Happy Turkey Pics

Here are some pics from the days festivities. In completely random order, of course, because I don't feel like sorting them. The two of us definitely NOT sleeping
Kami and Grandpa

Somebody was tired.

Kami and her Grandma

He was a little excited for Thanksgiving

Cooper, of course, was too busy rushing about to bother with a turkey hat. Uncle Clinton even helped Kami make all the hats.

Daddy was thrilled.

Look how CUTE!!

Kami and Land in Grandpa's new house.

Happy Turkeys

Today we Thanksgiving'd it at the Grandma and Grandpa Bowen's house. The kids were excited to go visit (who am I kidding, we were all pretty excited) The food was GREAT and the company even better. We took a little trip over to see the new house. We are all getting excited to see it done. Cooper was destruction on wheels. Now that we are home I can let out the breath I have been holding all day. I was just sure he was going to break something. (Which he did, coincidentally)
Turkey day always makes me (and Brandon) sleepy. Unfortunately, it has the adverse effect on Cooper. He was go, go, go. No stopping that kid. He was jumping, running, climbing, wrestling, up, down, and everywhere in between. Kami was too excited to see her grandparents to even think about sleeping (even though they were trying their hardest). And Landon, well he slept, and then he threw up... everywhere... five times.
My favorite episode of the entire holiday, however, had to have been when Cooper and Clinton got into a heated discussion as to what color Cooper's boat (he doesn't own) was. Cooper was very adamant that it was orange. SO CUTE! Of course you can't understand A WORD Cooper says and so Clinton was doing his best to put words in his mouth. I think they were simultaneously carrying on two different conversations. Very cute. Cooper also refused to eat any Thanksgiving dinner claiming it was "yucky". If it isn't candy, it's yucky. Unless it's corn (which Cooper refers to as popcorn - he has the general idea so we roll with it.) Cooper ate corn and cookies for Thanksgiving dinner. At least he got a vegetable...
At the end of the day we are all very tired, very full, and very grateful. We are grateful for our beautiful family, for our wonderful friends, for a great job, for our adorable little house, for our freedom, for our opportunities and talents. We are grateful for the gospel, for our knowlege of a loving Father in Heaven who is mindful of our family. We are grateful for the atonement of His son. We are grateful for the blessings that He so readily provides for us.
We hope your Thanksgiving was equally as wonderful and adventurous.

Randomness

I just wanted to post a smattering of pictures representing our lifes these last few days/weeks. Enjoy.

We had had one of THOSE days...This was only one of several instances of questionable behavior. I lost a whole BIG tub of yogurt thanks to his "helpful" sister. I also lost a clock (sat on), cheese (smooshed into my carpet), a tube of mascara, a handful of baby toys (the mascara got them...), and a package of lasagna noodles...to name a few. All in the same day... and no, I was not on the computer. He had yogurt EVERYWHERE! Poor kid. He thought it was yummy. Luckily he doesn't have a skin allergy like Cooper did... remember that? Now THAT was fun.

I was trying to get Cooper to smile for the camera. It may look like I was successful, but, keep in mind he is only smiling because he is about to chuck his baby doll at me. Nice. I'm not sure that counts. (I promise he is a sweetheart... he just like to throw things...and kick things...and sit on things...like his little brother...)

Kami is SO in to baby dolls. I can't tell you how many pictures of baby dolls I erase off my camera each week. The latest is that she, and Cooper, have to pose with the baby dolls. Which usually consists of them holding the baby doll in front of their face. (see example)

(example)

Yep...I totally wanted a picture of that baby's face...

My baby loves his pink blanket. Don't judge him. His mommy fascilitates it.

This next group of pictures makes me laugh. I call it the peeping Tom series. Sometimes our camera's lens doesn't open all the way. The kids don't exactly realize that... They are both really in to taking pictures of what they think are the important events of life. I love that in each one all you see is a little slice of Landon's face. Classic.

This one is my favorite. At least one of the Bowen boys knows how to smile for a camera. Such a cheese!

All the Beautiful People.

I just got my cd chalk full of beautiful pictures of the beautiful people I love the most. Here is the link to the web album so you may go ga-ga.

Family 08

Project Completion

Those who know me well know that I often start a million projects but rarely ever finish them, at least not in a timely manner. Well, today was project completion day. WOOHOO! Not only did we finish painting the trim in the family room (a project that has been waiting 5-6 + months now) but we also finished the kids room. Woot! Woot! And, lucky for you, I took pictures.

Plus I want to publicly be able to thank my dad for all the work he did for me. He came up a month or so ago and helped me do (actually he did them with help from my brother Brandon) a couple of my projects. My dad is absolutely amazing. He can make/fix anything. All I had to do is show him the picture, take the measurements, give him the cut sheet, and he did the rest. Of course, once it was all installed I had to do all the putty-ing, caulking, sanding, and painting. BLEH! But, a good sense of accomplishment. Unfortunately, I'm a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to things like this so I got pretty frustrated when I found flaws in my work...What are you going to do?

Here are the pics. I wanted to wait until I had the room decorated...with anything. But I figured if I waited pics would never get posted... So here is their extremely un-decorated bedroom with an extremely cute/AWESOME new wall treatment. Enjoy.

Before Pics

After pics.

This pic is dark, I know, but it was easier to see the detail if I took off the flash.

Oh yeah, we also installed the rest of the hooks in a front porch project and re-painted the wall (I know, this is time number 13...seriously) I got frames to hang out there as well. Pretty excited. But, I'm not going to take pictures until it is "finished", meaning I need to get pics of my kids printed to go inside my frames...then I'll post pictures.

Silver Lining

The advantage to having your house saran wrapped and then toilet papered, TWICE, on your husband's birthday is that once your colds hit two days later you can use the extra rolls left strewn about to wipe snotty noses. Cheaper than Kleenex. (Don't be worried, we're not using the stuff from off our house, we are using the 4 perfectly good rolls they left on the ground when they ran away fearing for their lives... or something like that.) Plus, when your colds last for longer than a week, you need all the extra arsenal you can muster.

Also, I just scored a giant roll of industrial saran wrap. Woot! Woot! The possibilities are endless. So happy my hubby had a birthday.

Apparently we are supposed to be looking for an earring that was left at the scene of the crime...hmm, suspicious.

Extremely Good Looking!

My AMAZING cousin Jandee took our family photos while we were down in Utah this weekend. She did such a wonderful job! Seriously incredible. We went to the most perfect place, TOTALLY ME! Jandee kept apologizing and saying, it's okay if you don't want to take it here, I was just in awe that she got me SO WELL. Honestly, I couldn't have picked a better location. She read my mind.

Very talented girl! Very, very talented. Cooper was, well Cooper, and he spent more time scowling than anything else...but, call me crazy, I wouldn't have it any other way. Plus, the smile she finally captured (the only one he dished out the ENTIRE time) was definitely worth all the work. Love her, and so very grateful she took the time to do this for me. Check out a sampling at her blog.

I stole this one just to give you a sneak peak.

I can't wait until I have the cd in my grubby little fingers so I can go to town "decking the halls" in pictures of my ridiculously good looking family :) he, he. I haven't been so excited in such a long time. Cute family pictures are the best!!

Silly Goose

I love kids, mine especially. Kami has been a hoot today. Earlier this morning she came up to me with a grim look on her face, "My baby rolled off her bed and broke her collar bone." "Oh no Kami! That's too bad." A couple minutes later, "I took my baby to the doctor." "Well what did the doctor say?" "He didn't know what he was talking about." And then she shrugged her shoulders and walked away. HA HA! Gotta love it.
Breakfast came late this morning. I made pancakes. Kami like her pancakes plain, no syrup, no butter. Except, today I learned an interesting fact about my daughter, she is a nut job. This is what she says to me. "Mom, I want ketchup on my pancakes." "Um, we don't eat ketchup on our pancakes." "Well, I like to." and then she looked at me, exasperated "Alright mom, well, maybe I will put on something else. What do you think will be a good flavor to go with my pancakes." "Um, I'm not sure Kami." "Maybe I'll just do ketchup because I like ketchup." Then, a few seconds later after she had dipped her pancake in ketchup...and eaten it... she says "See mom, this ketchup is really good. My tummy really likes this ketchup, and when my tummy likes it that means its good." Alrighty then....despite the fact that ketchup and pancakes sounds absolutely absurd, not to mention disgusting, my daughter's tummy has spoken. Silly goose! Love her. I think she is odd sometimes, but man I love her!

God Bless America...

I stole this scripture from a comment my friend Kari left on my friend Emily's blog today. It was one of those "amen" moments.
D&C 109:54 : “Have mercy, O Lord, upon all the nations of the earth; have mercy upon the rulers of our land; may those principles, which were so honorably and nobly defended, namely, the Constitution of our land, by our fathers, be established forever.”
Kari mentioned she was going to memorize it and add it to her nightly prayers. I think that is a good idea.
Now, more than ever, it is time to put our trust in the Lord, and not in men. Let us follow His council and not fear. He will watch over and protect us.
A little disclaimer people, I don't think Obama is Satan. I do, however, think our country is currently listening more to what the devil says then what God says ... hence the current direction we are headed. That being said, I'm not sure McCain had it right either...
P.S. I am SO SICK of politics (and the corresponding fear, stupidity, and no respect for the values of our fore-fathers) that this may very well be the last post I allow it to creep into my otherwise awesome blog. BLEH! on this whole mess! But don't think just because I am frustrated I won't be standing up. I won't sit idly back and let the persuasions of the devil (again, I'm not referring to Obama) rule this country that I love. I will pray and I will fight and I encourage you to do the same.

We've Got Tummy Aches.

I actually remembered to take pictures this year. GO ME! Of course, I cut the kids off halfway through their holiday wish... I'll get there.

These are before Landon put his costume on....These are after. He was a caveman, Cooper was a dragon, and Kami was a ladybug. I got some pics of the kids in their costumes in the leaves, unfortunately they aren't looking at me in one of them! They were a little bit excited to get out and trick or treat. Kami kept jumping up and throwing her hands in the air "I love Halloween!"

So, this year we rocked the trunk or treat/carnival at the church. Of course the kids loved it and the weather was pretty good. Landon inside the carnival enjoying a rather large tootsie pop. I was surprised it fit in his mouth. He LOVED it, of course.

A little disclaimer, I probably should have asked permission before I posted this video...

Our Relief Society President and her son dressed up as an old man and her/his wife Rita. THEY WERE HILARIOUS! Kept it up the whole night! SO funny. Here is a little clip from the cake walk festivities.

After the trunk or treat we invited ourselves over to the bishop's house for a "popcorn movie" - Kami's favorite.

I had to include these two pics of Kami at the bishop's house because she was looking at them when I uploaded them off the camera and she says to me, "I really love me." How cute is that?! I really love you too Kami.

The best thing about the whole night, we only had one sugar induced breakdown. It started to rain during our movie, when we got home (granted, it was late) Kami took one look at her "decomposing" pumpkin and lost it. A whole fit of tears, for honestly about 25 minutes... so Halloween. Then she looks up at me and says, "I don't feel so good. My tummy really hurts." It can't be all that candy you just ate...

Unfortunately, today is the day we (meaning I) suffer for what was Halloween 2008. I've got a disaster of a house and sugar induced/sleep reduced children. Fun, fun! Gotta love holiday after math.