Easter Egg Hunt

Saturday morning we had the Taylors and the Saunders over for a brunch potluck and an Easter Egg hunt. We were excited to actually have more than one family over for food and visiting, and not all be crowded into a teensy living room! The food was good, the company was good, and I think the kids had a great time!

Turning Five.

Well, she's five. My precious little baby girl is five years old. Five. Wow. Life has just been a little too crazy round these parts to really have time or funds to have a large birthday party, or extravagant gifts, but I think we made her feel loved, and special, and happy without all the bells and whistles (though the bells and whistles are very fun).

One rule of birthdays is getting to choose all the meals. For breakfast we had chocolate chip pancakes, then for lunch Happy Meals (shocker.) and then for dinner she wanted "rice with peas and carrots", otherwise known as fried rice. She gobbled it up, and meal times were a success.

Natalie's main gift this year was dance lessons, and I also made her a coupon book, but I will show more on both of those later. I really, REALLY wanted to do only handmade gifts from Mama this year, or at least Earth friendly ones, but she has been politely hinting for a VERY long time for this phone we saw months ago at WalMart. It is an old fashioned one, with a cord, and the headset resting on top. Like this, but pink, with noisy buttons. I did NOT want to get that phone, but she has been so good, and she really does love it. So I caved. Brady also came home with a new friend named Jelly Bean, I will show pics of that later too.

Anywho, after all the days festivities (shopping, relaxing, cuddling, playing) were over and dinner was cleaned up we had the Taylor's over for cake. Ewan is Natalie's oldest and dearest friend, so of course she wanted him there to celebrate with her, it doesn't hurt that we love him and his family too! This is her third birthday that he has been at. It's craziness.

This picture was just too cute. I had to use it. Natalie had about a million different things she wanted her birthday to "be", but she settled on some cute valentine decorations for her PINK cake. She had fun helping me decorate it, and I love how it looked on my cake plate (more on that later too) that I found just for her many birthday cakes.
Make a wish!

So, I think it was a success. She ended the day happy and pleased with all that we did. I can't believe she is five. I just can't believe it!

Finishing November

November is almost over and I just can't believe it. For our Thanksgiving meal we went over to our friends, the Taylor's. It was nice and restful. The kids played good with minimal meltdowns, I held their beautiful new baby boy as much as possible, we chatted, we watched a bit of Wall-E (which looks cute and hilarious), and I had my first Coke in almost 2 weeks! Thanks guys for such a nice afternoon!

We have been trying to talk constantly about being thankful with the kids. Letting them know that this time of year we need to be extra grateful for the things we have and praying for those that have nothing. For some reason Thanksgiving, the actual holiday, hasn't seemed as special lately, and I attribute that to not having a bunch of family around, but we are trying to make it meaningful and not just about food and football! Though those two things will be a part of every Thanksgiving from here until the end of time in the Bowers house!

I am grateful for all that we have. Especially each other. That is one thing I am learning more and more every day. That these people here with me in my home, my wonderful Keith and my two precious monkeys, they are some of the few that will always love me, no matter what. They will always be by my side, and care about my well being and I in turn will always care about them. I am so grateful for my little family!

Playing

This was the fun activity of the weekend. And a round and round and round they go!

Longest Post Ever

I have just been too lazy to post about last weekend, because, well...it tired me out! And I know this post is going to be HUGE, so just back away now! We had so much fun, and I am so glad we went. The ride down was probably the easiest part of the whole trip, LOL! We were stocked up with books on CD, snacks, toys, and raring and ready to go. It only took us about 4 and a half hours including a stop for a picnic in the car mid way down. And not one single fight. I am not sure how that happened, but they must have been saving up, because they bickered the whole time at Jenny's.

Buckled up and ready to go.

Pit Stop!

The kids started playing right away, and after a little bit of chatting and catching up we headed out shopping! We did a lot of shopping to try and fill up some of the empty space in Jenny's house, and that was fun, it gave us something to do. Plus, I love to shop, especially for home stuff. I totally have the home decorating fever now! We had some good success and a lot of fun browsing. But after a few stores it was evident that the lack of a long nap in the car was now showing in my kids. They were exhausted, that is what happens when you fall asleep 40 minutes before Houston traffic, and then you wake up with all the starting and stopping!

Anywho, then back home for the normal boring stuff, dinner, playing, bath time, bed time. I was so scared for bedtime, but the kids handled it pretty well. We had our very own room, which was awesome (thank Jenny!) and the kids had their little sleeping bags and special blankets and sleeping things, which helped so much. After Momma singing a bunch of songs, both kids PASSED OUT. They were so tired and understandably so, after quite a day! And then Jenny and I headed back out for more shopping! LOL! We went to Wal Mart and basically cleaned out the store. I had so much fun just giggling and goofing off at the store. Plus we found some super cute and inexpensive stuff, including a large trash can that we had to roll all over the store...

Day 2: It was warm, like hot warm, and I have to say I was a bit disgusted. We were going to go to the beach, but we nixed that and headed out for...more shopping! I just think that is too funny! But Jenny introduced me to a store that I had never been too, Garden Ridge, and it was really neat. Yet another place where you could spend a fortune in a blink of an eye. Then we headed back for naps, and hanging out. That night we splurged and went to I HOP for dinner, LOL, and it was yummy! And it was also

I have to say I am pretty pleased with how the kids played so well. There, of course, were squabbles, mostly between Brady and David, who mostly had power struggles I think. But Natalie and Stevie played so well it blew my mind. Of course, Natalie's attitude had to make some cameo appearances, but they were probably more annoying to me than anyone because I can recognize when she is getting extra snippy or when she is just being her own feisty self. Plus I think anytime you are at someone elses home you are harder on your kids that you are at your own place because you don't know what will be annoying to your host! So, at the end of the day we had lots of cuddling and talking and I think that made any hard feelings just float away. After the kids were all tucked in bed and sleeping away we adults settled in for some laughs with My Name is Earl on DVD. That is one funny show.

The last day, Saturday, we headed off to the beach. I have never seen the Gulf of Mexico and I have to say I was probably more excited than the kids. I love, love, love the water. And it has been far too long since I have seen a large body of it. I hope one day we will leave near the ocean, but that is a whole different story! Anywho, it was pretty cool and sad to see how run down Galveston looked. Steven said that most of the debris is cleaned up, but I would describe it as looking like we were in the bad part of town, except that we weren't. And yes, there were boats on the side of the road, that was craziness. The kids were amazed. And then BAM there it was. The water! Yay! We got out and tried not to get blown away by the wind, much better normal November temperatures today, and we headed out for a walk on one of the crusty old pier things, and then headed down to the sand to collect shells. We found a TON of sand dollars and little shells. And we practically had the whole beach to ourselves. It was a nice little outing to end our weekend.

Forgot to change the settings on my computer so the pictures are all sun bleached, until I realized!

so cute!

After that we headed back to pack up and get our butts on the road. It was a good weekend, not too long, and not too short. We didn't want to overstay our welcome! So the kids and I packed up and headed out to one last lunch out (at Panda Express, kids choice! Oh and the large drink and Panda is LARGE, I mean HUGE beyond huge!) and then to the store for one special toy to help keep them occupied on the ride home. We were on the road by 2...

We got home at 9 p.m.! Holy Cow! It was the longest ride ever, I tell you what! We made it without incident through Houston, but then Momma had to go to the bathroom and Brady informed me that he pooped, so thank heavens we had an out! Jason lives in Conroe so we gave him a call and he was super awesome and let us stop by for a little visit. That was so nice and so much better than a rest area. Plus the kids played Rockband, and that was hilarious! Natalie was getting really into it and playing with her hands crossed over, oh man, Jason and I were cracking up. Oh, and I just have to say the he has the NICEST apartment, and the nicest location too, for only 20 bucks more than we pay. I am officially jealous of their bachelor pad!

So around 4 we headed off again. Those next five hours were brutal. I have no idea why. Well, I have some idea why. Brady kept rolling down his window, which made it super loud and cold in the back seat. So I had to pull over, get out, and roll it back up. That was the MOST annoying the whole wide world. Brady is pretty much lucky he made it home alive. Especially when two of my choices of places to pull over didn't have an easy on ramp back to the freeway so we were stuck taking the scenic route a few times.

And we stopped for some food and caffeine so that Mommy wouldn't fall asleep in the car, and of course the one time I want a McDonald's so they can run out some energy at the play area, the best I could find was a Jack in the Box, and they even had lame toys. I was SO disappointed in that one, we really wanted McDonald's!! Dang it! I was so tired and so scared I was going to pass out! I was really hoping that it was going to be a straight shot from Jason's to our place, but for some reason the 3 hour drive took 5. I never, ever want that to happen again. It was terrible. I think the reason the ride was so bad was all three of us wanted so badly just to be at home with Keith again, and it just wasn't happening fast enough! But somehow we made it through all the pit stops and crying and blanket fixing and CD changing and toy fetching and we were home! Sweet sweet home!

Whew! Now you know why I haven't posted this! If you made it through that journal entry of all journal entries then props to you!

Road Trip!

Well, the kids and I are taking a much needed vacation and heading down to the Galveston area to visit my good friend Jenny and her family! The oil is changed, gas is topped off, the $100 fuel thingamabob is fixed, and we are ready to go. We are all very excited, and I think it will be such a nice change of pace for me and the kids. And I have to say I am excited for a sleepover and a getaway, I only wish Keith could come too, but on the plus side he will get some great QUIET study time to work on a paper he has coming up. Anywho, the blog will be abandoned for the weekend. I am sure all 5 of you will be so sad, hehehe. But I will return bearing pictures and hopefully feeling refreshed!

More Halloween Festivities

**why the heck is blogger being so stupid with the picture uploading? anyone? it is messing up the order and the HTML is all weird! It's driving me CRAZY!**

Natalie's school had a little party on Thursday, and I didn't really get any pictures, BUT I did get a picture of her and this little boy Angel. He has a (not so)secret on her! I kind of thought so because he is always looking at her when we get to school, or just little sweet things, but Thursday his Mom confirmed it! How cute! She said that he talks about her at home, and he even gets the ole cousin tease about his "girlfriend", LOLOL! She told me he says, "She isn't my girlfriend, just my FRIEND!" Oh my goodness, that is so cute! So the sad part is that they are moving! Thursday was his last day. So no more cuteness watching the googly eyes! And Natalie was really torn up when I told her that Angel AND Stevie weren't going to be coming back. I don't think she realized that her fun at the park and McDonald's was pretty much the last time (until we get some moolah, and then League City here we come!). Anywho, Angel is adorable!
I swear every single picture of these two, oh my goodness. Natalie either does this smile coy for the camera thing....
...or Brady does this CHEEEEESE thing. Family pictures (when we ever get around to it) are going to be so. much. fun. (sense the sarcasm?)
Brady with another version of the CHEEEESE, and Natalie is thinking about playing it shy in this picture, her arms were getting there, but her shoulders hadn't reached full effect yet. This is pretty much all we get for posing with costumes this year! Oh well, at least I am keeping record of their anti-photo phase! Keith took the kids trick or treating around a nice neighborhood with Bryce and his boys tonight. I think they had fun. Brady came back with a nice chunk out of his elbow, but they also got glow necklaces and fireman stickers, and they FINALLY came home with some good loot (aka fun size candy bars! woot!). So it was a pretty good wrap up to this CRAZY Halloween season.

I am going to say I am SO GLAD Halloween is over! Holy Cow! This is BY FAR the most use they have ever gotten (or may EVER get) out of their costumes! But we did it for them, and they had a blast! I am pretty sure we taught them about Halloween and next year they won't forget it! Although I am thinking I might regret teaching them to love it so much when next year does roll around!

Halloween Catch Up

A lot of small and big things have happened in the last few days, but for some reason I just haven't felt like blogging. But, good news for all my avid readers (hahahaha haha ha), I feel like blogging this morning!

Wednesday night last week we decided to carve our perfect pumpkin, except once we cut the top off we realized that the stem had molded all the way down into the pumpkin. Gross. So we pretty much knew it wasn't going to make it to our Trunk or Treat activity on Saturday night, let alone to Halloween.

But we carved it anyway. And once the inside was fully green speckled and disgusting by Friday night we tossed it. Poor pumpkin never even got to be lit with a candle. More lessons learned in the Bowers house, don't pay 22 bucks for a moldy pumpkin!
Thursday morning was Natalie's Grandparents day at school. I wasn't going to have her be the only kid there without a partner for the craft they had planned so I got someone to watch Brady (thanks Betsy!!) and Natalie and I headed over to Shipley's (way, way, way better than Krisy Kreme, I am a total believer now!) for a special breakfast. Then it was off to school, and we had a lot of fun. We made a quilt square/wall hanging thingy, sang some songs, and had some cute nutter butter ghosts. I am super glad I went though because every single kid had a grown up there with them!

Friday night I worked.

Then Saturday night we went to the church Halloween party. They had all sorts of fun carnivally stuff inside and then were having a trunk or treat (where you trick or treat around the circle of cars, going from trunk to trunk) at the end of the night. The kids had fun, the loved the cotton candy.

They even won a cupcake (made by Me!) from the cakewalk. It was funny though because Brady was one number off 4 times before they actually won, when Natalie actually chose her own number out of the basket! Hopefully my kids are lucky, and win things like I do! Woot! But rather than take home a huge cake, Natalie wanted one of Mommy's cupcakes, that made me feel good!
Then the kids sat on the floor for awhile. I am not sure why, turns out we missed a bunch of stuff set up around the church, but they are happy in their ignorance! What they don't know won't hurt them!
Brady loved his "cannies". Oh yeah, here is his costume! He is the UPS man! He chose it himself, and all night people were asking for their packages, Brady was a bit confused and just replied with his typical, "I don't know...".
Close to the end of the activity inside they had a little "parade" where the kids walked across the stage and showed off their costumes. Both kids did this and said their names REALLY LOUD into the mic. It was pretty funny. Then we headed outside to trunk or treat, and that is when I got pretty pissed because obviously people had been out there doing it for awhile before all the people inside made it out because when the kids went around, half the cars were out of candy allready! Ugg, I hate bad planning like that, because the kids get dissapointed. Plus it pissed me off to see little kids with WalMart bags OVERFLOWING with candy, and here are my poor kids with barely anything in their little pumpkins. Ugg! I hate that! But they had fun (I need to come up with some new descriptive words!). Natalie was so pretty as a fluffy ballerina. Brady loved his costume. Natalie got to see lots of her friends (she told me she had been missing Ewan...how sad is that!), and she also got to see her school teacher there, that was a nice surprise!
My camera died or I would have more pictures. But we are going to try and hit up Boo at the Zoo tonight, so that should be super fun/great/exciting...anywho. I don't really like Halloween myself, but the kids do, and that makes it fun for me!

Dancing Princesses

Natalie's friend Bella came over to play Monday morning so her Mama could take little sister to the doctor and out for a special birthday lunch. We were happy to have her, and Natalie was so excited to have someone to play Princess with. They got all dressed up and danced and danced and danced.
Um, this picture cracks me up! Natalie just loves all of her friends so much.

The Grand Finale!

So we were waiting...

We chatted and watched people and before you knew it we had been standing out there over an hour. At that point we decided that we had been waiting so long already we HAD to stay and see what all the fuss was about! Then maybe after 2 hours of waiting I think, BAM! Katee and MARK came out the door and like came out to the barricades. Mark whizzed past (of which I have some frantic blurry pics) and Katee disappeared. I was confused, LOL, I still had no idea what was going on until some girls let us know that each dancer was going to come out, sign autographs and take pictures. WHAT?!?! Are you kidding me?! I was as giddy as a school girl, and only Sarah will ever know how excited I was. Seriously. Holy cow! So glad I decided to make a shirt, b/c otherwise I would have had to ruin one of my good shirts. So glad we stinking waited all that time because LOOK, just LOOK what we did!

Gev!! So cute in person, and so so nice! He totally let some little teeny bopper give him her number, of course he wont use it, but how nice NOT to hurt her feelings.
Chelsie is like SO GORGEOUS and nice too! They were all SO NICE. Each and every one of them was as sweet as can be. I loved that.
Jessica, cute as a button.
Courtney. I pretty much wanted to stick her in my purse and take her home with me. She is tiny and adorable, and super duper sweet.
Joshua gave us the best bear hug.
Thayne, Um...yeah. He is too totally cute for words. And he thought we were making fun of him when we asked to get a picture of his serious face (you know the one he does when he is dancing ballroom or something), yeah not making fun, just crushing a teeny bit!
Chelsea was so sweet. And I loved her button dress!
*sigh* I was this close to touching his hair.
Comfort was so cute, so tiny, and so pretty!
Twitch
and last but not least Will. He just was so sweet, and you could tell he was so grateful to the fans.
More gratuitous Mark shots. *sigh* I love his huge smile.


*sigh*
Seriously SO MUCH FUN! I can't believe we got to meet them all (except Kherrington who was possibly sick), and they were all nice and took time to chat and sign EVERYTHING, and it was just wonderful. Thanks Sarah for joining me, and buying the tickets, LOL! Next year we will all go!