Happy New Year

Me, I am not fond of having my pic taken but here I am and I love this shirt, wore it today and got lots of compliments!!

My oldest bookworm, aka hubby!!

What girl doesn't love pink??

Who is she talking to now??? She loved her cell phone, thankfully it is a toy one or I'd have an outrageous cell bill!!!

Rebekkah loves her "message board" :-P

Em, smiling, as usual!!

Man this kids LOVES his books!!!

More books!!!

Noah and his new movie!!

Em, just chillin'

Just wanted to wish all our family and friends a very happy and safe new year. The kids are at m y youngest stepsister's with all of their cousins on my side, nine all total. Connie does this annually and the kids love it!!! William and I went out to dinner and then came home. I prefer to be in away from all the drunken fools out on the road. I will most likely be asleep before 2009 rolls around. I guess I am a party pooper but I just don't care about seeing midnight *any* night. lol Maybe I am getting too old, naaahh!! Here are a few more pics from Christmas too!!! Enjoy, off to spend time with William for a while.

Michelle

A few more pics

One view from the plane today.

Ready to get home, yep that's me in the middle, not often do I get in the pics, I am usually taking them.

Weary travellers, ready to come home. Thankfully NO weather delays this time!!!

Nana and Paca, William's parents.

Paca and the kids, yeas Nathaniel had already made a mess on his shirt before 9:00AM and he is TWELVE!!! *sigh* guess it never ends. :-D



Michelle

Home Sweet Home

Nana and the kids

Granny and the kids

William, Christmas morning, playing with Nathaniel's 3-D glasses!! Nice look babe XOXO

FINALLY on the plane 11:00PM for our 6:10PM flight!! :-/

Boys at 11:00PM, tired and anxious!!! ;-P

Well, after an event filled six days, we are home and slowly settling in. As I mentioned before we had a five hour delay due to bad weather in Chicago. All in all we were there about eitght hours due to iffy weather here we arrived early. We truly enojyed our visit, 80+ on Christmas and most of our visit was wonderful, albeit odd for we Missourians. We had temps of -4 last week on Monday before we left, then 80's in TX and now back to reality. Today was 40's when we got back home, not too shabby for December in MO.

We stayed the first night with William's brother, then drove to his parents on Wednesday. Visited his Granny in the nursing home and with his dad when he got back from the hospital. William's mom came home from the hospital on Friday, although we went to visit her on Christmas day. We are thankful that they got her white blood count back up, it was zero when she went in. She was feeling much better when we left yesterday morning. We then returned to his brother's yesterday ang my sister drove to take us to her house. She recently moved to TX and we were glad to see her too. My niece's and nephew's are here in KC with their dad so we missed them there but they will come to see us on Tuesday afternoon and spend the night.

I will add a few pics of our trip for anyone interested in seeing them.

Merry Christmas and a prayer request

First, I want to say Merry Christmas to all my family and friends. I pray that you have a blessed time with your families. We are in TX visiting William's family. After a LONG wait in KC at the airport due to bad weather in Chicago, we flew out around 11:00pm last night and arrived in TX around 1:00am today. All is good except we are all tired from hurrying and waiting last night. This was the kids' first flight and they all enjoyed it.

Now for the prayer request. Betty, William's mom, started her chemo last week for her breast cancer. She had an appointment for labs today but was also running a fever. They admitted her to the hospital today for at least overnight. Please lift her up as she fights whateveris going on in her body. We will miss her tomorrow morning but plan on going to see her if she is not released. Pray for her strength and recovery as she faces five more chemo treatments. Pray for Gene, William's dad, as he faces the challenges of being there for everyone in the family. Thanks and love to you all!!

Michelle

Updated pic at top

OK, while it is not the "perfect" family photo, it is us last night at my mom's. Noah was not feeling 100% and Nathaniel is not really much on taking pics, well at least posed pics. However it is the six of us together so there you have it!!!

Michelle

Smatterings on a Sunday

Well, as life seems to move faster and faster as I get older, I find myself updating here on Sunday's lately. I guess that is a good day, I just wish I had more time to devote to our family blog. Anyway, life is moving at mach speed and we are hanging on tightly for the ridr to see what God has in store and where he will take us in His will!!

We have been celebrating Christmas all weekend, here at home yesterday, at my mom and her husband's today and then we are traveling to TX to be with William's family on Christmas. I am tired already and Christmas isn't even here. ;-P It's all good!! We passed out Christmas dinners with church yesterday, it is part of a ministry we call RAKE(Random Acts of Kindness Endevour) We started this in the summer and truly did yardwork and such for some of the surrounding neighborhoods, we just want to minister to the community. It has been well accepted but people we taken aback at first as to WHY people from a local church would come and just do this for free!!! It has been such a success and blessing to all invloved, anyway at Thanksgiving we handed out 51 food boxes and this time we handed out 35 boxes. Then we came home and opened Christmas gifts. CHurch this morning, "Carols, Candles and Communion" awesome service, well except for Nathaniel and Rebekkah fighting during service, remember they are 12 and 7, respectively. Parenthood, ain't it great!!?? We had Toys for Tots giveaway today after service and we have a Dream Center at our church and it was our Sunday to run it. What a blessing to see people come in and one new family from yesterday's RAKE!! God is great and moving in a mighty way at our church!!!

After church and Dream Center, we went to my mom's for Christmas. We got there early because it is SOOOOO bitter cold here and even though my kids are older I was not in the mood to drag them in and out a hundred times in the cold!!!! Poor Noah has been freezing all day, praying he is not getting sick since we are flying on Tuesday. Sounds funny but please pray that we ALL stay healthy for this trip. My mother in law starts with doctor appts, getting ready for chemo, this Wed and we don't need to get her sick. I am stocking up on Airborne and Dramamine for the flight. lol A conversation I had with God this past Tuesday, pretty one sided but I think He understands.

Me: "Lord, it was nasty and icy last Tuesday. Today is Tuesday again, it is nasty and snowy. Next Tuesday we fly to TX, with four kids who have never flown before. PLease get this nasty weather out of Your system BEFORE we fly!!!"

Ok, I admitted beforehand that it was pretty one sided, ok so it was totally one sided, but I don't wanna be stuck on a plane delayed with my kids who are newbies to this flying thing. lol Call me selfish but I need patience like I have never had this Tuesday. As I sit here and talk to Emerald and Noah, they are nervous and I will NEED patience and calm to pass on to my kids. :-D Emerald is certain she is nervous but does not want to sit by the window, lol silly girl.

Tomorrow I work and come home to do last minute laundry and pack for five of the six of us, William is on his own. Then Tuesday I work and then we head straight to the airport. I told the kids today, the good news is in TX it will be 60's while we are there. The bad news is when we come back to MO, it will be COLD COLD COLD. This weekend has been dry but bitter cold, actual temps in the single digits today and windchills well below zero. We will all have pneumonia a week or two after we return. OK, I know that that is supposed to be an old wives tale, being exposed to temp extremes causing illnesses, but I work in a doctor's office and it *seems* to hold true. Maybe it is a mind over matter thing, I dunno, but it is good for business at the office. lol I get to see my sister on the trip too, she moved to TX in October. We are driving to see her on Saturday and then she will drive us to the airport on Sunday. My nieces and nephews will be here in KC, their dad is driving them up on Dec 26, when we get home and will be able to spend time with them that week after we return. Seems funny to travel to TX and my nieces and nephews will miss us but see us on THEIR trip to KC. They are staying a smorgasboard of places while here, they are in high demand. lol

OK, I have been all over the place tonight. My blog, so I guesss it is all good. I applaud you if you have made it this far in all of my rambling mess. I will post updated pics as soon as my step sister emails them to me, hopefully tonight or tomorrow. I had her take one of all six of us dressed up after church. Much to Em's chagrin, I made my tomboy 16 year old wear a skirt ALL day long. One stinking day a year I ask her to be girly, adn I still got flack for it from her. Poor mom!!! I miss the days of dressing my girls in lacy or velvety dresses with no back talk. *sigh* Enjoy your babies because they grow up entirely too fast!! HOwever, I still don't getten cotton picking minutes alone, unless I lock the bathroom door and hide. (Em is here watching and editing eveyr typo I make as we speak)

In case I do not get back on here this week, I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!!! As I reminf WIlliam, the kids and myself, we need to remember the TRUE reason for Christmas and tune out the world and it's noise for just one day. Remember Christ is the reason we have the true freedom we don't deserve but He so freely pours out on us, if all we do is ask Him to be the Lord of our lives. All He asks for in return is for us to love and follow Him daily!!

Michelle

Lots of rambling and weekend weather

We have been busy around the Farley house and I see no sign of things slowing soon. Guess I should be used to that by now. Noah and Rebekkah have been at church more this week than they have home, or at least it seems that way. Tonight was our children's Christmas program, "Finding the Christmas Star" and they all did a fabulous job. I always love the kids' programs but especially when my kids are in it. lol I will post pics of them later, when I get time to upload them from the camera.

Emerald and Nathaniel went ice skating on Friday with the youth from church. They both said they enjoyed it but to tell the truth, I believe Nathaniel enjoyed the stop at CiCi's Pizza afterward. He said he skated by pulling himself along the rail. Anyone who knows him would not be surprised by this as he does not have one athletic bone in his body, he is our bookworm. They both have been sore all weekend, after using muscles they don't normally use. All is good though, no broken bones or major injuries. Thank you Jesus!!!

Em's money was burning a hole in her pocket and she wanted to buy Christmas gifs so, the girls and I spent most of yesterday afternoon running around shopping. I remember why I prefer to stay away from stores on the weekends during Christmas shopping. Crowds of people EVERYWHERE we turned. I don't know if I am getting old or people just are rude but this year it has really hit me that I prefer to stay in and I understand why my mom shops online.

William and I had date night last night. Out to eat and a couple of stops trying to find "keyhole-shaped" pavers for a Christmas project I want to make for the owner of the dance studio. Much to my chagrin those are out of season and nowhere to be found. I am going to look one more place tomorrow after work, weather permitting, where I get my stones for hot stone massage. After that I am back to the drawing board and only have until Wednesday night to get it done and ready to give on Thursday. Ms Jann LOVES snowmen so I am searching for a snowman project as a backup, if anyone knows a good one.

OK, so now about the weekend weather...... Friday was nice and sunny, cool but sunny. Saturday was warm, I'm talking upper 50's, lower 60's, and cloudy and WINDY. For KC that is odd in December. Sooooooo, this morning we go to church, pass the bank and the temperature is 62, yes 62 at 9:00 AM, then we leave church at about 12:15PM and it is 34. The wind is blowing and it is cold and cutting through us like a knife. Then we head back to church for the kids program and it is 23 and windy, this is about 5:00PM(had to get there early to get a good seat since church fills up fast when the kids perform) and when we leave at about 7:30PM it is snowing and blowing!!! Talk about a weird weather weekend. Guess it is good for business at the doctor's office I work at but man oh man, from 62 in the AM to 23 in the PM, that's a huge swing in temps for one day!! NOW it feels and looks like December in KC. lol

Have a blessed week and remember that with all the hustle and bustle of Chirstmas time, that we(I am preaching to myself, first) need to keep our eyes on the REAL REASON for CHRISTmas. Remember that no matter what the economy is doing, what the weather is like, that God has it all in the palm of His hand and longs for us to turn to and lean on Him when life turns topsy turvy!!


Love,

Michelle

Sweet Sunday

Well, for the first time in three weeks we all six went to church today!!! We have been passing around some nasty upper respiratory stuff. It started with Noah and ended with me and bypassed William all together, Praise the Lord for that!!! So, I have been really missing church. Today was an awesome refreshing service for me. I missed William because it was his week in Kidz Klub(children's church) but Nathaniel sat by me so it was all good.

We are now home(duh) and just finished leftovers for lunch. I know, I should have been agood mom and wife and made something "fresh" but we needed to clean out the fridge. The boys and William are watching football, well Nathaniel is drawing, Rebekkah is watching tv in her room, Disney Channel something and Emerald went to grandma and grandpa's to help them decorate for Christmas. She is earning money to shop with, good thing she has a grandma that is willing to pay her to help. She asks for allowance here and I remind her that she has a roof over her head, food to eat and clothes to wear. lol She doesn't find it funny but I do.

Looks like we will be heading to Texas for Christmas. At first it didn't look good but things are looking up. I am praying that if my mother in law starts chemo before we arrive that God will see her through and spare her the sickness that usually accompanies chemo. Truthfully, I pray He spares her all together but especially if the family is coming in for Christmas. The kids and I have not been to Texas in a couple of years. William has been for a couple graduations and just to visit at his birthday in 2007. I enjoy visiting but dread the drive with four kids...he touched me, she's in my seat, I wanted THAT seat!!! Ugh, maybe that will be different this year, since they are getting older, yeah right!!! OK, off to switch laundry and drag it to the laundry mat to dry, dryer is still on the fritz, we really take for granted the conveniences until they are not readily there to use.

Michelle

Good news/bad news day

Well, William met with an attorney today that agreed to take on his case against his private long term disability. Their doctors look at him on paper and assume he should be able to work. Even though his local doctors, who see him IN PERSON, say no. *Sigh* it has been nothing but a mess since they never expected him to get this disability this long. Anyway, she has agreed to take it on. Please be in prayer that all goes smoothly and William can handle the stress of these people.



Now for the bad news. William's mom went for her doctor follow up after her mastectomy. IN the six weeks, give or take, from biopsy to surgery, her cancer went from Stage I to Stage III. They are giving her a couple more weeks to recouperate from surgery and then she will have to begin chemo. We had originally thought that this would not have to happen. Please lift my mother and father in law up as they face this challenge, especially with it being Christmas. We are supposed to go there for Christmas but now many factors we hadn't planned on need to be considered. Her being worn out from chemo, anyone being sick around her since her immune system will be compromised, etc.



We have all been passing around some upper respiratory mess, all but William that is. I am now the one blessed by it, well ok, maybe not blessed but it is my turn to have it. Sore throat, stuffy/runny nose, feeling lousy and worn out. I missed church on Sunday and I almost never miss because of me being sick. I am ready to feel better, I do not make a good patient. Mucinex and ibuprofen are my bestest friends right now. I am gonna sign off very soon and eat someethign for dinner and go to bed early tonight, I * need* the rest but never get it.