Christmas 2012

We woke up at 8:00AM all excited for Colton to open his presents.  Since Barry wasn't home, we were able to Skype so daddy could watch little man open his gifts and participate in our Christmas morning.  We miss him so much when he's gone!

After he opened some of his gifts and we visited with daddy some, then it was off to Nana's house for Christmas lunch.  This was my content little man before everyone else arrived at Nana's house.........

I couldn't pass up taking a picture of our table centerpiece that mom had, it was beautiful!

When everyone arrived, we ate lunch and boy was it every yummy!  We were all stuffed, there was so much food.  Finally after lunch Colton and Noah were able to open their gifts and then play, play, play.....................................

Thank goodness Nana bought them the exact same gift this year, that way there was no fussing or fighting over who was playing with what toy.  These two cousins act like brothers more than they do cousins, but with only 10 months apart in age, I guess that's what happens.  The boys both received superheroes for their Christmas presents.............Colton had Hulk and Iron Man and Noah had Spiderman.  Those boys played for hours with their superheroes..............

While the adults were visiting, the boys took a nap.  Once they woke up, we then decided we wanted more food in our bellies, so we ate some more, then once we were stuffed, we were ready to take it easy on the couches.  After we visited a little more, we all decided it was time to go home.  We all needed our rest since we had to go back to work tomorrow.  This was our Christmas Day 2012......................wouldn't have missed it for anything.

Our Fun Day

I wanted to get out of the house and do something fun.  I wanted to try a new restaurant and I wanted to go to Dick's Five and Dime Store in Branson, so we headed out last Friday for a road trip.  We ate at Joe's Crab Shack.

Inside, it was awesome where we sat..................right under the shark...............

We ordered some Great Balls of Fire and let me tell you.......they lived up to their name, they were very spicy hot!  Then Colton and I shared the popcorn shrimp and fries.  Mom ordered some calamari and we all tried that as well.  I know........can you believe we tried fried squid?  Well I'll have to say, I thought it was yummy! 

Next, we headed off to Bass Pro for the kids to play.   They shot guns, bow and arrows, drove remote control trucks, sat on 4-wheelers, road the carousel and tried on hats.

They had a lot of fun.  Our day was awesome spent with family.

Cookies for Nana

Colton and I had a fun and exciting morning making cookies to take to Nana's house today.  This was one of the best days off for me since I've been on vacation.  When we were making the cookies, Colton said, "Mama, this is so much fun, it's amazing!  I love this day!"  Amazing........how and when do they learn such big words at only the age of 4 1/2 years.  He really did have a lot of fun helping make the cookies.  I'm so glad we did it.  They actually turned out to be quite delicious.  Since this was the first time we've ever made them, that is really saying something.  Here's the recipe in case you are wanting to try something new.  Enjoy.

Toffee Bits Cookies
from www.hersheys.com

2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 (8 oz. pkg.) HEATH Toffee Bits

Heat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease cookie sheet or line with parchment paper. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt; set aside. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla in a large bowl until well blended. Add eggs; beat well. Gradually add flour mixture, beating until well blended. Stir in toffee bits.

Drop by rounded teaspoons onto prepared cookie sheet. Bake 9 to 11 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely. About 4 dozen cookies.

Simplicity

Just wanted to post something simple.  I absolutely adore this picture of Colton where he looks so happy and content just sitting in the floor.  That's what every day should be like.  Just wanted to share it with you all.

Christmas Get-Together with Friends

Tonight we exchanged our Christmas gifts with our good friends, Angel and Katie.  The kids took some cute little pictures before opening their gifts.  I could not pass up sharing these.  They were way too cute and funny to keep to myself............see for yourself.............

I love how happy and excited they look.......................they wanted to open these ALL night long, but we made them wait until after we ate dinner.  Anticiptation!

They then played with their gifts the rest of the night while watching Madagascar 3.  Funny kids!

Photo With Santa

When Colton and I went with Dan, Angel and Katie to Branson Landing a few weeks back, I had a picture made of Colton sitting on Santa's lap.  Here it is:

When Santa asked Colton what he wanted for Christmas, he couldn't think of anything apparently because he told Santa, "I don't know."  My goodness........what kid doesn't know what they want for Christmas?

Daddy Time

Since Barry was able to be home with us another night, I was able to grab my camera and snap some shots of Colton and Barry playing around.  Colton had to dress up in his Spiderman costume and do a little boxing with his daddy.  Daddy is so much fun because he gets right down in the floor with little man to wrestle, box and tackle.................boy stuff.  Colton misses this a lot when Barry is not around, so whenever he gets to come home for a few days, this is always on Colton's list of things to do with daddy.

They had a great time until daddy was wore out and needed to rest.  Colton was not happy, apparently he wanted to fight all night long..............so it was then pouting time...............

..........oh well, not always can we get our way and play 24/7.  There is always next time.

Campbell's Farm

Today we headed out for our yearly Pumpkin Patch ritual with our bet friends, Dan, Angel and Katie.  We first stopped at Steak-N-Shake to eat lunch and kiddos were acting silly(of course).

Next, we were off to Campbell's Maze Daze for all of us to play and look at pumpkins.

The first thing the kids wanted to do were jump in the inflatable dragon.  They had lots of fun.......

Once they were finished there, Colton was off running to the kiddie train ride and Katie was off to the playground equipment.

Uh-oh...............another swing set and slide is spotted............we are off again and fast.............

We actually ended up getting to sit down for a little while to watch the Magic Show.

The kids really enjoyed it................who would've thunk it?  This picture was just too cute to pass up.  Look at these two little ones actually sitting STILL watching the show on hay bales...............

Next we thought we would stand in line for the hay ride, but we adults got a little impatient for that and the kids too..........so we were off again.  Dan and Angel found this mama and her chicks.......too cute!

We then saw the wooden teeter totter that Colton wanted to try out with Katie.............

This only lasted a little while and we found ourselves off again to the kiddie train ride.

And what is this that I caught Angel trying to steal?  Yes.......................a corn cob...............

Barry began teasing her, so she told him just to eat it......................silly BIG kids.................

Finally we were off again to try to get on the hay ride because we heard the tractor coming..............

Don't we all just look thrilled?

 

Last, but not least...........Katie and Angel being silly.............and Dan trying to act normal............

LOVE IT!  We had a great time.  Glad we went, I wouldn't miss our yearly tradition, we always have fun.