Holiday fun!

Another blurry basketball picture. Carter is loving it! He made 5 baskets yesterday and played some good defense. Ave is not so into it yet. She doesn't like it when she's not the best at something...

Teague had his daycare Christmas Party last Thursday. It was super cute. He looked a little nervous on stage, but he sang every word! His brother and sister told him how well he did :)

He looked pretty cute in his Rudolph hat.

A totally cheesy grin from Teague while waiting in line to see Santa. Ave thought she should look nice for him. Luckily she can still wear any dress in her closet from the last 3 years!

I love this picture! They all did such a good job smiling and telling Santa what they would like for Christmas (Carter - Nerf gun, Ave - Beados, and Teague - Super Hero Squad guys).

Teague decided Rudolph needed a gun. Every game can turn into a battle between good and evil with Teague!

My tired puppy dog. We moved her perch by the window for the tree at Mom and Dad's. Now she will just lay on whoever looks most comfortable. This night it was Papa.

Time for sugar cookies. We made way too many, but it was a lot of fun!

Carter really enjoyed helping Kyle cut them out this year. He always likes to bring some to his class.

Ave was my helper. She was the only one who stayed the whole time.

Teague helped Grandma roll out some dough.

The Christmas "Brachiosaurus" has become a tradition. We had trees, snowflakes, sleighs, stars, snowmen, gingerbread men, and candy canes. However we added in dinosaurs, giraffes, shamrocks, footballs, and basketballs. Grandma cut out the grandkids initials too! Why not?

Teague sampling the frosting. Kyle made some delicious buttercream frosting with a recipe from Food Network. It was tasty! We also used piping bags this year. It worked out wonderfully!

The finished products! Not only do they look lovely, they taste good too! Carter and Avery brought some to school on Monday. Carter brought some to his basketball game, and Ave is bringing some to dance today.

Winter fun

Carter and Avery had their first basketball games on Tuesday. They were crazy and unorganized, but the kids had lots of fun! Kyle and I coach Ave's team (I'd liken it to herding cats), so I didn't get a picture of her until after it was over. Her defensive position is pretty good!

 Carterman had a blast too. He is just getting comfortable with dribbling and shooting. He played great defense though :)

My friend Alicia was in town for Thanksgiving. We had dinner and drinks together. It was lots of fun!

This poor guy was having a rough morning on Friday. I went to get him a drink and came back to find him sleeping like this.

We ended up going to the Doctor because he had a really high fever. Turns out my poor fella had strep throat. He's not a complainer! I never know. He took a little nap in the afternoon too. Looks comfy right?

These two really wanted to go to the Christmas Stroll. It was really fun! Mom and I took these monkeys up to check out the Festival of Trees first. This is Montana Orthopedics tree. It was super cute!

We walked all around. It was a beautiful night. We walked by the Courthouse and decided to stop in at Venus Rising, a little coffee shop I always hear about but have never been in. Grandma kindly bought us some hot chocolate, and we listened to a guy play Christmas songs on the piano. Carter even sat with him and sang "Up on the Housetop". It was a great night!

Teague was feeling a little better after a few doses of amoxicillin. He and Ave practiced his Christmas songs in the morning. He will be singing "Frosty the Snowman", "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer", and "Jingle Bells" at his daycare dinner on Thursday. I can't wait! He loves to sing! Sidenote: Ave's morning hair is amazing.

Since Laney loves her Thundershirt so much, we thought she might like a Christmas sweater...we were wrong. It was cute though!

My ugly sweater friends: Terri and Lori. The ugly sweater party was a pretty fun time!

Kyle customized his...he also won $25 for this creation!

We got home about 1. This fella was still up chatting away with Jordan (thanks Jocko). He had taken a nap earlier and was wide awake. He finally went to sleep about 2:30. He's lucky he's cute.

We went to Silver Bow today for Mason's 6th Birthday Party! It was a lovely time. All the kids had lots of fun!

Teague just keeps feeling better and better!

Avery and Mason are buddies. They are only about 3 weeks apart. I just realized I have absolutely nothing for Avery's One Direction themed birthday party! Aaaaagh!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had some snow last week! We were supposed to get 4 inches and ended up getting 3 times that! The big pretty snowflakes started falling right after Carter's basketball practice on Tuesday (hence the shorts).

Googles made a December calendar for herself. It has many birthdays on it!

This is what we woke up to Wednesday morning!

I liked the way our mailbox looked!

After school we had a super fun snowball fight. Ave got Carter right in the neck!

Teague threw a snowball at me right as I was about to take his picture!

It was pretty warm! In fact, you could hear water dripping all around. Laney had snow clumped all over her. It was perfect for snowballs :)

My 3 monkeys!

The boys went inside for awhile. Ave and I made the biggest snowman! We rolled that bottom section all the way from the backyard. People were driving by giving us thumbs up! It ended being over 6 feet tall. We had to tie two scarfs together to go around him.

The boys did come check it out and were impressed. Sadly, it had fallen over by the next day. Too melty.

We set up our tree Wednesday night while Kyle was working the Coronation. We were off to Sunburst in the morning. We saved the rest of our decorations for Sunday night. They were all quite helpful this year (as evidenced by this pose) and interested in the different ornaments.

Carter always loves a nice blue ornament.

Thanksgiving in Sunburst. We had a delicious dinner. The salads and pies are always favorites of mine! These kiddos had a blast with their cousin Kade too. They ran and ran and played and played! Teague also got asked to be a ring bearer in Nate and Alex's wedding this summer. He said "I can't", and Nate asked him if he was busy somewhere else that day! We could not stop laughing. Luckily, I told him he'll be 4 at the wedding, and that will work for him. He just couldn't do it while he was "thfree".

Ave loves all the art stuff she finds at Grandma and Grandpa Barsness's house. She and Carter made quite a few masterpieces with these non-messy paintbrushes.

Tired, sprawled children!

We spent all day Saturday out at the farm. As usual, Callie and Avery had a good time together!. It was nice to relax and visit with everyone.

Teague quite enjoyed Bonnie's caramel rolls! We all did of course, but he wolfed two of them down!

We had a big dinner at Phil and Mary Jo's for Phil's birthday. Everything was delicious, and Carter was in heaven because the main course was Sloppy Joe's! Thanks everyone for a wonderful holiday. We had so much fun!

Lastly, 3 tired kids on the way home. No idea why Ave covered herself up with a blanket. Sun maybe? It worked though :)

Welcome Hawkins!

I have a new nephew! My sister Erica welcomed Hawkins Matthew Vetter on the 17th. He was a big healthy 8lb 12oz and has a lovely head of hair. Mom and baby are feeling great too. Here he is in the sweet pea outfit that Aunt Terri got for Carter when he was a baby. So cute!

 The little fella in the hospital. Everyone was happy to meet him. Sean, Erica, and Landon are all loving him! We love seeing him when we Facetime! 

It was not as terribly cold last week. Boo wanted to wear this super cute pea coat to school. Terr bought it for a dance Jordan and Abb were in a couple years ago, and it turned out to be a youth size. She told me to keep it for Ave (thank you!). It fits her now, and it's so fashionable! 

New bunk beds for the Carterman! He's back in his room now and has an extra bed for when friends and Landon come to visit. He's loving it :)

Ave has moved to the top bunk in her room. She is enjoying seeing Mary Poppins on the TV a little bit clearer. She's been watching that the last 2 weeks for bed time! That's my girl!

Someone passed out after repeatedly telling me how "not tired" he was. Nicole got these dinosaur pajamas for Carter years ago. Teague is loving them!

Someone has a big boy bed now! He has been very good about sleeping there. I think the awesome dinosaur bedding helps!

My Avers fell asleep on me the other night. She looks like a little angel when she sleeps. I seem to have a lot of sleeping pictures in this blog entry!

Sharing some ice cream with Daddy is one of Teague's favorite things to do!

We built a snow triceratops yesterday! We didn't have a ton of snow, but what was there was nice and sticky!

As you can see we shoveled most of the snow from the yard into a giant pile. Also...my children are gangsters.

I like his happy smile and icicle horns!

A little chicken noodle soup and hot chocolate warms one up after playing in the snow!