It was parent teacher conferences for Griffen tonight, and he is doing freakin awesome! There is one class that he is working a little too hard on his social skills in but, he and his buddys got split up, so that should solve the problem. Yay! If I get a good report from their teachers, I take them to dinner wherever they want to go. First he picked Bejing Buffet, but we all know, I am off Chinese. So he wanted Wingers instead. Ben and I don't really like it there, but this time wasn't too bad. Way to go Griff!

Blake got Family Dinner Games for Christmas. It's a little box of cards that has games you can play together while you eat. We tried it out tonight and the card he picked was Food Twister. One person starts by naming a food, and then everyone else has to add to their food, using the same letter. We had, steak, sausage, salt, spaghetti, Sprite, Sesame Chicken, sour cream, salmon, sushi, strawberries, spices, salami, sweet potato, sauce, Swiss cheese, salsa, Salt and Vinegar chips. Griff got stuck on salsa. It was pretty fun. Hopefully all the cards are good ones!

Last weekend it snowed. Big time! That is Griffen behind the snow pile, and as you can see, it is taller than Blake.

Our backyard.

The boys wanted to build a snowman. Now, I am more a beverage and blankie kind of gal when it is cold outside, but Ben talked me into helping.

Griff, Blake and Kyler, showing off the masterpiece that Ben mostly did alone. That snow was freakin heavy!

I guilted Jerri into coming down, because after all, it's only fair that if I am outside, in the cold, with children, then she should be too.

It was the first time we had used our "Snowman" kit, and it turned out pretty cute. The hat and scarf were smaller than I thought, but it still worked out. After these pics were taken, Blake decided our snowman was missing an appendage, so he gave him one. My sweet little Blakie! Jer has pictures of that on her camera, and I don't want to post them, due to Snowman Porno liabilities.

On Saturday night, we took the kids around to look at Christmas lights.
First stop, Fantasy at the Bay.

My preferred mode of transportation.

After driving around we got some snacks. Griff had a scone and hot chocolate, and Blake had a hot dog.

They also had deep fried Oreos that we had to try. They are delicious little melty bites of goodness. I would recommend everyone try one if you have the chance.


We went to see Santa, and got there just in time.


Blake asked for a Power Wing.

Griff asked for a long board.
Santa said if they can stop fighting, they will get what they asked for, so I guess on Christmas morning they will see if they did a good job at not fighting.
We walked around the little village that they have there and this was our favorite booth. The Elf Police had the Grinch in jail, where he belongs!

Then we drove around town and looked at peoples houses. This house was the winner.

I couldn't even get the whole thing in the picture, and this is just the front of the house, there was more in the back!
After that we went and did doughnuts in the church parking lot. The truck doesn't do the best. Too bad the red car died. The boys LOVED when it would snow, so they could go do doughnuts in the parking lot with Ben. We had a fun night.

Decorating the Trees!

Every year I let the boys pick out an ornament. This year Griffen wanted a Broncos one.

Blake chose a Bolt one.

They love going through the ornament box, finding their favorites.

We have some shiny and glittery red balls that I put on, then I turn them loose and let them finish the rest.

I think they do a pretty good job. They get better at it every year!

We (and by we, I mean I) have been busy getting ready for Christmas. I only have one more person to buy for, and maybe a couple of other little things, then I am DONE! Yay! It has to be a record.
Today was supposed to be my Grandma's Christmas party, but because of the weather it was canceled. It has been snowing like crazy all day.
This morning Griff had basketball, then we went to lunch with Jerri and Kyler. After that, Blake and Kyler had basketball. Griff went sledding with some buddies, and me, Blake, Kyler and Jerri went to Old Dogs. It was pretty funny. Much better than I thought it would be. I would recommend it. :)
On Thursday, my brothers (yes, brothers. Gordo is back. He has to have knee surgery.) and sisters went on our annual shopping trip with my dad. I now love internet shopping even more than I thought was possible. PEOPLE ARE STUPID! We ate at the Olive Garden. I haven't been there for a couple of years, it's not my fave, but it wasn't as bad as I remember it being. It was, as always, a fun night.

Happy Thanksgiving

This year for Thanksgiving we had Ben's dad over, so it was just the 5 of us. I made everything myself, and it was pretty good (if I may say). We had homemade rolls and honey butter, corn, stuffing, 7-layer salad, mashed potatoes and gravy, and of course, turkey. Everyone ate like little pigs. For dessert we had chocolate cream pie and a pumpkin cheesecake thing. By the time we were done, and everything was cleaned up I was SO tired. I laid down to watch a movie with Blake and fell asleep by 7 and slept until 9:30 the next morning! It was nice.

While we were eating, everyone wrote a few things that they were thankful for on a leaf, and Blake taped them up on the wall. Family, health, house, food, jobs, and girls were a few. It was fun and turned out kinda cute, I think.

Blake made the other decorations, a turkey and an Indian. Cute!

Nice Tip, Thanks A Lot!

I was running late one night and Griff told me on the phone not to worry about dinner, he had it under control. So, I was like, cool! what did you make? He said he ordered pizza and paid for it with the money he won off a bet on a Broncos game. I had no idea he had funds coming in from a gambling habit. That is something we will have to work on putting a stop to. But first things first.
When I got home I told him I didn't really want him ordering pizza and having it delivered when Ben and I weren't home. I don't like them opening the door to strangers for obvious reasons, weather they have pizza or not. I asked him how much it was and he told me and then he said, "And I even gave her a tip." How much? I asked. "Well, my change was going to be $7.34 and I told her just to give me the bills back and she could keep the change."

All Hallows Eve

We had such a fun Halloween! Blake was Snake Eyes from GI Joe and Griff was Master Chief from Halo! They loved their costumes. I think they turned out pretty flippin sweet!

Me and my nephew Caleb, and all 3 kiddos.

We trick-or-treated our neighborhood, then we went up and did around the kids old babysitters house. After that we stopped by a few friends houses and then went to Ben's dad's house and had some dinner.

Pumpkin Party!

The Anderson family had another Pumpkin Carving Party! This year we had it at my house. For dinner we had turkey, rolls, salad, veggies, chips, and spooky desserts. It was a good time! Ben and I ended up finishing the boys' pumpkins. They can't seem to see it through to the end yet. I thought I had a great idea and just carved a little one. It turned out pretty cute. We also watched Transformers 2 and The Adventure of Ichabod Crane.

Blake's is the monster, Griff's is the flame face, Angela's is the little skeleton, Brittni's is the pumpkin face, Casey's is the heart, and Ashley's is the Grim Reaper.

SPOOKY!

Oink, Oink!

Blake has SWINE FLU! I sure am glad we didn't take that trip to Mexico because we didn't want to get stupid swine flu while we were there. He has been out of school since Monday and will be out the whole week. He got a prescription for TamiFlu, (which was $85, my cost by the way) and seems to be feeling a little better. He still has a pretty bad cough. While we were at the Dr., he asked how I was feeling and I said I had a sore throat, and he said I was next. I have to stay home until my fever goes away. Since Blake has been down for 4 days, I bet that's what I'm looking at too. Hopefully nobody else will get it.

That's what cost me $85. Something smaller than a salt shaker!!!

A Little Update!

At the end of summer us and the Inman's have a campout in the back yard. Complete with smores, lotsa food, games, and of course, GLOW STICKS. They are all that matter.

Jerri, Cortnee, McKayla, Kyler, me, Griffen, and Blake.

My sister got married!!

First Day of School!
Griff in 6th, 1st year at the big school. Blake 2nd grade!

Griff had to have a pic of things he likes and this pretty much sums it up. Soccer, basketball, and skateboarding.

My boss gave me some tickets to a Broncos game and Ben and Griff went. They had a BLAST. Griffen was so happy he could hardly stand it. While they were gone, me, Blake, Jerri and Kyler went to the Dew Tour and stayed at Little America. Talk about 2 happy boys!

Meet The Teacher

Blake had his Intake Conference and meet his new 2nd grade teacher, Mrs. Reeder. He was so nervous to go. We went to the classroom and said our hellos. She is very nice. She was trying to get a feel for where Blake stood as far as school goes by asking him some questions. She asked him what his easiest thing to do in school was and he said, "Math". Then she asked what he thought the hardest thing in school was. He thought about it for a LOOONG time and said, "Probably the monkey bars."

Pool Day

During the summer, every Wednesday is pool day. NO MATTER WHAT! It is a commitment that cannot be broken. We have graduated from the kiddie side to the deep end. If I never have to be in the shallow, kiddie area agian I will die happy. This year, we were even able to take a few cat naps while the kids were swimming. Fabulous!

Kyler and Blake

I felt so bad we had to leave Griff home for the last few weeks of Pool Day. So we wrapped his cast up with a plastic bag and lots of tape. Sadly, it only lasted for a few minutes before water got in. Dang it! Pool Day has been a tradition we have done for the last 4 years and it is one of our favorite things to do in the summer.

Happy Birthday Yoda!

It was Yoda's third birthday. We don't normally celebreate it, but we really wanted some cake!