Birthday Boy

Owen turned 5 today! This morning when he woke up I told him Happy Birthday and said he looked so much bigger now that he was 5. He looked at his arms and legs and said "you think I look bigger." I told him "I sure do." He said "I don't feel bigger."

Owen had school this morning and was really excited to bring the frozen Scooby Doo Go-Gurt's I bought for him to share with his friends. His teacher said they were a hit! When I picked him up he told me he had a great day and his friends sang Happy Birthday to him.

We celebrated his Birthday with a spaghetti dinner (Owen's choice). Afterwards he opened his presents, then we had cake and ice cream.

One of Owen's gifts was a Lego set, so that had to be put together as soon as he was done with his cake and ice cream. Below is the Birthday Boy and his new Lego set!

Happy Birthday Owen we love you!

ELEVEN

It was this day 11 years ago that Luke finally got the nerve to ask me to be his girlfriend after many months of flirting with me! So, glad he did! Can't believe that 11 years have gone bye so fast. I was a Junior in high school and Luke was a Senior 11 years ago! I love you Honey!

Quiting

This morning as we were getting ready to take Owen to school he was surprisingly the first one with all his winter gear on and asked me if he could go outside to wait. I said "No because I don't want your clothes to be wet while you are at school." He replied with "fine I'm quiting school." I said "all right but you will have to go today to let your teacher know." He then said "I will go back to school when I'm 5." I not trying to laugh said "oh, OK!" So, I guess it is back to school on Monday for him since he will be 5 then!

TIME...

I am reading a really good book called Tending Roses. In it I found a sentence that I read over and over and just paused for a while and truly thought how true it was. There was more in that page and pages before it that I read just moments before I got to my stopping point that summed up my life. Life in the past as a child all the way up to my present point as a young married wife and Mama. It described exactly how Luke and I feel about the direction of life we are leading our family, and the choices and sacrifices we have made to make it possible. Possible now and in the future. So any way here is the sentence that stopped me in my tracks and made me truly think about my life and how blessed I am.

Time is a limited and precious gift.

Saturday

Saturday morning Luke and Owen left to go ice fishing for the day. Chad one of Luke's friends from work joined them. Ava, Ezra and I stayed home and hung out. We played some games, and I painted Ava's fingernails and toenails. While they took their naps I did some reading. It was a relaxing day. Luke and Owen got home around 4 and told me they had fun, but didn't catch any fish.

Then Luke came up with the idea to take the kids to Chuck E. Cheese's for pizza and some games. I agreed and thought Owen and Ava would think it was fun. So, Luke called Uncle Kurt and Auntie Kristin to see if they wanted to join us since they live just a few minutes from Chuck E. Cheese's. They had our Nephew Grayson at their house for an overnight and thought it sounded like fun so they met us there. So off we went for our children's first ever visit to Chuck E. Cheese's.

As soon as we walked in the door Luke and I looked at each other like what did we get ourselves into. The place was huge and it was PACKED with people. Luke and I had never been to this Chuck E. Cheese's before just to a different one in a different town and it was about a fourth of the size and not so overwhelming. We ordered our dinner and got some tokens for the kids to play games. Since it was so busy there was a long wait for a table. So Luke took Owen and Ava to play some games while Ezra and I stood in line and waited to be seated.

Eventually we got our table and shortly after that our food was delivered. We all enjoyed our veggie pizza and Luke and I were actually surprised how good it tasted. I guess we didn't have high expectations for a kids restaurant.

After eating we played several more games and rode several more rides. I felt bad that we didn't get to socialize all that much with Kurt and Kristin but I guess I was expecting the place to be a lot different then what it was. Oh well, I think Kurt had a great time playing the games any way. When our tokens were gone we cashed in the tickets that the kids won and stood in the line for the prizes. Owen picked a snake, lizard and tootsie roll, and Ava got a purple spider and a mini tootsie pop.

I was relieved when all 5 (6 if you count the baby in my tummy) of us successfully made it back to the van. We didn't loose any of the kids at any point of the night which in my opinion was a miracle. We did see 2 little boys crying at different times because they couldn't find their parents. I felt so bad for them. It seriously was so crowded that if you would turn your back on your child for 10 seconds they would have been lost.

The whole ride home (I'm not exaggerating) we heard about how cool and awesome that place was, what they liked the best, and that we needed to go back tomorrow. Luke and I agreed that unless we went in the middle of the week we would never go back there again, but we did have fun! So, we will go again in the future just not on a Saturday night!

Wordless Wednesday

Owen

It is Owen's Birthday in 6 days. I know this because he tells me several times each day how many days it is til his birthday, but today I have heard it a lot. He is extremely excited for his 5th birthday. He has been looking through his Lego catalog for days picking out the perfect sets that he wants as gifts. There are Ninja sets, space sets, and water sets that are on his highly desired list. He is also looking forward to bringing a treat to his friends at school the morning of his birthday. Owen has been talking about his Birthday since we celebrated Ezra's back in November. Several months is a long time to wait when you are little. It is fun to see his excitement about his big day. It is also funny to see his frustration on the date of his birthday. He has told me several times he wishes his birthday would be on such and such a date. You know so that it would already be his birthday. In fact yesterday while walking into Target he asked me why we have to celebrate his Birthday on his Birth date. He wasn't impressed with my answer of because that was the day you were born. So, in 6 short days my Baby Bug will be 5 years old!

Open and Close

Ezra's new fun thing to do is to sit inside my buffet and open and close the door. He thinks this is extremely funny! He giggles each time he manages to get it closed and laughs even louder when he pushes the door open again! Cheap entertainment I guess.

And, of course if Ezra is doing something that is cute and picture worthy Ava needs to jump in the action too. So, not wanting her to feel left out here are a few pictures of Ava sitting inside the buffet too!

ME! ME! ME!

Well it is not that often that I do a post about me. But, today is that day. Last night after dinner I got to go to a Mommy Spa Night at our church. It was great two and half hours of pampering myself and talking to other Mommy's! It was $10 for the evening and here is what I all did. First I dropped my jewelery off to get cleaned and inspected, then I got a manicure. After the manicure I got my eyebrows waxed and as I was waiting my turn for my eye brows my name was announced that I won one of the grand prizes. My prize was a beautiful silver necklace called Token of Love from Premier Designs. I put my name on the list for a 15 minute back massage and as I waited for that I had some chocolate covered strawberries some fruit and a really yummy chocolate bar. As I finished my goodies I still had about 7 minutes to spare so I did a moisturizing hand wax. I have never done that before and it was great. You just dip your hands in hot wax and put plastic baggies over them for about 5 minutes and then peel the cooled wax off and presto your hands are soft smooth! When that was finished it was time for my back massage which felt soooo great I could have laid there all night. I wasn't overly excited when the lady told me I was done, but I slowly got up and moved on. I decided to go and get my hair styled. I knew it was pointless being that I would be in bed sleeping in less than 2 hours and it would be recked, but I thought it would be nice to get a few pointers on how to make my hair look nice! When my hair was done I looked at the clock and I only had about 30 minutes left and was bummed because I didn't get over to the pedicure area. Oh, I had time to get one it just meant walking out to my car barefoot which had no appeal to it at all. So I was kind of mad at myself for not starting at the pedicure area. So, instead I spent my last minutes visiting with friends before heading home to my sleeping family. I felt so relaxed and refreshed as I laid in bed and whispered thank you to my sleeping husband.

More about ME! This morning after dropping Owen off at school in the -17 degree weather that we are so blessed to have I made a quick stop at home to grab a few things. Then was off to church again because I have started a new Book study. The book that I am reading is called Beautiful Womanhood by Sandy Ralya. I dropped Ava and Ezra off in the child care room at church and headed for the room where a bunch of Mommy's would be to discuss the first chapter of the book. So far I love the book and would highly recommend it. It focuses on being a married woman and all that goes along with being a wife!

Oh and one last thing about ME! Well this has to do with baby #4 too. I am 18 weeks into this pregnancy and am very excited to my up coming 20 week ultrasound. It will be my first ultrasound with this pregnancy so I am really looking forward to see our baby for the first time. I am also anxious to find out at this appointment if we will be having a boy or a girl! I am SLOWLY starting to feel back to my normal self but still have some sickness that I am dealing with. I just like to remind myself that a sick pregnancy means that I have a healthy baby growing inside of me. On that note just this week I have noticed a more pregnant roundness to my tummy! You can laugh and make fun of me but when I went to bed Monday night my stomach didn't look pregnant at all but as I was laying in bed trying to sleep I could feel my tummy growing or stretching or whatever you want to call it. Sure enough when I woke up Tuesday morning and I was getting dressed my tummy looked rounder. Now it's not huge like I have to start wearing maternity clothes or anything like that in fact all my normal clothes still fit me just fine. I just can notice a very small change in the way my tummy looks!

So that is that a post about ME! Have a great weekend.

Thursday Thoughts

Owen was asked yesterday by one of my friends "What is your favorite part of school?" I was eager to hear what he would say and what I thought I heard him say was "Reading." But, oh no that was not his witty answer. His answer was "LEAVING!" When I looked at him he just started laughing. He is just like his Daddy. You know because they both think they are funny!

While Owen was at school yesterday Ava spent some time talking and mothering Ezra under our sofa table. Ezra who must of had enough left to do something else and Ava stayed under the table. After a while I asked her what she was thinking about. Her answer "A snack". That girl has food on her brain 24 hours a day!

Ezra's newest thing is that he has added several words to his waving good bye. He now says "Bye, see you later!" as he waves. He repeats it over and over and over again as we are getting ready to go any where! It sounds so darn cute.

Have a great day!

Sledding

We went sledding Wednesday night when Luke got home from work. We dropped our Little Man off with Papa and Grandma and off to the sledding hill we went. Luckily we were the only ones there. We had fun but didn't last too long we called it quits because it was chilly and Owen was involved in 2 crashes the short time we were there. His nose and lip look pretty tough right now but he handled it well! Owen is a wild man on the snow hills. He is willing to try anything! So much like his Daddy. Ava is more like her Mama and is not as risky. She preferred riding with her Daddy or Me. Unfortunately I didn't get any shots of Owen using his snow board. However, I did manage to get one of Luke snowboarding or should I say "showing Owen how it is done". Yep, that would be the picture below of Luke half way down the hill running along side of the snowboard! Guess someone needs a little more practice! Owen and Ava were already planning another trip back to the snow hill while we were buckling up to go get our Little Man!

Random things from us...

Ezra taught himself how to go down stairs. So, now we have to keep our bedroom door closed otherwise we find him playing in the bathroom. He thinks our bathroom is great fun!

I was sitting on the floor, holding Ezra in our living room the other day and Ava came and sat down next to me. She asked what I was doing. I said "holding Ezra". She asked "Why". I said "because he wanted to be held and I love to snuggle him". She in return asked to hold him. I told her "you know what he probably wouldn't like that and he is getting a little big for you to hold. But when our new baby comes you can hold it". She looked at me very concerned like and said "but, I don't want a new baby, I want to keep Ezra". With a tiny smile on my face I explained to her that we would never get rid of Ezra. That we would keep him plus get a new baby. She was happy to hear that and since that conversation she has verified several times that we will be keeping Ezra and will be able to have another baby!

Owen is now reading books! He brings home new ones to read to us each time he is at school.

On Saturday the kids and I sat in the van while Luke made a quick run into Home Depot for a few things. To pass the time we played I Spy. Which is always entertaining with Owen and Ava. Ava bless her soul has no clue how to play but doesn't want to be left out. Owen is to a point where we can now say things like I spy something that starts with the sound s and he can figure out the object. Well back to Home Depot. It was Owen's turn and he said "I spy something that starts with the sound w. So here I am rattling off things like window, wood, white truck, and white snow all of which were wrong. I finally said "I give up". He then says "it was the woof silly". I said "where is a woof". He pointed to the top of the building and said "the woof of Home Depot". We then practiced the r sound for the rest of our wait to make the r-r-roof sound. Gotta love him!

Owen and Ava talk a lot about their Papa Harvey. Things like eating cookies with him, visiting him at the hospital, seeing him at the camp ground, and how he is in heaven with Jesus. This shocks me in ways because I wasn't sure how they would handle the loss of their Great Grandpa. It seems as though they understand. Owen randomly tells me that he misses Papa Harvey. Shows what a wonderful man he was that he is on our children's minds through out the day.

Owen told me that him and his kids are going to live with Luke and I. I told him that I don't think there will be enough room for all of us!

Ezra is going through a separation stage. He does not like it when Luke or I leave a room or leave him with a sitter. Hopefully that ends soon!

Ava shows and tells everyone that she is 3 while holding up three fingers.

Owen told me the other day that he hopes the baby in my tummy is a boy or a girl! I told him I hope so too, because I don't know what else it could be!

Ezra loves to hear the song "Patty cake", he starts clapping when he wants you to sing it!

I overheard Ava telling Ezra "you're not listening to me" while trying to put a puzzle together.

Owen likes to use the word flabbergasted in his sentences. Surprisingly he uses it correctly each time he says it.

Have a great Day!

Christmas Cards

Well for those of you that usually receive a Christmas card from us each year you may have noticed that we did not send them out this year. Or maybe you didn't even notice and I just told you, darn it. Well after going back and forth with many guilty feelings I decided to skip Christmas cards this year. I could tell you the many excuses I had for not sending them but that is just what they are excuses and you probably don't want to hear them. However, had I sent them out I would have used this picture of my three adorable children.

Aren't they cute? Well I actually just lied because I couldn't have used this great picture of the three of my kids on a Christmas card because it was taken just a days before Christmas. Which would have made it impossible to send out in time to be called a Christmas card. But, after I did take this frameable picture I tossed around the idea of being creative and sending out New Years cards and surprising every one with a fun first of the year card . My wheels were turning with that idea for several days and then Christmas happened and I lost my umpf so back to no cards and feeling guilty I went.

But, for those of you that are readers of my blog you weren't out all that much being that you see up to date pictures of my children all the time, and what would have been written in a newsletter would have been old news to you any way. So with that out in the open Happy January!

Does it float?

One of the things Owen loves to build with his Lego's is vehicles. All sorts of vehicles, but one type he really enjoys to create are water vehicles. After he creates them he usually wants to try them out to see if they float. Unfortunately to this day he has been unsuccessful in making one that can float. Why is that? Well because he makes them way to big with way to much detail. After we try them out and the unfortunate happens I explain to him that he needs to make them smaller with less stuff on them. Either he doesn't believe me or he just truly doesn't care that they don't float.

Ava loves to be at Owen's side most of the day, so of course she had to be up where the action was. Owen and Ava were soaked and had to get new outfits on after this sink or float session was over!

Towel Drawer

Why is it that every wash cloth and towel must be thrown out of the drawer before Ezra can climb into it to snuggle with his blankie?

Our Lego Builder

Brothers

Monday

On Monday while Owen was at school I had a appointment to get my allergy shot. I have been getting allergy shots since I have been in college and they help me a lot! But, when I am pregnant I am on what is called a maintenance dose and I have to go in every 14 days to get a shot in each of my arms. Otherwise when I am not pregnant I usually go once a month to get my shots. Thankfully I am able to get my shots right here in town at our local clinic which is also the clinic that our Family Doctor is at. So, as you can probably gather we are their ALL the time. All the people at the clinic know each of our family members by name and they also know their routines. Such as pushing the button to make the door open is a huge deal. Luckily there are 2 of them to get into the building so Owen and Ava can both push one. However they know that if Ava is crying upon entering the door that means Owen was naughty and pushed both buttons. Ava will not leave the check in desk without a sticker, and if Owen is with he wants one too but only if they have "boy" ones. If Owen is with they automatically hand me the remote for the TV so that I can turn the channel to PBS Kids. They also know that Owen will talk their ears off while I am being checked in.


Well any way so we were at the clinic on Monday morning and Ava was having a not so great morning upon rolling out of bed. She was a titch on the crabby side when we got to the clinic but picked out her sticker and headed to the kids waiting area. She was touchy about what Ezra was or wasn't doing before I got the shot. Like normal after I get my shot we go back to the waiting room to wait my 30 minutes to see if I will have a reaction to what they injected into me. It was during that 30 minute waiting time that Ava slowly went from edgy to scary. The last ten minutes were down right horrible and I was so embarrassed. Luckily there was only one person in the waiting room and it was an older guy and for his sake I hope he was hard of hearing and didn't have hearing aides which could have been the case because he didn't seem to mind the ugly fit Ava was having. I was also glad that the people at the front desk know us really well and that Ava never acts like this when she is at the clinic. In fact when they looked over to see what was going on I think they were surprised to see this kind of behavior coming from her. I was beyond relieved when the 30 minutes was up and the nurse came to check my arms. We made a very fast exit from the building.

Ava is usually very well behaved in public places and I rarely have issues with her. Notice I said public places because I am not in any way trying to sound like Ava is a perfect child because she is not. She can throw a fit like you wouldn't believe, is a bully to her older brother, and can be down right naughty when we are at home.

I just happened to have my camera in the diaper bag when we were at the clinic so I thought I would take a picture of my little darling during her rage!

I love her static hair clinging to the wall in this picture!

Ezra happy as can be during Ava's dramatic melt down!

My Princess kicking, and screaming!

Girl drama got to LOVE it!

Balance...

The things we do between dinner and bedtime!

Wordless Wednesday

Dinosaur Dig

Owen was able to take part in a Dinosaur Dig a little over a week ago. He was extremely excited about this once in a life time experience. He was able to take his family with him to assist him in this big event. So after a long hike that seemed as if it would never come to an end our group arrived at the work site. Owen eagerly put his safety goggles in place and set to work looking for Dinosaur bones.

Quite a long time went by without any success. Owen was getting a little frustrated and declared that this might not be the right spot. But, Daddy stood by with encouraging words for Owen to keep chiseling away and that he knew he would be the one to find the first bone.

Owen was to a point where he thought he saw something in the soil and asked his little sister for some assistance. So Ava stepped in and proudly brushed away some loose earth so that Owen could get a better look.

Sure enough he had discovered part of a bone so with a zest of new energy he set to work determined to find the remains of an entire dinosaur.

Carefully he continued chiseling and brushing away debris and collecting bones that he had removed from the work area.

Owen would carefully hand off the newly found bones to his Daddy who would take the time to rinse and examine each piece.

After it was evident that all the bones had been found in the work area Owen and Daddy set to work on the difficult job of putting all the bones together in hopes to have found an entire dinosaur. In the end it was clear that yes in deed they were successful. Owen was proud of himself and of his discovery.

Since arriving back home from our trip Owen has been talking about a future trip back to try and find the remains of another dinosaur. Tossing around the idea of our next trip being when Ezra will be old enough to take part in the action!

The Day After Christmas

We had yet another full day, the day after Christmas. We woke up got dressed and went to Home Depot for a few things and then to Target for a few things. We stopped at home to put away what we bought and put together the food we were in charge of bringing to the Christmas party. Owen also got a bag packed all by himself with things he would need for the sleepover he was having at Papa John's and Grandma Ruth's. Then off we went my Uncle Kelly and Aunt Sheri's house to celebrate Christmas with my Uncles, Aunts, and cousins. Owen was delighted to be able to watch Scooby Doo and go outside to try out his snow board and ride on a snowmobile with Uncle Brian. Ava enjoyed playing with her cousin Josi. She also ate up the attention she was getting from everyone as she sang EVERY song she knew. Ezra had fun with his cousin Kolben taking decorations off of the tree, pulling alphabetized DVD's off of shelves, attacking the unopened presents and many other things that busy little boys do that think the word NO is really funny!

At about 4:30 we left the Christmas party and headed to Luke's Uncle Joe's house for dinner. After a few hours we headed for home without Owen. Owen got to stay a little longer before he left with Papa and Grandma for his sleep over which went really well!