Birthday Parties

So I think that maybe my friend who doesn't do birthday parties until her kids are 8 is pretty wise! Holy loud house! We had a house full of a lot of children today for Dallin's 4th Birthday party! He wanted a Star Wars party. I tell you what... Star Wars stuff is kind of hard to find. Spiderman, Diego, Dinosaur, Ninja stuff - everywhere. Star Wars stuff... not so much!

I made a cake for Dallin. I was going to try to do black icing - but then just decided to do chocolate. But I did find some action figures and a cute candle for it. D loved it...

He was waiting very impatiently for his friends to arrive. He sat on a chair to watch the clock on the microwave and wait for 11:00.

We had hot dogs, chips, lemonade...

I couldn't find a Star Wars pinata - so we had a triceratops (sp?). Close enough.

He blew the candles out of the cake before we even got halfway through the Happy Birthday Song... oh well!

We had a pin the computer on Darth Vader game. That was kind of fun. We had Star Wars going during this game since it was a one kid at a time game.

Dallin got some blow up boxing gloves for his birthday. He and Daddy were boxing with them.

Then Daddy got both of them. D didn't have a chance!

I don't think Scott likes to use them for boxing??

Anyway - what a day. Things that I learned?? Hmmmm.... Only have a party for 1.5 hours. And preferrably do it outside your home if it's a winter party. Such as a bowling alley, skating rink, or something....

We did have a great party for Dallin. I think he had fun. And then he actually slept during quiet time afterward! That was the best!

That dang groundhog!!!!

Snow Snow and more snow!!! I know it is needed. I know we don't want to be in a drought. I know I don't want my house flooded this spring too! I haven't seen snow like this at all since living in Utah. This is truly absolutely crazy. It is quite fun on days that we don't have anything to do or anywhere to go... But my poor husband has to drive all the way into Salt Lake for work every Mon - Fri. We are almost out of milk and will probably have to go out after naps. But honestly... I think everyone is pretty sick of shoveling this stuff!! So I read on the internet that the groundhogs were split. One said 6 more weeks of winter and one said it's around the corner. I think we are in for the 6 more weeks.

Here is our birdbath. The snow has almost made it up to the bath part.

Here is Dallin's lawnmower that he was using as a snowblower on our grass. He got tired of it and didn't bring it in. I think it is out there for the duration. Didn't we have some swings out there??

Here are my raised beds. I do dream of the day that I can get out there and start working!

This is the front of our house. Poor Scott has piled all this snow up on the sides of our driveway.

This is the street. Yes - our mailman came to me and said, "Ma'am - I need to talk to you about your mailbox." I know - I know. He has to be able to drive up to it. Well would you tell the snow plow people to stop piling it in front of our mailbox then!!???!!!???

And this is the 80 some odd widow down the street who is shoveling out her driveway. Although, she doesn't drive. Doesn't even own a car. I do feel a twinge of guilt that I am not down there helping her. Instead I am just taking her picture.

SO - what are WE doing this fine snowy day??? PLANTING TOMATO AND PEPPER SEEDS!! And Dallin wants to plant a few sunflower seeds. It's a little early... but heck - why not?? We got a sunflower head from Miles and Marian that was about an 8 foot sunflower. Hopefully ours grow that big too!

So I got these little pellets. They are supposed to grow in water.

They aren't growing very fast... So what are we doing while we are waiting? Making fish faces...

And jumping from chair to chair...

And then they still aren't rising very fast so the kids are watching Signing Time while I am blogging. I love this Signing Time. It's about Pizza. Have you ever had bread on you pizza? How about ice cream?? You probably won't get that unless you have watched the 3rd Signing Time. Sorry...

Well - MANDY and JARED!!!!! Enjoy your 67 degree weather in Texas! (Oh and Kevin in Texas) We are just enjoying our snow. (not) If this keeps up we won't be able to see the birdbath at all!!!!

By the way - we were telling Dallin to go to his room the other night and Maggie yells out "GO" with both pointer fingers pointed out in front of her. I guess she is learning from the Signing Time videos!!

Another by the way - I have had 3 days of NOT BEING SICK!!! I am so incredibly happy right now!!!!!!! Maybe I have passed the sick hump!

Popeye's

What are Popeye's? Oh yum! I am sure that you have all had them. They just are known as different things... Puffed Oven Pancakes, German Pancakes, etc. Scott's family calls them Popeye's (I don't know why). My first experience with them ever was our first morning as a married couple. We had stayed at the Castle Creek Bed and Breakfast and we were served them for breakfast with fruit. MMMMMMMMM..... They have been a fun weekend breakfast for us since then.

PUFFED OVEN PANCAKES
From Better Homes & Gardens New Cook Book

- 2 T butter
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 C milk
- 1/2 C flour
- 1/4 t. salt




Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Put butter in baking dish (I just use an 8-inch casserole, I think the recipe calls for a round oven skillet or something)...heat in oven 3-5 minutes, til butter melted.

Beat eggs. Add milk, flour and salt. Beat til smooth. Pour immediately into baking dish. Bake 25 minutes, or until puffy edges and looks done in center. Serve with fruit, syrup, powdered sugar, whatever you like!

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So there you have it... Popeye's! Dallin's favorite breakfast ever! Did I mention that he ate the WHOLE pan on Tuesday? I had one piece and Maggie had 1/2 of a piece. Dallin had 4 huge platefuls of them! He likes them!

Dallin's Birthday

So our little boy is now 4! And he is just thrilled about it! We have been having problems with him the past few months... he has been saying, "I can't draw my name because I am only 3." Or, "I can only scribble because I am only 3." But yesterday I made a big deal about how he can write his name now at JoySchool because he is now 4! It seemed to work yesterday. Hopefully it will continue!

Dallin's morning started off great! Scott got up early and made Dallin's favorite breakfast. Popeye's, sausage and hot chocolate! He put the Popeye's in the oven and then left for work. Then when the timer went off he was allowed to get out of bed. It was a fun way to start the day.

We also went to the movie store and picked out the movie Dinosaurs for him to watch this week. He had all his grandparents call and 3 of his aunts call.... it was a good day.

Then after dinner he opened presents - and totally scored! He was so happy! He got lots of Star Wars stuff! And books and money and Candyland!

Then we had cake! Well, cupcakes anyway. Ok... they were from Target. But I will make him a cake for his party. Which I think we have decided will be Feb. 9th. I just haven't quite gotten it together yet! UGH! Am I ready for my kid to get big enough to have birthday parties????

Anyway - I think that he had a very great day! As I was tucking him in I asked him if he had a good birthday. He smiled really big and sighed... "Yes, mom. Thank you."

Who You Gonna Call?

Oh my - what a night! Maggie started throwing up last night about 5 pm.... Again.... She continued through the night and then again this morning after Scott had gone to work. He decided to come home early to relieve me of my barf duty. And thank goodness he did!!!

We were eating dinner at 4:50 (because I was famished and Scott was home). About 5:00 both of our carbon monoxide detectors start going. One is in the basement and one is in the hallway by the bedrooms. We looked at each other and said, "What do we do now?" So you call the fire department when the smoke alarm goes off. The police department when someone breaks into your house. What about when a carbon monoxide detector goes off?? Who do you call? We called a friend of ours - he said open windows, check this and check that... Then we looked on the internet... Basically the same information. Except it said to call a professional to check this and that. So we decided to call the police department's after-hours non-emergency number. They said, "Please get everyone out of the home and we will send over the fire department." I felt a little like they were saying - YOU MORON!!! IT'S ONLY BEEN GOING OFF FOR OVER 20 MINUTES!!!! GET OUT!!! They also asked if anyone in the house was nauseated, vomiting or had a headache. Well, that would be ALL of us. I am pregnant for goodness sake! When am I NOT nauseated!!!! And Maggie has been vomiting... UGH...

So we packed everyone up and got in the van. And waited out in front of our house for the fire department. I looked at my camera on the way out the door. I thought - I really should take that in case our house blows up. (that's how vain I am and how much I love my camera) But then thought - you are lame, just leave it. So I did.

When the fire truck came and Dallin was SO excited, I then realized my mistake in leaving my camera in the house. What a much more fun blog entry this would have been!!! 3 guys went in with Scott to check the house. 1 guy got in the van with us and put our finger in a machine to check our CO levels. We were all fine. The firemen couldn't find any carbon monoxide in our house but called Questar to make sure their machines said the same thing. Although while we were getting checked out in the van I did find out that our Joyschool group can go to the fire department for a field trip! (fun little side note)

Then Questar came and they also said that we were good to go. This - by the way - is a service with no charge. It is part of the $5/month fee that you pay for the accounting, etc. Meanwhile - we went to Lowe's and got a new carbon monoxide detector. We found out that the brand that we had in our home is the brand that 90% of the false alarm calls they get are. So we got a different brand.

Anyway - it was a night filled with adventure for Dallin. And thank goodness Scott had come home early. I would have been freaking out at home by myself with the kids.

By the way - Who you gonna call?? - that would be 911. And then your local gas company.

Dallin

I really can't believe it, but my little boy is almost 4. His birthday is next week. I went to get his 4 year photos done on Friday so that I would have them back by his birthday. We were having a not great day. But somehow the photographer really got some awesome shots...

The Amazing Race

The Amazing Race is my all time favorite show. I love it. Scott and I sent a tape in to be on the show... but they never called us. I guess we aren't interesting enough. So this season's finale was last night and my all time favorite team that has EVER been on the race won. TK and Rachel. They were so kind to each other. I don't think they ever raised their voices. They kept their cool for most of the race. And even when they blundered big time, they came back and ran the race even harder. They were just so natural - very granola. I loved it! What would Scott and I do with $1 million dollars? Pay off our house probably. And our van. Maybe get a really good snowblower... Scott is out blowing the snow from yet another storm that is pounding us. My mother sent me a picture of one that I think Scott would REALLY like!!!

What do you think???

Anyway - I am sick with baby - sick with a cold - my poor nose is in so much pain from all the blowing... and we are debating whether we venture out on Scott's day off in this snowstorm to the airplane museum. It is wonderful having him home today. Hopefully I feel better by the time he goes back tomorrow.