Blake Turns 3 years old

Blakey is 3 years old. He wanted everything Dora. So we had Dora cupcakes and plates. He was so excited that all day he carried around his Dora plates waiting for everyone to show up. About 30 minutes before his party he fell asleep. By the time everyone started showing up he was so out of it he wanted everyone to go back home. When it came time to turn out the lights and sing happy birthday to him he started crying. My poor boy. We brought out his main present, which was a new bike, and then he finally started to come to. The party wasn't much of a party for the first three-quarters but he made up for it the last quarter.

Oh where oh where could Garrett be?

The other day I told the boys that it was time to lay down and take a nap. Blake jumped up on the couch and fell asleep but Garrett ran up the stairs. I finished washing the dishes and went to check on him. I checked every bed and couch in the house and couldn't find him anywhere. I ran back downstairs to look in some of his favorite hiding places and saw two little feet hanging out of a box. The goofy little boy had crawled into one of the boxes from the new table and had fallen asleep. He is such a silly kid.

Our new kitchen table

We finally got rid of our ugly kitchen table. It was a good table for our family, however, it was long past time for it to be gone. I really wanted a square table but it wouldn't fit in our dining room area very well. So, I had pretty much given up on finding one that I liked. However, my amazing husband found the perfect table. It seats all eight of us and I LOVE it. It is rectangular but wider than most so it looks more square. It is also counter height which I love. It was an early valentines present and I couldn't ask for anything better. We even got to build it together as a family which made for really good times. Actually, it was a lot of fun building it as a family. Now that the boys are getting older they are very helpful.

Dallas Cowboys vs. Philadelphia Eagles Playoff Game

Wes, Jack, Tanner Pope, Sean Kallis, Steve Brown, Derryk Pope & Mark Christensen



Saturday January 9, 2010 was the first Dallas Cowboys playoff game. It was against the heated rivals of Philadelphia. Dad and Jack got tickets to the game and drove 4 hours each way to see it. The only tickets available were "standing room only" tickets. Yes, that means they stood the entire game. But it was well worth it. Not to mention, the outcome was a Cowboys victory. The stadium is amazing and it was a packed house. They can't wait to do it again. Buddy was supposed to go as well but he chose to go to a birthday party for his friend. Everyone he tells thinks that he was crazy. Hopefully there will be another game this year for them to go to again.

Scouting

Jackson pinning his bear badge on me


Buddy pinning his bobcat badge on me

Jackson received his bear and Buddy received his bobcat at cub scouts last night. They were very excited to finally advance. The boys have to pin something on me when they advance. I have to say that it was very scary having them pin something on me. Especially since they weren't paying attention most of the time they were trying to put it on me. They have been working very hard to advance. Buddy almost has his wolf done and should receive it in the next couple months.

Pressure Cooker

(This is not a photo of my cooker but it's like this)

Today I cooked a roast in my pressure cooker that Wes gave to me for Christmas. I was very nervous about this because my cooker didn't come with directions on how to cook things. I need basic instructions like how many minutes per pound of beef, chicken, fish, etc. I am not a fan of guessing what it is I'm supposed to do with a new appliance. So, after calling my parents numerous times, I finally made my first roast. I cooked it from its frozen state for 1 hour and it turned out great. The kids inhaled it, especially Blake. He ate five plates full of roast and green beans. I'm pretty sure that he is going through a growth spurt. Later this week I will attempt some type of chicken. I found a great pressure cooker website with lots of cool recipes so now I am unstoppable. For this week anyway, hahaha.