade. I normally hate parades all together, but Evans is a small city near Greeley and their parade is extremely short...AND they throw candy. Everyone is happy. My Mom and Dad were in town so it made it even more fun to go with family. Truthfully, we probably wouldn't have gone if it wasn't for Doug. His Marching Band was participating in the parade. I enjoy watching the band.
The parade started at 10 AM. We sat down and 1 minute later, they started marching by us. We were done by 10:40ish.

We all had a fun time.

Scrapbooking weekend

2010-09-15T08:48:00.001-07:00

For Labor Day weekend, I had the opportunity to escape with my sisters and mom for a scrapbooking weekend. The four of us stayed in a hotel in Boulder, CO. We had a really fun time escaping from reality and playing. My mom: My sister Stacie:
My sister Marilee:
Along with scrapbooking, we went and saw a movie, went to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner, and checked out the house from "Mork and Mindy".
It was a nice break for the weekend and I was able to get 36 scrapbook pages done. Woo hoo.
I'm already looking forward to another scrapbooking weekend. :)

Arrow of Light Ceremony

2010-08-29T12:15:00.000-07:00

I am very proud of Jordan for earning the highest award in the cub scouting program...the Arrow of Light. He turned 11 in June, but the Arrow of Light ceremony was this past Friday. Since Doug and I are the Cubmasters in the ward we were able to plan and conduct the ceremony. I made sugar cookies and a special cake for Jordan and Rowdy (another boy in our ward). We had fun decorating and putting it all together. That's hard to read, but it says "Rowdy & Jordan 2010 Arrow of Light"

We went to the church early to set up. We had a fake fire, a table with electric battery operated candles, a tent, trees, the bridge, and white Christmas lights strung around the room. My flash on my camera actually worked pretty well. All of the lights were off in the gym. Jordan walked across the bridge and was met by the boyscouts. I don't really have a picture of the bridge, but it is pretty cool. Some of the boyscouts made it for the crossover ceremony and they put holes in the outside to post the flags. Very cool. We decorated it with Christmas lights. In the ceremony we painted some stripes on their cheeks and across their foreheads. They also got that really cool Indian hat that I made out of duct tape. :)

Congratulations Jordan!

Starting Solids, Sleeping, and Silliness

2010-08-24T08:15:00.000-07:00

Noah started eating solids and he absolutely LOVES it! (Really, who wouldn't?!) Mason fell asleep listening to his "tunes".
I found this picture on my camera of Kaylee and Noah. I couldn't resist sharing.

First Day of School

2010-08-16T10:24:00.001-07:00

I can't believe the summer is over. Today is the first day of school. Of course, I HAD to take pictures. Lexi is in Mrs. Feit's 2nd Grade Class:

Kaylee is in Mr. Call's 4th Grade Class:
And Jordan started Middle School this year. He is in 6th Grade. I can't believe I'm that old...I mean that Jordan is that old. :)
I didn't take a picture of Doug on his first day of school. He was up at 5 a.m. I was still sleeping. Goodbye to summer and Hello to the busy 2010-11 school year.

My little helper

2010-08-08T08:19:00.000-07:00

Mason can be such a help sometimes. Here he is helping me with the dishes:

He is very disappointed when there isn't more dishes to "help" me wash.

He cracks me up sometimes. The other day, when I started the van, the radio immediately came on and he said "I love this song". The radio was tuned to my station and I'm pretty sure he had never heard the song before. He has obviously heard me say this in the past.

Noah will be 4 months old this week. I can't believe how fast he is growing up. He is now big enough to sit in this activity bouncy chair that his Grandma gave him:

He loves watching action around him (which is good since there are 6 others in the family). Sitting up makes him really happy. For journaling purposes: Noah laughed for the first time on 07/21/10. Noah rolled over from back to tummy on 07/22/10. (It was a very eventful week for him)

Marching Band 2010-11

2010-08-08T08:00:00.000-07:00

Doug has been very busy this last week with Drumline and Marching Band Camp. He loves teaching band. It is his "2nd Family". Kaylee and Lexi love to go to band camp with him and hang out with the Flag team. The flag team loves the girls. Last year the Colorguard instructor made them their own mini flags so they can learn the moves and twirl too. Notice Kaylee and Lexi in the upper left corner of this last picture. This is on lunch break. I can't believe school starts in one week. Where has the summer gone?

I made it! (and so did Mason)

2010-07-30T18:53:00.000-07:00

I made it through potty training another child. Mason has been successful in learning how to use the potty this past week. He still isn't potty trained at night, but at least this is a start.
He now goes in on his own...even when he's playing outside. It's great! I am so proud of him. Only one more child to go...WOO HOO! I sooooo hate potty training.

On a side note...my kids are totally in to the slug bug game whenever we go anywhere. They have now added "Cruiser Bruiser" to the game as well. I must be terrible at this game because I get punched A LOT! Mason doesn't quite understand this game and he'll come up to you (in the house), say "red one" and punch you as hard as he can. I think he just likes hitting people. He is definitely ALL BOY!

Kaylee turns 9

2010-07-18T12:27:00.001-07:00

Kaylee turned nine years old last week. I can't believe how fast she is growing up. In some ways, she acts 16. She talked me in to letting her get her ears pierced one year early. Originally, I told my girls they had to wait until they were 10. She has done an excellent job of taking care of them, so I think she was mature enough to get them done. She chose a ruby for her birthstone:

Kaylee and I had a mommy-daughter date. We went to see "Despicable Me" in 3D, had her ears pierced, and then went out to lunch. We had a great time! Before we headed home, I let her buy the newest Justin Bieber cd. I remember my first "famous boy crush". As a tween, I loved watching Kirk Cameron on "Growing pains". Awwww....life was so simple back then. I still feel like she is too young to have a boy crush though. I think I still thought boys were icky when I was 9. Lucky for her, the new cd had a Justin Bieber poster in it: The day before her birthday, her Uncle Kevin and cousin Tui visited from Utah. They were able to watch Kaylee open a few presents, eat brownies, and join in on a little bit of the festivities.
I think she was spoiled this birthday, because in addition to all of that, she went to the funplex twice in the 3 days over her birthday weekend. Once while Uncle Kevin and Tui were visiting, and once with Lexi and a friend. Instead of a birthday cake this year, she wanted donuts with ice cream in the middle.
I put together a small slide show of Kaylee growing up over the years:

Happy Birthday Kaylee!

Independence Day 2010

2010-07-04T12:07:00.000-07:00

We've really enjoyed the holiday weekend. On Friday, we went to a concert and pot luck at Glenmere Park. Doug's marching band performed and we all enjoyed eating yummy food. Then, on Saturday morning we headed over to the parade. I went with some friends in our ward. It was fun to visit and not have to watch the parade by myself. Doug's group sounded great. They call it the "All City Band" because several students from different High Schools join together to march. Lexi, Cassidy Whetten, Jordan, Kaylee, and Mason

Later in the afternoon we rented "Alice In Wonderland" and "The Tooth Fairy" from Redbox. All of the kids went to Walmart and chose their own candy, popcorn, and soda. This is sooooo much cheaper than going to the theatre. It's definitely easier this way when you have little ones. So much fun.

We threw some burgers on the grill and had a BBQ. Yum! Once it was dark, we let the kids do sparklers (which they absolutely loved) and a few small fireworks. Definitely a fun day.

This morning I dragged all of the kids to the front porch for an Independence Day picture. I've been wanting to retake the "front porch picture" ever since we took the one in May because I just couldn't stand that Mason wasn't smiling in that first one. I had to make some farting noises, but was successfully able to get everyone to smile except for Noah. Hooray!
I hope everyone had a great weekend too!

More pics of Noah

2010-06-30T10:10:00.000-07:00

Whenever I have a baby, I like to take lots of pictures of them because they develop so quickly. Here is Noah at 2 1/2 months:

Jensen Visit

2010-06-23T18:06:00.000-07:00

Last week we had the privilege of having my sister and her family visit. She has 5 kids as well, so we had a house full of kids! It was fun and exhausting. On Monday, Doug and Darren went out to a movie (The A-Team) and lunch. A little guy time without the kids. Later that night we went to Chuck E Cheese to celebrate Jordan's birthday (see previous post). On Tuesday, we had an "Under the Sea" theme day. We headed to Windsor Lake. My sister Marilee and my nephew Nathaniel joined us for this fun day. Lexi:

Jordan:
My Niece, Emily:
We didn't take a lot of pictures, but my sister Stacie did. I'll have to steal some from her later. After the beach, Jordan and Jacob went home with Nathaniel and they had a boys sleepover. Fun for the boys. The rest of us had Seafood for dinner to complete the "Under the Sea" meal. There were plans to watch Little Mermaid and read sea books, but that really didn't happen. My Nephew, Joshua, had an allergic reaction to something and they ended up taking him to urgent care for a breathing treatment. This was a weird freak thing that has never happened to him before. He turned out to be fine the rest of the week. Whew!

On Wednesday, Stacie and I headed to Marilee's for a little girl time. We left all of the kids with the guys and were able to relax a little. We went to the movie, "Letters to Juliet" and out to eat at a Mexican Restaurant. It felt short, but sweet. We also counted this as a celebration to Stacie's birthday (which is the 20th). While we were gone the men had taken the kids to the park just to get out of the house.

On Thursday, we had creative day. We started out with an invention table (thanks to Doug's mom for the idea):

The kids had a great time inventing robots, fish, faces, etc. This was something that both the older kids AND the younger kids liked to do. Hooray. Later that night we had appetizers for dinner. My favorite was the Honey BBQ wings and the Sausage & Cream Cheese stuffed mushrooms (Thanks Crystal for the recipe). Very fattening dinner, but DELICIOUS! And to finish off the night we had a talent show. This turned out to be so fun and hilarious. Darren did some magic tricks, Stacie and I showed off our talent of picking up items with our long toes, the kids played the piano and danced. Jordan and Jacob did a funny skit. It was a very enjoyable evening. Darren: Jordan and Jacob:
On Friday we went to the park and let the kids play for a while. Then we headed to Marilee's house for a BBQ. I had a great evening spending time with both of my sisters and their families. The Jensens left the next morning for Utah, but will be heading back through here again on their way back to Minnesota. We had a great week.

Happy Birthday Jordan

2010-06-19T14:33:00.000-07:00

Jordan turned 11 this month. How time flies. Here is a slide show of Jordan starting in his early years:

Jordan wanted a Bakugan cake this year:

He also wanted to go to Chuck E. Cheese. His cousins were visiting from Minnesota so they were able to go too. So fun. (Left to right: Jacob, Jordan, Alison, Lexi, Kaylee, Rylie, Joshua, & Mason) The two youngest ones (Emily and Noah) are not in the picture.

Jordan and Jacob went to their cousin Nathaniel's house for pizza and a sleepover. They had a great time.

Jordan had a great birthday!

Visitors

2010-06-08T12:57:00.000-07:00

During the past weekend we've had a lot of visitors over to celebrate Noah's blessing (see next post to see blessing pictures). We were able to...have some girls time (shopping), have a BBQ (which it started POURING rain while we were grilling. Mason is still talking about it and is afraid to go outside now), go to Swetsville Zoo (which is half flooded), and swim at the funplex. It was a short visit for everyone, but it was super fun to visit. Here are some pics from the weekend:

Noah's Blessing

2010-06-07T14:23:00.001-07:00

We've had lots of family visiting this weekend to celebrate Noah's blessing. He was blessed yesterday. Everything went great. Here are some pictures:

And it begins...

2010-05-31T11:53:00.000-07:00

School has been out for about a week now and we have been enjoying the summer sun. Here's what we've been up to so far...
Playing on our swingset with neighbor kids Eating chocolate pudding...
Making Noah smile at us as much as possible...
Swimming in our kiddie pool...
Playing with friends as MUCH as possible (Lexi, Bella, Kaylee)...
And jumping on our new trampoline...
We've also played board games, watched movies from the library, read books from the library, and gone to at least 3 different parks in the last week. A short video...

Memorial Day 2010 from Kristi Farr on Vimeo.

New (to us) Piano

2010-05-27T07:12:00.000-07:00

When we moved from Nevada to Colorado we had to sell our baby grand player piano. It was too big and too heavy to move. I was sad. Even though I don't play the piano, I missed it. Doug plays well and the kids love the piano too. I wish I would have stuck to piano lessons when I was younger. For the past few months we have had an electric keyboard in the house, but it's just not the same. The other day I found an ad in the paper that said free piano...good condition. I thought...what's wrong with it? Why are they giving it away? Nobody gives away a free piano for no reason. Doug and I decided to check it out anyways. What could it hurt? So...here's our new upright grand piano:

After a ton of cleaning (inside and out), it doesn't look too bad...for a free piano. The keys are stained and worn, but there is a special paint that we can buy to try to do some repair on them. The sound is in really good condition. We are on the lookout for a piano bench.

The other problem we ran in to was where to place it in our house. You are supposed to put piano's on an inside wall, but we only have one in the entire downstairs and we are forced to have our couch there because of the layout. So it doesn't look the best where it is, but will have to do.

So until we have the money to buy a brand new, awesome looking piano...we are going to enjoy this free piano. We are all happy. One step at a time....

Noah's progression

2010-05-23T10:11:00.000-07:00

Noah is 5 weeks & 5 days now. He is getting so big. He weighs 9 pounds now. He is also smiling. It's really hard to get a picture of him smiling, but the above picture is the tail end of a smile I caught. Some nights I get more sleep than others. The picture below is one of those rare moments where Doug is home and I get to catch a few zzzzzzz's with Noah. Kaylee was proud to have taken the picture.Mason is so proud to be a big brother and he takes every chance he can get to hold Noah.

Doug turns 38

2010-05-21T13:56:00.000-07:00

Doug's birthday was yesterday. A neighbor friend of the girls asked how old Doug was turning and they told her 38. Her reply was..."WOW, THAT'S OLD". Yep...he's getting up there. :) He had a very busy day. It was the last day of school (yippee) and he had to set up for the H.S. Graduation. Some of his students decorated his car with saran wrap and paint (how thoughtful). My parents also arrived in town for the weekend, so they were able to join in on the celebration. We did the usual party stuff....decorations, presents, cake and ice cream. We all had an enjoyable day. Here is one of the presents Doug received from Kaylee and Lexi. It is a picture of a puppy. He also received a wii game and controller. I made a caramel cake for the first time. It turned out okay. Unfortunately, Doug didn't blow out all of his candles in one blow and his wish won't come true. Maybe next year.
Overall, I think he had a good birthday this year. Happy Birthday!

Theme week

2010-05-03T13:14:00.000-07:00

(This is my fourth post for the day, so don't forget to check them all out)
We were very lucky to recently have my parents come for 3 weeks and Doug's parents to come for a week. They helped out so much! THANK YOU! I already blogged about some fun things we did while my parents were here and I thought I would blog about some fun things we did with Doug's parents too. Doug's mom decided to have a theme of the day and have fun activities for the kids to do. Here's what they did:
Day one: JUNGLE DAY
Grandma gave all of the kids Jungle hats. They made an art folder to hold all of their projects for the entire week. They drew jungle animals to keep in their folder. They went on a nature walk and looked for all of the animals they could. They had Tiger chow and jungle leaves for dinner (Spaghetti and salad) and nests with eggs (jelly beans) for dessert. They hung up a bird feeder so they could observe birds for the week.They also made a volcano out of salt dough to erupt on a different day.
Day two: BOOK OF MORMON DAY After church Grandma had everyone choose their favorite book of mormon character. Each person told something about their character and we colored a collage coloring page of memorable book of mormon stories. Grandma gave everyone a book of mormon, B.O.M reading chart, and a framed picture of Jesus. She challenged everyone to read the book of mormon. The kids have been doing great with this challenge. Woo hoo!
Day three: MAD SCIENTIST DAY Jordan learned about bridges and drew 4 different kinds. He also built the bridges out of blocks and cardboard. He drove matchbox cars over them to see which one was strongest. Jordan also talked with grandma about engineers and drew a floor plan of our house. These are all things that helped Jordan pass some things off in his Webelos Cub Scout book. Hooray. All of the kids made catapults out of blocks, plastic spoons, and duct tape. They wadded up pieces of paper and shot them in the backyard. They pretended like they were at war. They also erupted the volcano that they made on Saturday. They used baking soda, food coloring and vinegar.

Volcano erupting from Kristi Farr on Vimeo.

Day Four: WILD WEST DAY The kids made Indian head bands with paper, markers, and feathers. They also made sack puppets to sing songs with and put on plays. Later in the week Jordan performed a "musical" with his puppets.

We ate Navajo Tacos for dinner....mmmm...scones...mmmm.
Day Five: THE OLYMPICS

For one of Jordan's Webelos pins he had to do physical activities and show improvement over a month. About a month before Grandma came, we made a chart of several different physical activities and performed each activity. On Olympic day we did them again to see the improvement. The kids did sit ups, push ups, pull ups, standing long jumps, a 50 yard dash, and a quarter mile run. All of the kids improved. Grandma had an awards ceremony where they all received gold awards.
Day six: YAD SDRAWKCAB (backwards day) Each kid got a hat with their name spelled backwards. They started the day with dinner and ended the day with breakfast. They played a game where they would each write a line of a story and fold the paper so only one word showed, then passed it to the next person. The stories turned out pretty silly.
Day Seven: GAME DAY
Each person put a game in the bowl and we chose games to play all night long. We played Sorry, Trouble, Cat in the hat game, and charades. Everyone had a good time.
Day Eight: MEMORY DAY
Grandma put together a memory book of the entire week. She typed up memories and developed pictures to put in the book. Something we will always treasure.
What a great week with Grandma and Grandpa Farr.

The death of a loved one...sort of

2010-05-03T13:03:00.001-07:00

Our beloved hamster "Oreo" recently died. He was getting pretty old...(over 3 years). I think he contracted pink eye or something. I feel guilty for not being sad (in fact, I felt happy). I felt bad for Oreo. Nobody ever played with him. I'm the one who cleaned his cage and fed him most of the time. He spent his time trying to escape...and frankly, I don't blame him. I would be bored to tears if I were him. Nobody was really attached to him and a few of the kids immediately asked what pet we could get next. (I'm thinking we will stay pet free for as long as possible...I'm just not a pet person). Mason and Doug at the funeral:

Oreo's Funeral from Kristi Farr on Vimeo.

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Noah's first bath

2010-05-03T12:59:00.001-07:00

Noah had his very first bath.
He did cry a little bit, but not as much as I expected.

Lexi's First Grade Program

2010-05-03T12:50:00.000-07:00

Lexi recently put on a program at school. The program was not just singing, but dancing/PE as well. I was unable to attend due to recovering from delivering Noah, but Grandma and Grandpa Farr were able to take my place. Doug did record some of the dances and songs so I was able to watch her program via camera recording. It looks like she had a really great time.

Lexi's 1st grade program from Kristi Farr on Vimeo.

More pics of Noah

2010-04-27T15:22:00.001-07:00

Baby Announcement

2010-04-18T09:18:00.001-07:00

Noah Mylan Farr

Born: Tuesday, April 13th 2010

Weight: 7 lbs 1 oz

Length: 20 1/2 inches

Mason's 3rd Birthday

2010-04-12T12:46:00.000-07:00

Mason turned 3 years old on Friday. I can't believe how fast the past 3 years have gone by. We celebrated by decorating and opening presents: Mason really loves Spongebob right now and so I made him a Spongebob cake:
Mason did not have a nap on Sunday (the day we had ice cream and cake). I sent him in to wash his hands and found him like this:Yep...that's right, he fell asleep on the bathroom floor at 6:00 PM. Obviously, after playing with the toilet paper. Since I didn't want him to stay up until midnight, I woke him up. Mason is really grumpy when he gets woken up. The other kids were really excited about having cake and ice cream. We sang to him even though he was SUPER grumpy. The result:

Mason's 3rd Birthday from Kristi Farr on Vimeo.

Soooo...he eventually calmed down and ate his cake and ice cream:
Happy Birthday Mason!

Spring Break

2010-04-10T06:52:00.001-07:00

The kids have had a great spring break. Grandma and Grandpa Burgess are visiting from Utah and we've been able to do some fun things. We've gone geocaching, played games, gone to the park, watched movies, went out for ice cream, etc. On top of that, it's been sunny for most of the week and the kids have been spending endless hours playing with their friends outside. Jordan:
Mason:
Lexi:
Kaylee:

My Dad and me (9 months pregnant):

Grandma & Mason:

Doug has been in New York this week with students in the Music Department. They have done a TON of really fun things. He comes home today and hopefully I can post some pictures. If I wasn't 9 months pregnant, I would've considered going with him. I was glad to have my parents in town because I have had labor pains for the past 30 hours and have even gone to the hospital with false labor. After 2.5 hours of contractions 3 minutes apart, my contractions just stopped and they sent me home. I was glad about this because I would really like Doug here AND it was on Mason's birthday that this happened (more info on his birthday later). It's been fun to have the kids home, but I am ready to send them back to school on Monday. :)

Easter weekend

2010-04-05T19:08:00.001-07:00

Easter was very fun this year because we had lots of family to share it with. My sister and her family only live an hour away and my parents are in town too. So much fun. On Saturday we conducted our traditional egg decorating activity. Mason waiting for his eggs to dye: Lexi with her colored eggs:
Kaylee's prized eggs:
Jordan
Grandma
On Sunday, we listened to conference and enjoyed being together. Grandma, Marilee, Daniel, Lexi putting a puzzle together.
The finished product:
Some of the guys "watching" conference:
Doug trying to get everything done before his trip to NY:
The Easter Feast:
I hope all of you enjoyed your Easter festivities just as much as we did. Happy Easter!

Pinewood Derby

2010-03-25T12:27:00.000-07:00

Last night was our Pinewood Derby. Jordan came in 6th place out of 14 participants. He really didn't care if he placed or not....as long as he wasn't in last place.

Way to go Jordan!

Colors

2010-03-22T06:41:00.000-07:00

Mason was playing with a toy that had several different colors.

Mason: Dad, what color is this?
Dad: Red
Mason: Great Job

Mason: Dad, what color is this?
Dad: Blue
Mason: Great Job

(This continues through all of the colors)

Mason: You're doing a great job on your colors Dad!

(Mason has known his colors for a long time now, and apparently Dad is doing a great job learning his colors too!)

Seussical The Muscial

2010-03-19T08:20:00.000-07:00

At Doug's High School, the students put on the musical, "Seussical The Musical". Doug was able to get free tickets for the whole family. We all loved it! I love going to plays and musicals and haven't been to one for a long time. Doug, unfortunately, missed the second act because Mason was too noisy. I was hoping that since it was Dr. Seuss, that he would just watch the entire performance. He talked a lot and was distracting to others around us so Doug took him out. I told Doug that maybe he could go back tonight or tomorrow night on his own to catch the 2nd half. The rest of us thoroughly enjoyed it.

If you haven't seen this musical, I highly recommend it.

Squating

2010-03-12T09:25:00.000-08:00

The girls made up Squating. It is a combination of skating and scootering. It looks very dangerous, but the girls think it is really fun.

Squating from Kristi Farr on Vimeo.

Lexi's 7th Birthday

2010-03-05T16:10:00.001-08:00

Today Lexi turned 7. We give our children the choice to either have a kid party or a fun event with the family. Lexi chose the family event (which I was thrilled with her decision). Doug and the kids have the day off school due to end of quarter...hooray. Her day started out with decorations, balloons and cheese omelets. We then decorated her cake. Lexi knew exactly how she wanted her cake this year (and it was super easy compared to last year). She wanted a marble heart cake with chocolate frosting. I always enjoy making the cakes for my kids even though I am definitely still an amateur. Lexi and Kaylee had a fun time decorating their own cake out of the cake scraps I cut off to make the heart. Their masterpiece:

She opened her presents a few hours later and said "this is the best birthday ever". She received money and gifts from her parents, Kaylee, her cousin, and both grandparents. She is definitely spoiled.
After lunch we headed out to the Funplex (Rec center here in Greeley) for some water fun. This was definitely cheaper than a kid party (only $15.50 for the entire family). This is the kid zone:

This is the Lazy River (the bucket fills up and dumps on the kids): And the part that the kids liked the best...the slides:

Funplex from Kristi Farr on Vimeo.

Untitled from Kristi Farr on Vimeo.

We came home and had ice cream and cake:If you look closely in the last picture, you'll notice that Lexi is missing her front tooth. It has been really loose this week and today she let me pull it. One of her gifts was a tooth fairy pillow, so she is very excited to use it tonight. She also remembers that when her sister lost her tooth on her birthday, the tooth fairy left extra money.

We are going to have chicken squares for dinner (Lexi's choice) and a movie night. It's been a day long celebration. Happy Birthday Lexi!

Caught Red Handed

2010-03-02T17:56:00.001-08:00

Mason is at a stage where he knows when he is doing something that I don't approve of, but not smart enough to know how to get away with it. Sometimes he'll hide under the table doing mischevious things, sometimes he tells me not to come into the room he is in, and sometimes he will cover his face...possibly thinking I can't see him?! Here is a picture of Mason pulling a chair up to the counter, opening the spice cabinet, and getting into the salt. He loves salt and pepper. When I caught him, he immediately covered his face hoping I couldn't see him. I guess it could've been worse...he could've gone for the block of knives sitting next to the stove.