It's Christmas time again...

Well, now that Thanksgiving has passed it is now officially my favorite time of year! I love Christmas and the winter time. Everything about this time of year is fun (except the fact that when we really want the extra money, there doesn't seem to be any), the T.V. is always tuned to the Christmas music channel, the Christmas lights are always plugged in, the kids fall asleep to Christmas music, and as soon as we had cleaned up from our Thanksgiving dinner I asked Keith to get out the decorations. We don't have very many, but I love to have them out for as long as possible. My absolute favorite are snowmen, so I love getting to put up all my snowmen stuff. This year we had a lot of fun, because Natalie is old enough to actually help and get excited. She has been asking a lot of questions this time around. Her new phrase is "Can we talk more about (insert specific topic here)?", she will say this for anything. It is nice to see she wants to learn more and not just give us the old nod your head and smile. When we started explaining "more about" Santa, she started to get a little freaked out. I think that one is going to take a little more convincing to her that we don't need to be scared of a big man coming down the chimney! Anyway, here are some of our decorations, we don't have a tree yet, I think I may have to convince Keith still on that one! All he can think about is Mr. Brady getting into it all. the. time! Especially since his new thing is going from one "forbidden" object to the next!

My bookshelf snowmanned up.

My new advent calendar, we actually just got this in the mail today from my parents. Each drawer came already filled with a piece of candy, it is so cute! Also, notice that we took down most of our regular decorations, but the important ones had to stay out. Read-#1 fan.

The kids Nativity set. I saw this two years back at a church thing and I has to get it. So last year I got it and the kids love it. Last year Natalie was so sad when I put it away, and would randomly ask for it throughout the year. She was so excited to see it again!

My favorite set! I found it on the back page of the Seagull bookstore catalogue. It was love at first sight! (they are snowmen, if you can't tell)

So, two years ago I had no nativity sets and last year I got three! It was a good year for new decorations. I will post pictures of the third one later, I am saving it...

Slacker

Well, it has been brought to my attention that I have been neglecting my blog. I do not deny this, I have been pretty sick for the last few days and the only exciting thing going on here is me dragging my lazy bum out of bed to either eat, run after the children, make a casserole large enough to feed us for 3 days, or play the occasional song or two or five on Guitar Hero. So, due to my blog inactivity I consider that my blog vacation and I am now back in business. I am challenging myself to post at least once a day for the rest of the year. And, I will try to make each one at least somewhat interesting. Not just the same old stuff about how cute/smart/annoying/whatever my kids are that day. So, wish me luck and stay tuned!

two things

First of all, "Mandolin Superstar" is FUN! and I am pretty good at it! When I play on easy...

Secondly, here is a conversation that took place today:

Keith: Brady, come here.
Brady: no.
Keith: Why?
Brady: Isaidso. (words did come out all together like that)

This was cause for much laughter in our house. The best part is that he will do it every time we ask "why?", which I am sure will get old soon, so we will just enjoy it while it is still funny!Erin is at this moment trying to capture it on camera video so I can post it here. Wish us luck!

Minor Emergency

OK, people, we have a small situation. I found out last night that Erin has neither seen nor heard of Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure! I know, it's shocking isn't it??? I mean, not to have seen it is one thing, but to never have heard of the wonderful movie that is Bill and Ted's, now that is just down right wrong! So, if any of you fellow readers have this movie can we please borrow it ASAP?? I would be much obliged, not to mention that Erin's soul basically depends on it.

mmmmm......

I was pretty impressed with the spread we pulled out this year. We have been pretty busy so it was a miracle we remembered to buy the food before today! Everything turned out pretty good and I wanted to get it down here for posterity's sake. I am off to bed, we have some early morning shopping to do! You gotta feel the pain for those "low low" prices!

Our Thanksgiving "feast"

My first ever homemade berry pie...yummy!

Happy Thanksgiving

We here in the Bowers home hope that today finds you happy and loved! Remember there is always someone out there who loves you! Don't forget to take time today to say a prayer of Thanksgiving for all the things that make your life wonderful. We love you all and wish you the best of days. Just make sure you don't over eat...yeah, right! And don't forget to take in some football. Go Cowboys!!

An introduction to Kawaii

*WARNING* long, and quite possibly boring post ahead, if you can't finish I completely understand! At least check out the links when you get bored. :) And feel free to scroll down to read my previous post first! Then maybe this one will make sense...

Yet another new thing I have discovered on the wonderful, wonderful Swap-Bot. Kawaii basically means cute. It consists of many different types of items ranging from stationary sets to memo pads to stickers to "plushies" or stuffed things. All of it is Asian, and all of it is super CUTE (or Kawaii).

As I was swapping on SB and reading into my partners profiles this word started popping up everywhere. So, seeing as how I have plenty of time to surf the web at work, I did a little research and found that I too was not immune to the super sweet cuteness of all things kawaii. Some of you are probably familiar with the one brand of Kawaii things that has made it to mainstream US and that is Sanrio, known for the super cute Hello Kitty and my new favorite Kuromi (she is SO cute). The Sanrio stuff is pretty normal and mainstream.

The hard to find stuff is the stuff I really love. This stuff is mainly only available to buy on the Internet or if you actually go to Asia. My absolute favorite are the "stuffies" or little plush things (I got a tofu, yes a tofu in a swap and it is SO cute) and things that have these sayings on them that are translated into English and they come out sounding a little off. OK, so Erin and I were going through some of the memos and papers that I have acquired to write down some of the funny examples, but there are too many to just do a few! So another list is born! Here we go, silly sayings found on my kawaii stationary and loose memo sheets (pieces of paper taken from memo pads):

1. Love my heart-This dream is all what I am. I could have one hope. -found on a memo sheet with a picture of a smiling waffle (this one is my favorite!)
2. Being surrounded by my favorite. These are my favorite. I wonder why I get worried about it? Being surrounded by my favorite.-found on a memo sheet with tiny cartoon drawings of food, hearts, ribbons-trust me this is funny stuff.
3. Delicious time to you. Everyone is loved-found on a memo sheet with a cartoon ice cream soda with a smiley face.
4. I feel comfortable with my heart exhilarated-found on a part of stationary that has a mini (read-3 inches tall) puppy getting into some real cookies with little smiley faces drawn on.

Well, there you have it! Some of the sillier Kawaii.

Well, I am tired of doing this post, it is waaaaay to long. So instead I will just post some links of sites that I like to look at when I am bored, and then you can look too, if you feel so inclined. You can also click on my flickr badge on the right tool bar and see the pictures of all of the kawaii stuff I have gotten so far. I hope you (at least those of you who made it through) enjoyed this mini tutorial on a bit of Asian culture.

Phoophie.com-check out the apple town buttons, I have no idea what I would use them for, but they are so cute! I was thinking making magnets out of them?

Shop Kawaii-all you could ever want in kawaii products right here in one shop!

Q Outlet-this is a good one because they have good sales.

Whew! There you go! A lesson in Kawaii, if nothing else at least I have documented my latest addiction for when i eventually print this sucker out!

A wish list of sorts

Due to the fact that my 3 main gift receiving opportunities all fall within the same month I have had plenty of time to rack up a pretty extensive wish list throughout the year. So risking the fact that I may come off as completely greedy I thought I would post my most current version of wants here. Not so you will buy any of it (though feel free!), but at least you will all get a taste of my likes this year. And then I can gaze lovingly at it and dream of better Christmas/birthdays/anniversaries to come when we are not destitute. (I may be exaggerating a teensy bit, but what can I say? I like presents! The giving of and receiving. Don't judge me.) I think this is why I like swap-bot so much, because it make almost every day like Christmas when I get packages in the mail, and it is SO fun to try and make a package for someone you don't even know!

Anywho, the list (pretty much in order of most wanted down):

1. Last Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson
2. Large rotary cutting mat
3. Long quilting ruler
4. Rotary cutting blade
5. fat quarters- here are some examples
6. Kawaii stuff (another post with explanation to follow, but check out some of the goods here, especially this makeup bag-I mean I reeeeeally love that little bag! Did you read what it says? How funny/cute is that?)
7. Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer-this really is number one and has been for a few years, but I know it is a pipe dream!

Hmmm...I think that actually may be it! Wow, I thought I wanted a TON, but I think because numbers 5 and 6 are really limitless it seems like so much more. And of course I want all the good stuff like peace on Earth and all that jazz...hehehe

Concerning some pros and cons

So, we have a cool family member* visiting and I am learning there are some pros and cons to having said family member around. Pro: said family member has a car and is willing to fetch certain types of bubbly brown medicinal refreshment for another family member that may have had a long day and needs a much needed visit from a certain Doctor. Con: said family member is not much in the way of a voice of reason when the other aforemention family member has the spontaneous idea to buy yet another family member an early Christmas gift for a certain little white electronic box that is sure to improve his musical abilites (for my purposes of anonymity we will call said gift "Mandolin Superstar"). So there you have it.

*Names have been left out to protect the innocent (and not so innocent)

LOL, I think our silliness is confusing people. Here is the deal in black and white: Jason didn't stop me from buying Keith Guitar Hero! and giving it to him early (read-today)!

Funny Pants McGee

So, we have this water bottle that we use to wet Natalie's hair when it needs to be tamed into a ponytail. This water bottle has taken on a sort of "forbidden fruit" status in our house. If i accidentally leave it out our resident munchkin will find it and begin to spray himself repeatedly until his shirt and face are drenched. So, the other day he grabbed it and I took it from him before any real damage was done, and of course he began to cry so I sprayed him in the face. I figured he was going to do it to himself so why not let me join in the fun. Eventually though I began to worry because he would let me spray him with his eyes open, so I told him to close his eyes. Oh. My. Goodness. He started making this face...LOL...I had Erin run and get the camera. It is SOOOOO funny (at least to me who is a totally non objective party here). He cracks me up! One minute he is a serious monkey head and the next he is making me roll with merry laughter. I love this kid!

You can see that he is kind of trying to peek!

Perfect!

Well, peeps, I think we have a keeper. Keith and I both agree that this is the one for me. My favorite was the first one, but, as we all commented, the see-through-ness would get annoying and mess up my pictures! :( Sad because I LOVED that one best. But, out of all the other ones this one is our favorite, different colored links, soft color that I love, and simple design. I think it will suit my purposes and I may use the butterfly one for a journal I have been thinking about starting. So thank you everyone for your 2 cents and good input! I think we have a winner!

Choice number 4-Whirls

I really like this one too. I also like how the links are a different color and on the purple one everything was purple so it was harder to see my links. So this one has a little variety. Ah, choices, choices...

Choice number 3- Purple Spirals

I like this one too, it has the solid background that we all agree is a must and it is a pretty purple. See, it is going to get tougher now...lol...don't get too attached to one quite yet! Pyzam is extensive!

Smarty Pants McGee

So, Natalie had another surprise for us tonight. She brought Keith a piece of paper and on that tiny slip of paper it had one word: BRADY. She wrote it all by herself, no promptings, or help with spelling! I know I am bragging, but it is my blog and I will do what I want!


Smarty Pants McGee at 11 months

Choice number 2- Garden

OK, here is the second one I fell in love with. (Did someone else have this one at some point??) I like it because the text is on a solid surface.

Pictures part 2

Our camera has decided that each time we use it it only last for a few miliseconds before it dies, even after being fully charged for a week. We need to get a new battery, but alas we are too poor and they are $20 that we don't have, so long story long we have been using Erin's camera and I finally got around to uploading some of the ones we had taken and I found some super sweet shots that she had gotten.

*Insert fake snore here*

Look at my dainty toes Mama

Yummy, yummy thighs!

Choice number 1-Green butterflies

OK, so I am finally trying out some new formats. I am getting really sick of mine even though when I try other blooger templates i always come back to this same one. So i got on Pyzam and started searching. I think I am going to do a new one each day and let my readers give their 2 cents. That way I can add all my links back after I am sure i have found the right one!

THis is the first one I saw that drew my eye. I think it is so pretty, but I don't know if it goes along with the theme of my blog, if that even matters.

Tag I'm It!

**Warning** Super loooong post ahead

My sister-in-law Danielle blog tagged me! So now I am supposed to give you a list of 6 odd/new-to-you things about me. Hmmm, methinks this is going to take a while! Lets see how long it takes me to wrote this post. (not to mention the fact that I am writing this while working and for some reason my phone keeps ringing! can't they see I am trying to blog here! the nerve!) Anywho, here we go:

1. I am not a very private person. I am learning this right now trying to come up with this list! I don't hide my feelings/likes/dislikes very well at all! I wear my emotions on my sleeve. My temper can heat up and cool down very fast. This trait is not always a good thing, but at least I don't hide the real me! What you see is what you get! (that is not to say that I am not trying to change this, it is just how I am)

2. To go back to something I mentioned in my last post, I honestly feared for a long time that I would never be able to have kids. I had a few slight (and I mean slight) scares when I was pregnant with Natalie and they were just confirming my fear! So for a long time after I had her she was my miracle baby. It took me forever to realize she was really mine! Poor Brady...LOL...all he got was grouchy post-partum momma! I guess if you haven't heard the stories, and to make what is surely going to be a long post even longer, here they are!

There was a moment towards the very end of Natalie's pregnancy that the doctor couldn't find her heart beat and I thought I was going to lose her. Turns out she was just breech as she had been at the beginning of my pregnancy and hadn't turned like they thought she did, so I ended up having her by C Section 3 days later (2 days before the due date). There was another time during the Christmas I was pregnant with Natalie that I woke up in the middle of the night with major stomach cramps. They didn't feel very contraction like, and I was at my Dad's and didn't want to bother him or my Step Mom so I just suffered through them until morning-they were painful! Finally after a few hours with these cramps I threw up and by then I could hear Lori (my other mother) puttering around the kitchen so I went down stairs to tell her about my night. Needless to say she was pretty ticked that I hadn't woken her up earlier and we immediately rushed off to the hospital (leaving an ominous note on the door for my dad who was out hunting), where we learned I was suffering from a severe case of the flu. Unlike any flu I had ever had before! Anywho, long story even longer, Natalie means "born on Christmas day" and all this excitement was happening on Christmas Eve day, so I was pretty convinced that I was going into labor!

Hmm...that took a lot out of me! This is HARD!

3. I feel prettiest when I have a nice pedicure and I LOVE when my hair is long and permed (not a crazy spiral, just a nice body wave).

4. I have never met a baked good (specifically ones with flaky pastry or of the doughnut variety) that I didn't like-wait, take that back-Bavarian cream filled are naaa-stay! Other than that one exception, I am SO not picky, that may be why I never lost my "baby" weight...b/c it for sure isn't actual doughnut weight...no that can't be it... (just thinking about doughnuts is making me drool...)

5. I am a "sweat monster" (I realize this may be too much information, but I am really struggling here with ideas!) I get SO hot, SO fast! I always have, even when I was thin(ner), so I know it isn't due to my weight. I absolutely hate the extreme heat, which is funny considering I live in Texas. This is also the reason why I have begged Keith never to make me live in S.C. because I think I would die (or be seriously grouchy-and no one wants that) due to the humidity all. year. long. I crave cool weather. I love me some spring and summer (picnics, swimming, beach time, general outside-edness), but I NEED 4 seasons. Knowing that cooler weather is coming sometimes helps me make it through those swelteringly hot days that inevitably come every summer no matter where you live. My theory is that you can get warm by piling on the clothes, but you can never cool off all the way, you can only take off so many clothes...LOL!

6. I am a compulsive neaten-er, I don't really like to clean with cleaners (I do it before the dirt gets out of control, but I have some weird thing about getting the cleaner/poison on my hands-which causes me to wash and wash and wash after any of it touching my skin-so I tend to put it off as long as possible), but I love to have my house neat and tidy. So I get in these moods where I run around like a crazy woman putting away all the clutter that appears out of nowhere. Unfortunately this then draws the eye to the dust that is lurking beneath! I am also helped with this one because of the fact that my (awesome, super, terrific, wonderful) husband has taken it upon himself ( I swear I am not forcing him) to become the official kitchen cleaner of the house! YAY Keith...he also seems to be the one who ends up cleaning the tub too...that reminds me I need to thank him for the 50th time today for taking upon himself the most awful of chores as his own!

Whew! That is a crazy long post! And it only took me 2 and a half hours to complete. Well, thanks for joining me and I am now tagging *Mindi*Ashley*Sarah*Missy*Kelli*Julie G.* Have fun ladies!

Inspired

My fellow blogger and friend Ashley has inspired me to write a list of things I am grateful for. Lately I have not been feeling very grateful and in fact have been feeling down right un-grateful! When life gets stressful and you start to feel like, well (to reference an old song), like you should just go eat worms; it is good to take a step back and look at what you have that is good in your life. So here goes (not in any specific order) a list of things I am grateful for:

1. My husband, my rock, my eternal companion (I know, I know, chee-sy!)-Keith
2. My two miracles-that came to me whose greatest fear was that she would never have kids
3. The Gospel- to give me direction
4. Parents who love me and want to see me happy and successful (whatever that may be!)
5. Sisters! Though we are all spread out, I love them all and couldn't have hand picked better ones myself.
6. A big warm bed to sleep in.
7. My office/sanctuary
8. Swap-bot! It has given me something to pass the time and to feel creative again! I am SO addicted, the postal workers are my new best friends!
9. Cell phones-to keep us connected (when we find the time to call! Love ya Mindi!)
10. Umm...food! Yum!
11. DVR
12. Clearance/dollar sections at my favorite stores (though they are bleeding me dry-darn you Target!)
13. Friends
14. My job-even though right now I feel like it is kicking my butt, I know it is all worth it to be supporting my family! That's me...bringin' home the bacon and cooking it and letting Keith clean it up!

I am sure I will be thinking of more things all night long, but these are a few! I know that Keith and I are very blessed and sometimes I think "uh oh" what bad thing is going to come next? Well, I am learning you can't live life like that! You have to take each day at a time and make it count, make ever moment as happy as you can (easier said than done).

HOT

So Natalie has been writing her name for a while now and I must say it is pretty impressive. This morning she came up to me and said, "Look Mom. Hot." I looked, and this is what I beheld:

The E was added after and her name is written above it but in yellow-so it essentially says Natalie's hot...LOL

Pumpkin Patch pictures

I was looking through pictures and I found some more cute ones of our trip to the pumpkin patch.

Look! It's Mom!

You can do it Brady!

Big boys :)

She is going! so! fast! ...oh wait...she is still at the top of the slide...

Pretty girl

Chillin'

Preschool

So, over the last few months I have been debating back and forth if I wanted to send Natalie to preschool. At first I said "no" because she doesn't start Kindergarten for 2 more years and I thought there was no reason to start her now and she will be in preschool for 2 years. Well, after a long process I finally caved and signed Natalie up for school at the local rec center. She goes twice a week for 3 hours and so far it has been awesome! She loves it, it is actually a pain to get her to leave because she has so much fun there (methinks Keith is going to have to start picking her up because Mommy can't stand the whining). So, anywho, we shall see how it goes and if she likes it this month then we will continue. Here are some pictures from her first day of school.

Picture Update

So because we now have 2 computers it is really a pain to upload pictures and get them on my blog. I am pretty sure I have mentioned thi before, but it is really annoying! Anywho, here are some pictures from the recent past.

Natalie ready for the first game.

My son, the first kid to choke on the toy choke tester (sorry Kelli!)

The ellusive bunkbeds finally made it! They turned out great and are SO wonderful to have. Plus I think Natalie's bedding is awesome! The best clearance find ever!

The kids playing house.

Teensiest tiny football post

I just wanted to draw everyones attention to the right side of my blog where I am slowly but surely working my way towards the grand prize of the Bowers Bowl. (not that we actually have the money stashed away anymore...we are too poor to have that kind of extra moolah laying around)

I also wanted to see if I am not alone in making this connection:

The Patriots and the Colts both can't go to the Superbowl and we have the same record as the Colts and the only team that has beat us so far was the Patriots...so...we are thinking in the Bowers house that there is a great possibility that we could make it to the Super Bowl if we don't choke in the playoffs...no names mentioned here...

TV Update

So, I was taking a peek at my site meter and I noticed someone had found my blog through a search for Grey's Anatomy and it reminded me that I haven't been talking about my shows! I think the main reason I haven't been is because I watch everything 2-3 days after it airs when I can sneak time during the day to actually watch.

Here are my thoughts on some of my faves. Feel free to comment!

Grey's:
1. Not so sure how I feel about this Ava coming back. I really wanted them to expand on the fact that Alex is obviously still pining for Izzie.
2. I really feel they need to get Derek and Meredith together and move on with new plot lines. They can't just drag that relationship out forever, it will get OLD!
3. I officially DON'T like Lexie.

Heroes:
1. Why am I not as in to it as last year? I just don't know what is missing...at least Peter/Jess is looking good with a new haircut!

Moonlight:
1. Is anyone else watching this?? Erin and I are watching it and we like it a lot. We like how it is a little like the old black and white Dick Tracy type show with the PI and the voice over narration...plus the main guy grows on you!

How I met your mother:
1. Funny, as always, but maybe leaning toward the raunchy side? Are they doing this to get rating to perk? I am not sure if I like it.

Private Practice:
1. Undecided if I like or not. It definitely has potential to be good, but it isn't grabbing me.

Ugly Betty:
1. Why is this feeling blah to me? Sometimes I can't even watch! I get embarrassed or something for her!

There! I think that about sums it up!

So Small

This is my new favorite song.

cuteness

Thank you Sarah for this super cute picture!

P.S. Notice Natalie is missing half of her costume, she got SO sweaty, see her hair all wet?

She shoots! She scores!

Just a quick B ball update. Natalie had a practice on Monday and I totally forgot to tell that she made a basket! All by herself! This is some great feat for her considering she has NO upper body strength. She is really learning a lot and is starting to understand why she is doing what she is doing (ie. she holds her arms up to rebound, she shoots to make a point, she passes to share the ball). She has her first game on Saturday. It should be pretty good. If I can get some video I will post it here.

100th Post!

Yay! I made it to 100! Thanks for all of you guys that read and comment. I have a lot of fun doing this and I hope to continue doing it! Even though it is a pain in the butt to upload images now!