Happy Halloween (without a camera)

Happy Halloween!!!! So, our camera's flash stopped working, so I've mailed it to Kodak to be fixed and then I couldn't find our old camera, so there are no pictures from today. Boo Hoo! But, it was great and we're all pooped out!

The girls had class parties at school, so the other kids and I headed over there this afternoon. They paraded around the school and then were back in their classrooms. I was in charge of Lindsey's party, but thankfully after the parade and snack, there was only about 5 minutes left. We played a quick "Who's Missing?" game and we were done! Yeah! All five kids were dressed in their monkey costumes for the Five Little Monkey's jumping on the bed. They were all so cute!

Tonight we had hot dogs and Halloween Jell-O with our friends, the Larson's and then went trick-or-treating. There's a great street where some ward members used to live, so we went there. We gave the big kids a walkie talkie and they went ahead on their own. Becky & Rachel Larson (sister-in-laws) and I stayed back with Kate and Emily Larson. Kate was a great trick-or-treater. She walked the whole time and happily carried her bag up to the doors. Near the end, Emily L. got really tired (I don't think she was feeling very good) and rode in the stroller. But, she still wanted candy and wanted Kate to get it for her. Being the kind person that she is, Kate happily started carrying 2 trick-or-treat bags to each door. She looked at Emily and said "Emily, I'll go get your candy for you, okay?" Then she literally had a bag in each hand and dragged them behind her up the driveways. Oh, she is so cute!!! Then, if someone would offer her more than one piece of candy, she's say "No, just one."

We stopped at Beth and Jeff's house on the way home to trick-or-treat at their house and then came home and collapsed. Where was Jon for all of this? He was able to meet us at Beth's house, got paged while we were there, rushed home with us to bathe the kids for me and then left for work again. What a guy!!

Happy Halloween!

Hannah - 3 months

Every time I have a picture taken of my babies, I can't believe how big they suddenly look! Today was no different! Hannah turned 3 months on Tuesday! She's such a gem and such a sweet baby. She is smiling and cooing all the time and loves to watch all the action going on around her. She's a great sleeper and great eater (proved by those chubby cheeks!). We can't imagine our lives without her!

I Love that...

* ... Emily loves to do things one-on-one with me.

* ...when I was at the Elementary School the other day, the librarian came up to me and asked if I was Lindsey's mom. When I told her I was, she told me about how kind Lindsey is to the other children on the playground, especially two little boys in her class that don't speak English very well. Her comment to me was, "Thank you for sending her to us."

* ...I have Jack genuinely convinced that I can stick my finger in my ear and move it around in my mouth.

* ....I also have him convinced that when he puts his finger in my ear, he is actually feeling the inside of my mouth.

* ...when Kate comes into our room in the middle of the night, I always know it's her because she looks like a little ghost (because of her blond hair).

* ...all I have to do is sneeze to make Hannah crack up laughing.

* ...I am married to Jon!

Happy 9th Birthday Emily!

This beautiful girl turned 9 years old today! I can't believe it! The years are flying by and Emily has made it a wonderful blessing to be parents. Emily is a kind, smart, thoughtful, funny, amazing girl that we love very much.

She's in 3rd grade this year and is loving school. She has loved learning cursive and has great handwriting. She is a great student and works hard on her homework and reading every day. She is also taking piano lessons and practices faithfully every day.

One of the special characteristics that has really emerged over the last year in Emily, is her ability to understand, love and care for children. She has always been very motherly to her brother and sisters, but over the last year, she has turned into a great babysitter. She is SO helpful with Hannah and the other kids. I don't know what I would do without her. I also got a really nice compliment the other day from my friend, Becky Larson. Becky said that Emily really has a gift in knowing how to comfort kids and just seems to know how to help. It's so true...she's able to calm crying kids down and get them happy quickly. She's so fun to have around!

Emily, we love you dearly! You make us proud every day! Thank you for being such a blessing in our lives!

Successful Soccer Season

Jack and Lindsey just finished a great soccer season!! This was Lindsey's 3rd year playing and she did great! She moved up into the division with bigger/taller kids and a longer field. Her soccer team started out with just 7 kids, but thankfully, the coach was able to recruit a few more kids so that all 7 didn't have to play the whole game. The team improved so much over the course of their games and they were always really enjoyable to watch. Lindsey loved being able to play with her friends: Ethan, Joseph, Julia, and Gabby. Great job Lindsey! (A huge thank you to Kirsten for ALL the great pictures below!)

Lindsey as goalie

Team Revolution

Lindsey, Ethan Rasmussen, Gabby Jones, Joseph Larson & Julia Acker

Hooray for a great season!

This was Jack's first year playing and he loved it. He's been watching Emily and Lindsey for several years now and finally got his chance. His team was made up mostly of friends from church and preschool, so he was thrilled. When Jack would run, he'd run with all his heart. It was great watching him and we're so proud of him! Way to go Buddy!

Jack as goalie

Jack and Brynlee Rasmussen- aren't they darling?

Jake Nadauld, Cecile Larson & Jack

And, I can't forget to mention that both Lindsey and Jack had 3 faithful fans! Emily, Kate & Hannah were at every game and every practice. They loved cheering them on (and playing with their friends on the side lines)!

Emily's Backward's Party

Phew! We made it through another birthday party today! Emily turns 9 on Tuesday and we had her birthday party today. It was a backward's party. A couple of weeks ago, we sent out thank you notes with an invitation inside. It gave guests the chance to dress backwards, do their hair upside-down, anything.


The party turned out to be a lot of fun! Emily invited 7 other little girls and 5 of them came. They arrived and most had worn their clothes backwards, necklaces backwards, and one had a bracelet around her ankle. We did the party backwards, starting with dessert.


I told them they needed to do something backwards with their cupcake. They needed to put sprinkles on before the frosting, frost it upside-down, or use the wrong end of the knife to frost it. They seemed to have a good time with it and then I added icecream to their plates and they ate dessert.


Next, we had Emily open her gifts. A lot of the gifts were wrapped with the paper inside-out. When each girl gave Emily the gift, we tried to figure out how to say her name backwards. Then it was lunchtime. Lunch was served on top of the table, but the girls had to sit underneath it.


For games, we played toe-tac-tic! They had to use their feet to write their "x's" and "o's." Then we played a backwards version of Pictionary and when it was their turn to draw, they had to do it behind their backs. We finished with a birthday word search. The girls were all really cute and really good. For a party favor, they each got bag with an invitation on it for a party!

Rachel, Emily D., Abigail, Erica, Emily B. & Mandy

Emily's great friends who were such great sports

Lunch with Mandy underneath the kitchen table (the girls reassured me that there wasn't any gum under there).

Playing toe-tac-tic with feet

The party favor

Party, Party, Party!

October is definitely a month of parties at our house! With Halloween and three birthdays, there is always something going on! Within the last week, we've had 3 great parties, not including Jack's birthday party!

The first was a Witches Party! My amazing friend, Kirsten had seen this idea a year ago and wanted to give it a try. She was kind enough to let me help with the easy stuff (while she took care of all the hard stuff). We invited several of our friends, with the instructions of bringing a decorated witches hat. Kirsten had the Primary room beautifully decorated and brought really fun treats - cupcakes with witches hats and cookies made to look like broomsticks. Beth made homemade rootbeer and we added dry ice to it for the effect. It was great to be able to visit with friends, eat yummy food and then we guessed each other's hats. When our hat was revealed, we each said something about ourselves that the others didn't know.

Ali, Sarah, Kirsten, me, AnnDee, Beth & Jenny

(Wow, that orange shirt of mine is sure bright!)

For my hat, I wrapped some Halloween fabric around it for my love of quilting. Then I had a Little People to represent Jon & the kids. I did that because they are my life. I love that I'm a wife and mom! It's been my dream ever since I can remember and I'm living it! I hot glued a Reese's Stick to me, since chocolate helps me get through the crazy times!

The next great party was on Saturday night. It was our annual Ward Halloween Party (thank you to Holly & the committee for another great ward event!). For Halloween, we (or I should say I) talked the kids into being the 5 Little Monkeys who jumped on the bed. I was the mama and Jon was the doctor. It turned out cute to just put costumes together. I bought the kids brown shirts and pants and then just safety pinned felt stomachs on them. Then, I used cardboard and headbands to make them ears. (You'll notice that Jon put bandaids on a couple of them and painted black eyes on others).

Then, on Tuesday for my birthday, I got to go out to dinner with my great friends. We went to Texas Roadhouse (my favorite) and it was a blast! I took Emily, Lindsey & Hannah with me and it was fun to have Emily and Lindsey old enough to enjoy something like that. Thank you so much to Kirsten for organizing it! Wow! And for Becky, Beth, AnnDee, and Lisa for coming! I have great friends! (And thank you to Jon for watching Jack and Kate!)
Kirsten & me

(She is a friend like no other I've ever had! Kirsten - you are the best!)

Beth, Me, Hannah, AnnDee & Lisa

Lindsey, Beth, Becky, Jeannette & Emily
(if you look close, there are 2 carseats in the booth across from us. That was Hannah and Thomas Larson. We kidded that they were the most boring couple there.)

All right, now it's time to pull Emily's birthday party together for Saturday!

Happy Birthday Jeannette!!

Today is this beautiful woman's birthday!!! It has been a tradition this year for me to sneak on my sisters' blogs and devote a post to them on their special day. Since I consider Jeannette a sister, it is now her turn for a secret post!! (Thanks Emily for her password and user name!!!) ;-)

Happy Birthday Jeannette!!!!!!

I just want to take the time to tell Jeannette what a wonderful person she is. She is an incredible, wife, mother, daughter, sister, giver and most of all friend. She is so talented and great at everything she does and she does it with the absolute most positive attitude...always with a smile on her face. She is an example to all of us. She is so sweet to Jon and her five wonderful kids and was quoted this week as saying, "I am a mom. I am living my dream". Can it get more sweet than that? We are all so lucky to have her in our lives and so today I want to wish her a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

I'd like to invite anyone who reads the Bowen blog to please help me in wishing Jeannette a very happy birthday and leave a comment for her below. She does such a great job of recording everyone else's birthdays...now it is her turn!!! We love you Jeannette!!!! Happy Birthday!!!!

Love always, The Rasmussen Family

Happy 5th Birthday Jack!

It is absolutely amazing to us that our little boy is already 5 years old! Jack had his birthday today and had a really fun time. He took Rice Krispie treats to preschool this morning. He loved showing all of his friends a Star Wars book that Emily & Lindsey had bought him with their own money. After preschool, we took him to lunch at McDonald's and then he played with his new remote control cars. He chose stuffed shells for his birthday dinner and we had a great time celebrating it with the Rasmussen's & Johnston's. (Our camera's flash isn't working, so there weren't any great pictures from it).

Jack is a great little boy and we love him so much! The other day when Uncle Tom was in town, Tom asked him "Jack, when are you going to have a brother?"

Jack: "I don't know."

Tom: "Well, what are you going to do about that?"

Jack: "Well, I have my dad."

This little boy sure loves his dad! A year ago, Jack's plans were to marry me and be a mailman (yes - Cliff Claven Jr.). But, now he plans on marrying either Brynlee Rasmussen or Cecile Larson and hanging out with Jon. They love to play frisbee golf together, throw the football back and forth, do to Dick's Sporting Goods and wrestle. It's so cute to see them together.

Jack keeps busy with preschool 4 days a week, a gymnastics class, and playing soccer and t-ball. He loves sports and is a great team player! Jack still loves Star Wars and everything to do with it. He also loves writing letters and numbers and over the summer, he completely finished 2 1/2 workbooks.

Jack is our little miracle boy! He surprised us 8 weeks early, weighing a hefty 3 pounds 6 ounces. He was in the NICU for 3 weeks, but did amazing and has been healthy ever since. He's definitely a survivor and even then, knew how to fight for life. He's a joy in our lives. We smile every day just to see him and have him. We love you Jack! Thank you for being a part of our lives! Our lives are better because of you!

Jack's Construction Party

We made it through another party! Jack had his birthday party today (his 5th birthday is on Monday) and we did a construction theme. I copied every idea out of the Family Fun magazine. It was such a fun party to put together and I think all of the kids had a great time.

Jon has been amazing over the last couple of days - putting things together in order to pull this party off. We handed out invitations that were written on little wooden boards.

The kids arrived and we gave them a construction hat. It was a great group of contstruction workers and they were ready to work their shift! We had them decorate their own toolbelts.

Then we divided them into 2 groups. One group went outside with Jon and painted a house that he had contructed from a refrigerator box.

The other group of construction workers stayed inside with me and helped demolish stacks of boxes with a wrecking ball (a tennis ball painted black). The pictures are dark, but they stood in the hall and were able to adjust the height of the ball and send it flying.

After they did their work, we switched crews and they got a turn doing the other job. Then Jon blew a whistle and it was their lunch break. Hot dogs, chips, apples, carrots & juice boxes were enjoyed by all.

Then we had a construction cone pinata (again, made by Jon). The kids took turns pulling on the caution tape until the correct one released the trap door, dumping out the candy.

We then had a cake and icecream. The cake was an excavator cake and was so much fun to make. Then we filled their toolbelts with a paintbrush, a measuring tape, a carpenter's pencil and a granola bar!

Jack has such a cute group of friends from preschool & church. Thank you to all of them for making Jack's party so fun!!

Circle S Farm

It's a family tradition to go to Circle S Farm each year to celebrate fall! The weather had delayed us going last week when Jon's parents were in town and the weather was supposed to be rainy, but yesterday ended up being a beautiful day and we all enjoyed a fun afternoon.

Jon had the day off, so we left right after the girls got out of school. It's a beautiful drive and we got there to a basically empty parking lot. Jon's brother, Tom, surprised us with a quick visit, so he and Beth (and Kyle) were able to come too. We got there and the kids played in the maze, looked at the animals (chickens, goats & bunnies), played in the hay barn and then we all took a hayride out to the pumpkin patch. A few minutes after we got there, the Rasmussen's got there too, so the kids were in heaven!

We picked our pumpkins (small, medium, & large) and rode back to the parking lot. Jon took the kids to get donuts and apple juice while I fed Hannah in the car. We would have stayed longer to play, but Emily and Lindsey started ice skating lessons and we needed to leave in order to get there. (I'll blog about that soon).

It was a super fun family day! Yeah fall!

Jack and Lindsey in the maze

Emily (who also found out this week that she was voted onto Student Council)

Kate

Jack

Hannah

All of us on the hayride (picture taken by Uncle Tom)

Visit from Grandma and Grandpa Bowen

We were really lucky to have Grandma and Grandpa Bowen visit us for 10 days and we were sad to see them leave today. They have faithfully come to Ohio at least once a year (sometimes more than that) for the last 6 1/2 years. Bless their hearts! We love them so much and appreciate the great examples they are to us. Grandma Bowen patiently reads to all the kids and is always willing to play with them. She is always willing to walk to the bus stop to greet Emily and Lindsey and always willing to come along for rec center and dance classes. Grandpa Bowen loves to rock the babies! Hannah had some great "rock-a-bye" time with him. He was such a great sport! On his first morning here, he got stuck in our bathtub for three hours (his legs just kept cramping up so he couldn't get out - everyone was gone and then we couldn't hear him hollering for help). Then he got a horrible stomach bug for several hours on Sunday. But, he always leaves with a smile on his face!

Thank you again for coming! We love you and miss you already!

I love this picture of Kate, Hannah and Grandma Bowen

Hannah, intently listening to Grandpa

Kate and Kyle eating Cheez-it crackers in the play tent