Do we have to invite the Bowen's?

I am beginning to wonder if we bring bad luck with us when we visit our friends. We went to a really fun BBQ last night at the new house of friends that used to live in our ward. While we were there, their 18 month old fell off a chair and chipped his tooth. Then, he fell on the patio steps and they had to take him in for 4 stitches. This same family had a daughter break her arm on the trampoline a couple of years ago while we were at their house. A couple of weeks ago, another family had their 6 year old little boy get a gash in his head after jumping off his bed while we were there.

This picture below shows the pure terror that children should feel when in the company of the Bowen's! Our friends are truly amazing!

"Nourish and Straighten our Bodies"

There are times when I try to really listen to the exact words that the kids are saying in their prayers. Tonight while Lindsey was saying the blessing on the food she said "Please bless it that it will nourish and straighten our bodies." I guess I could use a little bit straighter of a spine.

Spring Learning Celebration

Each year at the Elementary School, they have a Spring Learning Celebration, where kids and families can come and see the classrooms and what the kids have been working on. They also have free Rita's (italian ices). The kids and I had a great time. We had our treats first and then went to the classes.

The Kindergarten class has been incubating eggs and we were able to see a new baby chick hatching. The kids loved it.

Emily's class was full of weather-related projects. She gets to be "super star" tomorrow, so we put pictures and stuff together for her to take tomorrow. She's really excited!

Making popcorn balls with Lindsey

Lindsey and I had a few moments alone this afternoon, so she suggested that we make popcorn balls. She found the popcorn maker and fortunately, we had all the ingredients. We had a great time making them together. She kept saying how fun it was and I was really glad we had a few minutes together to do it.

Lindsey getting ready to pop the popcorn

Lindsey watching the popper (you got to love that she thinks it's okay to sit on the laptop)

Taste testing the popcorn

Soccer, Sinks, Sewing & Sunday Dinner

Wow - these weeks go by fast! We had a great week and a great weekend! After my last post, Kate seems to have decided to be a little easier of a 2 year old, so I am grateful for that. She must have decided she didn't like getting in trouble and has faithfully stayed in her crib for naps and bedtime.

On Saturday, Lindsey had a soccer game. She is a good little player and has really enjoyed playing. We've told her that if she scores a goal, we could go out to dinner at Texas Roadhouse. She's always confident she'll be able to do this, but we've never had to cash in on this. Yet, she's never disappointed at the end of the game.

Kate continues her fascination with climbing, particularly into sinks. I've found her in every sink in the house. Sometimes she's turned the water on and is soaking, other times she's attempting to get a drink or I guess just needing a place to sit. She asks every day if we can go swimming, so this must be her way of getting excited about swimming this summer!

My latest two sewing projects have been to sew quilts for Emily and Lindsey's school teachers. They've both been blessed with incredible teachers this year, so I've made them for the end of the year class gifts. Lindsey's teachers is done. It's a salt water taffy quilt with each child's name stitched into a taffy. Emily's teachers is almost done - I just need to stitch the kid's names into it (that's what the white papers are on the black border). She's a huge OSU fan, so her's will be the OSU quilt. They have been so much fun to make and I can't wait to get some minkee for the backing and have them quilted.

The kids and I had a good Sunday today. I had meetings this morning and my great friend, Kirsten, offered to watch them. (Little did Kirsten know that this calling would be her calling too - thank you so, so much!). Then, on the way home from Church, Jon called from the hospital and said that it was pretty quiet at the moment there and if we wanted to visit him we could. So, we turned around and headed to the hospital. We ate Sunday dinner at the cafeteria and I thought it tasted great! He's enjoyed this trauma month and has learned a lot. He's just started another 18 day stretch where he just has 1 day off. He's been amazing at balancing everything!

Well...onto another week!

Is there anyone out there who would like a 2 year old?

I think Kate is one of the cutest things I've ever laid my eyes on, but she is definitely a 2 year old, and I am trying to muster up enough energy to keep up with her. She learned how to climb out of her crib this weekend (she's my first child to ever do this), so naptime and bedtime are not as easy as they once were. She is a climber (especially in attempts to get into candy, water or medication). (This particiular picture shows her using the little toilet from the bathroom to climb up to the kitchen sink - by the way....the beer looking bottle on the counter is Jon's IBC rootbeer that the kids have mostly drank while he's been on trauma this month). And today, I knew the 2 minutes of quiet were bad...and sure enough, she had written all over our couch with a pen.

Thank goodness kids are so cute and that with a little baby lotion, they smell scrumptious! Hopefully Kate will realize soon that boundaries are good and we have them because we love her!

Happy 1st Birthday Kyle!

Jon's sister, Beth and her husband Jeff live here in Columbus and yesterday was their little boy's first birthday! We love having them live so close and appreciate ALL that they do for us. Just the other night, I trotted off to a recipe exchange leaving the kids with Beth, who had happened to stop by. I thought Jon would be home within 20 minutes, so I took my own sweet time. When I got home at 9:00, Jon had just gotten home and poor Beth had just patiently stayed with the kids. It's such a blessing to have them in our lives and it was fun to celebrate Kyle's birthday. They brought pizza and along with our good friends, the Rasmussen's we shared a great evening together. Kyle always has a smile on his face and has been so patient with my kids, who are always in his face. What a great little boy!

Kate & Hailey who disappeared to the closet and came back wearing matching dresses.

When Daddy Does My Hair

Jon is a super duper dad! He doesn't shy away from any bit of parenting including changing diapers, cleaning up throw up in the middle of the night and combing girls hair (he's definitely getting lots of practice!). Whenever he combs Kate's hair after her bath, he does an Alfalfa (from Little Rascals) do. She walks around for several minutes before it falls over and we crack up laughing every time.

Jon is working so hard this month and yet he doesn't ever complain about it. He's doing Trauma at Grant Hospital in downtown Columbus and has found it very interesting. I don't know how he does it! We love you Daddy!

It's All About Safety!

We are all so very happy that spring is here and we've had several beautiful days of playing outside. Kate and Jack found all of the knee and elbow accessories today and put them on for a fun day of riding in the driveway. Jack can ride and ride for hours. Kate, on the other hand, enjoys a good ride for a few minutes and then likes to head for the street.

We had a preschool swap at our house this morning. It's for Jack and his friends, but Kate sure feels like she should be a part of things. We talked about the letter "U" and each kid loved getting a new umbrella (thanks to the dollar store). It's such a nice little group of kids.

The Baby's First Quilt

My mom is so cute and so talented and has already made and sent a new quilt for the baby. It's our favorite pattern and the fabric is just so cute. Thank you mom - you are absolutely amazing!!!

Home Depot Fun

For those who don't know, the first Saturday of every month at Home Depot is a free family workshop. It's all free and it's at all their locations! They put together a project for the kids to build. This month was a planter holder and the kids loved it. It's been the easiest one so far and the girls actually built them themselves. It's fun to put on aprons and goggles and pick up a hammer and pound some nails!

I just love General Conference weekend and the kids were really good today. Jon was at work, but we were able to get our errands done this morning and go to Lindsey's soccer practice. It's such a joy to listen to the great talks and be uplifted and motivated to keep going.

Another baby girl for the Bowen's!

We had our ultrasound today and found out that we are having another girl! Emily and Lindsey came with me to the ultrasound (Jon had to work and Beth watched Jack and Kate - thank you Beth!) and it was fun to have them there. Everything looked really good and she's measuring about 30th percentile. She was really active during the ultrasound, so it was fun to see her moving around. She's head down and likes to have her hands up near her face. Emily & Lindsey are both really excited. Jack still says it's a boy. Jon and I will start saving now for all of these weddings!

Sitting in the Pie

I just plopped down from cleaning the bathrooms, putting laundry away and vacumming and thought I'd post a funny picture of Kate from Thanksgiving. We had all eaten dinner and had congregated in the living room. Kate disappeared and we discovered her sitting in the chocolate cream pie, while trying to scoop out pieces of mint brownie. (You also have to love the sharp Cutco knife pointing right at her on the table). She seems to have a knack for those kinds of things. I'm afraid to go look in the living room to see what mess she has made in the last 2 minutes. Thankfully she has a little rec center class in a few minutes and then she'll have a nap!

On other note, we have our ultrasound tomorrow. We've never found out with any of our babies what they are until they've been born. We've loved doing it that way and it has been such a fun thing to be surprised. But, this time we're going to find out! The kids are really excited and we need to figure out where kids will sleep and what we need to get rid of to make more room.