Potty Talk

I'm so behind on everything it seems. 

Or at least not finding the time to do everything  that I want to. 

Like post on my blog.

I think my new calling sucks all the creativity I have.

I've always been afraid of this calling.

That "Primary Chorister" calling.

But as it turns out, I haven't died.

Who knew?

The kids haven't thrown rotten tomatoes at me or requested that I please stop singing.

Hooray!

But still, my normal blogging time is being spent searching the right hemisphere of my brain
(and the internet)
for ways to frighten teach the kids.

And when I am not traumatizing other people's kids,

my own are traumatizing me.

Potty training.

Ugh.

Isn't there a summer camp for that?
I'm pretty sure that I am not the only one who would happily write the check for that one.  (Sarah?)

This boy definitely has not made it easy on me.

Just look at that face,

taunting me...

He is almost there though.

Which is a really good thing, because I am was getting desperate.

And a desperate mother is capable of doing absurd things.

Like paying her 7 year old to try and potty train the baby over Christmas vacation because she was just sure that at the rate we were going, the baby would be potty trained before the 3 year old.

10 bucks, she would have made.
And I would have paid more.
Much more.
Wouldn't that have been beautiful?
Too bad it didn't work...
Maybe summer vacation??!!
Brooklyn will have all kinds of time to be tethered to the toilet,
read stories, serve up juice, and just generally rot away in the bathroom.
That should free me up for all kinds of projects.  :)

Out of my groove.

So you know how some people blog very regularly and then all of the sudden they stop?

Do you know what I always think?

They must be pregnant.

And I'm usually right.

I tell you this for a very important reason.

I tell you this because even though my blogging has significantly decreased, I am not pregnant.

Were you thinking I was?

Shame on you.

I've just been outta my groove.

Do you ever get like that?  Like you're a zombie - just going through the motions?

Bleck.

You see, nothing makes me happier than a mega productive day.

I make my list (I love lists) and spend the day going check..check check check check

Beautiful.

But lately my friends, I've been lucky to even make a list.

I've had lots of random tedious things I've been working on

which seems to have sucked the life out of my productivity.

Booo for that.

But, yesterday I rejoiced because I had a big ol' list which ended up which a bunch of big ol' check marks.

Booyah!

Since then I have been feeling like a wet dog. 

Shaking off and snapping back into action.

 Now all I need is for the sun to come out and stay out

(have I mentioned how much I LOVE the sunshine, and dislike dreary, rainy days?!)

for no one to get sick ever again (especially me)

to stop having 3 treat days per week (1 Kira, 1),

to get these rotten taxes done,

to go spend my free $10 at Kohls,

oh, and while I'm whipping out this list -

I want Daylight Savings to go away.  (Yes,we've adjusted, but wasn't that annoying?)

Ok, I think that's a good list for now.

I'm not asking for too much, am I?

P.S.  I would also like a little house elf to magically clean the house and have dinner on the table.

And maybe do all that laundry that I'm behind on.

And clean my van because it's ultra dirty.

Oh, and the fridge could really use a clean-out.

Do house elves do taxes?

V-Day: Bowen style

Dave and I are true romantics.

Our Valentine's date night was methodically thought out and executed.

He picked up the food. 

Hot Tamales for me, Reese's Pieces for him...and me.

I was in charge of picking up a movie from the Redbox.

When I got there, the line was long.

And it quickly got even longer behind me.

Once I got my chance to pick a movie,

I was bombarded by the casual tapping and throat clearing

from the folks in line behind me.

Signaling me to get a move on.

Feeling a little pressured, I just kind of picked the first PG movie I saw

that we hadn't already seen.

"Jump"

That's what it was called.

Wow - I can no longer say that I have never seen a Chinese musical.

Subtitles and all.

Yikes.

We made it 42 seconds.

If that.

I think it would have been more fun to pour salt in my own eye.

So, instead we raided the kids' Valentine bags while we watched one of our movies.

And then I suggested we document our date night with a picture.

Well you know how that goes.

"No Dave, let's take another one - I have a double chin in that one."

"Ahh, that's no good, you can see right up my nose."

"Scoot your head closer to mine."
"Oops, now I cut off your head."

"Dah, I blinked."

He quickly grew tired of this endless quest.

So this is what I ended up with.

A truly special night for a special couple.

 

(For the record, the picture of this movie in the Redbox did not have Chinese writing all over it...

just in case you were wondering.)

Awesome

Dave and I are basically the awesomest people ever.
We live such a thrilling life that regular people like you probably couldn't handle it.

It's no wonder we have like a million friends.

On Friday nights we basically party like it's 1999.
This week we rocked our world by spending the evening filling up
my new buckets (yip yip) with a zillion pounds of food storage.

And then I blogged about it.

Wow.

We. are. awesome.

Anyone want to hang out?
....Anyone???

We have food!

Mother of the Year

Someone come over here right now and give me a tiara, sash and one dozen roses.

Seriously, not only did I make Christmas treats for friends and neighbors 

(a miracle in itself) but I let the kids help.

(Despite the look on his face, I didn't force him to help)

Do you realize the implications of a decision like that?

Yeah, my kitchen is still bearing the signs of 2 underage cooks.

But please spare me and don't look too closely.

But the people did great.  

Stirring, ball forming, dipping, tasting - they did it all.

And I didn't even mind when they made powdered sugar clouds and spilt all forms of sticky gunk all over the kitchen.

Oy.  It was a mess.

Oh yes, there we go.

That's more like it.

8 and Counting

(The younguns - in the dating days: BYU-Idaho March 2002)

You know what they say about Californians. 

They like to ride into town with their sacks full of money and buy up all the land. 

Well, 8 years ago, Dave took it to another level. 

He saddled up, rode into the wild west of Idaho and stole their women. 

Well, maybe not women (how many women does a guy need?).

But he did take one.  He took her, and eventually carried her off to his native land.

Yes, this clipping actually was in my home town paper.  How hilarious is that headline?

Oooooo....A Californian.

awesome.

Well, the full story has been released
and it turns out that this woman loves her "Californian"
and was happy to go wherever he went and has been flourishing
(and cranking out babies) ever since.
What a happy 8 years we've had!