Here are some highlights from 2025. Enjoy the things we have accomplished and places we have been with a grin!😁 We hope your holidays are filled with love and laughter as you make your way into 2026. 🥳

weMilk and Cookies 2025 by Melissa Kane

Milk and Cookies 2023

 Just in time for the end of the year here is the 2023 happenings on and off the funny farm. We hope this finds you rested, loved, & full from the holiday season. 🎄

Milk and Cookies 2024 by Melissa Kane

Milk and Cookies 2022

I probably should be cleaning the house so it is presentable to family on Christmas Eve but instead I decided it was time to get the annual electronic Christmas letter done and posted. So here is - the once a year blog to let you know how our year went. (One of these years I will post more often like I always plan, but this was not the year, again) We hope this finds you all warm and well this holiday season!

Milk and Cookies 2022 by Melissa Kane

Milk and Cookies 2018

Well - it is that time of year again! When I remember that I said I was going to try an blog more, but realized I have not posted since my Christmas letter from last year.

The cards were ordered, but never made it out last year and I have not even made the effort to fight my family to get around the Christmas tree for a picture this year. So I guess you will have to imagine how much we have changed in a year. I might try to gather everyone around the tree on Christmas Eve, but we will have to see how much Holiday Magic is flying around the house that night.

It didn't happen on Christmas Eve but we did get a picture with Mark and his cake on his birthday. 

Until then, check out these Google Slides as I try something new to share some highlights from our year. Hope all is well and warm with you this sweet holiday season.

Milk and Cookies 2018

Milk and Cookies 2017

Well I guess last year was an anomaly when it comes to Christmas cards as we just got around to taking the picture on the 21st of December this year. So I think cards might just have to be digital as well this year or maybe a little something to ring in your new year. We will have to see how this week after Christmas on a Monday goes.

The two big G's had some fun Black Friday shopping with their Aunt Michele and found these fun reindeer jammies for all three of them. They have had fun wearing them to school, dance, and cookie baking weekend (when the littlest G was warned about wearing a deer costume outside on opening deer season weekend) So we decided to have fun with these comfy PJ's in our annual around the Christmas tree family picture as well. Hope you enjoy!

Also enjoy the annual Milk and Cookies letter to see what we have all been up to this year. 

Milk and Cookies 2015

Well here we are with me writing this blog after Christmas again! I thought about just changing to sending a generic card for 'all' of the holiday season, but I am afraid my procrastination would be even worse and we would end up with Christmas in July like last year every year. But as long as I get Mark to sit down and be in one family picture each year than I have accomplished something.

Mark He continues to grow the dairy farm by keeping us all busy painting the barn [in the colors of white and chocolate milk]  and having close to 30 calves to feed this summer. All the girls took turns combining with daddy this fall and the bigger girls said they got to drive for one pass of the field.  He gave the girls some more animals to love when he said it was okay for me to give two kittens a new home on the farm this fall.  He is still on the hunt for that big buck he caught on the trail cam this fall as he decided to save his buck tag for late muzzleloader season with the new muzzleloader he picked up as an early Christmas/Birthday present. We continued our annual get away to Country on the River where Dierks Bentley was the show that rocked the stage this summer and we took a trip down our country music concert memory lane with Alabama on the first night.

Melissa I am on my second year as Reading Specialist at AHS. With construction to the high school mostly finished, I was able to move to my own room this fall. I have really enjoyed arranging and making my room student friendly for all the kiddos who come through my doors. I wrote and received grants from Wal-Mart and Dollar General to add some fun seating in my room with exercise ball chairs and hokki stools - sometimes I even get random kids in to check out the chairs which makes it fun for me to meet more students than the ones in my reading program. My co-workers continues to amaze me with the work we are doing to help our students achieve their goals after high school and had a boost to this work as we bonded together this fall to win our school $100,000 from State Farm in their Celebrate My Drive contest. Outside of school I keep myself busy reading, crafting, and ‘just’ being a mom and farmer’s wife.

Gracyn Even though she wouldn’t touch the crayfish in Science she was able to pass 3rd grade and started 4th grade this fall. We are very proud of her for getting above the fluency mark in reading! She learned that mommy might know a little something about teaching reading as when she listened to her and read aloud more at home her scores went up ;) She is taking 2 dances classes this year with 3 types of dance so is learning how to tell the difference in steps for tap, jazz, and hip hop plus she made her up own dance routine at home after being inspired by the song “Better When I’m Dancing” She is also trying out 4H this year for the sewing, crafts, and cooking so we look forward to that adventure this summer at the county fair. And she is continuing her 3rd year in Girl Scouts so be ready for cookie sales in February again.

Gretchyn 2nd grade continues to grow her skills in learning. She loves to read and learn about new ways to do math. Our little farm girl continues to learn more about helping her dad on the farm. She can even tip a bucket over to stand on in the parlor and milk her favorite cow #605. She even tried out hunting by spending some time in the blind with daddy this December, but even though there was a doe close enough to shoot she worked on her patience skills by not shooting it because daddy said it was too small. Daddy found her a pink BB gun for Christmas so she is excited to practice some more shooting with it. She is busy learning new moves in hip hop and tap and decided to try out Girl Scouts this year too. She is quite the sales girl so it will be interesting to see how she does selling cookies the same time as her sister in February.

Gwyn Our sassy youngest gives her spunky middle sister a run for her money. She is not afraid to let you know what she wants and sometimes finds herself in time out as she continues to learn the best way to express her feelings. But her excitement and giggle are contagious and if you ever need a laugh she is the one to go to as she can always find the best thing to say. She loves to read before bed and has Pajama Time memorized to read with mommy every night! No chair or blanket is safe in our house as she can turn them over and cover them up in no time to make a house to play in. It is so fun to listen to her imagination work overtime as she plays and grows.

What has been the best part of time with your family this year?

Milk and Cookies 2014

As I tried to take care of two things at once this year and help Gracyn with her Girl Scouts fall product sale AND get my holiday cards paid for I should have known better. Because then I got busy and didn't realize it was past time to order our picture shirts so they were not ready in time for the usual post cookie baking picture [which was actually OK because Gretchyn and Gwyn had far too much sugar!] Thanks to Marcia for coming out again that week to try to wrangle us for our annual craziness of trying to get five people to look at one camera without sticking their tongues out [like their dad taught them!] After a short rest from the insanity my insomnia kicked in that night and I got the photo loaded, rhyme written, and card made then ordered in the wee hours of the morning. But even paying the extra $10 for quick shipping, the card is still not here or ready to mail.

So here I am with Christmas over finishing up the letter [as my procrastination kicked in even more when I knew the card was late so the e-letter did not have to be done] hoping to email out the link to those I have in my electronic address book and send cards out when they come for some extra holiday cheer after the big guy and his reindeer have jingled their way back to the North Pole.

Happy Holidays from us on the funny farm - and if you are reading this now or later we hope family and friends filled your homes, , you can still get your pants zipped after all that good cheer and food, you are down from your sugar high, Santa made all your wishes come true, and you continue to pass on the true reason for the season as 2014 comes to an end and we hang on for another trip around the sun in 2015!




The 'tail' end - What would you share about the wonderful things that happened with you this year?