Sticky, Yummy, Tasty, Watermelon

The boys had their first taste of watermelon tonight. Fletchman loved it! He especially liked chomping down on the rind. I think it felt good on his gums. Anderson was not so impressed with the whole thing. He kept waving his hands. I don't think he liked the sticky part. After a bit he got more used to it and decided it was pretty tasty. Of course, I had the camera. Here are way too many pictures of the two hot sticky messes!

Holding it like a pro!

Yummy mommy.

This is the best part.

Not too sure about this.

Yuck!

Okay, it isn't so bad now!

Kale does the lawn on Tuesdays, so the boys had fun pulling up the chicken feet Bermuda grass. That stuck well to their watermelon covered tummies!

With the combination of grass and watermelon covering their tiny bodies, there was only one place for them to go... straight into the tub! Baths are almost too much fun for the boys. More water ends up out than in the tub.

Great night at the Farmer house. We hope everyone had a great Monday!

-Stephanie

Shirt makin' fool!

Tonight has been a shirt makin' night. The men have 8 month pictures this week, so I had to make their number shirts. This month we made monsters out of our numbers. I thought they turned out pretty cute.

We also went ahead and made our 4th of July shirts. Those too are pretty darling. Well, if skulls and crossbones can be darling!

Super easy to make.

Make a stencil out of freezer paper and iron it on.

Paint.

Then just let it dry and peel it off. Viola! You have a super cute and easy shirt.

-Stephanie

Weekend Getaway

For our anniversary this year Kale and I escaped to good old Newton County. Mom came over on Friday morning and Kale and I loaded up and took off for some wilderness fun. First we went to Lost Valley and took a hike up to the natural bridge. Since there was little to no water we were able to climb up into it and hike on through to the other side. We then took the stream bed back to Eden Falls. Since there wasn't any water... the "falls" wasn't very impressive this time. So, we headed UP, up, up! Once we reached the top, we put on our handy-dandy head lamps and crawled all the way to the back of the cave. One problem...we had no knee pads. That meant crab walking and walking on our hands and toes all the way back! Great workout :) It was so cool once we got to the great room. We were both very glad we stuck with it and scooted ourselves all the way back there. On the hike back to the car Kale's shoe broke. Of course, these were the only shoes he brought on the trip. He was so sad...his favorite pair. BUT, like any good boy scout he fixed them up with duck tape! Good as new :) Here are some pictures of Lost Valley, Eden Falls, and the cave.

Natural Bridge

Inside the Natural Bridge

Eden Falls/ Cave is up on top

Kale in the stream bed

Broken shoe :(

All better!

Inside the great room in the back of the cave.

Inside the cave.

After Lost Valley we ventured into the big city of Jasper for some yummy food at the Ozark Cafe. It just so happened that the Elk Festival was going on Friday and Saturday so after dinner we walked the square and looked at all the booths. Kale got a really cool new key chain and I got some really good crafting ideas!

Elk Festival

New key chain.

Yummy Ozark Cafe.

It was getting late so we hurried on to Hawksbill. We strapped on our packs and started the hike down. On our way, we passed the two cars of people who were there before us; they were headed out, making us the only ones out for the night! We found a cute little waterfall and cave to set up camp in. It was PERFECT! Once camp was set and ready to go, we took off for the sunset out on the Crag. This particular spot is pretty special to us. It is where Kale proposed :) Absolutely wonderful; especially since we met in a scouting troop and went on many hikes and camp outs together before we were ever officially "us." Then it was back to camp to turn in for the night.

Where it all began.

Happy Anniversary Love.

All set up!

Morning came and we loaded up for the hike out. I'm not going to lie, the hike down = no problem. The hike out is HARD work. Especially with a loaded overnight pack on. I was proud of us though; we never stopped, just kept on pushing through.

Morning View

Tuckered out.

So, we were supposed to go to another campsite for the night and then head home on Sunday. However, we missed our boys, bad. So we took the long scenic way home and stopped for lunch in Eureka. Mom stayed overnight and took the baby monitor so we could sleep all night and a little later in the morning. It was great. We woke up just in time for church and felt so rested. Thanks mom for offering to help out this weekend. We love and appreciate it so much!

The place we ate at in Eureka had shoes on the legs of the chairs!

Great trip! A little alone time was just what we needed. We really enjoyed the nice quiet time, but are so happy to be back in the middle of all the busyness that comes with kiddos.

-Stephanie

Happy Anniversary!

Today is our 4 year anniversary! These past four years have been pure delight. Kale and I dated my last year of high school and all through college before we got hitched... that makes it 9 years together. Hard to believe! All I can say is that I can't even begin to imagine my life without him. He totally, 100%, makes me the happiest person in the world. I am so lucky, and forever grateful to have such an amazing husband.

Our wedding was perfect. It was full of fun, beauty, and yummy food. I wouldn't change a single thing from the way it was.

We were married in our home church, FUMC Rogers.

Full of family and friends.

And, we had the most marvelous cake and treats.

Last night we were looking through all 800+ wedding pictures and reminiscing about our wedding day. We had such a good time with our family and friends. Thanks to all of you who helped make it so wonderful. Since it has been four years I have picked out four of some of my favorite pictures. This was NOT an easy task, but here is what I came up with! Trust me, there are many more I wanted to post!

Love the blue sky!

Surprise kiss :)

Headed out!

Here's to us Love! I'm looking forward to all of the years ahead :)

-Stephanie

One extra, you know... to grow on!

Father's Day

Yesterday we celebrated Kale's first Father's Day! It was grand. The boys and I started the morning off by serving Daddy breakfast in bed. We thought outside of the pancake or egg box, and went for his favorite food... Chinese! We then gave him his card and new pocket knife. I've never seen him wake up happier. After some play time, we got ready for church and headed out to start our day.

Harriet was super patient and took this awesome family picture of us after the service.

Once we left church we went by to visit Mamie. She had knee replacement surgery last Tuesday and was just moved to a rehabilitation facility. I think it really made her happy to see the little men. It was great to see her too. Prayers for a speedy recovery would be great! So far she is doing stellar.

Then we went out to lunch to Lin's Garden. Yes, more Chinese food! Kale's FAVORITE. The boys had their first taste of noodles, rice, won tons, and a mix of ham, peas and some pudding to top it all off. Daddy, Fletch, and Anderson were so stuffed when we left that we had no choice but to go home and take a big fat family nap. Mommy was ready for a nap too! After we awoke from our food induced coma, we went for a walk on the Crystal Bridges trail in Bentonville. It was very hot outside, but there was an amazing breeze that made it tolerable.

After a hike... the only logical choice was to go get ice cream! And after ice cream, the best thing to do is to go swimming; and that's how we ended our day... a nice dip in the pool. Overall, it was a great day. The most important part was letting Kale know just how much we appreciate him. He is a wonderful husband and a SPECTACULAR daddy. The boys and I are SO lucky to have him. Hats off to you hunny! We love you.

-Stephanie