Christmas Cookies

Every year, for as long as I can remember, and even WAY before that, my grandma Darlyne Johnson and Joyce Rush have gotten together to make Christmas Cookies. My mom and my sisters, and my aunt Debi have also been a part of this tradition. This year, we added Colton, Kyler and Jace, which made things a LOT more interesting! Colton made cookies for a while, then got kicked out of the house and had to go to the shop with Grandpa, then he got kicked out of the shop and had to go back to the house... He is a BUSY little guy who LOVES to 'help', and always has a LOT of questions... We all love him to pieces, but sometimes... Well, maybe we should just leave it at that! :)

Aunt Ang has already experienced making cookies with Colton at her house...and even brave enough to try it again!


Then Mom got to help him...


Then we had the whole "I do it myself" batch...




And at the end of the day, even with all of the chaos that the little ones bring with them, we ended up with this!



This may seem like a LOT of cookies (which it is), but it is nothing compared to what we used to make! They have really scaled down this production in the last several years...

Holiday traditions...gotta love 'em!

You can check out more from our cookie baking day here on Angela's Blog...complete with video of somebody giving Jace his first bite of frosting (it was not me!)... I think he liked it!

So far this month...

Colton "had to go to work"...


Kyler downed her first Big Buck... Ha ha! She LOVES this thing!


Kyler also LOVES our makeshift ball pit...


Until she falls down and can't get back up anyway...


And...the kids 'helped' me fold laundry...

What do little boys do in their mud boots????

Play in mud puddles of course!


At least he tucked his jeans in...

Mom: "Why are you playing in the mud puddle Colton?"
Colton: "Because I HAD to!"

Not the first time, and certainly won't be the last!!!

Harvest is over... :-(

Sad, but true. Harvest is officially over for us. (Has actually been over for a while, but I'm just now getting around to posting these... Give me a break!)

Colton has been in the combine EVERY chance he got...and LOVED EVERY MINUTE! (Special thanks to Grandpa, Aaron, Daddy, Jed, and the Johnson family for all of the rides!)

Colton getting in the combine with his buddy Aaron

Everone was excited to pose for this picture Angela & I decided we HAD to have!

Where's Jace? :)

See ya next year!

Happy Halloween!

Do I know Halloween is over? YES! Everybody has been sick at our house, and Halloween weekend was no exception.... Soooo... we did our Trick-or-Treating a little late. Maybe next year we'll get it right!

Derek & Kyler... Yes, I'm going to hear about this if anyone tells him I put this on here. He was a REALLY good sport and put on his duster and cowboy hat to dress like Colton! However, we never did get Colton to stand still long enough to take a picture with him... :(

Our little Ghost!

Our Cowboy striking a pose on his horse!

Colton the Cowboy, Jace the Pirate, and Kyler the Ghost... We had to be FAST for that picture!

Jace & Kyler...


This will get easier next year...right????

Trip to the Pumpkin Patch!!!

Last weekend, we went to Renyer's Pumpkin Farm with some of our friends and had a GREAT time!

Playing before we left...

Colton in his element...grain bin with corn to play in.

Jumping off the ramp...the kid that loves to jump off of EVERYTHING took his time warming up to this, but was having a blast in no time!

At the top of the tire pile with his friend Jackson...we need one of these!!!

My child that HATES carousels LOVED these horse tire swings!

"Milking" the cow

On the hay rack ride with the Hartman boys and their Mom

Lunch Time!

The "train"


Heading to the top of the slide...

And our friends FINALLY convinced him to go down with them!

One very tired boy!


In case you're wondering, yes, Kyler came along to the pumpkin patch, but she was in her carrier with me all day, so had little opportunity for pictures of her, but I think she enjoyed the day also! Can't wait to go back next year!

Pictures!

We had pictures taken a couple weeks ago at Krug Park and they turned out GREAT! Here is a sneak peek...

The many faces of Colton... And before you ask...yes, that is a tattoo on his arm (a heart w/ Mom in the middle from the football game the night before...) and yes, those are his camo boots he has on. Only Colton...






Kyler...as most of you know, I am NOT a fan of headbands at all... However, these are still pretty cute! :)






Together...someday they're going to hate me for this, but it's SO stinkin' cute! We HAD to have pictures of both of them in their Wranglers...

Where's Kyler?

She is definitely getting where she wants to go these days... She's not all over the place yet, but she's well on her way!

She starts out here...

And ends up somewhere over here....

Or yesterday got herself stuck here...and yes, I took a picture before I got her out... :)


Or in bed, she starts out here...

And ends up here...

Yesterday, when she was supposed to be taking a nap...I caught her here, chewing on the rail. Guess we're going to have to start putting that up! Too bad for short little me!

Good thing she's cute!

And LOVES her big brother! Colton reading her a book before they go to bed...

Good Night! Sleep tight! Don't let the bed bugs bite!