Wollert-Ballou Christmas 2008

Kinney Christmas 2008

Christmas Day 2008

Christmas Eve 2008

Schulte Christmas 2008

Santa Claus 2008

Cate's Violin Recital-November 2008

Here is Cate playing violin with her Dad on guitar at her November violin recital. They played Red Wing and Red Haired Boy. They make a great duo!

Schulte Reunion-November 2008

This November, we were able to get together at the lake with Uncle Don, Aunt Mare, my cousin Stuart and his wife Hong, all from North Carolina. It was a weekend filled with great conversation and Lizzie's home cookin'! We were very thankful that this gathering took place as my Uncle Don lost his battle with lung cancer just a few short weeks afterward. It was a weekend that will be cherished by all.

Sam's 4th Birthday!

We ended Sam's 4th birthday by eating tacos and opening presents. Sam seemed very excited about the presents, in particular the Wall-E sheets, Wall-E blanket and Wall-E desk lamp. He also loved his new Bertie the Bus and Bumblebee Transformers. However, he was a bit disappointed with the "Magic Mirror" he received as he claimed his dreams weren't yet coming true.

Sophie's Pottery Party

After Sam's party we headed over to The Paint Spot for Sophie's belated birthday party. Cate enjoyed painting a figurine of a girl while Sam chose...you guessed it, an elephant! The kids had a great time and wil definitely be asking to go back very soon!

Sam's Kazoing Party

We celebrated Sam's Election Day birthday by having a party at Kazoing! Party & Play. Sam loved spending the day with all of his best buddies jumping, playing and eating egg-free cake!

Sam's Pirate Party

Sam decided this year that he would like to have a pirate themed party. Needless to say we were thrilled to see all the pirates that showed up at our house on Sunday!! All in all, we ended up with about 22 pirates at the party...ARRGH!

October Lake Gathering

After my Uncle Don and his family were unable to make a visit to Kentucky due to his health concerns, we decided to have a mini-gathering at the Lake with my family. Dad and Liz provided tons of food while the family played tons of games. It was wonderful to spend a fall weekend at Lake Cumberland!

Maloney-Wollert Reunion

After 9 years, we were able to get together with one of my very best friends from middle school, Sally. We had an opportunity to meet up with Sally, her husband John and their four children, Sophie, Joseph, Sarah and Sydney one Friday for lunch at the Cracker Barrel off of Interstate 65 in Elizabethtown. I was elated to see Sally after all this time and even more elated at how easily all of our children became fast friends. We can't wait to get together with the Maloney's again very soon!

Tricks and Treats

This year we dressed up as Princess Belle and Captain Hook.

Pati's 34th Birthday!

Huber's 2008

In October, we made our annual visit to Huber's Orchard and Winery in Starlight, Indiana.  This is a trip that we take every fall in honor of Liz's and my October birthdays.  We completed the usual activities of drinking at the winery, riding out to the pumpkin patch on the farm wagon, buying apples and other goodies, and eating fried chicken with all the fixin's at the Huber Restaurant.  It was a beautiful day and the pumpkins were in the best condition we have ever seen them.  It was a great visit!

Lake Weekend with the Hill's

We were able to take our good friends, the Hill's, down to the lake with us this fall.  The little people had a great time digging in the dirt and gravel, playing games, watching movies and just hanging out!  The big people, on the other hand, enjoyed time by the firepit, cooking, drinking margarita's, playing games and reading vampire novels (well, maybe just Lee Anne and I!).  We also spent time planning for our vacation out west next summer!  Can't wait to see the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone!!  

The Fall Birthday Twins!

On September 2oth and 21st, Farley and Mandy both celebrated their fall birthdays.  As they both enjoy this season and Halloween, we figured a combined birthday party and "Welcome to Fall" celebration would be appropriate!  Happy Birthday, Farley and Mandy!!

Dad's 70th Birthday

In September, we celebrated my dad's 70th birthday at Lake Cumberland! Just about the whole family was able to make it.  It was a big surprise to Dad to see so many of us there.  It was an even bigger surprise to see that we were all wearing UK tees!  It was a great weekend of eating, drinking and celebrating 70 great years with my dear old Dad. 

Hurricane Ike comes to Kentucky!!

On Sunday, Hurricane Ike paid us an unexpected visit...hurricane force winds in Kentucky!  A first for us!  We saw leaves and debris everywhere, siding blowing off of houses, trees falling on houses, and even a trampoline on I-71!  It was a crazy day!  Fortunately, we only had minimal damage, with a big tree uprooting in our backyard.  Our dad was able to tie the tree off so it didn't fall into our house, but it still left a huge mess for us to clean up!  We spent all of Monday raking, bagging, sawing, and burning tree debris.  The best part was that we ate plenty of hotdogs and s'mores while we were burning all that firewood.  We have also acquired a storm refugee...a tiny, long-haired, black kitten who wandered into our lives.  We haven't determined whether or not it is a boy or a girl, but we have determined that it is probably the newest member of the Wollert zoo. Along with the unexpected storm damage, we have also had an unexpected break from school. We have been enjoying playing with our neighbor friends and helping out in the yard while not at school. Although, we won't be too happy at the end of the school year when we have to make up these days!  So much for getting out of school in May...

as the summer ends...

Well, another summer has come to a close.  It's amazing how fast time flies when you are having fun!  We finished out the summer by going to many, many allergist appointments, going down to the lake, shopping for school supplies and clothes, going to the zoo with the Paul's, and spending the day at Holiday World with the Hill's.  All in all, it was a great summer!  Sam even surprised us by finally getting into the lake alone and is actually enjoying himself swimming around without clinging to us for dear life...a first for him!  I spent the end of my summer engrossed in a book, well four books to be exact (the Twilight series...the best series ever written).  Oh, to be a teenage vampire...sigh.  

Farley and I celebrated our 12th anniversary this August by buying a boat.  We decided that our time as boat passengers had finally reached it's end and took the plunge into our own watercraft.  I have spent 33 years of my life on Lake Cumberland as a passenger, so it is a bit surreal to now be in charge of providing safe passage to other passengers (a.k.a., my own two children)!  However, with Farley's history as a sailor and mine as a Lake Cumberland groupie, I think we are fairly prepared.  I'm not sure how long we will be able to hold Cate off from actually driving the thing though...she is very anxious to give it a try, and to learn how to ski as well!

Lastly, Cate started first grade at Locust Grove Elementary.  She LOVES riding the bus and getting to know neighborhood friends, a first for her as she did not attend our home school last school year.  While I miss having her over on the North Campus with me, I know that she is going to get the most out of being at her neighborhood school and feeling a part of that community.  Sam has started going to Ms. Melissa's house with his best buddy, Abigail.  This was another big decision for our family, but with the severity of his food allergies, we felt he would benefit from a smaller daycare environment (5 kids vs. 24 kids at La Petite).  Also, we are able to pack his lunch which is a huge relief for us in terms of his safety.   My school, North Oldham High School, FINALLY opened today, 3 days after the rest of our district due to construction delays.  While it was an exhausting day, it was also an exciting day to see things coming together over there.  

I've added some photo albums of the first day and our new boat below...check them out!

first day of school

ss mcfarley

Cate's solo ride

Cate at Hannah Camp

week of july 20

Only 2 1/2 more weeks of summer!!

Well, this week has been busy, but not the same kind of busy we have been accustomed to this summer.  Unfortunately, we had no pool days, so that is depressing.  We spent two days at the allergists office for Cate's new cluster allergy shots.  The first visit was about 3 hours and required 8 shots.  The second visit was about 2 1/2 hours and involved 6 shots.  For a kid who is terrified of needles, she was a real trooper...not even one tear!  We will be continuing these heavy duty shots until school starts, then she will go on a regular weekly maintenance schedule. Hope it all works so that she can get some relief from all the throat clearing she has been doing for the last three years!

We also spent about 3 hours in the pediatrician's office this week dealing with Sam's altercation with our coffee table.  Luckily we were able to go with Durabond glue in lieu of the two stitches that were originally recommended to close the gaping whole in his neck.  So, that was the first injury we have ever experienced that actually required medical attention.   

Cate finally conquered her two-wheeler and is now bicycling all over our street.  She can't believe how easy it really is, even though we had assured her of this months ago.  She looks like a real pro on there! (Check out the video below!)

On Wednesday, we spent the day with Grammy and Grandad while Mommy was at PD for work.  Grammy took us to see Kung Fu Panda which we really enjoyed!  

On Thursday, we went to Kazoing with Olivia, Elizabeth and Abigail. We especially enjoyed the train table room!  We also got to meet Sam's new babysitter for the school year.  He is quite anxious to get over to Ms. Melissa's house so he and Abigail can play.  He has been crying for weeks that he didn't want to go back to La Petite, so the fact that he is excited about Melissa's thrills us!  He can't wait to go pick out his first lunchbox!

Today we went to a Pig Roast at our aunt and uncle's house, Kim and Bobby Joe.  We had a blast running around their farm, picking flowers from their garden, playing games and visiting with our family.  It was a great way to end our week.  

Lastly, after much begging on the part of Cate and her dad, Mommy agreed to let Cate get another bob haircut (they cut off 6 inches).  We have been calling her "Cate Kittredge" since she got home today as she looks just like Kit's twin!  It is really precious.  Sam also got his hair cut today at our new "CaSa McFarley exclusive buzz salon."  Farley and I have now fully replicated ourselves as each of us has matching haircuts to the kids.  Sheesh...

The summer so far...

This has been one crazy summer!  This week has been particularly hectic but fun none the less. Saturday was Oldham County Day and we always attend the parade!  This year, not only did we attend the parade but Cate and Daddy got to be in the parade!  They dressed up like spooky ghosts in order to represent the Spirits of LaGrange Ghost Tours that our Dad will be providing tours for in the fall.  We enjoyed every minute of the parade!  Of course, it was full of tractors, horses, and those crazy Kosair Shriners!  The bag full of candy we took home wasn't bad either!  We also enjoyed visiting our Mimi and Papa at their river house on Saturday night. Papa made a delicious and safe meal for us and afterward treated us to a boat ride.  We had a wonderful night with them!

On Friday, we went swimming at our friends Vivian and Joey's house. We always love to play with them because they have lots of fun stuff to do and they are close in age to us.  We also loved playing and swimming with the Stanley girls: Sarah, Hannah and Emma.  It was a great day! 

Another fun part of our week was going to the Oldham County Aquatic Center!  We went there four days last week with our friends Olivia, Elizabeth and Abigail.  It was a really hot week so that pool felt great!  We also loved throwing sand in the huge sand pit, although our mom wasn't too happy about that.  

We have also added some pictures of other fun things we have done this summer.  Cate participated in a Hannah Montana Camp at Harmony Academy this summer and had a rockin' good time!  We had a great visit with our cousin Malynda when she came to visit earlier this month.  We had a big party at Poppa D and Nonny's house while she was here with all of our aunts and uncles.  It was a lot of fun!  We really enjoyed the video that our dad and Uncle Chris put together for Uncle David's 40th birthday, especially since we got to play some of the roles. It was really funny!  Lastly, we added some pictures of our 4th of July weekend at Lake Cumberland.  As usual, we had a great time boating, tubing, watching fireworks, making s'mores, playing games and exploring with our grandparents, aunt, uncle and cousins.  We can't wait to have another big family get together at our lake house!  We are hoping to have our own boat next time we go down, so that will make our visits even more exciting.  

oldham county day parade

swimming with friends

aquatic center