Christmas Morning in Arkansas

We are going to AZ for Christmas, but Matt and I wanted to have our own Christmas here in Arkansas. It wasn't very big but it was a lot of fun. For breakfast we made omelette's and monkey bread. Then the boys (really Blake) opened their gifts. We had a lot of fun and I can't wait for next year when they both will have a better understanding about what is going on. Later that day we went to the Museum of Discovery. Thanks Mom (Nancy) for the membership. I can already tell we will be spending a lot of time there. Merry Christmas everyone!

My little DaVinci

Somehow Blake got into my oil pastels and had decided to do a little art work on the carpet, the kitchen floor, some Tupperware bowls, and HIMSELF! I don't know how he got them, they are on a high shelve above my washer. But, know I am wondering why I even have them, I have never used them before. Anyways, I was very surprised to come into the family room and see Blake looking like a chimney sweep. I tried not to laugh, but how can you be mad when you know he had no idea that what he was doing was not okay.

1/2 Way Day!

Friday, December 19th, 2008 was a very special day for the Backus family. It was the day Matt took his last final for the semester which means that we are officially half way done with Law School!! YAY! To celebrate we had homemade pizza 1/2 pepperoni and 1/2 veggie.
I attempted to make 1/2 a cake (it tasted much better than it looked. Cake decorating and I don't get along).

We bought a 1/2 gallon of ice cream to go along with our 1/2 cake.

Here is the 1/2 exhausted, but happy couple!

Great job Matt! We are so proud of you and are grateful for all of your hard work. We love you!

I have string beans...

for children. Yesterday I took the boys to the doctor for their well check. Here are their stats.

Blake -16months

Length: 31.75 -50th%

Weight: 21.4- 5th% (barley)

Head: 18.25-25th%

Blake had to get shoots and we also found out he had an ear infection. Poor Guy.

Tyler-2 1/2months

Length: 25.25- 90th%

Weight: 13-50th%

Head: 16.5-75th%

Poor kid also had shots. And poor mommy who had two screaming kids. :)

We have exciting news...Blake and Tyler are sharing a room!! Yay! Tyler sleeps through the night now and we thought it was time. We were worried that it would make it hoarder for Blake to go to sleep, but it turns out that they both go to bed better since they started to sleep in the same room. Who knew?!

I love your blog

I have been awarded the "I Love Your Blog" Award. With the award comes a tag, so I have to answer each question with one word only.

1. Where is your phone? missing
2. Where is your significant other? close
3 .Your hair color? Brown
4. Your Mother? Amazing
5. Your Father? Wise
6. Your favorite thing? sons
7. Your dream last night? Germany
8. Your dream/goal? Graduation
9. The room you're in? Livingroom
10. Your hobby? scrapbooks
11. Your fear? Tornados!
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? House
13. Where were you last night? Walmart
14. What you're not? outside
15. One of your wish-list items? House
16. Where you grew up? Gilbert
17. The last thing you ate? Pork
18. What are you wearing? Earings
19. Your TV? junk
20. Your pet? dead
21. Your computer? nice
22. Your mood? content
23. Missing someone? Nicole
24. Your car? Frozen
25. Something you're not wearing? socks
26. Favorite store? Target
27. Your Summer? Humid
28. Love someone? Family
29. Your favorite color? Red
30. When was the last time you laughed? Today
31. Last time you cried? Yesterday
32.Something you crave? Chocolate
33. Why you blog? Family

I now award five people the "I love your Blog" award to:
Nicole, Mindy, Melanie, Melissa, & Lindsay

Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving in Arizona. We started of the day running in the Turkey Trot. Matt, his brother Scott, his dad, my sister Nellie and her friend all ran the 10k. I ran the 2 mile fun run, and I have to admit that I enjoyed this years Turkey Trot a lot more than I have in the past! :)

Scott & Matt

Nellie and JustineDad

Crossing the Finish Line

After the Turkey Trot we cleaned up and headed over to Grandma Backus' house for a yummy Thanksgiving dinner. It was great to be with family. It was fun to introduce Tyler to everyone and to watch Blake play with his cousins.

Playing in Grandma's backyard

Blake & Megan

The Sunday after Thanksgiving we Tyler had his baby's blessing in my parents ward. It was so special and I'm so grateful we were to share it with so many members of our family.

My handsome little man

Outside my parents home with Mom and dad Backus
Having lunch at the Wyeth's

We didn't get very many pictures because my brother Bradley passed out at church and broke his nose. He spent most of the day in the hospital while the doctors tried to figure out why he passed out and made sure that everything was okay. Also, you might not be able to tell in the pictures but both Tyler and Blake were very ready for a nap and they weren't cooperating well. So it was a bit of a crazy, but good day.

BABY SHOWER

Hey ladies, Nicole is having a baby shower, Saturday Nov. 22nd from 11:00am to 1:00pm. It will be at the Wyeth home. We would love to see you there, and incase you didn't know she is having a girl.

Happy Holidays

My sister Nellie sent me this video this morning. Enjoy!

http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/LoMUxEPZww3TXqLh17Gb

Family Outing

Saturday we went to the arboretum to see the changing leaves. We were a little late because most of the leaves had already fallen from the trees. It was extremely cold, but we had a good time. Blake liked climbing on the rocks and Tyler slept the entire time. I wonder what tree this leaf fell from?

SMILE

I finally got Tyler to smile for the camera.

Here are some other pictures of my cute little man

This is my favorite fall outfit. (You might remember Blake wearing it before)

What was I thinking?!

Today I decided that I would take Blake's paci away. I have been thinking about it for a while and today when I was putting Blake down for his nap I couldn't find his paci. I knew it was probably under the crib, but I didn't want to go searching for it (lazy, I know). I have always told myself that once I made this decision there was no going back and giving in. So wish me luck , because this won't be pretty.

Out of the Darkness

Matt is the president of the J. Ruben Clark Law society. The group focuses on ethics and community service. This morning they were involved helping a group called Out of the Darkness. Their cause helps families of suicide victims and raises awareness about suicide. They had a mile walk in down town Little Rock. It was great to go with Matt and take the boys. There was a part on the walk where people who had someone close to them who committed suicide place a flower on a wall. It was really touching and my heart went out to them. I can't imagine how hard that would be to have someone you love take their life away. It was a good experience and I'm glad we went.

BOO!

We had an eventful, fun, yummy and even a little bloody Halloween. It started off with a wonderful gift from Tyler. He Slept through the NIGHT!!! What a good baby. I hope he keeps it up.

(Tangent): Unfortunately my drunk neighbor and his friends kindly woke us up at 4:00 am. They were arguing about whether or not they were too drunk to go get pizza rolls. One guy argued that he had only eight beers as wasn't as drunk as the rest (my opinion: way too drunk). About a half an hour later they all just ended up going into the apartment. Thank goodness, I was getting ready to call the police if they decided that they were capable of getting behind the wheel. (Tangent over).

To start off Halloween morning I made pumpkin pancakes for breakfast. Thanks Bethany for the recipe. After breakfast and while the boys were napping I made White Chili for the ward trunk r treat chili cook off. I used my mother-in-laws recipe for White Chili. I really don't like chili that much, but I love this kind. Then when Blake woke up he helped me make cupcakes for the ward event. While I was pouring the cake batter into the muffin tin Blake decided to climb into Tyler's bouncy chair. It toppled over and resulted into a bloody fat lip. Poor guy.

Later Matt came home and we got the boys ready for the Trunk-r-treat. Blake was a pirate and Tyler a Jack-o-lantern. They were both pretty cute. Unfortunately, I didn't get very good pictures of either of them. The Trunk-r-treat was a lot of fun we passed out cookies n' cream and vanilla yogurt filled kisses for our candy and one boy let us know that he wasn't very impressed with our choice. Oops. All in all it was a great Halloween.

Recipe for Pumpkin Pancakes

2 cups Jiffy pancake mix

1 cup pumpkin puree
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
Stir all together just until incorporated. Cook on medium heat in a large skillet.

White Chili

Put the following ingredients in Crock Pot and cook on low until serving time:

2c. cooked chicken breast (cut up)

1 can white beans

1 can chicken broth

1 can salsa verde(7oz)

1package white corn (9 oz)

1/4 c. cilantro

1 large tomato

2 med. green onions

1 can green chili

1tbls lemon juice

1tbls lime juice