The Making of the Sugar Cookies

Halloween comes around, and we just HAVE to make sugar cookies!  My Grandmother had the BEST sugar cookie recipe, so every time that we get a chance, we make these bad boys, and the ENTIRE batch is consumed within a matter of days.  We hardly share either!  They are THAT good.  Here's the kids enjoying the fruits of their labors in the frosting area.

Oop!  Where did their eyes go?  They must have their mama's smile!

Cookie Monster!

Very intent on making his cookies the BEST that they can be. :)

Morgs enjoyed like 3 cookies!  Then she played in the "circle of neglect" as my friend Jennnnnn would say- otherwise known as the Exercauser.

Cutest little dirty mug ever!

A PACKAGE!! YES!!

BOTH of the kids wonderful Grandparents sent them some Halloween packages, and BOY were they excited!  We LOVE to get packages around here.  Probably me the most, but what can you do.  It just means that someone is thinking about me!  Sorry if you haven't received a package from me ever.  I H-A-T-E the post office!  It is one of the HARDEST places in the world to take all three of my kids- or even 1 child for that matter!  It just doesn't happen very often...so don't feel neglected or anything.  At any rate, the kids LOVED their Halloween packages from both grandmas and have been snacking on the candy, and reading the books ever since!  THANKS!

Oh my gosh!!!  Best day EVER!

Miracle of MIRACLES! All three kids are looking, and only Lincoln looks a little bit goofy!  HOORAY!!!

LOVIN the light spinner.

Cute little Morgs had her FIRST sucker.  She downed a finger shaped sucker in about 10 minutes.  Sugar baby like her daddy!

Cheese!

She also loved the glow sticks!  She loves everything.

Scoop out the insides...

of a pumpkin...carve a mouth, a nose and two big eyes!  We had the fun opportunity to have our good friends the McDonald's over for FHE on Monday where we had homemade pizza for dinner with some SPOOKY witches brew that the kids thought was a little bit too spooky, and carved some wicked pumpkins!  Everyone had a spakin good time.  Of course, the adults (well, Cole and I- the McDonald kids did really well carving their own pumpkins) ended up doing most of the carving, but it was so fun!  Our boys thought the pumpkin guts were pretty gross, and would have NOTHING to do with them- so oh well!  The pizza and salad was delish, along with the yummy cake that Jamie brought for dessert!  EVERYONE thought that was pretty sweet!  Thanks again for coming McDonalds!  It's been TOO long, and now my kids ask about 20 times a day if it is the day that we can go back up to Matt and Brinley's house.  Sheesh!  I guess I'd better set that up or somethin'.!  Halloween is just around the corner, and this definitely put us in the spooky spirit!  Halloween is NOT my favorite holiday, so this is a good start for me!

Enjoying some apples and caramel

Cool shot of the spooky witches brew with the sheriff in the background.  LOOK OUT!

EEEWWWWWW.......

GROSS!!!!

Silly Lincoln wouldn't even touch the inside for nothin!  We had to bribe him pretty good to even get THIS lovely picture.

The finished products!  Good job kids!

Sookified

Then of course, we finished off the night by bringin out the GOOD stuff...chocolate cake!  We had apples and 

homemade caramel, but the kids would have nothing to do with that!

Sleepy boy!

The many sleep positions of the brother- Payton. This kid is SOO funny! One of Cole and my's favorite things to do when we go to tuck the kids in is see what position Payton is in!  More often than not, he doesn't have ANY clothes on- because that is the way he prefers it.  He is always in a different part of the bed loungin in a different position.  LOVE this kid.  He cracks me up!  Sorry I only have 2 pictures- I could have dozens, but just don't take pictures of it every time.  I will start from now on though.  Payton- for your posterity's sake!

Pumpkin Patch at Anderson Farms

We had lots of fun at the pumpkin patch this year!  It is a fun little (when I say little, I really mean HUGE actually!) family owned farm up in Longmont, and it is SO fun!  They have TONS of stuff to do...pedal go-karts, tractor rides- 3 different kinds actually!, 30 acres of corn mazes, a petting zoo, BIG tractor ride to go to the actual pumpkin patch, and lots of different kinds of food.  It is a BLAST!  We got there around 10, and didn't leave until like 2 or something!  We had a great time, and so did the chilies (children for the late person.)  It was a very pleasant day- verging on hot sometimes, so it was even better for the kids.  We scored some great pumpkins, went on some great tractor rides, ate some good food, and had a spectacular time being together.  The kids all zonked on the way home, which is how we like it- so all in all, it was a very successful day!  The last time we went was when I was preggers with Payton, so it's been a while, and the kids had a great time!  Even the Morgster loved it.  We will definitely go back next year!  

Morgs pumpkin that got smashed just a FEW days after we got them!  Dang kids!

How cute are my babies!

Little pumpkin cherubs

Cheese!

The boys LOVED the barrel tractor ride!

I barely fit...but I did it!

JUST tall enough to reach the pedals!  Go Payton!

Lincoln thought this was by FAR the coolest part of the whole thing!  He went around and around and around.

Morgs gettin in on the action.

TWINS!

The boys after we completed a section of the corn maze!  It was SOOOOO much fun!  Everyone loved it.

They had a hay bale maze, and on top of the hay bales every few feet or so they had big holes that the kids could climb down into, and the boys thought it was pretty sweet!

Self portrait

Cutest couple ever!

With our haul after we snatched them up in the pumpkin patch!  Notice Payton's teeny tiny green gourd in his hand.  He dug it up out of the ground, and they made the poor guy pay 25 cents for that scrawny little thing!  He hasn't let it go since, and it's been like 3 weeks since we went!  Good choice Payton.

Rub-a-dub-dub!

Gus stinks....don't all dogs? If you've got a trick to keep a dog from not smelling like...well...a dog, please pass it along! So, around here we give him baths quite frequently!  He doesn't love them, and MAN does he leave a wake of hair and dirt in the tub! He's almost as bad as Payton!  But he sure smells nice after the fact! 

We're kind of getting used to this guy. :)  The boys LOVE to help!  More often then not, Payton is in with him before I can even stop him from taking off his clothes!  Silly Payton.

Shake Shake Shake!

Does he look like a drowned rat or WHAT!

All freezing cold after mean old mom put him in the water!

It's a BOY!!!!!

 Meet Guster (Gus, Gus Bus, Gussy, Goose- I mean Gus!( My parents dog's name is Goose) The cutest, hairiest, cuddliest little puppy ever!  He is the newest member of the Smith Family.
Remember the warm fuzzy jars?  Well, if you don't, what goes on is we have little pom-poms that we place into a tall vase each time the kids do something nice for another person, or mind really well, or something of the sort, and COLE decided that we ought to fill up the pom-pom jar and when we did we would get a DOG! He was promised a dog by me when he graduated with his Masters.  Here we are 2 years later FINALLY getting the dog that he has wanted!  We did quite a bit of research, and found that there really aren't a whole lot of dogs that are for sale that are easy to find in Denver, so we searched online on KSL.com- the Utah paper/news channel- and found a whole bunch of different ones!  Cole wanted a "Bird Dog" that he could take hunting with him, so we decided on an English Springer Spaniel!  Usually, these dogs are a Liver and White color, but I'm not crazy about the liver- so we decided on Black and White!  He is seriously the cutest dog ever!  He is a bit of a nipper/biter, but he means well.  He is still learning. He got Link pretty good on the leg one of the first days that we had him, so Lincoln is kind of scared of him, but he is coming around!  The boys are both coming around liking him more and more, but Morgs is not so fond of the little fella!  He thinks that she is a CHEW TOY, and she does 't love that.  SO- we're workin on him, and he is doing great, responding to training stuff fairly well, and we are excited that he is part of our family!  We look forward to lots of fun times ahead, and are glad that he has come to stay!  Here are some pics of the cute little dude.  The boys wouldn't get into the pictures with him...WAY to scary! :)  More to come later I'm sure.

What we can find this little guy doing more often than not...chewing on something!  The boys have learned quick to pick up their toys out of the yard, or they will get chewed up!

He really likes his little pet carrier that we brought him home in.  Now if we can just get him to like his dog house that we worked so hard to build!

Welcome to the Family Guster!  We sure do love ya!