Owen's 6th Birthday

Owen's birthday was Friday and his party was on Saturday. Friday we took him to Bob Evan's for lunch, let him rent a couple movies, and had cupcakes and ice cream. We gave him the gifts from us, and later my parents and grandmother came with gifts too, and we had cupcakes and ice cream again. I made the cupcakes in ice cream cones, we all love that. If you haven't tried that, you must! Just make a cake mix from a box, and fill ice cream cones about 3/4 way full. Bake, then use icing for the tops. (Best eaten the same day you make them, or they get too soggy.) So good and kids love them (and so do I)!





Making a wish:









Chloe made him this sweet game:


He asked for Screature, and Mom and Dad got it for him. He loves it!





Saturday was Owen's party at McDonalds. It was the first McDonalds party we've had, I always plan a big party on the kids' birthdays, so it was kind of strange not to this time. It's what Owen wanted to do because he'd been to his friend's party there in the winter. It was a good day for a party and the kids loved playing on the playground there. Owen said it was the best day of his life.










Happy Birthday, baby boy!

Bikini Bread and other ramblings

Dad has zucchini ready in his garden now. I love zucchini from his garden. Love. It. Today I made zucchini bread with chocolate chips (with chocolate chips because I was dying for chocolate). Phoebe helped and told everyone she was making Bikini Bread. Not suitably named because you can't wear a bikini after eating two loaves of it like I am going to do. (Recipe from Paula Deen here.)


To update you on weird things found in my fridge, I found a Lego today along with a tomato with a bite out of it. The other day I found a diver "guy". The trend of toys found in the fridge leads me to believe the culprit is Owen. (The tomato incident though has Phoebe written all over it.)


(BTW, the pink stuff in the pitcher in the pic above is my Crystal Light raspberry lemonade that I totally love this summer.)




Chloe and I got our hair cut yesterday. I like hers a lot. Mine, not so much. It's the first time Chloe has ever had bangs in her life. They are long side bangs and she got some layers around her face, and about an inch cut off the length.

And finally, six years ago right now I found myself in the hospital ready to give birth to my baby boy, Owen. Chloe and I had been at the pool all day with my friend Mindy and her daughter Camryn. That was back in the day when we only had one girl each. Those girls would swim for hours and we'd kick back and gossip the afternoons away. That day was very hot and the pool was busy and rowdy. All day I told Mindy I was having contractions. It was June 25th and my due date was July 7th. I knew I was in labor. I oddly didn't panic. I knew it would take forever to have him, as it did Chloe. So we swam. When we were about to go a lady asked if she could have my chair. After I rolled myself out of it, I said sure we were leaving. She said I looked like I was about to have the baby any day. Why yes, I was. I told her I thought that day was the day.

I went home, took laundry off the line, cooked dinner, and got Chloe ready to go to my parents. I told Danny we would be going to the hospital but he stayed on the computer and took his time reading whatever it was he was reading while I scurried around. So that evening we finally made it to the hospital. I was dilated to 3 or 4 (I can't remember which now). The dr. on call sent me for an ultrasound and thought the baby was big (he wasn't, but bigger than Chloe who I barely had)and we should go ahead and do a c-section. I was worried about that because I didn't have one with Chloe. He called my dr. and my dr. said to wait until morning and he'd come in. They gave me cervidil and a sleeping pill. By morning I was ready to have Owen. I pushed for 2 hours and nothing. They were thinking I'd need a c-section so they gave me an epidural. I hadn't ever had one before and found it blissful. Finally after much drama that I won't bore you with, they wheeled me in for a c-section. He was facing up, instead of down like he should have been to be born, and he had a big cone head from being stuck so long. My first boy (as he likes to call himself) was born on June 26, 2003 at 5:37 pm. He was 7 pounds 9.4 ounces and 19 3/4 inches long.






What a joy he was then, and now.

A gripe from the movies

Last night I took the kids to see the movie UP. My friend Anna and her kids met us there. First, we had a great time, the movie was good, and Phoebe made it through the whole thing just fine.

However, there are two things still bugging me this morning. The ticket prices aren't cheap, but not too bad either, so I'm not complaining about that. ($7 for me and $5 for Chloe and Owen, and Phoebe was free, so $17 for tickets.) It's the cost of the snacks that have me over the roof. Chloe, Owen, and Phoebe each got a snack pack which consisted of a pretty small bag of popcorn, a tiny drink, and m&ms (no substituting the candy). Each of those was $4.50. I got a small popcorn which was $4.50, and a small diet coke for $3.50! So I spent $21.50 on snacks!!! Unbelievable. I mean, $3.50 for a very small diet coke? To spend more on snacks than the price of admission is absurd.

My other gripe is how freaking cold it was in the theater. Let me just say, I am never cold. I'm always hot. Always. Just ask Danny. Well, I was a popsicle at the movie. Poor Phoebe said she was "freezing to death" and pulled her shirt down over her knees, and tried to huddle with me for warmth. The other kids were saying they were cold. When we got out to the lobby people were shivering. I was never so glad to get outside in the heat in all my life. I didn't even use the a/c in the van on the way home. It seriously had to be 50 degrees in there. Once Phoebe said she needed a blankie.

Anyway! There is my gripe for the day. Now, our electric company is having a scheduled outage today from 10:00-1:00 on a 90 degree day, so I may be begging for 50 degree a/c this afternoon.

She needs trained

Yesterday Phoebe and I were writing and coloring. She is getting better at writing her name, her P and O are great. She loves to spell her name and is so proud when she spells it for us. Owen was watching her write and said she couldn't write her name because she hadn't been trained.

We were swimming and Owen said it was hard to walk through water because it was so thick. He also thinks swimming takes the place of a bath. At the pool today there was a water battle going on between Owen and the girls (all my friends and family have girls) and they said it was girls against boy.

Things are busy with summer reading at the library yesterday, a sleepover here last night, swimming at the pool today, haircuts and going to the movies tomorrow, and all the usual stuff too. Owen told me today I looked tired which can never be good when a five year old tells you that. Then he promptly told me to carry him to the porch.

Father's Day and First Day of Summer

We had a fun day on Sunday. We went to church and in the afternoon we celebrated at Mom and Dad's with a cookout and swimming. My Dad assumed his role of King of the Grill (as his apron says)and made us his famous fries. He deep fries them outside on a huge fryer. I'm lucky to have the best Dad in the world, and not just because he makes great fries. We camped out in the backyard on Saturday, so we were tired and napped some after the cookout. A great day. Too bad every day isn't a Sunday.

Food confusion

Owen has had some trouble identifying food. When Dairy Queen opened for the Spring (it's one that just serves ice cream so it closes in the cold weather months) I told the kids we'd go. They were excited and telling me what they'd order. Owen said he wanted banilla (notice the b) ice cream in a cup with a lid and a straw where you drink it. Oh, a milkshake!

Last week there was a sale at Kroger on all the Cheetos and Fritos. We got chili cheese Fritos (my fav!) and two kinds of Cheetos. The puffed kind and the crunchy kind. Because I'm all about healthy snacks. One evening Owen asked for some Cheetos. Then he said the kind that are a line, not the curved. Oh, crunchy!

Yesterday (a mere five minutes after dinner) he asked for those little square brown things in a bowl that he thinks are called Golden Grahams. Oh yes, Golden Grahams!




Totally off subject, but it's 11:00 and I am already totally stressed out. The two classes I'm taking are A LOT of work and requires more thinking than I have done in 14 years. I have fought with my computer for days to get important things to download and I just this morning FINALLY figured out what was wrong. (No thanks to the two computer tech people I've talked to for hours. Thank the Lord and Google for me figuring it out.) I have laundry and dishes to do, the kids are all in their swim clothes wanting to go to the pool, I need to do class work, and the house needs cleaned. So, I better get to it!

AND! Happy Birthday to my friends Rosie and Nellie!! Have a great day girls!

Who cares??

Phoebe was putting her shoes on to go outside. She started out the door and I told her that her shoes were on the wrong feet. She said "Nobody cares!" and went on out the door. Today we went to swim at my mom and dad's house. We had lunch on the porch. Mom asked her if she wanted more cantaloupe and Phoebe said "I'm not sure". I think because sometimes I will ask if she is sure that she doesn't want more of something.

My friend Sherry and I have being doing the 30 Day Shred workout dvd. (It's killing me, by the way.) I walked in the other day to find Phoebe in the living room like this. She said she was doing the 30 Day Shred.



Owen went with Danny one day last week to the auto parts store. While he was gone Sherry and I did our exercise. He was so disappointed when he came home and had missed it. It is quite the show I guess.

Chloe has some bug bites on her back and is certain she is going to get the West Nile virus. She gave me a long lesson this evening on all the facts of West Nile virus. She gets all kinds of information from a website called Brain Pop. This evening she brought in a pair of ugly turquoise socks that I am sure have never been worn. She wanted to know if she could cut them up and make Barbie clothes. She's a big fan of doing that. I said yes because when is she ever going to wear turquoise socks? The next thing you know she made arm socks with a thumb hole instead and she is wearing them in bed asleep right now.

I was trying to do some of my class work on the computer a couple days ago for one of the online classes I'm taking. While I was doing it Owen brought me a can of chicken noodle soup about 24 times so I'd make it for him, and Phoebe was in the bathroom a little too long. I went to check about her, and the bathroom sink was full of bubbles and water. There was a Barbie in it. I asked Phoebe what was going on and she said "I'm making a Barbie hot tub". Oh well, nobody cares.

Odds and Ends

My friend's four year old, Sophie, said she wanted to go to the Dollar Tree. Her Mom asked her what she needed to buy there and she said "Oh, just odds and ends". That is what this post is. Odds and ends.

We went swimming today with Sophie and her mom and sister, and our other friend and her kids. We went to the "country" pool instead of the "town" pool but Chloe had a blast. It's something we do every summer with this bunch of friends.

Chloe finished up her play yesterday and I'm so glad it's over. It went very well and Chloe really enjoyed it, but I am glad not to be running to practices and performances.




A new friend Chloe made while doing the play. Her name is Kimmie and in the past two days she's called about 62 times:



With her friend from school, Rachel, who came to see the play and brought Chloe flowers. So sweet:





Owen had a fun at the pool today too. He played sea creature and had war with the girls with squirt toys. He continues to ask me for something every five minutes. I told him today that he needed his own personal assistant. He said "Yeah, you". I'm sitting here eating sunflower seeds and he and Chloe just started eating some. He cracked one of the shells and said "Hey! There are peanuts in here!". I told him no, they were sunflower seeds. Then he asked, "Will they grow inside of you?".

Phoebe slipped in the pool today and went under the water for a second. She didn't get upset but sputtered around a little. Later I took her to the bathroom and she said "That was a bad time when I went under the water". The pool is at a campground and when we came out of the bathroom she pointed to where a picnic table was that campers had a lot of stuff set out on. She said, "Look, there's a yard sale. Wish I could go to it".

Phoebe's schedule has been off since school has been out. She's been sleeping in so she's not ready for a nap right after lunch like she usually is. Before she'd eat lunch and then nap for two or three hours. Now that she sleeps later she isn't ready for a nap until much later. Then she naps until dinner time or later, and she's up very late. I am not a fan of that. They only peace and quiet I get is after everyone goes to bed. So now we are trying skipping the nap and then she goes to bed early and very, very easily.

Here she is tonight where she fell asleep on the couch. (That's my Halloween blanket I never put away. Molly curled up with her too.)



I've been enjoying sleeping in and the kids being home and nothing really we have to do. Except I have been taking two online classes and that has to be done every day, but we don't have to go anywhere or do anything. I like it.

Chloe's acting debut

Chloe is in a local production of Hansel and Gretel. She is Maida, a peasant girl. We have practiced two and three evenings a week for awhile now. Last night was the first performance. There is another tonight, and one tomorrow. Chloe did so great!!

Swimming in the rain

The kids (mainly Chloe) have been wanting to go to the town pool. Because according to Chloe, everyone goes to the pool. Which, to her credit, many of her friends do go very often. We used to always go to a little country pool that not many people went to. A couple of my friends and their kids met us there and all was well. Now I apparently am going to have to parade my chubby self in a bathing suit in front of everyone we know. Now that Chloe is older, our summer swimming is changing. She wants to be dropped off at the pool. That strikes fear in my heart. Our country pool has five foot water. The town pool has ten foot water at the deep end, and gasp, two diving boards. Also there are rules that Chloe has laid down for me to follow. Like, no embarassing her and no putting sunscreen on her at the pool (has to be done in the privacy of our home).

Yesterday was a sunny day but we were busy and the kids were bad at the store yesterday morning so I said if they couldn't be good we weren't going to the pool. So we didn't go. I said we'd go today. Well, today was cloudy and gloomy. We went anyway. It drizzled rain. Then it rained hard. Then it thundered. So our day at the pool lasted about an hour. But they were satisfied with that. We are busy the rest of the week, but hopefully next week we'll hit the pool a day or two. Hopefully in the sunshine.

Phoebe wearing Chloe's goggles:



Owen in his new diving gear. Never mind he hardly gets off the steps. He wore it in the bathtub last night. Then this morning as soon as he got up and went to the bathroom, he put it back on, then went back to bed.




Oh, these two.




No pictures of Chloe, because that would be embarassing if I took her picture at the public pool. There are rules, you know.

Favorite cake recipe

This is one of our favorite cakes, especially Danny's. It's very easy and SO good. I made a couple of them over the weekend (one to take to a cookout and one for home). To make one, just bake a devil's food cake (from the box). As soon as it comes out of the oven, poke holes all over the top with a straw. Then pour over a can of condensed milk, then a jar of caramel or butterscotch ice cream topping (either works fine). Let it cool completely, then cover the top with a small container of Cool Whip. Then top with a bag of Heath milk chocolate toffee bits (found with the chocolate chips). You can also crush up Butterfinger candy bars for the topping instead. Refrigerate.

School's Out!

Yesterday was the last day of school. We weren't at school, but at a water park for the Accelerated Reader field trip. It was a busy day, and a busy week. Owen had his Kindergarten concert, Chloe had Awards Day, they had an Accelerated Reader party one day, last week Chloe had DARE graduation (a drug awareness/resistance program done by the police), just lots to do for the end of school. Owen is officially a first grader and had such a wonderful year in Kindergarten and learned so much! Chloe is now a sixth grader, which I can't believe, and got all As on her report card and received 4 medals and various awards at Awards Day. Kindergarten didn't participate in the awards ceremony but they did bring in Owen and two other kindergarteners in to receive a medal for getting over 100 points in the accelerated reader program. I'm very proud of them both and look forward to the summer with them!


Owen singing at his Kindergarten concert (he's in the white shirt on the end, you can see his boo boos on his face from where he fell last week):



Awards Day:





At the indoor waterpark:








At the DARE graduation and party:

Camping trip

We went camping over the weekend. We drove about 3 1/2 hours up into the mountains. It was cold but beautiful. It stormed and rained hard Saturday night, but it never rained during the day. A bear was prowling about at several campsites during the nights. It came through our camp but we never saw it. We just saw where it had walked around the camper. We were careful to not leave any food out. The kids liked the adventure and have been telling everyone about the bear. They enjoyed fishing with Danny. Danny caught two rainbow trout and Owen caught a crawdad. He caught it on his fishing pole and held it up and said "I caught something!" and I was expecting to see a fish. They kept it in a bucket and played with it. Owen named it Danny. Chloe wanted to name it Nigel. Chloe said she was mad Owen caught a fish and she didn't. I told her he didn't catch a fish, and she said he caught something better than a fish. Here are several pictures from the trip.