Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!!! Brad, Braxton and I spent the holiday in Fountain, Colorado with my (Amanda's) Sister, hubby, and 2 kids! It was a great drive both ways! We have made the 9 hour trip a few times now, and each time we get nervous, but it's for nothing because Braxton travels so well! Whew!!! My sister is a FABULOUS cook/baker, so we of course gained our holiday 'pounds'! The kids played every toy possible...here are some pictures for you to enjoy...Conner (3) and Braxton (now 19 months!)...thanks for that reminder Jen:)

Since anyone reading this blog is old enough to know..."Santa" bought this black and decker work bench for Braxton, and I'm so excited because he had a BLAST with Conner's! Good Job Santa!

Nothing like a beating a horse while it's down...I attempted to give the kids 'horsy' rides...what a chore...good thing our boys are skinny dudes!!!

"Baby" Londyn is 8 months old and LOVED her Uncle Brad! I am sad to say I was a little (lot) jealous, but she chose Brad over me...She's too young to know better!!!:)

You can see the boys had a blast!!!

Reading books to the kids...man, I need to get an Ipad...or whatever it's called..Fun Stuff!!!

Baby Londyn riding 'auggie doggie'...So FUN!!!
He was lounged on our way home...
...AND THIS IS WHO WE CAME HOME TO!!!!!!!

THANKS SANTA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We have NO IDEA where this little kitty came from, but he/she (haven't gotten that info yet) was waiting for us and is the nicest kitty ever! It has been around all evening, even followed me to the shop tonight and back home! Braxton LOVES kitties, so THANKS to whoever sent him our way, and I'm sorry to whoever is now missing their pet:)

..OHhhh...and One more suprise we got when we got home...Aunt Kelly!!! Braxton was pretty excited to share his tent with her! Thanks for stopping:) Grandma and Grandpa came too, but didn't make any pictures....oops...

So, as you can see, Braxton had a GREAT long weekend...will be curious how the week starts tomorrow...Happy Monday to all!!!

...and "it" strikes yet again!!! :( Yep, the flu hit Braxton late Friday night, early Saturday morning, and then hit mommy and Grandma Jody Monday--we are HOPING it stops there!!! Thankfully Brad was gone hunting again, and I can't believe it, but he did NOT get a deer! He didnt' seem to bummed about it. We will be traveling to Colorado (YAY!) for Thanksgiving, so getting it butchered and jerky made before then wasn't really an option. SO, unless he saw a 'wallhanger' for my living room, he wasn't going to shoot just anything. (Can't say I'm bummed either!) Although, now it's fair game for me in December to bring the "wall hanger" home!!! Ahh, the competition between a husband and wife:)
We hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving and enjoy your time spent with family and friends! I will have TONS of pictures to share with you when we get home! I can't wait to see how our 'non-sharing 1 1/2 year old' does with his 3 1/2 year old cousin and 8 month old cousin...hmm, should be interesting! Happy shopping to all you CRAZIES out there!!!

...And deer season is off to a start.........so I became a 'hunting widow' for a few days! Braxton and I got to hang out doing our usual! Playing tractors, farm, blocks, reading books, nap and church. I know, I know, we lead a crazy life!:) I did get away with a friend Saturday to a craft show, to find out when we got home that Brax slept the ENTIRE time!!! Brad hasn't made it home from the 'mighty hunt' just yet...we are hoping for a wall hanger...let me detail that...we are hoping for a 'wall hanger' to be hung at the shop office:)

Who needs siblings when you have a GIGANTIC duck to pull around?!As every kid loves to help, so does ours! Ohhh...and DO NOT be fooled, it looks as if Brad is doing dishes---HAHAHAHA--he is mixing up deer jerky! Notice the mess and cupboards left open, yep, that's how they remained once he was done:)
After that hard work of helping dad, they sat down to dunk some oreos:)

This is one of the pics off Brad's deer cam...we are hoping he comes home with this or BIGGER!

Saying '18 months' makes Braxton sound so little, but '1 1/2' makes him sound like a BIG BOY! His vocabulary is growing each day. He loves to say 'baby' for some reason, and so I've been asking him if he is 'a baby', and of course, he's got the head shake and NO down!!! No is also one of his new favorite words. Makes Brad and I chuckle when he actually uses it in the correct term...like, 'should we go to bed?', or 'do you want to come inside?'....:)
We all got over the flu after a weeks time, from Braxton, to I, to Brad, to Grandma...and hopefully it ended there. I guess a good friend told me that when your kid gets sick from daycare, that means they must be good at sharing! (haha) True in a twisted way, right?!

Braxton has upgraded to a booster seat. I still can't bring myself to put the high chair away though:) If you look closely, the drill has masaquered the cupcake...ahh...what a boy!!!As I was making lunch one day, he brings me his 'little people' movie, so I put it in, turn around minutes later, and he has pulled himself a chair, and enjoying his mac n cheese!!! And you can't forget, he NEEDS the cowboy boots on for EVERYTHING he does!!!
A BEA-U-T-I-F-U-L little Bat girl, teaching my little cow how to share! And Superman and Chad scoping out the 4wheeler...Harper probably wondering why it isn't motorized like his!

a tired little cow with Grandma and Grandpa P

Not exactly the best family photo...Brad looks ..well, eh, drunk? I've got a goofy crooked smile, and Braxton thinks we are pretty funny:) P.S...he wasn't really drunk:)

Great Grandma Korth with a little cow, Pretty Cheerleader, and a dirty Knight

The school hosted an aweome Trick or Trunk, but Braxton was a stray cow trying to find the playground!
I think it's his messy hair that makes me LOVE this photo so much!
He just looks so sweet and innocent:)

GERMS=HECK AT THE BUSSELMAN'S!!!
Braxton got to check out Humphrey's new daycare last week! He absolutely had a blast there...and proved that he shared quite well with the other kids! He shared so well, that he came home with the flu that 9 others had. Other than his pyloric stenosis when he was a baby, he really hasn't ever thrown up...so it was a diffucult night for us all. He was so sad and confused, and mommy and daddy were heartbroken to see him so sick, but it was short-lived and he was awnry by the next day. Now, we can't say the same for mommy, who got sick Saturday and is still (milking it) . I don't know how these kids bounce back...I feel like a truck hit me! I don't have any good pictures to share..the flu wasn't really something I figured you would all want to see! But, on Wednesday we will have a 1 1/2 year old boy!!!! SO I'm sure there will be some pictures to see! Hope everyone is having a great day and enjoying our last nice days it looks like! Stay healthy...stay away from the Busselman's..:)

ANIMALS are our new friends!!! Braxton has been so attached to taking stuffed animals to bed every night...hey, whatever will help him sleep better we are all for it!!!!!!!! I believe we are up to 7 puppies, one horse, a giraffe, 6 teddy bears, one kitty, a lamb, and the BIG duck! Don't worry everyone, I take them all out as he falls asleep! He looks scared in this picture, but that is his 'PLEASE DON'T TAKE MY ANIMALS' away from me look!Braxton got to monkey around with Grandpa over the weekend...

Brad spent the entire weekend bringing in dirt and leveling it...it is coming together a little more each weekend...good thing because I believe our nice weekends are coming to an end!

Grandpa takes lots of breaks from working on the yard...I am pretty sure he comes just to come inside and play!
We spent our weekend 'monkey-ing' around inside...away from the work!

...and this is what happens when friends let inexperienced friends drive skidloaders.:)
(skid loader being unstuck with the tow truck)

After bringing in many loads of dirt with the tractor, we got the dumptruck, which brought in over 25 loads of dirt...and we will STILL need more!

WANTED: FREE dirt....Please call 920-3529 :)

This gives you a good idea of what the yard is looking like. We will need to add quite a bit more dirt after this settles, but for now, it's coming to an end!

What you cannot see is Braxton riding along with a very large smile:)

The Farm Life...

Braxton and I got a little taste of farming on Monday! I always tease Brad when he takes Braxton to go ride in a tractor, not being sure which one has more fun...but now I GET IT!!! We had the opportunity on Monday to ride in a VERY large tractor and combine!!! WOW!!! What an experience for me! Obviously growing up in town I never really new much about the farming process, and I'm sure I still don't, but I did learn a few things! Braxton and I rode along and did a little "disk riping"???, and then got to ride in the "ombine" as Braxton calls it! HOW FUN!!! The few hours we were in there felt like minutes...I'm sure most farmers don't exactly feel that way! THANK YOU to the whole Bender clan for the FUN night!!! We can't wait to come back and 'play' again:)

I didn't get a very good picture, but this is the tractor we rode in...it was too dark to get pictures of the 'ombine'...

Braxton enjoyed a Sunday afternoon at the Pumpkin Patch by Norfolk...
I was SO shocked that he wanted to ride on this horse....he ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT!!!

While daddy was deer/turkey hunting, Braxton seemed to have better luck seeing deer... He even got to feed it!

What a cute little apple tree:)I apologize for taking these pictures in the dark...this view is from the very top level of our yard looking North west...the house you see is Jerry's and the shed is Formaneks...and it will get a drain tube put in this week, along with the gravel and then slowly get back filled...
This angle is where I took a previous picture where my dad, Brad, and Braxton once stood (also where my garden was).I am standing in Jerry's yard looking Southeast and that is our garage with the light on...
This shot is standing in the alley looking West...and that dirt pile will be leveled out...
And another shot in the alley looking further West...
I have had so many people wonder what we are doing in our back yard, nope, it's not a building, not an addition, not a swimming pool, it's just a big ol wall that Jerry and Formaneks get to look at:) I hope these pictures made a little sense, and I apologize because I'm sure someone tomorrow will tell me I was off on my directions! Imagine that! If ya get our way feel free to stop and check it out, we get that a lot:)

Happy Week ahead to all...