Happy An-EE-vair-suri

yep, yep 5 years! Here are pics of the festivities. Here we are outside of craigo's. It was yummy. I ate lots. Here we are at the truck. (it was a picture smorgasbord. You will soon see. I had to take a picture everywhere we went.) Brandon wants me to delete this picture. I love it far too much to do so. By the way, we are NOT lick each other kind of people...I don't know where this random act of false licking came from. Maybe it was all the spontaneity. Here we are outside bed bath and beyond. We were hoping to buy a fly swatter. (walmart only sells crappy fly swatters. So we have to shop were the rich folk do. Sorry rich folks, all out of fly swatters...bummer.) I was trying to get the sign in the pic...my arms aren't long enough. But this one has to be one of my faves from the night. In fact, it's my new facebook pic. hip hip. Kissing...eew! Just kidding. Man he's still got it. But what a goofy face?! Outside of outer limits. It's this arcade place (have I mentioned I LOVE arcades!) This is me at the skeet ball, MY FAVE! We weren't planning on the arcades, again with the spontaneity, so we only had 2 quarters to our names. The one machine ate my man's token so we only played one game...we'll be back! This is my "I'm going to die" face. I'm pretty sure it was Brandon's goal to roll the truck tonight. More kissy face. I seriously love this man. Here we are "making out" in front of the Bishop's house. (we are little dare devils) They watched our kids for us. Love them! It only took us 4 attempts to finally get our heads in the pic. And here is our final pic of the night. Compliments of Kami. So very, very much in love with Brandon Bowen. Truly a happy 5 years.

Movin' on Up

It's been a while since we had an "ala ala" Landon post. So here you go. Cute pic, no? My baby likes to bite me. ...fun... It has gotten extra convenient since he seems to be cutting his first tooth. I think I might just like him better toothless
And those are rug burns on my baby's knees. (I don't know how well you can see them) Which, of course can only mean one thing: Baby's crawling! Or, at least attempting it, to be more accurate. He hasn't really purposely gone anywhere yet, but he spends the ENTIRE day on his knees rocking back and forth, even attempting mini "steps". How did he get so big so fast? As a Bowen, he isn't supposed to crawl for another 3-4 months! AAGH! Very proud though.

That's a lot of beans!

Yes, I am about to be one of those "crazy Mormon housewives" who posts their canning escapades on their blog...and you are going to like it. Yesterday Gwen came over and we canned it up! We were originally expecting only minimal results...however...well, as you can see we were AWESOME! That is 58 beautiful jars of green bean goodness. And, I am proud to announce we had a 100% retention rate. Don't be hatin'. We would have had more even, probably like 70, but we ran out of jars. So the remainder are in my freezer. (that's for you dad)

Green beans take a long time. Lucky for me, Gwen has honed in on her painting skills and I only had one brush. Convenient... hmm, I wonder if that was planned. (Honestly Gwen, I swear it wasn't) But not only did we accomplish the canning spectacular of the summer (I may be over exaggerating, okay I am) But we also managed to complete the painting (for the most part) in my kiddos bedroom. So happy!

And let me just say, Lydia is the best little babysitter I have EVER had. For the first time in 3 weeks we were shenanigan free. If, of course, you excuse the little episode of sidewalk painting... But that was Brandon's fault. Love it! Lydia can come to our house every day.

Productivity

Maybe you should waste some time doing this...just a thought.

Not that I would do it.

{Memory Monday}

It's been a long time since I've done one of these. However, we had a little trip down memory lane this morning.... so here you go.
I remember...

(a classic Kami face at the time. It's "the stare")

When Kami fell off the bar stool at my parents house and broke her collar bone. She was only 18 months old. I cried like a baby and my brothers made fun of me...and Kameryn (rude huh?)

When you break your collar bone when you're little there is really nothing they can do about it. It basically heals itself but you have to put it in a sling. Kami was so little they didn't have a small enough sling. So, they did a sling and then ace bandaged her up. For three weeks (I think), she was my one armed bandit. She was so tiny that, even with all that bandaging and such she just ended up looking like a regular, armless kid. Every time she fell down and couldn't get back up I bawled. (my brothers laughed) But she was a trooper, she never really complained, she just figured it out. She was a wonder to behold. (At least for me) Little kids are so adaptable.



Fast forward to the present...

Kami fell out of bed this morning around a quarter to five and broke her collarbone...again. Poor girl. I knew exactly what was wrong the second I saw it and we loaded all the kids up in the car and rushed into the emergency room. 5 1/2 hours later.... We are home, kids are sleeping.

Kami is such a trooper. She has been through so much, medically, in her little life. I am so proud of her bravery and grace. (I know it is odd to attribute grace to a 4 year old, but that is exactly what she is.) She is amazing.

She is in a lot of pain, understandable. They have her arm in a sling and that is about it. They originally thought she had dislocated her shoulder as well, which is unheard of for a 4 year old. With the way their ligaments are, they will break their growth plate before they dislocate their shoulder. Well, after 8 different doctors, 2 sets of x-rays, and a cat scan (not to mention an additional 4 hours of wait time) they sent her home with a clean slate. In that regard at least.

I'm feeling feelings very similar to those felt 2 1/2 years ago. A lot of sadness, a lot of awe/wonder at her strength, a lot of pride, and a lot of that sinking feeling a parent always feels when their child is in pain. She will be okay. She is a tough girl.

Doesn't parenting teach you so much about your Heavenly Father's love for you? I think so. I think in giving us children, He grants us just a small glimpse into the very powerful, very real, very unconditional love He has for us, His children. I know I have learned more about His love in the 4 years I've been a parent then in the 20 years prior. It is a gift. An amazing, amazing gift.
side note: doesn't Kami look just like Landon? (or vis versa) I tried to tell everyone that he looked like Kami, but no one believed me...until now. I also forgot how bald she was. Like cue ball bald. I really should have done some of those big flower head bands or something...

No Title

I found these ice cube trays and thought they were awesome. Brandon thought they were gross. I am seriously debating the $5 and something to buy them. Hmm.... the possibilities.

Does anyone else think Dennis the Menace and Chiclets gum? haha

This Morning:

Oh the naughtiness! It seems to be the theme running through these last couple of days. Like when Kami dumped a whole cup of water on Landon....in his sleep. That was the second nap they foiled for the poor kid yesterday. (nothing says "wake up" like a cold glass of water....)
Most of the naughtiness has been...well honestly, frustrating. Do-able, but frustrating. I'm pretty sure Cooper has started pouting. It's hard to tell because he's pretty hard to understand. Mostly because he doesn't really talk. But, twice yesterday, when I told him something contrary to his desires he said something like "no! ba da ma na ba da no! no!" then he ran to his bedroom and slammed the door. So, I concluded that what he really said was "No! If you're going to be mean to me, I'm never going to be your friend! Ever!" Based solely on the fact that, if you remember right, that is what Kami always says when she is pouting. So....fun!
This morning, as I was getting dressed, my children climbed up on the counter and got into Brandon's candy bag. (it's a no no) I came out of the room to my two children splitting a snickers bar (at least they were sharing) and Kami said, amidst a mouth full of snickers, "mmm! These are really yummy mom!"
Good. At least you're enjoying your bad decision...

The Inevitable

Well, it was bound to happen. And happen it did. I am debating posting this or keeping it to myself so as to remain cool. Obviously the desire to completely gross out Kadon won the coin toss. However, I will keep it slightly subdued so as not to gross out the common public.
There is a phrase that one often utters when allowing a freshly fed baby to kiss/drool the lips off your face. It is the same phrase uttered when tossing a baby in the air above you while you look up opened mouthed saying ridiculously perfect things to say to a baby like "ooo" "getcha getcha getcha" "hey....who's the baby" ...you know, things educated parents have never said....
In fact, it is the very phrase said by everyone and anyone who ever dares venture their open mouth in the vicinity of an infant's.
"You better not .... in my mouth."
Do you remember saying that?

Me too.

Apparently I must have forgotten to remind Landon this time and so he must have thought it was okay...
Not okay.

favorite commercial...just had to include it, you know, given the circumstances. The clown one is just for fun, you know, because it's funny.

A Bouquet

Kameryn brought me in a bouquet of flowers...picked from my front flower beds.

"These are for you mom."

and then, in her most serious tone and with the most precious face

"you have to put them in water because I love you."

Now how can you be mad at that?

Tiny Tim

I have a little turtle

his name is tiny Tim

I put him in the bathtub to see if he could swim

he drank up all the water

he ate up all the soap

and now he's sick in bed

with bubbles in his throat

...poor Cooper (blowing soap bubbles and everything)

*I can never sing this song without saying float at the end and thinking of KeiLani...remember mom?

When Dad's Away...

his boy will play...in poop!

Kadon enjoyed this, so I thought I'd share:
Yesterday, during piano lessons, I happened to catch a whiff of something smelly (Cooper). I was in the middle of lessons so I figured he could wait. Apparently not because 3 minutes later I caught a real whiff of something really smelly (again Cooper) Only this time, he was wearing the really smelly on his hands and face. Oh! Not good! Poor Cassidy....
It gets worse seeing that I turned around to take care of the problem only to find out that my carpet was also "wearing" the really smelly.
That concluded our piano lesson...on a not so pleasant note. I'm sure Cassidy has one more story to add to her "my piano teacher is a nut job" file...

come

"....and every time we reach out, however feebly, for Him, we discover He has been anxiously trying to reach us."

"When He says to the poor in spirit, "come unto me", He means He knows the way out and He knows the way up. He knows it because He has walked it. He knows the way because He is the way."

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland "Broken Things to Mend" April General Conference 2006

I know this church is true.

Suck Face

Nothing says "I'm a cool mom" better than giving your children a GIANT sucker the size of their face. Come on...we were celebrating birthdays! Those are very special days; they call for very special, very large, celebration suckers.
Yes Kari/Gwen, they are as messy as they would appear to be. Especially when given to a 2 year old...

Shout Hooray!

You've had a birthday!!

Well, it's finally here: our little Kami is 4 years old...TODAY! Hip, hip!

We have been hearing nothing but "when will it be my birthday?" and "when it's my birthday..." for the last, ...oh 6 months. Exhausting. It is finally here.

Kami woke up to balloons in her room, something I thought she would be thrilled about. However, she woke up to the adverse reaction. She came into my room deeply troubled in the early hours of the morning "Mom, someone put balloons in my room on my birthday." She was not in the least bit ecstatic, more upset.

I rolled over to Brandon and said "Well that had the opposite reaction I anticipated."

But, after she went back to bed, for say 5 minutes, she came back overjoyed with "Mom, guess what! There are birthday balloons all over my room! There are pink ones, lots of pink ones, and yellow, and green, and...." That was more like it. She and Cooper have spent the last 45 minutes playing in them. Much better.

We've already had 4 different birthday songs and Kami's opened 2 presents (thanks Stef). Later on we are planning on going to the beach for lunch and the library for fun and a movie. Kami would really like her friends to come over to watch a movie on the mattress and eat popcorn. Unfortunately, her friends are out of town...

We are excited to share this special day with our very special little girl. She really is so much fun!

Happy happy happy happy birthday Kameryn.

We will upload better/more pictures as we get them.

Potat - ooohs

We were outside digging in the garden earlier this evening (a lesson on faith for FHE: likening faith unto a seed...) and we saw a "little" red potato peeking it's head out above the dirt. We concluded it must be time to dig them up. Sure enough!

Harvest is so fun and exciting (I know, I'm a cheesebutt.) We weren't really expecting a large potato yield, what with our raised bed only being 6 inches deep. But, we were very surprised. Some of our small red potatoes were HUGE! Our purple potatoes didn't thrive as well, but we still got a relatively good crop from them. Fun, fun!

Our poor garden now only has onions and a little bit of lettuce growing in it. I think it feels lonely. Our other garden spot is still sporting tomatoes and squash of some kind. It's got a while to go.

Oh, and another fun bit, we are "harvesting" some raspberries off our raspberries bushes we planted this spring. We are at a whopping 5 so far, but, hip hip just the same.

It's a hair - DO!

Since Kami's last hair do got such rave reviews, we decided we would share this one as well. Do you remember doing this as a child? I sure do. Fun times.

curly cue

Kami wanted her hair on the blog as well. We did it in sponge rollers last night. She was such a big girl to keep them in. Everyone at church loved her curly do. cute. cute.

She's getting a little adenturous with her posing.

Honest Opinion

So, I need some help. We have family pictures coming up in a couple weeks and....I just cut my hair. Well, just my bangs. I'm following the current bang trend. (You know, blunt cut, straight, etc.)

I don't hate them. They aren't perfect, of course, because I cut them myself. And, I did cut them a little longer, but that is as a safety net in case we don't love them, that way I can go back to the swoop look.

So, here is what I need: HONEST OPINION; keep 'em or ditch 'em. Brandon is no help, he doesn't care. He says they look good. (But I'm not so sure he would say "hun, you look really dorky. I'd fix those before family pics") So, that is why I am posting here. I'm pretty sure I will only get honest feedback from Kadon and mom...and possibly Gina. Are my new bangs going to look dorky in family pictures? Do they look dorky in general?

These pics aren't the best because we had just gotten back from a 2 hour shopping excursion... and of course my hair is flat (as always) but this is what you have to work with. And yes, I probably will actually do my hair for family pictures.

Please remember, although I want honest opinions, please be nice, I do still have feelings and mean comments like "you'd probably be better off if you just cut off your face" will make me sad.

Amari, if you read my blog, my family could use some help with haircuts.