Happy birthday Jake and Ginny!

March 23rd and 24th are both special dats for me. The 23rd is the day that my eternal companion began his mortal journey. Every year I am more in love with this man and thankful to his parents for bringing him into this world. Happy birthday Jake! The 24th is the day I became a mother. Happy birthday 13th Ginny! Ginny is finally a teenager in her words but it makes me a little sad that she's growing up so quickly. We are extremely proud of her and the lady she is becoming. Some of her favorites right now are: concert band (she plays the flute), pistachios, clothes, and Minnie Mouse. 

Snow days

Tennessee has enjoyed some winter weather, leading to 4 days out school one day and most likely two this week. This week was the first time that we have had sine avid not just sleet or ice. Measuring the yard was over 5 inches if snow and there is at least 1/2 inch if ice under the snow. Jake loves the snow, unlike me, and he left yesterday for Salt Lake City to ski with his brothers. He was so excited to go but I'm sure he'd like to be here today to play in the sons with our little sweethearts. Speaking of our sweets, Ginny made concert band and has been inducted to the junior national honor society, Aubree has been inducted into Beta club, Will is quite the little reader now, and Christopher can wear size 4t clothes now (yes, he will be 5 this year but he's a small little fella).  Life for the Farrell household is good! 

Happy 7th Jacob William

My boy celebrated his 7th birthday this week. Unfortunately we were headed back home to Bartlett TN from spending Christmas in Cloudcroft NM with Jake's family. On his birthday, we took the kids to Carlsbad Caverns and showed the kids where we got engaged. When we arrived at uncle Tommie's house, they had cake waiting for him too. Will is as active as they come. He is all boy bug I wouldn't change it. He loves playing Skylanders, Infinity, and with Legos these days. He enjoys going to hibachi places and for pizza. He currently weighs 74lbs and is 4ft 4 inches tall, so he is big for his age and in size 10 clothes. Both sides of the family refer to him as "the plumber" because his bum is always showing. Will makes me proud of the young boy that he is and the boy he is becoming. He gladly helps his cousins and plays with his brother. 

Merry Christmas 2014

Reflecting on Christmas, I am forever grateful for the birth and life of Christ. His life provides me with hope, strength, courage, and reason to continue on daily. He lives today and I am thankful. This Christmas has been one filled with mixed emotions for me. Not too long ago we found that Michael and his family would be moving to Michigan, however, we had anticipated that it would be next Spring. However, he found out that they would be leaving right after Christmas. One of the reasons there are mixed feelings is because we left on the 20th to visit Jake's family in Cloudcroft, New Mexico, so that meant that when we pulled away, I had to say good bye to Michael's family. They will have moved by the time we get home. The kids did exceptionally well on the trip. We had let them open gifts the week before we left so they could play with them and we could travel lighter. It helped that they had a couple new small things to play with on the trip that were still new. On a side note, I am glad to see Jake enjoy his family. It is not always easy for me because I do not always feel apart of the family by certain individuals but I would not take this opportunity away from Jake or our children. There are times where I think it is because they do not know me well (but we have been married 13 years). I hope one day that they enjoy me and am glad I'm there. The kids are also having a great time and enjoying the snow. They have been sledding and ice skating. We also took them to the space museum in almagordo, NM. Several fun memories were made. Jake said his favorite part was chatting with his dad the night before we left. On the way home we went to Carlsbad Caverns and told the kids of our engagement there. 

The most wonderful time of the year...

I love the holiday season (Thanksgiving and Christmas) for many reasons. One if those reasons is all the time spent with family. I love the spirit, smells, scenery, and all the excuses we make to be together. This weekend we had thanksgiving dinner with my dad's side of the family. There were people I met for the first time and those I haven't seen in over ten years. It truly was great! We also had Amy snap a few quick photos. That evening the girls were surprised by a visit from their besties. I picked them up and took them dinner. I was somewhat bored but the happiness, smiles, and giggles of my girls made it worth every minute and dollar. 

As for teaching, I can't say that I love it yet but I'm surprised at how much I card for all 28 of my students (yes, 28...that's a lot for a 4th grade class), even those who make class more challenging. I had my first unannounced observation abs it was beyond bad. It was the first day back from break, the room was extremely hot (as we were all sweating), and one if my students was "on one" that day. I had skipped lunch to prepare my videos and get the lesson set up, even though I dust know they were coming so everything was prepared but the environment. The kids were anxious to get to music, right after lunch and a day out if school, the room was a sauna, and a few were just full that day. Oh well, I guess it's a learning experienced or me and I can only improve. Later I found out one of my students was deliberately misbehaving. 

As for my precious little ones, they are good. All four of them are growing up so quickly and Ginny is becoming quite the little lady. She is beyond beautiful. The boys are still all boy and Aubree is still the most giving child I have. It seems daily, my children teach me more than I teach them. I can only hope that I am preparing them to make good choices and always feel loved. 

My middle two....

My sweet babies are growing up way too fast. Look how beautiful and handsome they are these days....

Fall break

Phew....I am quickly learning the life of a teacher is not at all what one thinks until they become a teacher. Morning are early avid evenings are long but my sweets have been troopers as Jake and I both adjust. There are many times as ikay in bed at night, a student crosses my mind it I try to think if a way to best teach.  Jake takes our sweets to school every morning and he and Ginny arrive at his school about an hour before school starts. Each afternoon, the three youngest are brought to me and they patiently wait for us to leave. The girls are great helpers. A couple of weeks ago, we surprised them with a daddy/daughter date to see the Phantom of the Opera. I think they enjoyed it. It was so cute to watch them dress up and eyes full of excitement. 

We spend the weekend with Sandra and are spending the rest of the week on home improvements (well mainly Jake).  October is probably one of my favorite months of the year, along with April, because the weather is perfect and the leaves are changing. It's an added bonus that we get to decorate for holidays back to back.