Scrumptious!

Valentine's Day is upon us!  I thought I would share one of my favorite recipes - I know some of you have this one already from our good friend Alyson Matkin.  I actually submitted my favorite variation of it to Gooseberry Patch last year and it was published in their cookbook, 101 Christmas Recipes!  I think cherries and chocolate are a great taste & color combination for the holiday de l'amour, so these would make a great Sunday breakfast this year.  I, however, plan to omit the chocolate & cherries and serve my family plain scones with strawberries & whipped cream!  It's so delicious!  So if you're reading, Alyson, thanks for passing on a great recipe that has become a classic in many homes!

Outing the Uncle

A conversation over dinner last night:

M:  "So Parker, what was your favorite thing you got to do at Grandma's?"

P:  (thoughtful)..."Peeling out with Uncle Mark in Grandpa's truck.  He left smoke!"

Lately

T-bone is finally getting his shot in the sports arena.  We enrolled him in indoor soccer and although he was sick/out of town for the first three practices, he showed no inhibition during his first game last Saturday! 

What a go-getter!  He was so cute to watch.

Our little scrapper couldn't get enough of chasing that ball and he nearly scored twice! 

He even smelled stinky & sweaty when it was all over!  We were beaming with pride!

Parker has been getting in on the action these days with Tae Kwon Do. 

He started a couple of weeks ago and loves it!  We love watching him do his thing!

He has a great instructor who is very fun, but also very good at discipline.  This has been fantastic for Parker.  Here is our little white belt, about to do a back punch...

Ay-yah!  He is so cute when he yells!

We were lucky to have Grandma & Grandpa Brown come over to watch the boys in both sports this weekend.  They are so much fun to have around and now they have taken off with the kids!  We are a free couple for a few days!  Which has been very nice, since I have been dealing with some recent flare-ups with my RA.  This is giving me a chance to catch up on rest AND housework!  The best gift ever!

And forgive me for adding this photo, but it is almost Valentine's Day and I couldn't resist adding this shot of Peter's profile.  He was intently watching his son when I took this.  I think he is H-O-T.

Score!

I got a little crazy at Target a few weeks ago and found this "14 Games in One!" table for half off.  The crazy part was that our playroom is the size of a large closet and we already had the train table in there...

...but it has been SO much fun!  We've already played hours of foosball, air hockey, pool, finger hockey, mini-golf, football toss, baseball toss, and basketball.  We have yet to try out the soccer, table tennis, and whatever the other four games are. We're so impressed with the boys' skills already!  Looks like all the fun times at Chuck E. Cheese are paying off!

p.s. the train table is on its way out...any takers?

A Place for the Lady

Since the Three Men were wondering what pictures of me as an Eddie Bauer model had to do with them, I decided to start my own personal blog. You can find it here. I hope to update it often. It will be for my musings alone, and this blog will stay dedicated to its original purpose - to share the crazy adventures of our family. Thanks for tuning in!

Getting Out of Dodge

We love living in the Tri-Cities. It's dry, sunny, safe. It can just get boring in the winter.

We've been spoiled by the family-fun offerings of Columbus & Kansas City. Luckily, we live close enough to civilization that we can escape.

We had a great weekend visiting my family. It began Saturday with a trip to this fine establishment:

to get these fine dressers for the boys:

that I have been dreaming about for a good long while.

On Sunday we celebrated Great-Grandpa Brown's 76th...

...as Great-Grandma gave Parker a mini-class on playing the organ that has been in our family for generations.

There was plenty of rough-housing with Grandpa...he took a good, long nap after playing horsey for two wild boys...

And pancake-making with Grandma (where's the pic of this?)

Then on Monday we headed back home, but not before stopping at Snoqualmie Pass for a little tubing fun...

I was psyched to go until I saw the hill. Yikes. But when Parker was gung-ho, I knew I had to be. And, of course, it turned out to be the most fun we've had in forever. I don't know how I managed to escape taking a shot of the 12-lane Highway Hill of Tubing Bliss. Maybe it was because I was I was too busy scrambling out of the way of other crazy tubers sailing toward me at 40 mph (a thrill, indeed). But, this is a shot of us on the peaceful rope tow.

T-bone was done with the thrill after an hour and opted to defrost in the lodge with hot cocoa and a brownie.

It was a gorgeous sunny day and a yearly tradition is born! Anyone wanna join us next year?

Peter Turns 31

It was Peter's "Baskin Robbins" birthday last week - the big 3-1! We had fun celebrating as a family. The boys put signs all over the house. He got his free Red Robin Birthday Burger, the Royal Red, with added sauteed onions and barbecue sauce. Every man's dream, right?

I let the nice baker guy at Albertson's make the cake this year with this sinful chocolate number that I knew Peter liked.

My favorite picture was this one, when he opened his new ipod. He was so surprised! He also got Qwirkle (a new game we discovered over Christmas), a subscription to ESPN magazine (that would be the picture of the boxer's smokin' six-pack on the table), money for a new office chair & a long-awaited tool chest!

It's amazing what this man has been able to accomplish by his 31st birthday. Thanks for being born, honey!

America, The Next Time You See Me...

Tonight starts the season premier of the Biggest Loser (I just call it the BL). Upon getting voted off, the contestants are famous for letting America know they still mean business about losing weight at home. Well, I'm here to let you know that I mean business.

So, yes, by next winter I WILL be looking like an Eddie Bauer model. Ha. But seriously, aren't these motivational? Let me know if you want me to stick YOUR head on one.

My theme for 2010 revolves around 30 MINUTES. You can always find 30 minutes in your day for a worthy goal. Mine? Read 'em:

READ for 30 minutes a day

(anything on the internet doesn't count - we're talking books here).

CREATE for 30 minutes a day

SWEAT for 30 minutes a day

PLAY for 30 minutes a day (with my three men)

and

PRAY for 30 minutes a day (collectively)

What are your goals for the year?

The Toothy Dental Floss Massacre

Act One: We see a very distressed boy. A distressed boy with a first loose tooth. A first tooth hanging by a thread. The anxiety coming on for days now. How much longer can he stand it...

Act Two: He looks up to find his worst nightmare...Dad with the DENTAL FLOSS!! Noooooo!

Act Three: Fearless brother attempts to defend helpless boy.

Act Four: (Omitted for graphic content.)

Act Five: The act has been committed. The evidence? See the bone that here lies. (insert angel chorus.)

Act Six: Our hero emerges victorious! The tooth may be gone, but the boy lives on! And that poor new tooth that has been held hostage from behind for weeks is free at last!

New Years 2010

Happy 2010! We rang in the new year with our good friends the Amundsons & the Laws. Unbelievably, we all made it 'til midnight (Jon, barely). I am seeing the effects of it right now as Tyler is throwing a fit by my feet. But it was worth it. Good food, good game time & conversation, good fun.

Today the kids went out with Peter and played in the new-fallen snow. This is the tallest snowman they've ever made! I was impressed!