Five on Friday

I'm linking up with some other blogs to share

Five on Friday with the Ferrell boys and me!

[ONE]

Zach had a Science Report due on Monday.  Each student had to choose a tree for his report, and Zach chose the Persimmon tree.

We visited Mrs. Dot because we knew she had a Persimmon tree in her back yard.  It also didn't hurt that Mrs. Dot knows everything about trees and plants in our area.

Zach collected samples of the leaves and the fruit.  We took pictures and questioned Mrs. Dot all about the Persimmon tree.

While we were visiting, Mrs. Dot gave Shane a ride on her scooter.

It's always so much fun when go over to Mrs. Dot's house.

And Zach made a 100 on his Tree Report.  I went by the school at just the right time to hear him present his report. He did great.

[TWO]

Shane lost his first tooth this week.  Finally.  

I've been wiggling that tooth every night trying to get it out.  I think he was the only one in his class that hadn't lost a tooth.

[THREE]

Alex and Shane went on a field trip this week with their classes to the local pumpkin patch.  They had a wonderful time.  Can you spot my two boys?

They both came home with little pumpkins.  Shane has been anxious to make his pumpkin into a Jack O Lantern.  He keeps telling me that we have to put a lantern in his pumpkin so I guess we'll be carving some pumpkins real soon. 

He also brought one kernel of corn home from the pumpkin patch's corn crib. 

 He intends to plant the corn kernel so he can grow his own corn plant.  

[FOUR]

Shane is such an interesting little boy.  He has this huge imagination.

Yesterday, he made a little toy to take to the pee wee ballgame.  

I call it a toy, but it's really just a plastic grocery bag and clothespins taped together.

He took it to the ballgame.  Shane and his friend Colt played with the plastic bag/clothespin toy all night at the game.  They even argued over taking turns playing with it.  Isn't that funny. He's still playing with it today.

Maybe I should post a tutorial on how to make the plastic bag/clothespin toy.  Ha!

[FIVE]  

The boys played their 3rd pee wee football game last night.

Alex #1 on the move.

Alex loves playing.  I'm so glad he decided to play this year.

Zach #00 

Both teams had a difficult time holding on to the ball . . . seems like both teams fumbled a lot during this game.

Here's a picture of Zach getting the ball when the opposing team fumbled . . .  He's the one on his knees crouched over the ball.  Oh, and there's Alex on the sidelines . . .

Despite the fumbles, our team won the game.  :)

So there's my Five on Friday for this week!  Hope you've enjoyed this quick look into the very busy week with . . .

                               the Ferrell boys and me!

Pee Wee Football 2014

It's that time of year . . . Football season!  I love me some Football, and combine that Love of Football with the Ferrell boys playing Football . . . well I'm just seriously over-joyed with bliss!

Zach in position at the start of the play:

Zach (#00) and Alex (#1) both play pee wee football at our school.  

This is Alex's first year to play, and he's loving it!  

Since it's his first year to play, he is often put in positions that aren't critical to the success of the team, but when Alex talks about his position (nose guard at the last game) on the team, he is quick to let you know how important his position is for the team.  I just love that boy!

Alex is #1 in this picture.  

Look at how small he is compared to the other players!

In this picture below, Alex (in the middle) is breaking past the blockers and headed toward the other team's quarterback. Unfortunately, he didn't reach the quarterback in time, but I'm still proud of his effort.

Zach has played for 4 years now.  He's getting better and better at the game.  During the first game they played, Zach caught two interceptions!

Here's a picture of Zach at the first game playing in the rain.  Yuk.

And truly the greatest blessing for my boys in playing football are the coaches that volunteer their time (without pay) to coach these boys.  They are patient to explain the plays but quick to correct them when they mess up without humiliating them on the field. Both of my boys come home after practice and the games telling me what Coach **So and So** said to them . . . those encouraging words to build them up as they learn to play this game. And I truly could insert any of the Coaches' names in that place above . . . 

You know that your kids are getting taught more than football when at the end of the game you look out on the field and see this . . . both teams coming together to end the night in prayer and praise for the One who matters more than any game they played . . . 

The score that night may have declared our team the winner, but I know that both teams are winners with coaches and parents setting such good examples to our boys and girls on the field.

And of course . . . let's not forget . . . 

there was some serious football played that night  by . . .

the Ferrell boys [and me]  :)

Menu Monday - Week of September 8, 2014

It feels so good to get back into the menu planning routine.  Below is the menu I've planned for this coming week:

Monday:  Spaghetti and Garlic Bread

Tuesday:  Chicken Fajitas and Mexican Rice

Wednesday:  Crockpot:  Roast & Gravy, Mashed Potatoes, Carrots, and English Peas

Thursday:  Pizza

Friday:  Eating out!  Home Football Game!  Go Vikings!

Saturday:  We have 2 birthday parties on Saturday so we're leaving the day open as far as meals are concerned.  Probably Pizza for supper.

Sunday:  Homecoming at Elon Baptist Church so we'll probably eat lunch with them

Sunday Supper:  Three Cheese Voila!  

And that is my plans for this week's dinners for . . .

                             the Ferrell boys and me!

Manic Monday

It's crazy at Ferrell Farm right now.

Not just crazy because of  3 little wild boys, but crazy with disorganization i.e. school schedules, football practice, homework, and life of 3 very active little boys.

I've got to get control.  My first response to chaos in my life is to make a list.  Make a plan.

The first problem area is dinnertime meals.  I have had no plan therefore we have been eating pizza and corndogs and McDonalds or KFC most nights for supper.  Yuck!

The second problem area is my messy cluttered house.  Summer with 3 boys at home added a lot of clutter and mess to my sanctuary from work.  My home is not my sanctuary when it's messy and cluttered.  

So that's where I'm going to start. . . first with a Meal Plan.  I've used menu plans many times, but always seem to drop my menu plans during the summer when our schedules are so irregular with ball practices and games and vacations.

September 1st seems like a great time to start planning our meals!

Here we go:

Monday:  Chili Dogs 

Tuesday:  BBQ Baked Chicken / Pasta Sides / Green Bean Bundles

Wednesday:  Crockpot:  Roast Beef Sandwich with Gravy/ 
          Cole Slaw

Thursday:  Sloppy Joes / Sweet Potato Fries

Friday:  Hamburgers / Fries

Saturday:  Baby Back Ribs / Baked Potatoes / Mac & Cheese /          Baked Beans

Sunday:  Lunch:  Baked Chicken / leftover Mac & Cheese /              Purple Hull Peas / Cole Slaw / Cornbread

Sunday Supper:  Chicken Noodle Casserole / Peas / Rolls
      
Now to tackle the messy cluttered house problem.  I've decided to take strategic assault on the clutter by focusing on one room a week.  There are 16 weeks until the week of Christmas so I divided my house into 16 sections or rooms.  I wrote each room on a slip of paper.  

Shane drew out one slip from the vase . . .

and randomly determined that the boys' bathroom would be my focus area for this week.

Now I'm still going to continue cleaning my entire house daily/weekly, but I'm going to focus on the boy's bathroom and try to de-clutter and organize that area specifically during this week. I'm also going to try and complete some of the areas in the boys' bathroom that we haven't finished since building the house.

Here's a peak at the boys' bathroom as it is right now:

Seriously messy and no place to hang up hand towels . . .

No doorknobs.

No mirrors . . . lighting issues . . .

No place to hang up towels . . . no shower curtain . . .

Wow!  What a mess!  I honestly wouldn't have picked the boys' bathroom to start my de-clutter/clean up mission, but now I think it was a good thing their bathroom was chosen.

Looks like I'll be cleaning out some cabinets and shopping for mirrors, towel hangers, shower curtains, light bulbs, and doorknobs this week!  Wonder if I can get it all done in just a week!?!

And so begins another attempt at organization with . . .

                                  the Ferrell boys and me!

A Great Day at the Zoo!

We love going to a zoo, and my favorite zoo to visit is the Birmingham Zoo.  There's  so much to do and so much to see that you should plan to spend the day there.

Before we go to the zoo, we try to eat a good meal.  The food at the zoo is a little expensive so eating before we go is one way we try to avoid that additional expense.  Also, it just so happened that this day was special. . . Father's Day.  And anyone that knows Dave knows that he loves pancakes . . . Ihop here we come!

We headed to the zoo after eating a huge meal of eggs, pancakes, bacon, sausage, and french toast.  Yum!

Because it was Father's Day, Dave got in the zoo free.  We purchased the armbands for the boys that allows them unlimited access to ride the train, carousel, and play in the foam area of the children's play zone.  The armbands were very reasonable at $7 each.  Considering the train tickets and carousel tickets are $2.50 a piece and my children rode the carousel at least 10 times . . . I got my money's worth.  Not to mention the foam area.  But I'll tell about that in a minute.

The boys loved the animals.  We saw the birds and reptiles first.

The strangest looking bird we saw . . .

Then we went for a train ride.  

It was a really good train ride.  

The conductor shared so much information about the zoo and animals as we circled the zoo stopping periodically so we could see the animals.

When we disembarked from the train, we were just in time for the sea lion show.

This was a great show.  I love animal shows like this so I really enjoyed it.

After the sea lion show, the boys were anxious to get over to the children's play zone so we headed over there.  Dave and I needed a cool place to sit and rest anyway.

The zoo has this fun splash pad and foam area . . .

The armband covers playing in the foam area too.  

All three boys LOVED the foam area and the splash pad.  Here all 3 of them are right under the foam dispenser . . .

They would get all covered in the foam bubbles and then go to the splash pad to rinse off . . .

And the place next to the splash pad/foam zone is nice and shaded.  Perfect place to sit and relax while your children wear themselves out.

And surprisingly, after a while of playing, all 3 boys came up and said they were ready to move on to other parts of the zoo.

The Carousel was right next to the play area so we spent a lot of time there.  

The boys kept wanting to ride it.

Mostly because the guy running the carousel kept "scaring" the boys and they Loved that.  It became a game to see if he could sneak up on them and "scare" them.  

Did I mention the Alabama Wilds area that has a petting zoo?  Yes, even though we have goats and chickens and kittens and dogs, it's still fun for the boys to pet and play with the animals at a petting zoo.

And part of the Alabama Wilds is a cool zip line you can do.  It costs a little money ($16) to do it or you can buy the armband that includes everything as the other armband plus the zip line for $20.  We weren't sure about the zip line so we didn't buy that armband. 
All three boys wanted to do the zip line once they saw it, but Shane didn't weigh enough.

It was like 4 or 5 different zip lines you do as a part of the course.

It looks like fun, doesn't it?

Dave and I thought we would try it too.  

Here's me getting ready to do it.

And here's me backing out and climbing down the ladder.  :)

But Dave didn't back out.  Nope he embraced it totally.  

After the zip line, we set off to see the rest of the zoo.  First the Predators:

And the boys rode the camel:

Then we went to the Savannah area:

Then the Primates:

And then finally the Rhinos and Elephants:

At this point, the Zoo was closing and I think we might have been the last ones to leave because the other people leaving with us were zoo employees!  Ha!

Anyway, the Birmingham Zoo is awesome and fun and definitely deserves an entire day to fully enjoy which is how it was for . . . 

                               the Ferrell boys and me!