Dakota's Birthday- Part 1

Today starts the beginning of Dakota's birthday weekend. Today we had Dakota's Pirate Party. It turned out good... and would have been better had there not been snow for the last 2 days. So a few friends had to cancel. But we did have a good time with Emily, Kate and Reagan.  We had the house all decorated in pirate garb. We had Pizza for lunch, and very cute pirate face cake(thanks to Melani), a treasure hunt and sword fighting. 

I am very frustrated.... in that our Camera continues to act up. I took a lot of pictures of the cake making process, but all the pictures were corrupted. I am so getting a new camera! 

I can't believe my baby is going to be 3 on monday. He is a great kid. So funny. A few things about him as of right now

- He can sing his ABC's.. (see post below)

- He is 3 feet tall

- He loves nursery

- He loves to ask questions

- His waist is 20 inches around and so is his head. 

- He loves fruits

- He has an imaginary friend name kuh kuh kuh kuh ( we don't know where the name came from, and we can't seem to get him to change it)

- He loves to read 

- He knows how to work the Ipod and Computer (this amazed Lars at Whitney's wedding) 

- He is having his first driving lessons on the jeeps 

- He loves to play in the snow, or watch it snow.. or anything that has to do with snow

He is so much fun to be around. We are blessed to have him in our family. He bring joy and happiness to each day. I am grateful the Lord has blessed us and trusts us enough to take care of him. 

There will be more birthday post as the weekend goes on..... It's an all about Dakota weekend! (that's what happens when your birthday falls on a monday!)

2 great sites...

Hey.. I just wanted to share with you 2 great sites.. and tell you about a contest you could win. The first site is Melissa Howell's Photography Site.http://blueprintsphotography.blogspot.com/ she is holding a contest right now (the drawing is Friday April 17th)... she is giving away $200 in photography products and services. You can also see details to the contest on a blog called 30day.. follow this link....http://thirtyhandmadedays.blogspot.com/

Thanks for checking out these great sites! 

Okay I wasn't

I really wasn't going to get sucked into the Twilight craze that is sweeping though.. well everywhere. We were at Blockbuster the other night.. it was in stock and Peter says "you don't want to rent this?" I said.. "sure I guess so"... so we rented it. It sat on our counter for 3 days before we got around to watching it. I put it in Sunday afternoon while the boys were taking a nap. Even when it started I was like.. "I am not going to like this... not my kind of movie" WRONG! boy was I wrong. I LOVED IT! It was just so good! Peter woke up and I was half way though the movie.. he said "you watched it with out me?... you didn't even want to see it" I said "I know but.. oh my gosh it's so good!!!" I couldn't stop watching it... I watched it like 3 times in the next few days.. then I went out and got the book. That is the first time I EVER read a 400 and some odd page book in 2 days. SO GOOD. I am so excited to go see New Moon in Nov. So count me in for the midnight showing. But I still can't believe how much I enjoy the book... I love Bella and Edward! So.. such is my life right now.. totally involved in Bella and Edward. I LOVE IT!!! 

HELP ME DECIDED?

Which cake should I do for Dakota's 3rd birthday? I can't decided... I really like both of them. Just leave me a comment and tell me which one you like... just need some opinions. 

HOME IMPROVEMENT part 1

So now that we know we are staying here in Denver for a while we decided to do some upgrades to the old homestead... We pulled up the carpet in the dining room and in the living room and with the help of some great guys from our Church.. we installed laminate wood floors.

Ripping up the carpet! Are you sure we know what we are doing?

There it goes.. up and...

out of here...

The install starts.

Tommy is measuring.. turns out he might not be the best guy for that task.. Just kidding Tommy!

The last of it is going in.. isn't is PURDY?

Is that Brandon using power tools? nice cut Brandon!

I think they look beautiful. Thanks to Tommy, Clint, Brandon and Clark for helping with the install and the use of tools! We are most grateful! I was surprised at how fast it all went. They started at about 9am and were done by 2. Dakota and I took a little trip to Chuck E Cheese.. I am not sure who had a harder time the guys or me running after Dakota at Chuck E Cheese. But we had a good time.

I guess I should mention that my living room was in disaray for days. My couches were in the hall way.. the dining room table in the kitchen.. the chairs and other furniture were in Dakota's room. We are slowly getting things back to a normal state. On top of that Peter got sick on Wednesday night.. we had a huge snow storm thurs... what an adventure it has been.

The second part of our home improvement project is.. PAINTING. This is more of me than for anyone else. I HATE white walls. I think walls need life! So once again I have a yellow dining room and kitchen which I had in Charleston too... Although there are no pictures of me painting I did most of the work. Peter did rescue me in doing the trim... he is great! But we are also going to be painting the living room.. so more pictures to follow. I am so happy it's getting all done!

Here is the bare white walls of my dining room...

my wonderful husband smiling while getting the trim~ The color is all off in this picture. I do not have orange walls!

There the color is much better!.. Peter blends in with the wallThere are my beautiful yellow walls! I love it!

ABC's and Colors

Dakota is learning his ABC's and Colors. Just thought I would share a video of him.. it took us like 4 tries to get him to say it all the way though. Enjoy!

Dakota Franklin

Dakota Franklin

Name & Meaning: Dakota Franklin got his name because I have always loved the name Dakota, but to me it's a total boy name. and Franklin after my dad.. we are going to try to use family names for middle names in all the children we are blessed with. We also found that Peter has Franklin in his family line too... Dakota is native american name that means Friend. and Franklin means "free man" 

Age: 2 years 11mos

Nicknames: bugga bear, Kota Bear, Kota, boy. 

Favorite Activities: Swimming( he like water), being a pirate, sword fighting (including w/ light-sabers), cars, riding his big wheel, playgrounds, playing with Tate and Vince

Favorite Foods: Hot dogs, applesauce, chocolate, chicken nuggets, 

Least Favorite Foods: That list is to long. 

Favorite Music: Primary songs, mostly daddy's music.

Favorite Toy: Cars 

Favorite Book: Where the wild things are. 

Favorite Item of Clothing: He doesn't care what he wears. 

What Makes Him Happy: bed time stories (but not bedtime), cuddle time, going to the park, playing in the snow. 

What Makes Him Sad: Getting told no. 

Funny Words or Phrases: "I can't say that word" ; or the made up words that don't really mean anything.... "easy killer" "your driving me crazy kid"