Two Cuties

This winter (so far) I have purchased 27 pounds of Cuties. 

You know, the oranges.

The cute ones.  ha ha

My kids get worked into some kind of craziness when Cutie season starts.

Especially the littlest one.

(child, not orange)

I am quite sure that she has nearly eaten her weight in Cuties this month.

Seriously.

I used to be able to control the consumption a little better.

But now that she can peel them herself - 

she is a Cutie eating fool.

I may be completely broke by the time these little oranges go out of season,

but I will sacrifice my financial future for this: 

I seriously can't get enough of those cute little hands peeling those little oranges.

(And putting the peels in the trash!)

Watching her peel a little orange is always enough to stop me in my tracks.

Just to watch.

Sigh.

I love my babies.

And...I have planted a "cutie tree" in my backyard.

Maybe I better plant another one.

Oh, and for anyone wondering about Aubrey's internal functioning after all those oranges...

I know you are out there.

She apparently has a belly of steel.

Now you know.

Num Num

There are certain moments in motherhood that cause you to stop.

Stop, lift an eyebrow, and look around suspiciously.

I had one of those today.

We have an island in our kitchen.

An island where a whole host of interesting things are dropped and left.

Scraps of lunch, homework, phones, toys, dishes, banana peels...you get the idea.

I figure that it's all just part of family life.

But today, as I was passing by I looked down and noticed this:

Um....
this is where that whole eyebrow lift/suspiciously looking around comes in.
Our dog was immediately ruled out because she looks and moves something like a bratwurst.
The two oldest kids can read - and therefore know that this is clearly not for human consumption.
The littlest one is too little to get the bone back up on the counter.
That leaves one.
I had to gag laugh.
When I asked him if he liked it, he said that it was "kind of yucky."
The dog however,
might be feeling kind of gypped.
That was her Christmas present, after all.

Christmas Cards, anyone?

A small miracle occurred in our home this year.

I sent out Christmas cards.

I am going to go ahead and give myself a high five for that one.

Because that sort of thing makes me feel like a rock star.

(And it definitely does not happen every year.)

My only problem is that I highly under estimated our Christmas card needs.

Apparently when you have two large families,

50 cards don't really go very far.

So, for those of you that didn't get one delivered to your mailbox,

we still love you.

And...you didn't send us one either,

so I guess we're even.  :)

But you should send us one.

Like, right now.

And if you do, I just might have one last card sitting on my desk waiting for you.

(The 12 stamps will not be included)

Bradley helped out with getting the cards in the mail.

The little poo.

It's a good thing that card is all gloss-ay.

Otherwise I would have to take approximately $5.40 out of his inheritance.

Plus interest.

We had to have a 2 minute discussion about how those are not stickers.

Which made no sense because 

they actually are stickers.

Very expensive stickers.

Very expensive stickers that now live on a high shelf 

so that they don't end up living up Bradley's nose, in Aubrey's hair or stuck to my backside.

Anyway, for those interested,

I will also include my long-winded Christmas letter.

Merry Christmas family and friends.  We hope that you have been blessed with a wonderful 2012.  We have been keeping busy chasing after our little people.  We moved to Visalia, CA due to a job transfer last fall and have enjoyed having our own home and all that comes with it.  We were warmly welcomed and have made so many great friends here.

Aubrey is two and a half and thoroughly enjoys all the attention of being the baby.  She's a tiny little thing but her little body does seem to be able to contain her blossoming personality.  Her terrible two's were a little behind schedule, making me think that I was going to luck out this time, but, alas, they have arrived.  So we do our best not to let her completely run the roost.  She's quite a Mama's girl and is currently rebelling against wearing clothes.  Or anything for that matter.

Bradley is 4 and is the family ninja.  We have had more mischief come out of that boy than all of our other children combined.  One of these days he will probably disassemble our entire house without making a single sound.  We won't even know what hit us.  We love him anyway and I particularly love his sweet, quiet  demeanor and raspy little voice.  He started preschool this year which has really helped him in many ways.  He's a man of very few words, but is very thoughtful and likes to think things through before he tries something new.

Jack is a 6 year old boy with the mind of a 26 year old.  He wants to know the long term reason of why he must do even the simplest things.  He is motivated to action by hearing that his chores are to teach him to work because the best girls won't want to marry lazy boys and that homework will help him get into college to get a good job to support his family.  We aren't really sure where he came from, but we try our best not to be persuaded or out-smarted by his little brain.  He is in first grade this year and loves math.  He also had his first experience playing soccer where he played with plenty of aggression...often stealing the ball from his own teammates.  Oh, and he got his first suit this year, because according to him, the best boys dress just like the prophet.  I think we've convinced him that he only needs to wear it on Sunday.

Brooklyn turned 8 this year and was so excited to be baptized.  She had lots of family members and friends who travelled great distances to come be with her on her special day.  She continues to be an absolute sweetheart and a great help to Dave and I.  Although she has caused a few gray hairs by her inability to stop talking.  Really.  She doesn't stop.  I have no idea what she finds to talk about, but the motor never stops running.  I am still twitching from sitting near her on our most recent road trip.  She is in 3rd grade this year and gets very high marks for being extremely kind and helpful to the other kids in her class.  She also played soccer this year and is taking piano lessons. 

Dave is still working for the VA and really enjoys the vets he serves.  He has been busy this year getting our garden going, planting fruit trees in our yard, church callings, soccer games, kids in general, and helping me (or trying to talk me out of) all of my projects.  

I have just been enjoying life and the stage we are at right now.  Our kids are so fun and really bring me a lot of joy.  I currently perform a lot of traffic control with the neighborhood kids who seem to be trying to move in.  And any spare time I do have, I have been using to do lots of projects  around the house.  I tell Dave that I wish I had been a carpenter in another life so that I could do the projects that I really want to do.  Something about saws and walls coming down seemed to frighten him a little. 

We just celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary and feel so very thankful for the life we share.  We have been very blessed with a wonderful family, good health and of course, the gospel.   These things bring us the fullest of joy.  We hope that this finds you happy and healthy and that 2013 will be a blessed year.

                                                Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

                                                                        Love,

                                                                                    The Bowen's

Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving this year, we decided to take a trip to see Dave's grandparents in Tucson, AZ.  

The family was gathering, (at least some of them) so we thought we would join the fun.

And we most definitely had fun.

This is one fun group of people to be around.

Especially when you consider that there were 17 kids age 9 and under.

Wahoo!

These boys were basically aloud to just run wild in the backyard.

They had a great time...and no one required stitches...or shoes apparently.

Brooklyn was in tree climbing heaven where her grandmother taught her to eat jello powder...

ahem.

 What did we do when we weren't throwing grapefruit at one another 

or climbing trees?

What else?

 Apparently, in some parts of the world, you can swim in an outdoor pool in November.

Although Dave always prefers the hot tub.

Just how many people can you fit in one hot tub?

 It was a quick trip, but it was nice to see everyone.

Especially these people.

I count my blessings to have married into such a wonderful family.

Helping Out

At our house,

we take chores and hearing conservation very seriously.

Halloween

Halloween was a success.

Not like last year.

You know, the year where we closed on our house on Halloween day,

which allowed time for trick or treating to only one house.

One.

Dressed in a table cloth cape.

Pathetic.

But I thank my lucky stars that I have easy to please kids

who were just grateful for at least that one house.

So I decided that this year had to be a bit more magical.

So I brought my game.

And suffered a bit for it.

But before we get to that,

feast your eyes on my little darlings all dressed up.

Minnie (chocolate lips) Mouse

Aubrey had her first real Halloween experience this year.

She would run to each door with her hair blowing behind her.

They'd give her a piece of candy and instead of saying thank you,

she'd let out a big squeal and giggle all the way to the next house.

Handing out candy was no less exciting for her.

She would squeal with delight at the people knocking on our door. 

1st Mate Bradley

To my amazement, Bradley actually decided to dress up this year.

Each of the past Halloweens, he has not been a fan of the idea of dressing up.

He made up for lost time by squeezing into our size 2 pirate costume.

He was popping the seams, but hey, he willingly put a costume on.

Progress!

Captain Jack Sparrow

Dave's Mom bought this Jack Sparrow costume 3 or 4 years ago.

Jack likes to dress up in it when he goes to visit.

This year he asked if she would mail it to us so he could wear it for Halloween.

Hooray!  After 3 years, it finally fits!

For the record,

you have to do a fair amount of scrubbing to remove dark eyebrows

from a blondie. 

The black cat with a toxic looking cupcake.

Brooklyn had a long list of things she wanted to be for Halloween.

A black cat was not on the list.

But one day at school her teacher (who she idolizes)

jokingly told the kids that she didn't want any scary costumes knocking on her door.

She only wanted friendly things like little black cats.

So guess who then decided that she needed to be a cat?

Aren't they all darling?

Yes.  Yes they are.

I like them.

I like them alot.

But enough of that mushiness.

Let's talk about how I suffered on Halloween day.

Here's the deal.

I've made a goal to be a bit more fun.

I find that I spend a bit too much time saying,

"Hey, [insert child's name], let's bond while we clean your room/fold laundry/do something boring.

So I said to myself,

"Self, let's make a special treat for the squirts on Halloween.

Just because I love them and want them to feel special."

So I fired up the oven.

Annnnd then I smelled the smoke.

Nasty black burning plastic smoke.

Dah.

Cookie cutters don't do well in an oven heated to 350 degrees.

Who knew?

30 minutes later,

I had chipped all the plastic out of my oven.

Which ranks on the fun-ness meter right up there with being poked in the eye.

All in the name of skeleton cupcakes.

I do believe it was worth the effort.

Later in the day though,

as I was firing up the oven for dinner...

Ahem.

Hey Aubrey, let's bond while we put the cans back into the cupboard.

Do we even want to know what might have happened had these been heated to 350 degrees as well?

According to Dave,

cans will most definitely explode.

...something about chili being splattered all over his tent on a scout campout...

Soccer Part 1

Just a few pictures from this soccer season.

Mostly for Grandpa, who's been asking for them.

Taking it to the GOAL!

She *might* be breaking the rules in this picture...

but she still looks pretty cool.

Jack fighting his way to the ball.

(Boys play sooo much more aggressively that the girls do!)

Ummm...not exactly sure why he is airborne,

but that ball is about to get a swift kick down-field.

Now of every soccer picture I have taken this season,

there is one to be cherished.

I absolutely laugh out loud every time I see it.

You must have a look.

Check out that kid's face!

You'd think that Jack was about to give him a cleat to the face.

Ahhh..good times.

 More to come!