Aubrey's First Haircut(s)

See that beautiful golden hair?

I love it.

My favorite thing about it is watching it blow behind her when she's running around.

Well...lately, Aubrey hasn't been such a fan of her long, tangled hair.

She doesn't want me to brush it or pull it back.

She basically just wants me to keep my mitts away from her head.

That's a problem when you are two and your hair goes half-way down your back.

I've been debating having it cut for awhile now.

But I just couldn't do it.

So Bradley did it for me.

Eek.

I was cleaning the garage while the children were running wild constructively occupied.

Aubrey was eating a sucker and apparently got it stuck in her hair.

Soooo...Bradley cut it out for her.

Good gravy.

It wasn't horrible, but there were definitely some short pieces in there.

(No pic, sorry.)

At first I decided that we would just roll with it.

It wasn't that noticeable.

But then I looked at her while we were at church and she basically looked like an orphan.

It was the best I could do to get a little clip in to hold it out of her face.

It certainly wasn't the beautiful golden curls pictured above.

Much more like the picture below.

So this morning I took her in for her first "official" haircut.

We had to bring Scooby Doo along on the Ipod because she wasn't a big fan of sitting in that chair.

And I didn't get any pictures of her in her lovely little apron because I was in the chair with her.

But here are the remains of her long hair.

(Well, besides the ones that Bradley already removed.)

I am happy because it will be 100 times easier to take care of.

And look, it still blows behind her when she runs.  :)

Doesn't it make her look so much older?  

Waaaaaa.....where's my baby?

3rd Grade Rocket Launch

 Brooklyn's 3rd Grade class had a rocket launch last week.

I took the two little bambinos to watch.

But I should have left them behind.

Because they were kind of naughty.

They didn't have the patience to wait for Brooklyn's launch.

(Or any launch for that matter)

They were running around and messing with the water fountains.

Stinkers.

But that's besides the point.

Brooklyn built and decorated her rocket.

Pumped it full of air.

 Stood back, pulled the stopper....and....

Blast Off!

It was fun watching all the kids (and parents) get so excited.

I love going to these special activities.

I'm continually impressed by the number of parents who show up to be supportive.

I am not impressed though, by the 15 minutes of Jack pouting because he wanted to be a 

Rocket-Launching-3rd-Grader.

Life really isn't fair, you know.

Christmas Part 2

Brooklyn has the coolest school teacher ever.

Let me tell you just one small reason why I think this.

She decided that the kids would benefit from an evening caroling through the neighborhood.

She had to boldly advertise that this was not a school event.

It was her event.  

Her spare time.  

Just because she wanted to create memories for her students.

Awesomeness.

We loaded up our crew and spent the evening bringing a little joy to a handful of families.

It was planned many weeks in advance, 

but happened to land on the evening of the tragedy at Sandy Hook.

Hearing the kids with their teacher and families singing songs about our Savior brought a little peace to my heart that day.

Here are a few of her classmates.

(With a handful of siblings thrown in.)

All acting like their most charming selves.

The whole time we were out caroling, 

Bradley kept asking if it was time to have hot chocolate yet.

Clearly, that's what he came for.

Unfortunately for him, the comfort of the rolling stroller and Christmas carols was just too much for him.

He didn't make it to hot chocolate time.

And neither did Aubrey.

But I did want to eat their little faces.

I think that's just more cuteness than one stroller can possibly handle.

In other Christmas tradition news,

we did bust out a gingerbread house.

Well, actually grandma came to the rescue and gave us a kit.

Which is pretty much awesome.

Although, thanks to the Hansel & Gretel syndrome we seem to be experiencing,

these bad boys definitely weren't around to see Christmas.

Upon inspection of the picture above, 

I should mention that even though it looks like Jack is in pain due to Dave giving him a giant ear twist,

I do not believe that was the case.

We do like to give those floppy ears a twist here and there

(only in love, of course).

On second thought, after consulting the father,

he believes that he just might have been twisting that ear.

I guess we'll never know for sure.

Because there must always be one,

here is our most refined picture of the kids in their Christmas clothes.

Not bad, right?

Although don't let Jack fool you.

In every other one of the 6 million pictures,

he was slumping, or pouting or just generally giving me a full spectrum of faces and body language that says,

"Why must we always take these ridiculous pictures?"

Only to torture you, my boy.

Only to torture you.

Whenever we are in S. California,

we like to make sure we stop in for a visit with Nan Maureen.

(Who happens to be the most adorable and hilarious person, ever.)

She got Jack to sweeten up.

And Bradley is taking his 'guardian of the 20 dollar bill' job very seriously.

Christmas Part 1

I felt particularly festive this year.

We were spending our first Christmas at home

which seemed to light a new flame within me.

At the beginning of December,

I strapped my boots on and got prepared to have a wonderful and memorable Christmas.

Which we did.

BUT, there are certainly a few things that I will do differently next year.

When we got the tree out, 

I realized that it looked kind of pathetic with only a few decorations and no garland.

No garland?

We can fix that.

We will have a lovely family moment where we sing Christmas carols, drink hot chocolate and enjoy one another's company while we string popcorn for our tree.

Riiiight.

This looks more like reality, right?

Mother stringing, pouting Jack, naked Aubrey, busy Father, missing Bradley,

and picture taking Brooklyn. 

That could be some kind of Christmas carol of it's own, don't you think?

Needless to say, that wasn't exactly how I had envisioned it.

It didn't take me long to switch to Fruit Loops only.

Popcorn is kind of hard to string - no wonder the kids were prematurely quitting their post.

Well, after what felt like hours of stringing Fruit Loops,

our tree looked a bit more cheery.

Only to be repeatedly attacked.

We have our own little Hansel & Gretel at our house.

By the time this tree came down, we were missing the Fruit Loops on the whole bottom half.

Despite a fair amount of grumbling over the garland,

they all loved decorating the tree.

Or in Aubrey's case,

she loved decorating that ONE branch.

I just loved this picture that I caught of my girls hanging ornaments.

Once we prepared the house, the real fun began.

Now, I know this is a controversial topic, 

but I am personally a HUGE fan.

I have been wanting one for a few years,

but struggled to dish out the $30.  (Thanks grandma!)

Our elf's name is Roy.

And I am not sure who enjoyed the tradition more - the kids, or me?

One morning the kids came into the kitchen to find Roy flying through the air!

Brooklyn was beside herself with excitement.

She knew that Roy could fly.

And this proved it!

She ran upstairs to tell Jack.

(picture beyond giddy excitement)

Jack walked in the room,

stood there with one hand on his hip and said,

"I can see a string."

Then he sat down to eat his Cheerios.

Well Merry Christmas to you too, Jack.

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