Sandsledding

One of our favorite family activities to do in the winter is to go sand sledding! 

Allie had the best wreck this time. She flew off the sled and did a spread eagle in the air. 

Mark loved it this year. Even Luke and Johnny had a little turn. 

On Estefan’s second turn the sled broke and he just held onto the rope for a bit and let dad pull him. We had a great time!

Design Kit Credit

Johnny's Baby Book!

I think I'm ready to order Johnny's baby book!

Anyone want to proof it for me???

Happy birthday Luke!

Luke is two years old today!

While reading him one of his favorite stories, Ferdinand, I couldn't help notice the similarities in their growth!

Luke has definitely grown up this past year!! He talks soooo much and is such a joy. We never know what he'll do next. He loves helping on the farm and working with his dad. He is Mark's little parrot and mom's little man!

Love you Luke! Happy birthday!!

Pioneer Woman Meets Country Girl | Meatballs

I had this fabulous idea the other day. Let me tell you about it...

My mom, sisters, sister-in-law and I all got the Pioneer Woman Cooks: Food From my Frontier for Christmas. 

As I was perusing through the foodie goodness, I thought it would be super duper fun to pick a recipe, every week, from the book and all of us cook it and then blog about it. We'd call it Pioneer Woman Meets Country Girl and maybe do a link up.

Having my sisters far away from us.. I thought it would be like we were all doing something together. 

Add in PW and a little butter and everyone is happy!

So I chose the meatball recipe for this week. Yum!!

Here, I have the balls all rolled out and ready to pop in the fridge to firm.

Then I browned them up and put them on a plate.

Then I heard laughing coming from the bathroom and found my cowboys playing pirates with their new boat! (Thanks Aunt Missy!)

Luke says "cheese" but Mark was "too busy" to look.

After cleaning up the flooded bathroom, I warmed up a can of spaghetti sauce.. instead of making it from scratch like PW.. then put in the meatballs, covered and simmered it for about 30 minutes.

I then served up the meatballs with Rigatoni noodles, salad and bread. The family approved!

Army Crawl!

My little feller is 7 months old!

Johnny is becoming a wild man. I've got to keep my eye on him close! He's army crawling and occasionally he'll push up on his hands but he gets around before I can blink an eye!

On top of that he's cutting his first tooth. The little razor blade is just peaking through his gums. I'll miss his little toothless smile!

Journalling reads:

Johnny started army crawling around Christmas time. He scoots all over the place now! At first he’ll just be sitting and playing and then he’ll spot something away from him that he wants. He gets a determined look in his eyes and drops down to his hands and scoots to it with all his might! When I was taking these pictures of him, he was crawling after a toy. Then he saw my camera and changed course! He army crawled right up to the lens, until he was out of focus and had the neck strap in hand! Crawling is always a fun milestone. My baby is getting big!

Johnny's First Chrismas

I'm finally going through my Christmas pictures!

Before I tackle the Hardy Party, Christmas Eve, gingerbread houses, cookie decorating, tree hunting and such..(phew I'm tired just thinking about all that).. I thought I'd scrap Johnny's first Christmas!

Journalling reads:

This was Johnny’s very first Christmas! While he was just six months old when we celebrated, he enjoyed the season to the fullest. He helped make gingerbread houses and was the center of attention at every party! He also enjoyed hearing dad’s voice as he read Christmas stories to us every night. Johnny only tugged on the tree lights a couple times and definitely made the nice list!

Design Kit: Megan Turnidge Whimsical Christmas
Template: Megan Turnidge Template Tuesday Week 40 Freebie

Back to School

Christmas break ended today.. back to school and routine we go! 

I miss Christmastime. I even miss our tree.. all dry and dropping needles everywhere. 

At some point I'll go through the Christmas and New Years pictures.. there are just so many!

Anyway with school back on, I decided I'd finally scrap Allie's first day of first grade!

Allie loves school so much. She was so excited to go back. 

Her class was going to sing her "Happy Birthday" and she even gets to wear a crown! 

 How could you not be excited about that? 

I miss my little partner! Is it 3:30 yet??

Rub-a-Dub Dub!

I'm trying to stay true to my New Year's scrapbook resolution!!

Here is a layout featuring Johnny in the tub. 

There is something simply adorable about a baby in a tub. Wouldn't you agree?

The text reads:

As soon as the babies can sit up, mom bathes them in the sink! 

Johnny loves sitting up and splashing. Its good to be clean after a messy meal!

Design kit: Rub a Dub by Traci Reed